@hakamiel Bonjour ! Thank you for your interesting comment. Are you saying that your French customers think you are German instead of Flemish? I regret that I do not know enough about the phonetic properties of Germanic languages to adequately reply. Perhaps someone else who reads your post could enlighten us.
@ClamatoJuiceify Bonjour et merci de votre question ! In "Standard" French, the /r/ is not pronounced with a front trill, even after consonants. However, there are regional variations with the front trill. Your choice of allophone for the /r/ should depend on the usage found in the linguistic community with which you prefer to identify.
When I started repeating you I was smiling so much at how it sounded. Your explanation really helped! My French teacher couldn't explain how to pronounce the R and just let us try and figure it out on our own. From hearing Spanish my whole life, I found that I begun to instinctively roll my R's instead. Now I know, this helped so much! Merci beaucoup!
I'm a totally beginner and the r is really hard.I want to ask if France is more difficult for Chinese native speaker (like me) than English native speaker.I don't know where to start
@edyongbao Bonjour ! I'm not very familiar with the phonetic properties of Mandarin Chinese, but I don't think it contains a sound similar to the French "r". When learning a new language sound, there is a tendency to substitute a similar sound from one's native language until correct pronunciation can be achieved. It's more difficult if no similar sound exists. I would encourage you to simply keep practicing! Bon courage !
@mamasel1906 Je suis d'accord avec vous quant au jeu de mots, mais ce n'était pas fait exprès ! Tous les mots ont été choisis pour leurs traits phonétiques.
@TopShinigami Bonjour ! When you learn a new and different way of producing sounds, it will feel awkward at first. That's normal. However, if your throat is truly hurting, I can only surmise that you may be exerting too much force during the articulation. You could try less force, shorter periods of practice, and sipping water to keep your throat hydrated. Bon courage !
Thank you for making this guide, I'm studying French at the moment and I find this the most difficult part of the pronunciation, very helpful but I still haven't got it right!
I keep trying to do the r, but my r keeps going to that throat noise that is found in arabic languages? Sorry if I sound ignorant - but if you know the language Assyrian, it keeps going to that spitting sort of throat noise they have, instead of the french r (sorry if that sounds offensive, I didn't know how else to explain).
@pixelated111 Bonjour ! Thank you for your comment. If you send me a brief audio file with your pronunciation of the "r", I would be able to give you a more precise reply. Merci !
*Side note: Possibly in future videos could you say the words twice, like back-to-back? (ex. la rue, la rue...sur, sur....) It helps people like me who are repeating after you and like to hear it again to compare or say with you. I mean, I suppose we could pause or rewind...but anyway, it's a suggestion!*
@TheLordsPrecious Bonjour ! Thank you for your suggestion. I'll see if I can make that work in future videos without lengthening them too much. It might work better in audio exercises. Bonne continuation !
@Sendog666 Bonjour ! Please keep trying. Maybe you can work on it three days in a row and then take a one-day break before trying again. You may find that when you go back to it, your pronunciation attempts will be less laborious. I'm sure you'll get it with practice !
@bxs0099 Well, in that case, you know you have the correct position. You'll be able to better control the voiced articulation in the back of your throat with additional practice. Keep up the good work!
@iamkunin Bonjour! Thank you for your comment. What you may be sensing is the uvula beating lightly against the back of the tongue. That would be the uvular rolled version of the French "r". You could try using instead the softer fricative version by positioning the tongue for an English "h" sound and exhaling. The important factor in its pronunciation is to keep the tip of the tongue down behind the lower teeth. Please keep trying and let me know when you succeed!
Merci, Madame! I'm a native English speaker who knows Spanish through my parents and now I'm trying to learn French, talk about completely different R's huh!
@uzerofutube Bravo! As long as the tip of your tongue is down, the articulation (rolled or fricative) is occurring in the back of your throat, and it sounds OK, it should be fine!
@uzerofutube Bonjour! I have a newer video currently available on the FrenchSounds YouTube channel for pronouncing the French "r". Please continue to practice with that one as well. Bonne continuation !
Thank you veeeeery much for the lessons....I'm an Argentinian girl learning French and to be honest the French "r" was driving me crazy until I saw your videos...thanks!
Thanks very much! Maybe I'll get this if I practice regularly! At the moment, it's nearly there but it sounds too much like an English "h" or a Spanish "j". I only seem to be able to get the right sound by staring with an "h".
"Hrrr".
I suppose it's just practice! Merci beaucoup pour l'aide :)
Thank you very much for uploading this video. I had a great difficulty in pronouncing the word R but my french teacher could not help me as he was not of French origin . So your video helped me greatly . Now I am much more confident in Pronouncing any word with R.
