The dropped E in casual spoken French Do you find spoken French hard to understand? It’s normal! Most people who study French find it easier to read than listen to French. The reason for this is that the spoken language is very different from the written language. There are many things that are different between written and spoken French, including vocabulary and syntax, but I’ll focus here on one pronunciation peculiarity. This trick will help you understand better. If you’ve been learning French for a while, you already know that the E is an unstable sound in French, and it has to be dropped in some places, as in “j’habite” and “c’est”. The apostrophe shows where an E disappeared. That “élision” happens both in written and spoken French. In casual spoken French, many more E’s disappear… And that’s one reason French sounds so fast! You actually lose a syllable (a “beat”) every time you lose an E, and the other sounds get squished together. Look at these examples: - lentement = lent’ment - tout le monde = tout l’monde - je sais = j’sais (“ché”) - je suis = j’suis (“chui”) Please note that these contractions are perfectly acceptable in everyday speech, but would be wrong in written French. You may see them in written dialogues or song lyrics, to show how people actually speak, but that’s it. Now that you know about this phenomenon, you need to practice listening. Pay attention, and try to hear when it’s happening. Soon, you will get used to the most common contractions, and maybe you’ll even use them yourself! This will also make you sound more fluent in French, because that’s the way people speak in normal, casual conversation. To get you started, I’ve identified the first few dropped E’s in two popular songs. Can you find more? “Je veux” by Zaz (http://platea.pntic.mec.es/cvera/hotpot/zaz_je_veuxc.htm): - ce n’est pas = c’n’est pas - de l’amour = d’l’amour - de la joie = d’la joie - fera = f’ra - je veux = j’veux “Amoureux de Paname” by Renaud (http://platea.pntic.mec.es/cvera/hotpot/amoureux_de_panamec.htm): - samedi soir = sam’di soir - petits = p’tits - petites = p’tites - je suis = j’suis Here are a few more common contractions that you need to be able to hear: - Je te = j’te - Pas de = pas d’ - Ce que = c’que - Ce qui = c'qui As you can see, spoken French *is* faster! I recommend listening to a lot of fun, interesting things in French to practice your ear. More info here: http://www.oegugin.com/2014/03/13/the-dropped-e/

Un secret pour parler français Je vais vous dire un secret : Pour PARLER FRANÇAIS avec assurance, il faut ÉCOUTER! Si vous vous sentez bloqués, si vous trouvez difficile de vous exprimer en français, je vous suggère l'approche du "Comprehensible Input", bien connue dans le domaine de l'apprentissage des langues. Cette approche découle de la théorie de Stephen Krashen, selon laquelle apprendre une langue ("language learning") et être capable de l'utiliser pour communiquer ("language acquisition") sont deux choses complètement différentes. Et malheureusement, connaître la grammaire ne veut pas dire qu'on peut construire des phrases rapidement et converser naturellement. Pour être capable de parler avec aisance, il faut lire et écouter beaucoup, et comprendre beaucoup de messages. C'est la seule façon, pour 95% des gens, d'arriver à utiliser toutes ces belles choses que vous avez apprises dans les livres de grammaire. Étudier la grammaire n’est pas inutile, mais ce n'est pas suffisant. Je vous suggère donc de lire et d'écouter BEAUCOUP! Trouvez des choses qui vous intéressent, et dévorez tout! Ce n'est pas grave si vous ne comprenez pas tout. C'est en les voyant en contexte qu'on finit par le mieux apprendre les nouveaux mots, les nouvelles expressions et les nouveaux temps de verbes. J’ai mis des liens sur mon blogue, si ça vous intéresse : http://www.oegugin.com/2014/04/02/the-secret-to-learning-any-language

Language Acquisition vs. Language Learning If you want to learn a language, you need to understand what language acquisition is. Language learning means learning ABOUT the language - the grammar rules, mostly, whereas language acquisition means learning how to USE the language to actually communicate. Learning the grammar rules doesn't mean you can speak. The only way to become better at listening and speaking is to PRACTICE - and to enjoy it! According to Stephen Krashen, a prominent linguist, "Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding." Krashen also says, "The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear." And, "In the real world, conversations with sympathetic native speakers who are willing to help the acquirer understand are very helpful." So for all those reasons, practicing with a native speaker on italki is an excellent way to improve your second language skills! :) Here's a fun video in which Krashen demonstrates what "comprehensible input" is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K11o19YNvk And here are more details about Krashen's theory: http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html Finally, here's another discussion of the difference between language learning and language acquisition: http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_acquisiti_vs_language_02033.php I hope this is useful!

