SpringBreeze Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 What part of speaking French is hard for you? For me, it's pronouncing the "r" properly. I have the hardest time rolling my r's backwards. (I call it rolling backwards because in Spanish I say rolling forward.) So what about you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirTenenbaum Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 I might have a helpful tip for pronouncing the French "r". The sound is produced by vibrating your uvula, which is exactly what you do when you gargle water. Act like you're gargling water in your mouth without the water, and you've pronounced the French "r"! I agree that it is difficult to handle, but with some practice you can get more control over it.What I've done in the past that has helped is to practice syllables with "r" in isolation. For example I would practice saying ra, re, ri, ro, ru and ar, er, ir, or, ur with the French "r" of course and French vowels. Doing these little exercises once in a while made it easier when I needed to speak spontaneously.Anybody else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringBreeze Posted December 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 I might have a helpful tip for pronouncing the French "r". The sound is produced by vibrating your uvula, which is exactly what you do when you gargle water. Act like you're gargling water in your mouth without the water, and you've pronounced the French "r"! I agree that it is difficult to handle, but with some practice you can get more control over it.What I've done in the past that has helped is to practice syllables with "r" in isolation. For example I would practice saying ra, re, ri, ro, ru and ar, er, ir, or, ur with the French "r" of course and French vowels. Doing these little exercises once in a while made it easier when I needed to speak spontaneously.Anybody else?Omg, that's seriously the best tip. I just tried the gargle suggestion and then used it with your isolation suggestion... What a difference. If there was a "like" button on here, I'd press it a million times. I can't believe with all the French language classes I've been to, this is the first time I'm hearing this trick. Seriously, thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inamillion Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 What part of speaking French is hard for you? For me, it's pronouncing the "r" properly. I have the hardest time rolling my r's backwards. (I call it rolling backwards because in Spanish I say rolling forward.) So what about you?The hardest part of speaking French for me is the pronunciation of the words. Saying the words with the rolling is a bit difficult for me. I tend to pronounce the words with the English sound and its not like that at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScratchNSniff Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 I used to think I had a great accent, but it turned out I was over pronouncing words. Words like "voiture" and “chaussure", that long "u" sound I'm told I say poorly. It's said with more breath than I'm used to. And some other sounds are difficult for me. On the other hand I'm told I say some things perfectly, so it helps with the process of learning to have that kind of feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senji Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 I might have a helpful tip for pronouncing the French "r". The sound is produced by vibrating your uvula, which is exactly what you do when you gargle water. Act like you're gargling water in your mouth without the water, and you've pronounced the French "r"! I agree that it is difficult to handle, but with some practice you can get more control over it.What I've done in the past that has helped is to practice syllables with "r" in isolation. For example I would practice saying ra, re, ri, ro, ru and ar, er, ir, or, ur with the French "r" of course and French vowels. Doing these little exercises once in a while made it easier when I needed to speak spontaneously.Anybody else?Wow this is really helpful advice. I've always had trouble with pronunciation. Thank you so much for this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. L Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Um, the hardest part about speaking French for me is speaking French. I have very few people avec qui je peux pratiquer. I can write and listen to French. I can understand it fairly well but I cannot speak it as well. My pronunciation is great apparently but my vocab is not well developed and I find it hard to find my words sometimes. I often end up talking around a subject rather than about the intended subject matter, arg!:speechless: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sillylucy Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I think for me it's the fast speaking. I can not keep up with fast talkers. Native speakers are so quick. I wish I could speak that fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow_Moonbeam Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 I have difficulty with the French Rs too. I've spent half my time learning ways to get around them (eg pas souvent instead of rarement). I'll have to try the gargling technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esperahol Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 I am rather poor at the whole "nasal" quality thing - I just can't get my pronunciation to come out right and it erks me. Apparently I am just much, much better at Spanish and Latin and even Japanese (although I suck at putting the right emphasis on all my vowels). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick87 Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Remembering conjugations is the hardest part for me. I always get up the they and you forms of words. I just have to keep practicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ductypu Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I've always found that the hardest part about speaking french, was having the gall to actually start speaking! I mean, compared to my classmates, I'm always far ahead of them in terms of ability, but there's always something that makes me too nervous to actually speak it in real scenarios. I feel as though french speakers are a bit protective about their language, so I really have to just dive right in and accept that I'm going to be criticized to hell, if I ever want to attain fluency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angie51 Posted May 31, 2014 Report Share Posted May 31, 2014 The hardest thing about speaking French, is actually trying to talk in French. I know this is because I do not have very much confidence in my ability to hold a proper conversation, as a result I find myself struggling to find the proper words. I do not have any problem with writing or understanding and following a conversation in French. I know I will just have to obtain more confidence, and my problem shall no longer exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicardoRodrigues Posted August 19, 2014 Report Share Posted August 19, 2014 The hardest part for me is certainly remembering some vocabulary when I need it. Sometimes I just mix words in my mind and I keep speaking English words in the middle of a French conversation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trellum Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 For me is the spelling, because my mother language is a romance one, so spelling some words the right way in french is kinda hard, because many of them look a lot like some words we have in Spanish. So I had to be careful with that. For some reason pronunciation comes naturally for me, specially the ''r'', but it must be because I speak a romance language already who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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