7 top mistakes English speakers make in French
A French teacher (and native Parisian) explains the most common mistakes English speakers make in French - and how to avoid them!
๐พ Read, save and/or print the full written lesson here (free): www.commeunefrancaise.com/blo...
๐ Join my Everyday French crash course (free): www.commeunefrancaise.com/wel...
One of the most common reasons that students give me for not actively using their French is that theyโre worried about making mistakes. This is totally normal, but the truth is that youโre almost always going to make mistakes when you speak French - yes, even if youโve been learning French for more than a decade!
However, there are some very common mistakes that I hear English speakers make over and over again. The good news is, once you learn what you should be saying or doing, itโs quite easy to fix those mistakes.
In todayโs video, weโll revisit some of my most popular videos covering the top mistakes almost all English speakers make in French - so you can avoid them once and for all.
Take care and stay safe.
๐ from Grenoble, France.
Gรฉraldine
ะัะบััะปะตั: 54
If you had been my French teacher I would have enjoyed it much more!
Thanks for the video. I found it a bit confusing so i summed it up like this: There are 3 sounds described in this video 1. Ain. (Note โunโ and โinโ sound the same as โAinโ in spoken French)* 2. En 3. On Ain is pronounced like the โaโ in bang. (Le Main, Le Train) En is pronounced like the โuโ in jungle. (Bien, Rien) On is pronounced like the โoโ in song. (Conversation) The sounds in all 3 groups are nasalised (ie the back of your tongue closes up, blocking the sound of your voice). The n is very soft and not heard eg. Le Main sounds like Le Ma. *There is an exception with โAinโ when it is followed by an โeโ. Words like Semaine, Haine. The โaiโ part sounds like the e in egg and the n is pronounced normally. If the nasalised part is confusing. English speakers actually do this when pronouncing words like wrong, jungle and song. The ng part of the word forces us to nasalise the vowel.
Merci beaucoup pour cette nouvelle et superbe leรงon et theme de la journรฉe pour pouvoir comprendre et apprendre meilleur la belle et douce language franรงaise, thanks a lot for teach this new lesson for understand and learning better the beautiful and georgeous french grammar
So true. It's very important to address things like these that get in the way of having a good communication! ๐
Suggestion: how about a video about "Permissable 'mistakes'" that native speakers typically/often make?
Thank you for this fantastic resource. Do you have a lesson which explains when to pronounce the s at the end of plus? My instinct is to pronounce it when it's the last word in a sentence. Otherwise I would use normal rules of the first letter of the following word. There is obviously more to it than that.
Merci beaucoup pour le vidรฉo
Cโest bonne, ta nouvelle vidรฉo. Je lโai bien aimรฉe. Merci Gรฉraldine, et bravo de nous avoir encore enseignรฉ votre langue si bien! ร la prochaine fois.
Thank you so much for your detailed explanation and demonstration on how to pronounce and distinguish vowel sounds!!!
I was taught that bien, an adverb, = well and bon/ne, an adjective, = good. This lesson has me thinking those definitions oversimplify it.
@veaotavn1005
9 ะฐะน ะฑาฑััะฝ
๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ 5:32 ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ 9:32 ๐ ๐ 9:34 9:36 9:37 9:38 9:40 9:41 9:42 9:42 9:43 9:45 9:45 9:46 9:46 9:47 9:48 9:48 9:48 9:49 9:50 9:50 9:50 9:51 9:52 9:52 9:53 9:53 9:54 9:55 9:55 9:56 9:56 9:57 9:57 9:57 9:58 9:58 9:58 9:58 9:59 9:59 10:00 10:00 10:01 10:01 10:02 10:03 ๐ 10:04 10:05 10:05 10:06 10:06 10:06 10:07 10:07 10:10 10:12 ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ 10:34 10:34 10:39 10:39 10:40 10:40 10:41 10:42 ๐ข 10:44 10:44 10:44 10:45 10:45 10:46 10:46 10:46 10:46 10:47 10:47 10:47 10:47 10:48 10:48 10:48 10:49 10:49 10:49 10:50 10:50 10:51 10:51 10:51 10:52 10:53 10:53 10:54 10:54 10:54 10:55 10:55 10:55 10:55 10:56 10:56 10:57 10:57 10:57 10:58 10:58 ๐ 10:58 ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ 11:08 ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ 11:21 ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ 11:24 ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐
@veaotavn1005
9 ะฐะน ะฑาฑััะฝ
๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐
@veaotavn1005
9 ะฐะน ะฑาฑััะฝ
๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐
Like an American: let's discuss the difficulty the French have with pronouncing the English short "i" sound. Happily, the mispronunciation doesn't hinder comprehension . It's extraordinarily difficult to describe physically because the sound is produced by larynx control, not the tongue, lips, or mouth. Personally, I find foreign accents charming. Vive les accents รฉtrangers!