Thank you once again ! At least I know that I am going in the right direction now.!
@dkcyw Bonjour and thank you for your question! I thought I had already replied, but now I cannot find my response. It's fine to make a "gurgling" sound for the French "r". As you improve with practice, you should be able to better control the force of exhalation. For the fricative "r", it sounds more like a voiced version of the English "h" (i.e. the vocal cords are vibrating in the larynx). Either one is fine, but the "r" in final position is usually softer. Bon courage!
The French "R" is not that difficult to us, Y because in our alphabetics in Urdu, Arabic, Pashto, Punjabi, Persian, we have the letterr "Ghain" for "R" but at the same time, we pronounce "R" with "Rey" Letter. Khay for K or R. I don't see any such big difficulty while pronouncing the French Words.
@TheMubasharkhan Thank you very much for your interesting comment. I am not familiar with the specifics of pronunciation of most of those languages. If the "r" is easy for you to pronounce in French, I wonder if the same holds true when it is preceded or followed by another consonant, as in "très" or "arbre".
@skybluedotyen1 Bonjour! Have you been practicing the French "r" during these past few months? If so, I hope you've succeeded in pronouncing it correctly!
Thank you for your teaching=) I have been in troubles with the French R(I am an asian) and it is nice that you teach us the French R clearly=D
And I am going to present a few French sentences for introducing myself about 3 days later...I think I have to train my French R as I think it will be quite embarrassing to say it in an incorrect way=( is it?
Last but not least, Thank you for you teaching again=)
@mary199314 Bonjour! I hope your presentation was a success! If you make an effort to pronounce the French "r" properly, it should not be embarrassing even if you don't succeed right away. As long as your speech is understandable, communication has been achieved. With practice you should get it eventually. Bonne continuation!
Thank you so much, I didn't expexct to find this help on yoytube! This advice saves me trying to find a native French speaking person for help with "r"! Much appreciated! :)
Bonjour, SoniaBertacchini, et bienvenue sur la chaîne de FrenchSounds! I always tell my students to practice their most difficult sounds every day until the pronunciation becomes "automatic." Learning to speak another language requires a complex set of skills, like learning to play a musical instrument. One needs daily practice for optimal results--perhaps a few minutes several times per day, or 15 to 30 minutes once per day, depending on your schedule and motivation. Bon courage !
hello, this is very helpful, seeing the mouth moving. I want to ask you how long time someone should exercise everyday and for how many days? there seems no serious guides on this topic
I am Flemish,a dutch speaking Belgian,my french customers allways think I am German,because of my weak R ?
hakamiel 1 week ago
@hakamiel Bonjour ! Thank you for your interesting comment. Are you saying that your French customers think you are German instead of Flemish? I regret that I do not know enough about the phonetic properties of Germanic languages to adequately reply. Perhaps someone else who reads your post could enlighten us.
frenchsounds 1 week ago
bonjour!!! thanks for the vids!!!they are really helpful!Have a nice day.
melhias 2 weeks ago
I'm french and i love when people are talking in french, they have a very cute accent ! Good job, your french is really good
Celebritysoon 1 month ago
Is there no rolling of the tongue at all for french R's? I thought for like "grand" you roll the R :S
ClamatoJuiceify 2 months ago
@ClamatoJuiceify Bonjour et merci de votre question ! In "Standard" French, the /r/ is not pronounced with a front trill, even after consonants. However, there are regional variations with the front trill. Your choice of allophone for the /r/ should depend on the usage found in the linguistic community with which you prefer to identify.
frenchsounds 1 month ago
When I started repeating you I was smiling so much at how it sounded. Your explanation really helped! My French teacher couldn't explain how to pronounce the R and just let us try and figure it out on our own. From hearing Spanish my whole life, I found that I begun to instinctively roll my R's instead. Now I know, this helped so much! Merci beaucoup!
Yuki7429 2 months ago
I'm a totally beginner and the r is really hard.I want to ask if France is more difficult for Chinese native speaker (like me) than English native speaker.I don't know where to start
thx~
edyongbao 3 months ago
@edyongbao Bonjour ! I'm not very familiar with the phonetic properties of Mandarin Chinese, but I don't think it contains a sound similar to the French "r". When learning a new language sound, there is a tendency to substitute a similar sound from one's native language until correct pronunciation can be achieved. It's more difficult if no similar sound exists. I would encourage you to simply keep practicing! Bon courage !
frenchsounds 2 months ago
@frenchsounds merci!
edyongbao 2 months ago
Very helpful! People in my french class are baffled that I do the r so well! thanks!
bosslady050208 3 months ago
I'm French and this video is so fuuny to me :D "Richard"
mamasel1906 3 months ago
@mamasel1906 Je suis d'accord avec vous quant au jeu de mots, mais ce n'était pas fait exprès ! Tous les mots ont été choisis pour leurs traits phonétiques.
frenchsounds 2 months ago
I kept practicing the r sound but then my throat started hurting D:. Is there an explanation for this? Thank you for the tips by the way!
