Re: OT: Teaching French

Yes, we're used to American pronunciation of French.
Probably the clearest think the interlocutor will get
will usually be: these people are American. But never
mind ! It's just the same for us abroad. And anyway,
it's better to tell a few sentences, even incorrect,
even strangely pronounced, in the local language, then
to address directly to a native in English, without
even asking: "excuse me, do you speak English ?"

--- Chris Bates <chris.maths_student@...>
wrote:
> Philippe Caquant wrote:
>
> >I think the main thing is vocabulary (not so much
> the
> >written one than the spoken one - pronunciation IS
> a
> >problem in French).
> >
> They know quite a few words, but they don't
> pronounce them quite right.
> Mind you, neither do I... according to my
> dictionary, crois as in Je
> crois que... is kRwa (I think.. unless I'm
> confused)... as hard as I
> try, I find it difficult to follow a French R with a
> w. But mum and
> dad... they pronounce tu and tout the same (ie, they
> can't tell the
> difference between u and y), 2 and 9 become @ (just
> looking at the
> X-SAMPA chart for the right numbers and symbols),
> Dad turns e~ into an
> and a~ into on usually... well, the vowels are well
> and truly shuffled
> anyway. They're not so bad on the consonants. :)
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs)

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