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How to improve pronunciation

Salut! How would you recommend someone to improve their pronunciation in French if they don’t have access to a class/live in the country where French is spoken? I’m trying so hard but I struggle a lot with pronunciation but it’s so so important to me to be able to pronounce words properly and speak well because I love this language so much and it’s very important to me but I’m struggling a lot

You don’t have to live somewhere in particular or go to school to get any kind of skill. Practice and hard work will always be enough. Now :

Study this post about phonetics

Study this post about pronunciation

Listen to audiobooks while reading the written version (see below) 

Watch subtitled stuff (Netflix, TED talks, hacked content, TV5 Monde’s Sept jours sur la planète, Public sénat)

Speak to yourself, pretend to be a Youtuber, debate out loud (…) and record it so you can listen to it later

Some resources :

Youtube’s pronunciation channels

The website Forbo (natives pronouncing words)

The website Reverso (translation, pronunciation, context)

The website Linguo.tv (french videos + subtitles)

Phonetic transcription

Audiobook/ebook combo :

Le Petit Prince - Saint Exupéry AU / EB 

1984 - George Orwell AU / EB 

The Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo AU / EB 

The Art of War - Sun Tzu AU / EB

The Call of Cthulhu - Lovecraft AU / EB 

Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Caroll AU / EB 

L’Île mystérieuse - Jules Verne AU / EB 

The Bible AU / EB 

The Fellowship of the ring - J.R.R. Tolkien AU / EB 

Pride and prejudice - Jane Austen AU / EB 

Le Horla - Maupassant AU / EB 

Candide - Voltaire AU / EB 

The Black Cat - Edgar Allan Poe AU / EB 

Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde AU / EB 

Hope this helps! x 

Hi mum <3 do you any tag/post about curse words/expressions/slang? haha i promise to use it wisely! j'ai besoin de scold quelqu'un ;)

Hello dear,

I made those! Here's some more:

This is nonsense: Tu dis n'importe quoi (neutral)/Tu racontes de la merde (rude)

Shut the hell up: Ferme bien ta grande gueule

No one likes you: Personne ne t'aime

Chill: Calme ton cul

Random ways to express frustration without insulting anyone: Merde, Putain, Fait chier, Chier, Nique sa race, Nique sa mère, Chiottes, Ça me fait trop chier, Bordel, Putain de bordel de merde de sa race (as you do)...

Random insults that technically aren't rude (vocabulary) but still savage and efficient; doubting of someone's intelligence or worth: (agender) Face de rat, Banane + Benêt + Abruti + Neuneu (dumb) Cloporte, Andouille, Grosse quiche, Grosse tanche, Sale race; (f) Pouilleuse, Grande dinde; (m) Tête de noeud, Vaurien, Vieux con (older), Sale plouc, Gros porc (perv), Minable, Fils de chien, Pouilleux, Sac à vin (drunk)...

Same but actually rude: (a) Mange-merde, Enflure, Trou du cul, Raclure, Casse-couilles, Connard, Sac à merde, Sac à foutre, Sale merde, Grosse merde, Gros tas de merde, Lèche-cul (asslicker) ; (m) Sale bâtard, Crétin, Crevard (stingy), Couillon, Salopard, Tête de con, Connard, Sale boloss, Branleur (lazy), Ducon, Enculé de ta mère; (f) Grosse chienne, Pétasse, Connasse, Pouf/Poufiasse, Crevarde (stingy), Salope, Grognasse...

Bisous!

Ma routine quotidienne : My daily routine

Le matin

Se réveiller : To wake up Se lever : To get up Se doucher/prendre une douche : To shower Se baigner/prendre un bain : To bathe Se raser : To shave Se brosser les dents : To brush your teeth Se brosser les cheveux : To brush your hair Se peigner : To comb your hair Se coiffer : To do your hair S’habiller : To get dressed Se maquiller : To put on makeup Manger/prendre le petit déjeuner : To eat breakfast Aller/se rendre à/au :To go to l’école (f) : school le travail : work en voiture : by car en bus : by bus en métro : by subway en train : by train en vélo : by bike à pied : on foot

L’après-midi

Travailler/bosser (l’argot) : To work  Étudier : To study Une machine à café : The coffee machine Une réunion : A meeting Un bureau : An office/desk Rechauffer : To heat up Le bavardage : Gossip/informal talk La bibliothèque : The library L’université (f) : University La fac (La faculté) : University Une leçon : A lesson Un cours : A class Suivre un cours : Take a class Une boîte à lunch (Qc) : Sack lunch/lunch box Déjeuner/prendre le déjeuner : To each lunch Dîner (Qc) : To eat lunch La cantine : The cafeteria

Le soir

Rentrer : To go home Se reposer : To relax/to rest Réviser : To revise/study Se préparer pour : To prepare oneself for Préparer : To prepare Cuisiner : To cook Dîner/Souper (Qc) : To eat dinner Le dîner : Dinner/Supper Faire la vaisselle : To wash the dishes Se déshabiller : To undress Se coucher : To go to bed S’en dormir : To fall asleep Rêver : To dream

Chrome extensions I actually use as a mentally ill university student

Making websites easier to digest:

Dark Reader - Changes any webpage to dark mode.

Mercury Reader - Simplifies the layout of any webpage to eliminate distractions and irritating formatting.

Podcastle AI - Turns any article into a podcast. This is a lifesaver for being able to process what I’m reading, to be honest.

Spelling/grammar:

LanguageTool - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who regularly type in more than one language.

Grammarly - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who only type in English. Can be used with LanguageTool installed, which is what I do.

Google Dictionary - Define any word on the webpage with a double-click.

Google Translate - Translate an entire webpage or even just a short segment.

