Pronunciation?david-cReport spam15 years agoBonjour, i am working with, and very much enjoying level 2 RF avec Lauren, Eric and Anne. Just a question re Lauren's pronunciation. She pronounces some words quite differently from the native speakers. Bien, plait, je voudrais, faire to name a few. It's quite strange to hear Anne say something and then Lauren repeat only differently?! My French friends say that Canadians speak French differently to them - is this what is occurring here? Not a complaint, as i copy Eric and Anne anyway, but just curious. This course is simply fantastic and i am learning so much so rapidly - Merci :)Post a reply to this threadMarie-Claire-RiviereTutor15 years agoHi there, ' yes, your friends are right. Canadian French sounds quite different. It is good to be exposed to both accents so you train your ears to understand different accents. You will hear it especially when she says words that include a nasal sound, like "bien". I'm glad to hear that you enjoy the course. :Pdavid-cReport spam15 years agoMerci beaucoup Marie- Claire, I am simply thrilled with RF and recommend it to all that i meet interested in French language. In fact i can't believe how much i have advanced since taking it up. It's remarkably good value with such in depth teaching, great teachers and conversations. I do miss your sweet voice though! Thanks for clearing up my Canadian question. A bientot :DAnthonyReport spam15 years agoBonjour, I can't help but also share your views. To Marie-Claire I am rather curious to know, however if you can be so kind as to answer my curiosity, I'll greatly appreciate it. May I ask you what are the main similarities and dissimilarities between Canadian French and naturally France's Français? The only reason I wish to ask this is because this may affect my family's future plans to consider migrating to Canada. I too am really enjoying RF and I must admit that as I steadily progress through the course, together with listening to French songs and watching French movies, I also amaze myself in how fast and fluently I am able to pronounce French's words now! This is a great course and I know my French will only get better in time. Looking forward to your reply, merci beaucoup. :D AnthonyMarie-Claire-RiviereTutor15 years agoSalut Anthony, you can compare the difference between Canadian French and French as it is spoken in France with the differences between American English and British English. The accent is different, but still you will be able to understand both. Some words or expressions are also different (trunk, pants, trousers, holidays, vacation etc), but still you can understand what it's all about. I hope that clarifies it for you. Canada is certainly a lovely place to move to. :PUdit-S1Report spam12 years agoPlease help me in solving this problem How do you pronounce the words,"FROMMAGE" and "Parfum" in French How do you say "Good Morning, Goodbye" in French ? Marie-Claire-RiviereTutor12 years agoBonjour Udit, The word "fromage" is said much as it is written although you must remember to soften the "g" at the end of the word. The word "parfum", like many French words has a silent ending. The "m" at the end of the word is silent and becomes quite a nasal sound. To say "Good Morning, Goodbye" in French, we say "Bonjour, Au revoir" J'espère que cela vous aide - I hope this helps, - Marie-ClaireRaina-JReport spam5 years agoI'm glad I found this post.  I know it is an old thread, but was also wondering if Lauren's pronunciation was a specific regional version.   I was noticing that alot if not all short words ending in a nasal n were pronounced quite different than what I was used to.  For example, bien sounded more like bee-ay, rein sounded more like ree-ay.  There also seems to be a different tone to a lot of the vowels (like when Lauren says jamais, the -ais sounds more like -eh rather than -ay ).  This thread does help though.  I appreciate that Rocket French is trying to provide some exposure to different accents, but it would be nice to make that more explicit in the recordings and identify those instances where an when they occur in audio lessons.  It would make it a lot easier for someone to learn one pronunciation system first before starting to learn another one.Liss-Rocket-Languages-TutorTutor5 years agoSalut Raina-J ! Thank you very much for your feedback! I'll pass this on to our development team for their consideration. À la prochaine ! Liss

