Practise French pronunciation, with feedback on your own voice
Read a sentence aloud and see which words came through, how your rhythm and melody compare, and which sounds to work on. Mouth diagrams show exactly where your tongue and lips go.
What you can practise
Read-aloud feedback
Words recognised, rhythm and melody, and coaching on what to fix.
Mouth maps
Diagrams of tongue and lip positions for difficult sounds, compared with the nearest English sound.
Vowel lab
See where your vowels land compared with your own reference, so you can hear and see the difference between u and ou.
Minimal pairs
Train your ear on pairs that differ by one sound, like tu and tout, or vin and vent.
The sounds English speakers find hardest
- /y/ u as in tu, spelled u, û
- /ø/ eu as in deux, spelled eu, œu (at the end of a syllable)
- /œ/ eu as in peur, spelled eu, œu (before a pronounced consonant)
- /ɑ̃/ nasal an / en, spelled an, am, en, em
- /ɔ̃/ nasal on, spelled on, om
- /ɛ̃/ nasal in, spelled in, im, ain, aim, ein, un, um, (i)en
- /ʁ/ French r, spelled r, rr
- /ɥ/ u-glide as in huit, spelled u + vowel (ui, ue…)
10 rules that make French spelling predictable
Final consonants are usually silent
Most final consonants aren't pronounced: petit, grand, nous, trop, Paris. Common exceptions are c, r, f, l (think “CaReFuL”): avec, bonjour, neuf, sel. But -er at the end of verbs is silent: parler = “parlé”.
A final -e is silent (but it changes the consonant before it)
The final e isn't pronounced, but it makes the consonant before it heard: petit (t silent) vs petite (t pronounced). That's often how you hear masculine vs feminine.
-ent on verbs is silent
The third-person plural ending -ent is never pronounced: ils parlent sounds exactly like il parle. But in nouns and adverbs, -ent is a nasal: le vent, souvent.
Nasal vowels: vowel + n/m
A vowel followed by n or m in the same syllable becomes nasal and the n/m isn't pronounced: bon, vin, temps. If the n/m is followed by a vowel, or doubled, there's no nasal: bonne, ami, année.
h is always silent
French h is never pronounced. With a “mute h” you elide and link: l'homme, les‿hommes. With an “aspirate h” (marked in dictionaries) you don't: le héros, les / haricots.
c and g: soft before e, i, y
c = /s/ and g = /ʒ/ before e, i, y; otherwise c = /k/ and g = /g/. Use ç or ge to keep them soft before a, o, u: ça, garçon, mangeons.
Vowel combinations
ou = /u/, oi = /wa/, au and eau = /o/, ai = /ɛ/, eu = /ø/ or /œ/, ui = /ɥi/. Learn them as single sounds.
ill and -il
ill usually sounds like “y”: fille, famille, travailler. After a vowel, -il at the end also sounds like “y”: travail, soleil. Exceptions with an l sound: ville, mille, tranquille.
Liaison: linking a silent consonant
A normally silent final consonant is pronounced before a word starting with a vowel, in close word groups: les‿amis (z), un‿enfant (n), vous‿avez (z), petit‿ami (t). Liaison is compulsory after determiners and pronouns, and forbidden after et.
Stress falls on the last syllable
French has no strong word stress. Syllables are even, with a slight lengthening on the last syllable of each word group: Je voudrais un café. Don't stress the first syllable as in English: “PA-ris” → “pa-RIS”.
Questions
How can I practise French pronunciation for free?
Record yourself reading a sentence and compare it with a model. SparkAI does this free during the beta: it shows which words were understood, how your rhythm and melody compare, and coaching on the sounds to fix, plus mouth diagrams for the hardest sounds.
Which French sounds are hardest for English speakers?
Usually u as in tu, eu as in deux, eu as in peur, nasal an / en, nasal on, nasal in, French r, u-glide as in huit. Each has its own practice in the app.
How do I pronounce the French R?
It's made at the back of the mouth, near where you say g, with the tip of the tongue resting behind the lower teeth: a soft, breathy gargle rather than an English r. The app's mouth map shows the tongue position.
Is the feedback perfect?
No: it works from what your device's speech recognition heard and measurements of your voice, not from a teacher's ear. It's very good for spotting words that don't come through and sounds to work on.
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