Silent Letters in French One reason it is essential to learn new words along with their pronunciation is because of all the silent letters in French. Here is a summary: 1. THE FINAL “E” The “e” at the end of a word (another link here) is usually silent, unless you are listening to poetry or songs – and people from the south of France! Some examples: j’habite, petite, ville, américaine. The only final “e” that is pronounced is the pronoun “-le” in the imperative form (ex. Regarde-le). Careful: “é” is not the same as “e”, and is always pronounced “é” (ay). 2. FINAL CONSONANTS Most final consonants (another link here) are silent. The exceptions are easily remembered with the acronym CaReFuL: only C, R, F, and L are usually pronounced at the end of a word (but of course, there are many exceptions). The other consonants, especially S and T, are usually not pronounced at the end of a word – unless a “liaison” is required, but that’s a topic for another day! 3. “-ENT” VERB ENDINGS The “-ent” verb ending is silent (“il mange” sounds the same as “ils mangent”), whereas those same letters are pronounced “an” (a nasal vowel) when they’re part of an adverb, such as souvent, lentement, etc. 4. THE LETTER “H” The letter “h” is never pronounced in French, although it can be combined with another consonant to produce a different sound: ph = “f”, and ch = “sh” or “k”. But th = “t”, so here the “h” is really silent: théâtre, thé. Yes, there is such a thing as “h muet” and “h aspiré”, but the difference between them, which are actually both SILENT, is simply whether or not you can do a “liaison” and “élision” when a word starts with “h” (l’hiver, le hamster). 5. THE “N” IN NASAL VOWELS This is a tricky one: the “n” in nasal vowels is not usually pronounced – it’s only there to specify that the vowel before it has a nasal sound. The only time that this “n” is pronounced is if a “liaison” is required (un enfant, mon ami, on aime, il y en a). So how do you recognize a nasal vowel? Simple: if you have an “n” or an “m” in a word, followed by a consonant sound, the vowel that comes before it is nasalized and the “n” or “m” becomes silent. And if a word ends in a vowel + “n”, that’s a nasal vowel and you don’t pronounce the “n”. Some examples: - an, manger, lampe, tente (but: âne, Suzanne, ami, menu) - fin, impossible, bien, américain (but: fine, image, américaine) I hope this helps! More links on my blog.

Linkings in French People learning French often say that sentences sound like one long word. How do you know where one word ends and another begins? The big reason for this is the linkings called “enchaînements” and “liaisons”. These are not only normal, but actually required in French. When a word begins with a vowel sound, if you haven’t done an “elision”, you will normally do a “liaison” or an “enchaînement”. This means that a word that starts with a vowel, such as “ami”, will actually start with a consonant sound. Wait, what??? Yes: the final consonant sound of the first word will move over to fuse with the initial vowel sound of the word that follows. Depending on the word that precedes it, “ami” will sound like “nami”, “tami”, or “zami”. Here is how this happens. LIAISONS A “liaison” is when the final (and normally silent, see “Silent Letters”) consonant of a word is pronounced together with the initial vowel of the following word. This happens in groups of words that are linked together by meaning, for example: un ami (un-na-mi) mes amis (mé-za-mi) petit ami (pe-ti-ta-mi) As you can see, when someone uses the word “ami” in a sentence, you will not hear “ami” but either “nami”, “zami”, or “tami”. Wait, it gets better! ENCHAÎNEMENTS CONSONANTIQUES Unlike “liaisons”, which are sometimes optional or forbidden, “enchaînements” are always done in normal speech, throughout the sentence and even across groups of words. Unlike “liaisons”, they do not add an extra sound, but merely rearrange the sounds. When a word starts with a vowel sound, that vowel sound is linked with the last consonant sound of the previous word, effectively creating a new syllable. The second word now begins with the last sound of the first word! Here are a few examples to illustrate this: cinq amis (sin-ka-mi) nouvel ami (nou-vè-la-mi) leur ami (leu-ra-mi) même ami (mè-ma-mi) il habite à Paris (i-la-bi-ta-pa-ri) Here, you have new combinations with the word “ami”: kami, lami, rami, and mami! ENCHAÎNEMENTS VOCALIQUES These are a little different from the other types of linkings, as they do not merge sounds together into a new syllable. All this is, is when you have two or more vowels in contact, you try to pronounce them without your voice “cutting” in between them. This helps you sound more natural. For example: Tu es (tu-è) J’ai eu un problème. (jé-u-un..) Il va au cinéma. (il-va-o...) I hope this helps! More links on my blog.

