it's all about the liasons and silent letters

in the same way that we say 'a nappl' (linking the words and dropping the end of the word 'apple') for 'an apple', the french say 'le chie nest dangereu' for 'le chien est dangereux'

There are lots of letter combinations that aren't pronounced in french - you have to learn them. The final 't', the final 's', the final 'ent'. A final 'n' or 'm' is normally not pronounced either, but hte previous sound is nasalised. Except when it's a liasion (like in 'chien est').

a double 'l' is a 'y', a 'oi' is a 'wa', the 'r' is impossible to pronounce unles you've practised for about four years. The 'ou' is different to the 'u' and makes a big difference (beaucoup, beau cul) - the first is like an exagerrated 'oo' sound, the second is halfway between 'oo' and 'ee';

Its all down to practise and familiarisation. try regularly listening to the french radio on MW, not to understand it but just to sensibiise yourself with the vowes and cadences of the language.

Posted By: Dave in France on July 8th 2009 at 18:32:10

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