Learn French 6: French R

[Clemsonandcubsfan1]

I am a native french speaker, but I have lived in english speaking countries for most of my life. Today I was speaking in french with some of my friends, and for some reason I could not pronounce words with R's in them well, or pronounce sentences/names that have r's in 2 consecutive words (e.g Serge Gainsbourg) . I have been practicing for a while now, and I almost feel concerned that I can't even pronounce words of my mother tongue so suddenly.

[Snipekiller500]

@Clemsonandcubsfan1 i always wondered if it was possible to forget your mother tounge. What if someone became fluent and anohter language and began to surround himself with that langauge- environment and mentallity-is it possible to over time forget his primary language. I mean if i take a math course like geometry i`m gradually going to forget some of the concepts over time because i`m not using it. Does the same principals apply to language as well

[Clemsonandcubsfan1]

@Snipekiller500 I believe it is very possible to forget your cradle tongue, but I think it would be very difficult to forget your native tongue. It is definitely possible to become less proficient in a language. In my case, I grew up speaking 4 languages, but I mostly speak english now. After years of just speaking english, I consider english to be my best language.

[Uberboy07]

I think it's cool that it's in black & white (:

[jovimprevot]

marry me



[kasuki1612]

you[re really funny <3

[varekai918]

t'es trop mignon!

[uzerofutube]

A camera from the 19 century.

[creativetest71]

whats your madre lingua? English or Français?

[FreakingWillow]

Thank you so much whoever you are :]

[JapaneseAnya]

did somebody punch you int the left eye? :O

[jhormanrodriguez]

Buen video, gracias

[EmphaticallyJack]

0:07, not to be pedantic but it's "pronunciation", not "pronounciation".

[AimeeViolette]

wow, you're so awesome. thank you.

[xXPurpleLoliTranceXx]

Damn, this is frustrating.

[07969683040]

Guys listen.. to pronounce the french 'R' every time you say a french word with the 'R' ... say they word 'air' instead because that's how it is pronounced.. it is pronounced from the back of your throat (like eurrghh or air)...

so pronounce air with emphasis on the 'r' and you will be pronouncing the french 'r'...

Now apply that emphasis to words like... AU REVOIR or DE REIN

[drjackal779]

@07969683040 Yes, that's exactly how they pronounce R in alphabet, aiRRRR

[bellyfold]

this helped!thanks for the vid.

[mykenae]

This helps a lot thanks!!

[Lelena]

I'd rather say that the R sound comes from your throat. :)

[NBear927]

Thanks a lot!

[benxander]

General American, Irish, Bristolian and West Country accents tend to pronounce 'r' in any word that r is present, whereas in Received Pronunication (aka the normal British accent or home counties accent) we don't.

[laughingtony]

Hahaha @ 1:03. I've been studying French for a couple of weeks now. I can pronounce the R at the end of words, but it's so difficult to do when it's in the middle of them. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. Nice videos.

[FrenchDayana]

The french "r is difficult for a foreigner. personnally, my french accent is terrible, i am trying to lose it but i can't.

[partepupu]

felicidades muy buenas clases desde mexico

[Lavenderrose73]

"Like if you're spitting"...

No, don't worry about it, I actually told my apartment manager as I was paying my rent (I had just started my new semester) that the French R sounded like you're trying to cough up phlegm and we both laughed. She told me she took French and she couldn't do it either.

Heck, I was told French was harder than Spanish, but I figured it was because of different words or something. I didn't know it would be harder to SPEAK it!!! Like you, I was like "NOT!" Lol

[Nabo00o]

@Lavenderrose73

I have heard that originally the French language did use the 'R' sound that we are used to, with the tung instead of the thing going on inside the mouth. But then there was a rich nobleman which had a pronunciation problem and couldn't make the normal 'R' sound, and after a while more and more people started to imitate him and use his way instead. Today it isn't just France, but many countries, including the south region of Norway, which has switched to the other 'R' sound.

[Lavenderrose73]

@Nabo00o Well... I guess I have pronunciation problems "having pronunciation problems" so like him I'll just say it the way I'M able to say it. x P Lol

But thanks, and I guess my instructor accepts however I can pronounce the words too.