@KevDaly
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
In my native New Zealand English that sound is very often replaced by schwa (the unstressed vowel), in keeping with our preference for mumbling.
@maxducoudray
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
@@KevDaly Tons of vowels become schwas in American English as well. Unstressed syllables often become schwas.
@KevDaly
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
@@maxducoudray We do it with unstressed vowels as well - so both syllables in 'river' are often pronounced with the same vowel.
@timotheelegrincheux2204
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
You are mistaken saying that the short i sound is produced in the larynx. It is instead a question of the position of the tongue in the mouth. Look at a vowel chart online.
@timotheelegrincheux2204
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
@@KevDaly You can't have two unstressed syllables in a two-syllable word. In RIVER, for example, the first syllable is stressed, so the i sound cannot be a schwa. The vowel in the second (unstressed) syllable is indeed pronounced as a schwa.
If I had one centime every time I hear people say Le (like the English pronounciation) for the definite article masculine in French, eg "le" train.. And that's not just anglophones either. The alphabet is essential learning in the early stages of any Latin European language.
Bravo! C est trรจs bien expliquรฉ! ( Quรฉbec)๐ Le franรงais sera moins un ยซ mystรจre ยซ pour beaucoup dโ anglophones
Impressive
We were in Paris and Lyon last month and a week also after interacting with folks there, we realized that we had been pronouncing the AIN wrong. We had been pronouncing the vowel sound like the English words pain, pear, etc. The embarrassing thing is that we had been to France several times before and pronounced the basic everyday word of bread wrong all this time! The only consolation is better late than never.๐
@ajc94
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
Pain and pear have totally different vowel sounds to me ๐ค
@andtrrrot
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
Was the bread good?
@alexysq2660
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@@andtrrrot ...Ou *douloureux* par contre ๐...?! ~๐
@alexysq2660
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"Et peut-e^tre un petit morceau du *Pain Marquis de Sade* quelqu'un ??" ๐คฃ ~๐งก
Bien fait Geraldin! Very good video! I've watched all of it and will make sure to never ever make any of these mistakes. Was very helpful. Thank you so much. Bien fait!
@californiahiker9616
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Lolโฆ.. go see Geraldineโs lesson on bien fait! ๐
@alexysq2660
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@@californiahiker9616 No time wasted in *"never ever* making any of these mistakes" ๐คฃ...! ~๐
When you said "ain" I heard a sound indistinguishable to my ears from the French word "un" (one). Is there a difference?
I find it alot easier to make up my own spelling of words in my head just to perfect the pronounciation first. I would hear the word Longket for example and i would spell it that way. Pronoucing it perfectly. I later found out the word is enquรชte. Much harder to picture how to pronouce. An english speaker will approach it saying enn-kweter. In spoken french this word it is commonly heard with a "l" sound at the start so it was more useful to learn it with it included. I learned french in school, mainly from reading text books. Never gained any confidence in speaking french. I blame my trouble with this learning method. Its full of inconsistencies and traps. Children in real life learn languages by spending years listening and imitating. I dont see why for adults the process should be any different. I have learned other languages successfully by learning the words by text. But i feel this could be a mistake with french because its not properly phonetic.
Many years ago, my French friends used to laugh at me because they heard that I was going off to Cora to buy du sang - whereas I was actually looking for du son - bran. I had a useful lesson on nasal sounds after that โบ๏ธ
@alexysq2660
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
*@Cath Wilson* Faut qu'ils pensaient ces amis en vrai que tu sois vampire toi, quand tu c,a leur as dit, hein ๐ ...?! / Those friends must really have thought you to be a vampire, when you said that to them, yeah ๐...?! ~๐งก
Ain are two sounds, le pain et le lapin:)
Oh so complicated :0
In American English, stress on the syllable is important, such as ADjective, the stress is on AD. Does French have stress on certain syllables? In English it is difficult because it does have to be memorized.
