21 - How to Pronounce the French R Perfectly
Struggling to pronounce the French R? 😫 You're not the only one! The R is perhaps the trickiest letter to pronounce for French beginners! Listen now to found out how to pronounce it perfectly! 🗣
If you’d prefer to listen on the go, listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Links & Cheat Sheet
Transcript
Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!
Bonjour à tous! Hi everyone. Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. I'm thrilled to have you back here. This is episode number 20, numéro 21. In this lesson, you'll learn how to pronounce the infamous French R. So, first we'll talk about the position of your lips, your tongue, and to finish we'll practice with some words with the French "R" sound.
Now, pronouncing sounds properly is essential for clear French pronunciation. And when you have a clear French pronunciation, French speakers can understand you better.
Studying sounds and becoming familiar with them is really your first step towards clear, effortless French pronunciation.
✨ To help you with this, I've created a FREE cheat sheet, simply called the French Sounds Cheat Sheet, where you have all the sounds of French in one spot, along with example words and, of course, accompanying audio. And it is a great tool to get you started on your French pronunciation journey. ✨
You can get that French Sounds Cheat Sheet for free, with its audio guide below:
Alright, vous êtes prêts? Are you ready? Let's see how to pronounce the French R.
First let's talk about where your tongue should be.
When you pronounce the French R, the tongue is pushed down, and the tip of your tongue is behind your lower teeth. The back of the tongue is lifted and closer to the palate (as if you're about to gargle.) Not very glamourous, I know.
Now, try to produce soft friction. R. Again, as if you're about to gargle but softer. Not RRrrrr.. Soft. We're not about to spit here. R. The French R is actually not as harsh as everyone thinks. Also, no need to roll the R dramatically. It's not Rrrrrr. It's R. Only soft friction. R Répétez après moi. Repeat after me. R. R. R. Ouh, that's a lot of R.
Ok, now let's talk about the position of your lips.
The position of your lips depends on the sound that follows. So to say the letter R by itself, stretch your lips on the side as if you're smiling. R.
To say the letter R in a word, again, it depends on the sound that follows.
In the word "rouge," you have to round your lips. Repeat after me. Rouge.
In the word "riz," you have to stretch your lips to the side as if you are smiling. Repeat after me. Riz.
How did you go? I know it's a bit hard, but you'll get there, it just takes a lot of practice! The good news is you can re-listen to this episode and practice over and over again, until you are sick of hearing my voice.
Now, if you are really struggling you can't get that friction right, let's try something else.
Pronounce the letter "G", a hard G, as in "glove." G. G. Why G you ask? Well, the "G" sound is produced in a similar spot in the mouth than the French R. G. G. Now pronounce "ga." Ga. Ga. Up to here you should have no issue. Add a little friction, if you were about to gargle, but softer. Soft, soft, soft. Not rolling the R like crazy. Gar. Gar. Gar. Now, try to pronounce the word "garage."
Is that better? Like I said earlier, you need to practice a lot.
And that's exactly what we're going to do next.
Listen to these 9 words and repeat after me. I've put the translation in the transcript.
car
mère
pure
près
trop
cri
rire
rue
rêve
Alright, well-done guys. Bien joué.
Ok, that brings us to the end of our lesson! Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to download your lesson's exercises by clicking the link in the episode's notes, it's free. Make sure you hit subscribe, so you don't miss out on any new episodes. And if you are enjoying this podcast, I'd really appreciate a quick rating and review on Apple Podcast.