[Lelena]

@Nabo00o An accent of a region here in Brazil was also influenced by nobles. When the Royal Court came from Portugal, everyone tried to imitate their S, so there are places here where you hear people use the S like a snake hiss and places you hear people doing the S like a 'shhh'. :P

[sweetscorpious]

please write the words that you say..

you need a board where you explain the class..

thank you.

[almohallas]

Keep it up!

[01susana]

this pisses me off.. sometimes i'm like YEAHHH i can do it! .. and other times i just sound like an idiot hahaha

[Geeljasjes]

Best way to practice that French R is to gargle.

[Nowl8]

how on earth do you pronounce "regret" without sounding like an idiot, i canttttttttt

[aman4peace]

she is good with these words R is hard to sound out..I believe if to practice well at a point to re play the what the word sounds like

[neeraj2608]

I'm sure you've heard this countless times before, but you are HOT!!!!!!!! Wow :)

(sorry, I made a typo in my last comment)

[cawmila]

Leyla, je suis brasilian... im really enjoying your videos... I can help of saying, but you're really really really beautiful...

Merci

au revouiR

[ILuvOmarionG]

I like how you pronounced 'word' in an English accent. That was spot on lol :)

[sstus1]

Why are you so good at French? You are an American right?

[dalemillssydney]

a bit pedantic, but you mispronounced 'pronunciation.' It is proNUNciation, and not proNOUNciation.

[jaegerhund]

I hear that the English "th" sound is hard to produce for learners of English. Is this true?

[Kei714]

@jaegerhund lol my french professor pronounces mother like maver and neither like neiver etc

[Astamalana]

@jaegerhund To french leaners yes it is, because "th" in french you have 2 or 3 way to pronounce it.

ex : The cat => in french : De cat, Ze cat..

It is kind of a mixt, and you can get confused while trying to find the good sound rather than just say it ^^.

[pyeclam]

I am taking French now in college, and it's a million times harder than Spanish because of all the sound omissions. The 'r' isn't easy for me either without spitting up my lunch.

[plutogirllovekj]

I actually find that the omissions make it easier than Spanish for me. I can read and write Spanish, but when I hear it, it often sounds like mumbo-jumbo, but I can understand French when I hear it much better! I am from the West Indies, and we pronounce our "R" more British-like, so the French "R" is not so hard for me, I am sure it's very hard for Americans, because you roll you "R's" sooooo much, you really over-emphasize your "R's"!!! Only the Spaniards do it more!!

[arminom]

@plutogirllovekj so true...

[jaegerhund]

@plutogirllovekj ----really ? I'm American and I didn't know we competed with the Spanish in rolling our "r's".  It seems that the Scottish would be noteworthy as well. Some Americans in the south and east coast do drop their "r's" though . Cool stuff. Merci beaucoup.

[plutogirllovekj]

@jaegerhund You're right about the Scots, perhaps you can even add the Irish too, and perhaps "roll" isn't the correct description of the American "r". But you definitely over-emphasize your "r's" waaaay too much. You also overstate the vowel sounds at the end of words. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but when you attempt to speak languages like Spanish or French properly you have a harder time perfecting those accents.

[loicplayer]

Don't bother, french find the english accent cute :3

[pinkyluv310]

hahaha thats funny they find OUR accent cute?? thats funny. They are just sexy. lol.

[loicplayer]

you'd find french less cute if you were french...

(I like when someone who doesn't know me at all say that I'm sexy ^_^)

[pinkyluv310]

omg yes....i think all french guys are sexy...lol.

well....some, but that accent...OMG the accent. lol. thats fkn sexy [[grrr]] :P

[occocooccoco]

Really? I get kind of pissed off.

[Tigrisar]

there is no english accent

[loicplayer]

Er... If you're english and if you learn french, you'll probably have an accent like I have when I speak english...

[NamedTube]

Not necessarily. My French is bloody awful, so I just assumed I must have a terrible accent, too. But I was told I barely have one, aside from my difficulty with the "R" haha

[kittyminty]

I wish the english accent in my language was cute... but mostly it just sounds silly... pitty... My language is flemish (dutch from belgium)

[hanlita]

@kittyminty actually i find dutch accents soo cute. its a lil more thn cute..its the opposite of chinese. lol. no offense meant china. but yea.