TopShinigami 3 months ago
@TopShinigami Bonjour ! When you learn a new and different way of producing sounds, it will feel awkward at first. That's normal. However, if your throat is truly hurting, I can only surmise that you may be exerting too much force during the articulation. You could try less force, shorter periods of practice, and sipping water to keep your throat hydrated. Bon courage !
frenchsounds 3 months ago
Thank you for making this guide, I'm studying French at the moment and I find this the most difficult part of the pronunciation, very helpful but I still haven't got it right!
Boskerish 4 months ago
I keep trying to do the r, but my r keeps going to that throat noise that is found in arabic languages? Sorry if I sound ignorant - but if you know the language Assyrian, it keeps going to that spitting sort of throat noise they have, instead of the french r (sorry if that sounds offensive, I didn't know how else to explain).
pixelated111 4 months ago
@pixelated111 Bonjour ! Thank you for your comment. If you send me a brief audio file with your pronunciation of the "r", I would be able to give you a more precise reply. Merci !
frenchsounds 4 months ago
Thank you for these examples. Helpful again.
*Side note: Possibly in future videos could you say the words twice, like back-to-back? (ex. la rue, la rue...sur, sur....) It helps people like me who are repeating after you and like to hear it again to compare or say with you. I mean, I suppose we could pause or rewind...but anyway, it's a suggestion!*
TheLordsPrecious 5 months ago
@TheLordsPrecious Bonjour ! Thank you for your suggestion. I'll see if I can make that work in future videos without lengthening them too much. It might work better in audio exercises. Bonne continuation !
frenchsounds 5 months ago
i just love french speech and it's quite comfortable for me to study french, but this "R" makes me stop every time i fail.
Sendog666 5 months ago
@Sendog666 Bonjour ! Please keep trying. Maybe you can work on it three days in a row and then take a one-day break before trying again. You may find that when you go back to it, your pronunciation attempts will be less laborious. I'm sure you'll get it with practice !
frenchsounds 5 months ago
Thanks for the tips. You've been very helpful!
rooooooby 5 months ago
it sounds like i'm growling or clearing my throat
bxs0099 5 months ago
@bxs0099 Well, in that case, you know you have the correct position. You'll be able to better control the voiced articulation in the back of your throat with additional practice. Keep up the good work!
frenchsounds 5 months ago
too hard to do it... there's something in the throat that seems to spit out when I'm trying to pronounce this specific french letter,
iamkunin 5 months ago
@iamkunin Bonjour! Thank you for your comment. What you may be sensing is the uvula beating lightly against the back of the tongue. That would be the uvular rolled version of the French "r". You could try using instead the softer fricative version by positioning the tongue for an English "h" sound and exhaling. The important factor in its pronunciation is to keep the tip of the tongue down behind the lower teeth. Please keep trying and let me know when you succeed!
frenchsounds 5 months ago
This is so hard but this was helpful.i will replay it over and over.thanks
cr1490 5 months ago
Merci, Madame! I'm a native English speaker who knows Spanish through my parents and now I'm trying to learn French, talk about completely different R's huh!
TheDaaani14 5 months ago
I think I got it! But I'm not sure I got it the right way...
uzerofutube 6 months ago
@uzerofutube Bravo! As long as the tip of your tongue is down, the articulation (rolled or fricative) is occurring in the back of your throat, and it sounds OK, it should be fine!
frenchsounds 5 months ago
It's the uvular trill, I'm not sure I got that.
More lesson on this one? Please?
uzerofutube 6 months ago
@uzerofutube Bonjour! I have a newer video currently available on the FrenchSounds YouTube channel for pronouncing the French "r". Please continue to practice with that one as well. Bonne continuation !
frenchsounds 5 months ago
Thank you veeeeery much for the lessons....I'm an Argentinian girl learning French and to be honest the French "r" was driving me crazy until I saw your videos...thanks!
tucumanian7 7 months ago
Thanks very much! Maybe I'll get this if I practice regularly! At the moment, it's nearly there but it sounds too much like an English "h" or a Spanish "j". I only seem to be able to get the right sound by staring with an "h".
