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Pronouncing the French "R" | ||
Tags: Pronunciation | French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| michaelmichael Senior Member Canada Joined 5259 days ago 167 posts - 202 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 19 14 July 2010 at 6:51am | IP Logged | ||
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bonjour tout le monde. je suis anglais et j'étudie français.
i hope the above sentence makes sense. i'm having trouble with the french R, i am hoping that one of you could tell me about the position of the lips, and tongue. i know that the R is an uvular R, and the sound occurs at the back of the throat. i also know that your tongue is suppose to be relaxed. for some reason, i can't seem to find any good video apps on how to mimic the french R, despite finding a ton of stuff for English pronunciation. i'm trying 2 methods, one is the H sound with a cough, and one is a k sound with the tongue. any help will be greatly appreciated. Edited by Fasulye on 14 July 2010 at 7:20am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| eumiro Bilingual Octoglot Groupie Germany Joined 5276 days ago 74 posts - 102 votes Speaks: Czech*, Slovak*, French, English, German, Polish, Spanish, Russian Studies: Italian, Hungarian | Message 2 of 19 14 July 2010 at 9:20am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Michael, do you know anyone speaking French around you? Ask better him to show it to you and let him tell you whether you are pronouncing it correctly or not. A written howto in this forum or a video won't tell you whether you are doing it well or not.
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| Andrew~ Groupie United States howlearnspanish.com Joined 5270 days ago 42 posts - 67 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 3 of 19 14 July 2010 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ok, I'm going to teach you precisely how to do this and I am nearly willing to guarantee that it will work for you. I picked this up from an old Berlitz book when I was 12 and trying to teach myself French but just could not understand what the hell it was they were doing in their mouth to make that "r" sound.
The best description I've ever heard of the French "r" is this: "A dry gargle in the back of the throat." Basically, you're gargling your own spit. That's how the Berlitz book described it, and here's how to do it: The action, the actual physiology as far as which muscles are doing what, when, and how inside your mouth when you make the French "r" sound are IDENTICAL to what you do when you gargle water. Now, go get a glass of water, pour some in your mouth, tilt your head back, and gargle. Do this a few times. Now, without any water, tilt your head back and gargle--yes, I want you to gargle your own spit. Do this a few times. Now, say "tuh", then do the dry gargle, then say "ay", then say "bee-in". Do it again. Again. Do it a bit faster until you're saying "très bien", which is French for "very good". You're now properly pronouncing the French "r". Now apply it to all the other "r"s you come across when speaking French; remember: "it is a dry gargle in the back of your throat", you do the same precise thing when you gargle water. So gargle. It'll take a bit of practice for it to be quick and natural so it sounds like a native French speaker, but you'll get there. You will likely need to repeat this exercise with some water every day for a couple of weeks before it's ingrained it into muscle memory, but your brain will get it eventually, don't worry, just keep at it :) Edited by Andrew~ on 14 July 2010 at 2:23pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JPike1028 Triglot Senior Member United States piketransitions Joined 5399 days ago 297 posts - 337 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Swedish, Portuguese, Czech | Message 4 of 19 14 July 2010 at 4:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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My suggestion is to listen to as much native french speaking as possible until you can imagine the sound in your head.
Then, imitate that sound. The brain ultimately controls all the mechanics of what you are trying to do. If you can hear a sound in your mind then you can produce it aurally. In order to make the sound of a dog or a sheep we first have to imagine what a dog or sheep sounds like, it's the same for all other sounds as well. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| michaelmichael Senior Member Canada Joined 5259 days ago 167 posts - 202 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 5 of 19 14 July 2010 at 5:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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thanks guys. last night i actually made the sound, or i think i did. i dont hit it consistently. the best place i found for the french R is "french in action". i have the work book, and while im only on lesson 2, i saw a picture of the french R in lesson 5. they say to have the apex (tip) of your tongue touch your bottom teeth, and then pull your tongue back and curl up while breathing out of your lungs. despite it being called an uvular R fricative, i cant seem to hold the sound like other fricatives though >:(
i guess that description is pretty similar to andrews trick, since i know the T is at the alveolar ridge, and the UH probably helps move your tongue further back. since the R is voiced, i seem to have an easier time hitting the dre, like vendre, comprendre, prendre, but the most important verb in french,,,,, être is trickier since the T is voiceless :( 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5383 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 6 of 19 14 July 2010 at 6:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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When people first start to say R, it usually sounds too harsh and stressed. While it is a trill of the uvula bouncing off the back of the tongue, most of the time, it's just a slight friction of air in between the two.
Anglophones tend to curl the tongue, which will make it impossible to say R. As you said, the tip rests at the bottom front part of the mouth (though touching the teeth is not necessary). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chemayne Newbie United States Joined 5263 days ago 8 posts - 4 votes Studies: English | Message 7 of 19 14 July 2010 at 7:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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There are many programs that will assist you in the phonetics of certain words. I am currently studying Spanish and French. and phonetics can be a little tricky. I get alot of help from many free sources like www.busuu.com and have purchased tell me more as well pimsleur. they are both great tools to help with phonetics.
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| Chemayne Newbie United States Joined 5263 days ago 8 posts - 4 votes Studies: English | Message 8 of 19 14 July 2010 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | ||
I am studying french as well having a real hard time with the pronunciation. check the internet for free sights to assist you that is what I did. there are so many tools to utilize options to assist in language training. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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