[darklaw84]

franchement bravo pour toute les langues que tu a appris !!! je taff mon english accent pour devenir vraiment bilaingue mais pas facile !! ;)

[mercatorblue]

the video was really scary though, oh god. when you first did the R sound i jumped.. its just the blurry b/w vid though, not you

[TheMissy51]

it's so funny! but it's true...

I'm french; and I know it's difficult to say the R! but we use it in every sentences... I think it's like when I try to say the "th" in english! I don't know how to tell it cause I don't use it in french... but it doesn't matter if you don't know how to say it...they can understand! but it's a good explanation anyway ^^ RRRRRR

[SomeUser9753]

I'm hopeless

[r4ryanc]

nice explanation yet very very creepy lol

i cant help laughing when i see your scary face

[iSNEEZES]

Someone needs a better video camera.

[levintine777]

then how to pronounce my name?? i know french version of "rainer" is "rainier" (rai-nee-é)

anyway, it helps man, thx^^

[PierreLombardini]

how many languages can you speak? french, spanish, american and (england) english, japanese and chinese????

[blueskysuburbangrave]

You're funny. :) Thanks for the vid.

[leshark]

french makes u sexier, its a scientific fact

[moh459]

lol

[hiphopopotamus5]

ohh really ? :P

[lehiochoa]

is that true?

[usamerican152]

hi, very good video. i love the way you speak british and american english! I also think you speak french well, epsecially the r's. I, however, will probably never be able to do it.

[templje]

For the english speakers, I had it described by keeping your tounge low and let the tip press against the bottom teeth. The sound is on the back of the tongue. Hope that helps

[ravel111]

Dude, this helps a lot... you should tell everyone this haha. Thanks! Now I can hack/cough my way through french class.

[templje]

Is French your mothertongue? If so your english accent is awesome. Very Clear

[ctenophor]

pronounciation lol. it is pronouced, pro nun ciation. lol

lol, good vid though.....

[PhilipJFryFanatic825]

i´m not intrested in frech but i was bore and the r sounds funny ch ch ch:D

[Tosycyzkiewicy]

Je prononce les "r" trop souvent comme Mireille Mathieu. J'aime cette maniere de la prononciation.

[Pourquorazzi]

The 'R' is so hard, but I'm practicing.

[surf1620]

french ppl call it : ugly R

[dam3d3car0]

I've been trying to analyse how I pronounce the "r", and I just open the mouth a little and blow. Actually it's between the Spanish "j" and the English "h"... ^^

[piron416]

wow nice beautiful girl, kinda asian black mix love it.

[crayzidesi]

the best way i can do the r is if i hold some saliva at the back of my throat..otherwise i can't make the noise properly..it ends up sounding more like an h

[toukimumu]

Thats quite good you are doing well. And I agree with the fact that it sounds like someone spitting... I said it to someone that wanted to learn some french things too ^^ "say it like you wanna spit, or like an animal" and it can work.

[alyel47]

woow..u can speak jap french american english and english.. *thumbs up !!!

[koollerman]

Hi in the first video that I saw about the words coocoo doodoo and so on, were you speaking chineese or french. ok, now don't get me wrong.

[Karbonskabe]

so what?

[cumbas]

pretty girl and nice french accent

...

So, perfect video ^^

5*****

[cumbas]

je dois arrêter de trop regarder tes vidéos (très intructives en plus pour les non francophones) parce que je vais finir par tomber amoureux ^^

[Bastat17]

Not all are fat.

Do some research,dumbass.

[carlottadu33]

your french accent is very good ! (and my english is not well ... xD)

bonne chance pour vos cours de français! =)

[bdd549]

I pronouce the r like i am getting ready to get flem out of my throat

[bigVC25]

no it's only them who did it, it's not supposed to be rolled like the other latin "r"s

[jessicalvarez]

i dont get it

[jorgento]

Hi, do letters S, T and E vanish at the end of french words?

