like k in kite
for details
force air through the back of your throat
Rr
near the position of gargling,
/??/
but sounding soft
like s in sister at beginning
Ss
of word or with two s's
/?s/
or like z in amazing if only one s
Tt
like t in top
/te/
Uu
Say the English letter e,
/y/
but make your lips say "oo".
Vv
like v in violin
/ve/
Depending on the derivation of the word,
Ww
/dubl
like v as in violin, or w in water
?ve/
either /ks/ in socks,
Xx
/iks/
or /gz/ in exit
Yy
like ea in leak
/igr?k/
Zz
like z in zebra
/z?d/
Final consonants
In French, certain consonants are silent when they are the final letter of a word. The letters p (as in 'coup'), s (as in 'héros'), t (as in 'chat'), d (as in 'marchand'), and x (as in 'paresseux'), are generally not pronounced at the end of a word. They are pronounced if there is an e letter after ('coupe', 'chatte', 'marchande', etc.) Dental consonants
The letters d, l, n, s, t, and z are pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the lower teeth and the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. In English, one would pronounce these letters with the tip of the tongue at the roof of one's mouth. It is very difficult to pronounce a word like 'voudrais' properly with the d formed in the English manner.
b and p
Unlike English, when you pronounce the letters 'b' and 'p' in French, little to no air should come out of your mouth. In terms of phonetics, the difference in the French 'b' and 'p' and their English counterparts is one of aspiration. (This is not the same as the similarly-named concept of 'h' aspiré discussed below). Fortunately, in English both aspirated and unaspirated variants (allophones) exist, but only in specific environments. If you're a native speaker, say the word 'pit' and then the word 'spit' out loud. Did you notice the extra puff of air in the first word that doesn't come with the second? The 'p' in 'pit' is aspirated [p?]; the 'p' in 'spit' is not (like the 'p' in any position in French).
Exercise
1. Get a loose piece of printer paper or notebook paper.
2. Hold the piece of paper about one inch (or a couple of centimeters) in front of your face.
3. Say the words baby, and puppy like you normally would in English. Notice how the paper moved when you said the 'b' and the 'p' respectively.
4. Now, without making the piece of paper move, say the words belle (the feminine form of beautiful in French, pronounced like the English 'bell.'), and papa (the French equivalent of "Dad").
If the paper moved, your pronunciation is slightly off. Concentrate, and try it again.
If the paper didn't move, congratulations! You pronounced the words correctly!
Aspirated vs. non-aspirated h