"Hrrr".
I suppose it's just practice! Merci beaucoup pour l'aide :)
pianodemon66 7 months ago
Very good lesson :)
Thanks a lot
awakeningrlz 7 months ago in playlist french
Merci beaucoup! I struggled with this so much. I kept getting «you are so cute». so thank you for helping me sound better. :)
kreic029 8 months ago
The explanation of the tongue positions helps soooo much. I get the "r" sound now. Please continue these pronunciation videos.
lherman22 9 months ago
Thank you very much for uploading this video. I had a great difficulty in pronouncing the word R but my french teacher could not help me as he was not of French origin . So your video helped me greatly . Now I am much more confident in Pronouncing any word with R.
Thank you once again ! At least I know that I am going in the right direction now.!
sahajad 10 months ago
Thank you so much! I had never been able to pronounce the french R and now I can! Merci Beacoup j'aime vos videos!
raularmandozc12 10 months ago
Thanks so much! I don't know that I will ever get this, but I feel I have a way to practice and try to get closer now!
oslin1 10 months ago
Thanks so much for EXPLAINING the huge differences between English and French pronunciation of the "R" - c'est super!
yakrodave 11 months ago
am i supposed to intentionally make that "gurgling" sound after the R? otherwise, i just get an almost english H sound coming out.
feels like if i wanted to mimic the gurgling, i have to let out a lot of air while pronouncing the R.
dkcyw 11 months ago
@dkcyw Bonjour and thank you for your question! I thought I had already replied, but now I cannot find my response. It's fine to make a "gurgling" sound for the French "r". As you improve with practice, you should be able to better control the force of exhalation. For the fricative "r", it sounds more like a voiced version of the English "h" (i.e. the vocal cords are vibrating in the larynx). Either one is fine, but the "r" in final position is usually softer. Bon courage!
frenchsounds 5 months ago
The French "R" is not that difficult to us, Y because in our alphabetics in Urdu, Arabic, Pashto, Punjabi, Persian, we have the letterr "Ghain" for "R" but at the same time, we pronounce "R" with "Rey" Letter. Khay for K or R. I don't see any such big difficulty while pronouncing the French Words.
TheMubasharkhan 5 months ago
@TheMubasharkhan Thank you very much for your interesting comment. I am not familiar with the specifics of pronunciation of most of those languages. If the "r" is easy for you to pronounce in French, I wonder if the same holds true when it is preceded or followed by another consonant, as in "très" or "arbre".
frenchsounds 5 months ago
OMG it sounds so difficult T_T
skybluedotyen1 11 months ago
@skybluedotyen1 Bonjour! Have you been practicing the French "r" during these past few months? If so, I hope you've succeeded in pronouncing it correctly!
frenchsounds 5 months ago
Thank you for your teaching=) I have been in troubles with the French R(I am an asian) and it is nice that you teach us the French R clearly=D
And I am going to present a few French sentences for introducing myself about 3 days later...I think I have to train my French R as I think it will be quite embarrassing to say it in an incorrect way=( is it?
Last but not least, Thank you for you teaching again=)
mary199314 11 months ago
@mary199314 Bonjour! I hope your presentation was a success! If you make an effort to pronounce the French "r" properly, it should not be embarrassing even if you don't succeed right away. As long as your speech is understandable, communication has been achieved. With practice you should get it eventually. Bonne continuation!
frenchsounds 5 months ago
This really helped. I never knew that my tongue needed to go behind my bottom teeth. Merci, beaucoup!
TheCoCoMixer 11 months ago
Thank you so much, I didn't expexct to find this help on yoytube! This advice saves me trying to find a native French speaking person for help with "r"! Much appreciated! :)
flyinglegoz 1 year ago
Bonjour, SoniaBertacchini, et bienvenue sur la chaîne de FrenchSounds! I always tell my students to practice their most difficult sounds every day until the pronunciation becomes "automatic." Learning to speak another language requires a complex set of skills, like learning to play a musical instrument. One needs daily practice for optimal results--perhaps a few minutes several times per day, or 15 to 30 minutes once per day, depending on your schedule and motivation. Bon courage !
frenchsounds 1 year ago
@frenchsounds thank you for the advices. thanks for your vides
SoniaBertacchini 1 year ago
hello, this is very helpful, seeing the mouth moving. I want to ask you how long time someone should exercise everyday and for how many days? there seems no serious guides on this topic
SoniaBertacchini 1 year ago
Great!
This seems to be the letter that I'm having the most trouble with and your guidance helps. (:
Thank you.
pandoralachti 1 year ago