[bigVC25]

it depends

[WeirdBird]

Some people mentioned the similarity between French and German "r"s. In Fact, in both languages the place of articulation is the uvula and in both languages the "r"s can be produced by vibration or friction, but the manner of articulation rather depends on the dialect of the speaker and not on the language. However, the only difference between German and French "r" is that Germans pronounce "r"s like short "a"s at the end of syllables, while final "r"s remain consonants in French.

[guillermo77130]

une parfaite bilingue

[whatstoya]

My mom taught me how to say "I love Paris" in french. SHe over-does the r in it.

[Lamnont]

Yah in American accent you hear the "r" in word, it's because our american english is more conservative in pronouciation.

[haygd0340]

the rain -- in spain -- falls mainly on the plain

[nawabi911]

she got nice pussy if the way she speak is total frustrating people form learing of franch i dont know why people ou la la

[jordavjoan]

I like your french lessons but because the lessons are not in order like lesson 1,2,3 ....I find i difficult to track lessons, I have to be looking everywhere for the next lesson. S'il vu plait, can u arranage these lessons with some consistency??

Good job anyhow and keep it up

Nuff love from Jamaica. oh sorry, Jamaique...

[LSecret]

There's no pedagogical order so you can watch them in any order you like. It's not a beginner's course.

And usually the next lesson is the video response.

Please pay attention!!

[MissusFingerBottom]

I'm taking fresh lessons for beginners now, and from what I observe the "r" sounds like an "h". In my beginner's opinion, I just leave out the "r" and make an "h" sound.. e.g. restaurant = "hes-tow-haunt". Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, for words like "quatre", sometimes I hear "cut-hurh" but sometimes when my teacher says it fast it's "cut", so I'm not sure.

[LeylaRandomness]

mmmyeah, you can't more or less work it out that way

[moogleii]

You might end up sounding like the Bohemian dude from Moulin Rouge if you do that too much. ;)

[HolyDio666]

replace the "cut" by "cat" ... it will sound better... and if your teacher pronounce QUATRE as "cut"... fired him asap! SO, if you want to say QUA in french, it sound the same as CAT but without the T...

[MissusFingerBottom]

he's awesome, just that you know when people speak fast it sounds different.

[runisle]

I think you'd better work it out to get it right because for some words you don't really hear the "r" but when you're supposed to pronounced it and you use "h" it's gonna sound weird. if for "4" he says /cat/ (quatre) (that's how it may sound sometimes) how would you do the "4th" = quatrième !! So that's my point, work on the "r" as I commented before, pretending you're gargling when the "r" comes out !

[MissusFingerBottom]

for quatrieme, is the "r" is totally soundless?

For me sometimes I find that the "r" is pronounced in a choking way..I have no idea how to describe it, I guess it's something that needs practice!

[runisle]

Hi, for "quatrième" it IS heard, very much pronounced, I'd call it the gargling "r". Just overdo it then you'll see that doing it on and on, you'll get it and when you'll be speaking you'll be able to grasp the subtility of the french pronunciation just as us French people who have to get the "r" and the "th", not an easy task at the start ;)

[darkhadz]

Je parle un petit neerlandais et l'arabe

lol

Do I say it right? XD

The way you pronounce 'g' for Dutch and 'kh' for Arabic is similar to French's 'r'..

But I have a hard time making the 'r' sound, mixed with the 'kh'..

I found it hard to pronounce the 'kh' sound at first when I learnt Arabic, but I got it as soon I started to take more intensive Dutch lessons..

[chansherly212]

yeah! the french R does sound like the arabic kh.. but to my foreign ears, they sound the same! they're both very.. throaty, i practiced for awhile, and my throats dry now

[darkhadz]

I managed to do it ~ kinda,

But I end up exaggerating the 'r' XD

[LoricaLady]

Thanks!

[da15biss]

Thank your for the clarification on the letter "r". I know for many native English speakers, like myself, it is a very difficult sound to master. I am at a very basic french comprehension level right now, but thanks to videos such as yours, and Remy's (I found your video through his French Lesson 7), it makes the process much easier. Salut!

[Duendecillo1993]

thank you so much <3

it's actually my favorite letter to pronounce next to 'on' and 'en'

even though i do have a bit of difficulty with it <3

[hooperxxx]

I hate the French R!!!

