| Learning a new language can be quite a challenge, | | | | French speaker may substitute any of these |
| and learning it well enough to be understood by | | | | sounds for any of the others, leading to confusion |
| native speakers is an altogether different | | | | for the listener. |
| experience. As you may have found out for | | | | A simple request in English, like: |
| yourself, just knowing the English words may not | | | | Jane, put these shoes in the chair.could easily |
| be enough if your French accent makes it difficult | | | | come out sounding like this: |
| for people to understand you. | | | | Shane, put zeese choose in the share. |
| When native French speakers are speaking | | | | So, what should you do if you are a native |
| English, they often find that the pronunciation rules | | | | French speaker and want to reduce your accent? |
| that work for French don't work as well in English. | | | | Practice, practice, practice. But, you must practice |
| Many French speakers have trouble with the | | | | the right sounds. Ask yourself if you substitute |
| groups of English sounds known as affricates and | | | | any of the sounds listed above for other ones on |
| fricatives. | | | | the list. Be observant in your conversations for |
| Affricates are the sounds like: | | | | words that have these sounds in them, and be |
| - ch, as in child or chicken | | | | sure you are choosing the correct one. Practice |
| - j , as in judge or jelly | | | | the words listed above until you can say each one |
| Commonly confused fricatives include sounds like: | | | | correctly. Perhaps you could ask an English |
| - sh, as in shoe or ship | | | | speaking friend to listen to you. |
| - voiced th, as in these or those | | | | If you are still not sure how to clarify your |
| - unvoiced th, as in think or thank you | | | | speech and you want some personalized help, |
| Many French speakers do not make the | | | | then you may want to contact a speech |
| distinction between each of these sounds that is | | | | pathologist who specializes in accent reduction. |
| necessary for understandable English. So, the | | | | |