Schwa[edit] When phonetically realised, schwa (/ə/), also called e caduc ('dropped e') and e muet ('mute e'), is a mid-central vowel with some rounding.[22] Many authors consider its value to be [œ],[37][38] while Geoff Lindsey suggests [ɵ].[39][40] Fagyal, Kibbee & Jenkins (2006) state, more specifically, that it merges with /ø/ before high vowels and glides: netteté /nɛtəte/ → [nɛ.tø.te] ('clarity'), atelier /atəlje/ → [a.tø.lje] ('workshop'), in phrase-final stressed position: dis-le ! /di lə/ → [di.ˈlø] ('say it'), and that it merges with /œ/ elsewhere.[41] However, some speakers make a clear distinction, and it exhibits special phonological behavior that warrants considering it a distinct phoneme. Furthermore, the merger occurs mainly in the French of France; in Quebec, /ø/ and /ə/ are still distinguished.[42] The main characteristic of French schwa is its "instability": the fact that under certain conditions it has no phonetic realization. That is usually the case when it follows a single consonant in a medial syllable: appeler /apəle/ → [ap.le] ('to call'), It is occasionally mute in word-final position: porte /pɔʁtə/ → [pɔʁt] ('door'). Word-final schwas are optionally pronounced if preceded by two or more consonants and followed by a consonant-initial word: une porte fermée /yn(ə) pɔʁt(ə) fɛʁme/ → [yn.pɔʁ.t(ə).fɛʁ.me] ('a closed door'). In the future and conditional forms of -er verbs, however, the schwa is sometimes deleted even after two consonants[citation needed]: tu garderais /ty ɡaʁdəʁɛ/ → [ty.ɡaʁ.d(ə.)ʁɛ] ('you would guard'), nous brusquerons [les choses] /nu bʁyskəʁɔ̃/ → [nu.bʁys.k(ə.)ʁɔ̃] ('we will precipitate [things]'). On the other hand, it is pronounced word-internally when it follows more pronounced consonants that cannot be combined into a complex onset with the initial consonants of the next syllable: gredin /ɡʁədɛ̃/ → [ɡʁə.dɛ̃] ('scoundrel'), sept petits /sɛt pəti/ → [sɛt.pə.ti] ('seven little ones').[43] In French versification, word-final schwa is always elided before another vowel and at the ends of verses. It is pronounced before a following consonant-initial word.[44] For example, une grande femme fut ici, [yn ɡʁɑ̃d fam fy.t‿i.si] in ordinary speech, would in verse be pronounced [y.nə ɡʁɑ̃.də fa.mə fy.t‿i.si], with the /ə/ enunciated at the end of each word. Schwa cannot normally be realised as a front vowel ([œ]) in closed syllables. In such contexts in inflectional and derivational morphology, schwa usually alternates with the front vowel /ɛ/: harceler /aʁsəle/ → [aʁ.sœ.le] ('to harass'), with il harcèle /il aʁsɛl/ → [i.laʁ.sɛl] ('[he] harasses').[45] A three-way alternation can be observed, in a few cases, for a number of speakers: appeler /apəle/ → [ap.le] ('to call'), j'appelle /ʒ‿apɛl/ → [ʒa.pɛl] ('I call'), appellation /apelasjɔ̃/ → [a.pe.la.sjɔ̃] ('brand'), which can also be pronounced [a.pɛ.la.sjɔ̃].[46] Instances of orthographic ⟨e⟩ that do not exhibit the behaviour described above may be better analysed as corresponding to the stable, full vowel /œ/. The enclitic pronoun le, for example, always keeps its vowel in contexts like donnez-le-moi /dɔne lə mwa/ → [dɔ.ne.lœ.mwa] ('give it to me') for which schwa deletion would normally apply (giving *[dɔ.nɛl.mwa]), and it counts as a full syllable for the determination of stress. Cases of word-internal stable ⟨e⟩ are more subject to variation among speakers, but, for example, un rebelle /œ̃ ʁəbɛl/ ('a rebel') must be pronounced with a full vowel in contrast to un rebond /œ̃ ʁəbɔ̃/ → or [œ̃ʁ.bɔ̃] ('a bounce').[47]