Last updated on February 26th, 2023 at 09:31 pm
You may have studied French for years and have learned a lot of vocabulary, verb conjugations, and prepositions. Yes, your French can be grammatically perfect, but will this allow you to communicate and sound natural? The answer is no (or not necessarily).
Why wouldn’t you be able to communicate successfully when your French is, in theory, perfect? Because of your French pronunciation and accent. Practicing your French with a French accent is part of the learning process because if people can’t understand you when you speak French, you’re missing a point.
Improving your French pronunciation is key
The way you pronounce words, how you open your mouth, and how you articulate sentences will define your accent. Accents vary a lot depending on each city or state. Nonetheless, it’s important to develop a “standard” French accent that will help you sound like a native speaker. Today we’ll give you some practical methods you can put to use for this purpose. Remember that pronunciation is a matter of practice so don’t sleep on it and try to rehearse your speech daily!
1. Listen to people who have a native French Accent
This is a must-do. Whenever you want to improve your French accent effectively you have to listen to native French speakers’ accents. There’s a handful of options that will allow you to be in contact with a native accent. You can watch movies, and series and even listen to an audiobook and try to imitate the accent.
Although, direct interaction with native speakers will be very helpful to work your fluency and coherence, so, if you have the chance to speak to a native French speaker don’t waste it!
2. Conscious Practice
Something you have to be aware of is that you must practice while paying attention to what you do. There’s no point in repeating the words you hear if you don’t pay enough attention to the way it sounds. You have to be careful because you can develop some bad habits this way.
Imitate the pronunciation of native speakers, focusing on the way they shape their mouths and the position of their tongues when they speak.
3. Spot the Differences between your accent and a native-French accent
If you feel you speak too much with a foreign accent, you can try to point out the main differences between your accent and the standard French accent. It will help you focus more on the words people from your country find hard to pronounce.
Study French pronunciation rules, such as the placement of stress and the pronunciation of specific letters and letter combinations and pay attention to the differences with your own language.
4. Make sure people understand you
Leaving your foreign accent behind is very important, but you don’t have to give up the audibility and the capability of others to understand you in this matter. You can try to emulate a French accent a lot but if you see people having trouble understanding you then it’s time to step back a little. This way you will evidently tune up until you have a perfectly audible and understandable French accent.
Only time and practice will make you lose that foreign accent and adopt a native French accent. You have to practice every day and pay attention to the way you’re speaking until it comes out naturally.
Getting feedback from native French speakers or French tutors on your pronunciation will help you make the necessary adjustments based on their suggestions.
Practice and patience are key to improving your accent. Keep working at it, and soon you will see progress.
But you don’t have to work on your French accent alone. At Live-French, learn French pronunciation online with one of our native French tutors. They will help you work on your accent and give you some more recommendations according to your accent when you speak French.