It's nearly impossible for an American to do that back of the throat trill... especially in words beginning with the letter F. Try to say "50 Francs" in French if you don't believe me.

[elevensmiles11]

just think of air when you say r, im an american and its not impossible, lol. but i guess it helps a deal that i already knew vietnamese and english before learning french.

[MissusFingerBottom]

I say "air" for "r" too! :)

[jamens]

for a german like me this isnt difficult ;D

[hooperxxx]

Of course. You were the same people, the Franks, at one time.

[runisle]

you may pronounce or practice the french "R" by gargling but without water, try it and you'll get it. Try "Paris", or "garage"... many "r" words

[lucette351709]

Thank you, that was a very very helpful tip, but for some reason the top of my mouth gets dry after a few tries lol

[runisle]

So try it with water then ! lol !We, French people get the top of our mouth dry too, that's why we don't speak much... not !

[Anduy]

lol

[Pitou43]

Tu es né en france ?

Tu parles vraiment bien français et anglais (a priori le japonais!) Vraiment bien, tu as une chance énorme ! :D

[james28493]

How would the french R compare with spanish j or german ch, also in German R's seem to have a fairly similar sound.

[bobomber]

That's really neat that you know both American and British pronunciation! What a genius!

[UtopianWorld]

You are amazing! I thought I was doing good knowing two languages, but not only do you speak 3 you can also do an English and American accent. Wow.

[nfolkving]

Thank you SOOO much for this... I am having so many problems to pronounce the R, I still think it's very hard... argh.. but thank you!

[kawairemon]

OMG you're awsome!! you can speak many language

Are you frech cause the "jte regarde" was so native french lol

[sunny7179]

yeah, she's french.

[Sunsetdreamofsunrise]

if you're able to pronounce all the "r" in the next sentence it's because you are good. (By the way the sentence doesn't make sens so don't try to understand ;) ) >>Je préférerais réussir irréversiblement à apprendre comment rompre la fenêtre de la chambre du gratte-ciel.

haha Good luck :)

[Sunsetdreamofsunrise]

for english people... the "r" has to come from your throath like the "j" in spanish

[ultrachanfles]

u talk too much

[countreebreeze]

this hleps a lot! thanks ^_^ and ur really pretty too

[razzigirl]

'R' the most difficult letter to pronounce in most indo-european languages. And 'h' is usually silent. Odd. Does anyone know why?

[Jacquomonio]

Je ne suis pas tout à fait d'accord. Le "r" français que tu nous as fait a été complétement exagéré et l'apparenter à la crache... c'est dommage.

[vittavi]

yeeep, for me, "r" it's the most difficult one in pronouncing the alphabats. Also "R" in Finnish. o_O trop difficile pour moi...--;;

[AndyITALY07]

from the age of 5-10 a french speaking swiss woman was my babysitter and I spoke decent French

NOW i have forgotten all of my french and live in Italy

I speak really good Italian but I use that FUCKING FRENCH RRR

ppl ask mr if im french all the time

I pronounce french words like a swiss

[crabmansmisterturtle]

tu te la pètes mais tu as un bon accent :)

keep up the good work

[okayawright]

Awesome crash course in phonetics! (I'm looking for the british counterpart of these videos - i.e. british pronounciation explained: any advices?)

[bmc2009]

Want to have fun saying your French R's? Try saying the word: serrurerie (Ça veut dire "locksmith" en anglais.)

[lebluesdubusinessman]

or how about 'vous prefereriez' you would prefer... I don't even know if that is correct as I ge myself co confused trying to say it!

[ylxs11]

tu est vraiment bilingue! très bien!

[hadmebefore]

that was good..  and shes hot lol makes it easier to watch

merci

[Anathema5689]

Effectivement, notre R est pas facile à prononcer...

I learn English, Spanish, German and Japanese, and I never found this sound anywhere else than in my mother tongue...

Anyway, that was a good idea to try to explain! ;)

[dromycatcher]

the German R is alot like the frech r, but i think the french r comes from deeper in the throat than the german r, which is also more articulated..

[izaak791]

オルルルララララ！ヤッタゼ！