Misc:

AdGuard Adblocker - After trying quite a few adblocker options, this is the one I find the best.

The Great Suspender - Automatically suspend inactive tabs to help with performance. <- as an edit, I don’t believe this is available anymore

Honey - Try coupon codes automatically to save money on online purchases.

Built-in Chrome tab grouping - Group your tabs to keep organized and minimize distracting clutter.

- take an ebook in your target language that you wanna read - convert epub to txt - copy txt into unique wordlist maker (http://caerphoto.com/uwc/) - remove words in the list you already know - maybe focus on keeping the high frequency new words - make this list into flashcard deck badda bing badda boom

I did this with my Turkish copy of Animal Farm and pulled 212 new words for my Quizlet deck

how to get the most out of duolingo

duolingo is a great app/website that you can use to begin learning a foreign language, but unfortunately you most likely won’t be able to fully learn the language if you only use duolingo. so, here are some things that you can do to get the most out of duolingo and to learn your target better.

1. read the lessons - most of the languages (especially if you’re learning in english) have little lessons. however, these are only available on the website, so if you use the app, you might want to occasionally check in online and click on the little lightbulb to read the lessons. they usually aren’t super in-depth, but for beginners it is super helpful and not as heavy as a textbook grammar guide.

2. don’t work too fast and always revise - if you’re knocking out a bunch of lessons a day thinking you’ll learn faster, this could be true, but most likely it’s not. if you work at a steady pace and remember to do it once a day (preferably at the same time – they say this is better for memorization) you will learn it better. if you do one lesson or maybe two a day and you still have time for more, go ahead and revise a little. when i first started french, i did two lessons a day and then always revised to make sure i remembered everything.

3. study the vocabulary - not all of the courses have this, but on the online version some of the courses have a tab on the top that says “words” and this is a great place to find all the vocabulary that you’ve been learning in your courses. go through the list and find all the words you don’t know that well or at all and make some flashcards or a set on quizlet and study them. learn how to spell them, pronounce them, conjugate them, and use them within a sentence. if you do this, you’ll always have a solid base to fall back on. this goes for learning conjugations, as well.

4. start learning your native language in your target language - after you’ve finished all the courses in your target language, feel free to revise daily. you might want to, however, start learning your native language in your target language. this might not be an option for all the languages offered on duolingo. for me, i learned english in french. this was helpful for picking up more phrases and seeing more common ways that french people write. if you’re feeling particularly confident and know your stuff really well, try learning a new language in your target language. for example, i did the spanish course in french, which definitely helped with my french phrasing while translating. 

5. don’t stop after you finish your course - if you’ve done it right, finishing your course on duolingo will give you a really good start to the language you’re learning. after you’ve finished, keep revising, but also go ahead and start learning your target language in different ways. i made a whole in-depth post on how to learn a language online here. some ideas are reading children books, watching youtube videos and movies, and talking to natives all in your target language. never give up because it will be worth it. 

Un coup de

Un coup d’arrêt: end (official)

Un coup de balai: a sweep (donner+)

Un coup de barre: sudden fatigue (2PM type)(avoir+)

Un coup de bol/pot: a lucky strike

Un coup de cafard: fit of blues (avoir+)

Un coup de chaleur: heat exhaustion

Un coup de chance: stroke of luck

Un coup de chiffon: light dusting

Un coup de coeur: infatuation

Un coup de crayon: a pencil line

Un coup d’essai: a first attempt

Un coup d’état: a coup

Un coup d’envoi: a kick-off

Un coup de feu: a gunshot (tirer+)

Un coup de fil/téléphone: a phone call (passer+)

Un coup de foudre: love at first sight

Un coup de frein: sharp braking (donner+)

Un coup de génie: a stroke of genius

Un coup de grâce: coup de grâce

Un coup de gueule: a rant (passer+)

Un coup de main: (giving) a hand (donner+)

Un coup de maître: a master stroke

Un coup de mou: a sluggish period

Un coup d’oeil: a glance (jeter+)

Un coup de pied: a kick (donner+)

Un coup de pinceau: a brush stroke

Un coup de poing: a punch

Un coup de soleil: a sunburn (attraper/prendre+)

Un coup d’un soir: a one-night stand

Un coup de tête: a head-butt

Un coup de théâtre: a dramatic turn of event

Un coup de tonnerre: a clap of thunder

Un coup de vent: a gust of wind

Un coup de vieux: feeling old (ex: when your nephew doesn’t know what a floppy disk is)(prendre+)

Un coup du lapin: whiplash

What is the difference between Est-ce que and Qu'est-ce que?

Asking questions is something fundamental in French, especially if you want to know more about something or get more information.

French people use Est-ce que and Qu'est-ce que to start their questions. They look alike but are not used the same way.

So, what is the actual difference between both question words? Find out more here and also practice with the Quiz at the end of the lesson.

Learn French With Chanty

When do I not need accents?

E + CT: élection, collecte, affection

E + double consonant (except initials EM-, EN-: emmerder, ennui): celle, équerre, greffe

E + R (within one syllable): perdre, dermatologue, termite

E- + S (initial) : espoir, essayer, essaim

E- + X (initial): examen, exemple, ex-copain

E + -T (last): bonnet, coffret, Juillet

french B.A.M.F. vocabulary

pute - bitch

reine - queen

un coeur de pierre - stone-cold/heart of stone

sans coeur - heartless

impitoyable - ruthless

un mouvement de puissance - a power move

dominer - to dominate

humilier - to humiliate

avoir honte - to (have) shame

être confiant(e) - to be confident

ne me mets pas en rogne - don’t mess with me

comprenez? - understood?

jouer avec le feu  - to play with fire

être béat - to be smug

être méchant(e) - to be wicked