Three Tips to Help You Learn French Whether you’re just starting to learn French or are getting back to it after several years, here are three recommendations that will make your task easier: 1. LEARN THE BASICS OF FRENCH PRONUNCIATION You need to understand the different sounds and how they are spelled, silent letters (mostly at the end of words), and the very easy stress pattern of French – unlike English, which has word stress and sentence stress. 2. GET LOTS OF INPUT Specifically, interesting comprehensible input (see Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition). Choose materials that are at your level, so that you can guess the meaning of the words you don’t know from the context. This goes for listening as well as reading. If listening, it’s helpful to have the transcription along with the audio or video file. Here are a couple good websites for listening and reading. 3. LISTEN TO SONGS Who doesn’t like music? Discover a new world by listening to music in your new language! Your ears will get used to the sounds of French, and finding new music that you like will help you stay motivated to learn French. There are many ways to work with songs, so even if you don’t understand the meaning of all the words, you can still greatly improve your listening skills, as well as your subconscious knowledge of grammar and pronunciation. There are many listening exercises online. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me! (Sorry, I can't add links here - the original text is on my blog, oegugin.com)

Improve Your Listening and Pronunciation with Songs Song are a fun way to improve your listening skills and pronunciation. My students have used this method, and so have I. It has helped me achieve excellent pronunciation in Spanish, and I've been complimented on my pronunciation and reading speed in Korean, even though I’m a beginner! Here’s how to do it. 1. CHOOSE A SONG YOU LIKE It’s best to start with slow songs. Once you’re used to this method, you can move on to faster and/or more difficult songs. It’s important to choose a song you like, because you will listen to it many times! You should enjoy the exercise. 2. LISTEN TO THE SONG First, listen to the song once or twice, without trying to understand the words. Just enjoy the music! 3. FIND OR PRINT THE LYRICS (“PAROLES”, IN FRENCH) You can read the lyrics before doing the exercise, but don’t worry too much about understanding the meaning. Now listen to the song again, but this time try to follow the lyrics as you hear the words. It will be difficult at first, because it’s a new skill for your brain to learn. You can start with the chorus, as it’s usually the easiest part since it’s repeated several times in the song. Do this every day until you can follow well: your ears and your eyes will work together. If you can learn the lyrics by heart, even better! 4. SING! Once you can follow the words (lyrics), you can also start singing along. This will help your pronunciation. Try to sing exactly like the singer! LINKS TO SONGS AND LYRICS Here are a few links to songs and lyrics; you can also search on Youtube: Songs in French: http://carolinelbmusique.blogspot.co.uk/ http://www.oegugin.com/category/french-songs/ http://platea.pntic.mec.es/cvera/hotpot/chansons/index.htm Songs in English: http://www.isabelperez.com/songs.htm MEANING VS. PRONUNCIATION For the purposes of this exercise, it’s OK if you don’t understand what the lyrics mean. The objective is to improve your listening skills, and also help you make the connection between how the words are written and how they are actually pronounced. This technique is especially useful for understanding the linking between words (called “enchaînements et liaisons” in French.) A FINAL NOTE FOR FRENCH LEARNERS You will notice that in songs, as in poetry, the final “e” is often pronounced, unlike in normal conversation. Remember not to do that when you speak! I hope you enjoy working with songs! Let me know if you have any tips or advice.