Lawless French Notations
The best way to show how any given word is pronounced is with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). However, not everyone understands it, and not all computers display the special characters properly, so I like to use my own pronunciation key. The sample English words represent the closest sound in American English; click the links to learn about how each sound is actually pronounced in French.
| ah | father | a sound | |
| ay | pay | closed e sound | |
| ee | seed | i sound | |
| eh | bet | open e sound | |
| eu | full | eu sound | |
| (n) | nasal vowel | ||
| oh | go | closed o sound | |
| oo | food | ou sound | |
| u | food | u sound | |
| uh | cut | open o sound | |
| zh | massage | j sound |
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Fear of speaking, glossophobia, is one of the most common phobias – even just in one’s native language. If you feel nervous when speaking French, it’s probably due to a lack of confidence in your skills. The obvious solution is to improve your French, but there are also other ways to increase your confidence and feel more comfortable speaking French.
Learn how to translate French infinitives, imperatives, and participles into English.