Guide to Pronunciation

Abstract

It should be stressed that the following summary of rules for French pronunciation can only be a rough guide. The student should use this guide in conjunction with the cassette accompanying the course. The way to get a good French accent is to listen to the sounds and copy them, especially when they occur in sentences and phrases. This is because the rhythm and intonation of French phrases are quite different from the English. So you have to approach the pronunciation at two levels; first, the way in which the separate vowels and consonants are pronounced; second, the pattern of intonation in the whole phrase or sentence.