@andtrrrot
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
And in British English the same word may stress the second syllable.
@allisonneapole9064
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
In French, the emphasis is almost always on the last syllable.
@alexysq2660
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
@@allisonneapole9064 Et pour autant que je sache, en "l'accent Parisien" ( ou au moins, en *l'un* des accents de Paris ) souvent ce peut se trouver vraiment sur la premiere syllabe en plus. / From what i understand, in the "Parisian" accent ( or at least, in *one* of the accents of Paris ) it can actually often occur on the first syllable as well. ~ ๐งก
@alexysq2660
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@@andtrrrot Yeah, in quite a few words we Brits place the stress on some syllable different to how Americans generally do; anything to keep matters interesting, no ๐...?! ~๐
@jarandall77
ะัะป ะฑาฑััะฝ
@@allisonneapole9064 Thanks!
If you're having trouble pronouncing "ain", just pronounce it how they do in French Canadian, which has more of an "a" sound and is less nasal.
ยซun bon vin blancยป ยซvin avec du pain et fromageยป -- in, vin, ain pronounce a short eh like in bet, almost like the short a in cat/apple/ash, but with that strong nasal as if you have a bad cold. It will come out somewhere between แบฝ and หรฆ, close to pan in English. This is what you want for "ain, win, in." The "ien" is y- like in yellow plus that en or Anne sound: bien /byแบฝ/ /b'yann, b'yens/. Bien, mien, tien, sien, Parisien, and so on. French an and en otherwise are like a nasalize ah; French on is like a nasalized oh or aw. French un, ลn, eun is like eu or ล nasalized. It is slightly different from uh like in but or short u / oo like in put, push/pull, book, look. Say eh but round the lips for aw for open/short eu / ล; Say ay but round the lips for oh for cose/long eu / ล [รธ]; The nasal version is the open/short eh/aw /ล/ sound, just very nasalized, that bad cold again. Wiki and some other sites have audio recordings of these. Mlle ou Mme Prof Gรฉraldine Lepรจre here says her "ain" sounds more like "un" than "ain". One other bit: many French dialects now tend to merge un into in, so instead of nasalized /หล/ you have /แบฝ/ for both sounds. But for non-native, especially American students learning French, be very careful to pronounce these distinctly, the textbook standard way, and you will be understood more clearly. Practice un bon vin blanc, avec du pain et forage. Practice all those letter spelling combinations so you get them right: ( an/en, in/ain/ein; ien, on, un/eun/ลn ). Oh! One more: oil/oim = /wแบฝ/ almost like wann (ฤ as in apple), or wenn, not wahn or won or wawn. The oin/oim is w- like in wet or water plus that same /แบฝ/ nasal like Anne. LAN, WAN -> French lain, ouain, oin; (ouain or ouin would be French spellings also like oin.) So coin, loin, soin, moins, Bรฉdouin, and so on.
Bah en vrai ce sont trop merveilleux tous ces renseignements que tu nous fasses cadeaux, ma chere **Geraldine*,* comme toujours a` vrai dire, et du coup en fait je dois te bien remercier quoi ๐...!! Au fait, je me demande si peut-e^tre c'est possible tu pourrais faire/realiser une video qui explique le regle pour quand juste - surtout au debut d'une phrase - vraiment c'est bon qu'on dise "il est" et quand juste qu'on meilleur dirait "c'est", en fait lorsqu'on parle de - ou, en faisant allusion a` - quelqu'un, je veux dire...? Et pardon stp mon pc - qui s'appelle un "Livre-Chrome" - bah bof, que c,a me permet pas du tout de pouvoir taper les "lettres particulieres" du franc,ais je crains ๐.... ~Bisous โค๐โค
@baxtercol
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J'aime bien votre bon humeur, ce qui me fait bien. C'est bon ! โบ๏ธ
@alexysq2660
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@@baxtercol Ah, et merci autant alors; en vrai c'est ravissante de toi pour dire un tel truc: tu es hyper bien sympa toi, ayant rendu trop mm meilleur mon "bon humeur" ๐...!! ~Bisous ๐๐
Number one mistake is trying to speak French :)
@alexysq2660
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*@digrigx* ...๐...! ~๐
@jazminew38
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