English pronunciation practice for French speakers

1. /ɪ/ and /iː/

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Fix problem Relax the mouth and keep sound short.

English sound /ɪ/ — "sit"

Common error /iː/ — "seat"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /ɪ/ or /iː/ practice

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2. /ɒ/

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Fix problem Keep mouth round and tongue back.

English sound /ɒ/ — "not"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /ɒ/ or /ɔː/ practice
Minimal Pairs /ɑː/ or /ɒ/ practice

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3. /ʌ/

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Fix problem Tongue low central. Lips relaxed.

English sound /ʌ/ — "cup"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ʌ/ practice

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4. /ʌ/ and /ɜː/

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Fix problem Drop tongue. Relax mouth.

English sound /ʌ/ — "hut"

Common error /ɜː/ — "hurt"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /ʌ/ or /ɜː/ practice

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5. /ʊ/ and /uː/

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Fix problem Back of tongue high. Lips rounded but relaxed. Short.

English sound /ʊ/ — "full"

Common error /uː/ — "fool"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ or /uː/ practice

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6. The neutral vowel /ə/

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Fix problem Weak endings: e.g. "London" "England"

English sound /ə/ — "the" (schwa)

Practice materials:
Practise the neutral vowel /ə/ using spoken dialogues

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7. /ɔː/ and /əʊ/

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Fix problem Tongue low, back & fixed. Jaws together.

English sound /ɔː/ — "bought"

Common error /əʊ/ — "boat"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /ɔː/ or /əʊ/ practice

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8. /eɪ/ and /e/

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Fix problem Tongue moves from front centre to front high.

English sound /eɪ/ — "late"

Common error /e/ — "let"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /e/ or /eɪ/ practice

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9. /aɪ/

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Fix problem Start with tongue low front.

English sound /aɪ/ — "buy"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /eɪ/ or /aɪ/ practice

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10. /aɪə/

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Fix problem Tongue low front to high front to centre.

English sound /aɪə/ = /aɪ/ + /ə/ — "fire"

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11. /ɔɪ/

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Fix problem Start with tongue low & back.

English sound /ɔɪ/ — "boy"

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12. /əʊ/ and /ɒ/

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Fix problem Tongue central. Then tightly round lips.

English sound /əʊ/ — "note"

Common error /ɒ/ — "not"

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13. /aʊ/

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Fix problem From low front vowel to lips tightly rounded.

English sound /aʊ/ — "cow"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ or /aʊ/ practice

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14. /aʊə/

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Fix problem Tongue low front. Then round & unround lips.

English sound /aʊə/ = /aʊ/ + /ə/ — "flour"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /aʊ/ or /aʊə/ practice

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15. /ɪə/ and /eə/

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Fix problem Tongue high and front. Move to centre.

English sound /ɪə/ — "beer"

Common error /eə/ — "bear"

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16. /eə/

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Fix problem Tongue from centre front. Draw back to centre.

English sound /eə/ — "bear"

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17. /ʊə/

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Fix problem Start with lips tightly rounded. Unround.

English sound /ʊə/ — "tour"

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18. /θ/

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Fix problem Voiceless. Friction. Tongue between teeth.

English sound /θ/ — "thin"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /ð/ practice
Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /t/ practice
Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /d/ practice
Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /s/ practice

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19. /ð/ and /d/

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Fix problem Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth.

English sound /ð/ — "they"

Common error /d/ — "day"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /ð/ or /d/ practice

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20. /ð/ and /z/

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Fix problem Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth.

English sound /ð/ — "clothe"

Common error /z/ — "close" /z/

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21. /ʃ/ and /tʃ/

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Fix problem Voiceless. Friction. Front of tongue to palate.

English sound /ʃ/ — "sherry"

Common error /tʃ/ — "cherry"

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22. /tʃ/ and /ʃ/

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Fix problem Unvoiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate.

English sound /tʃ/ — "cherry"

Common error /ʃ/ — "sherry"

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23. /h/ and silent "h"

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Fix problem Quickly push air from throat out of mouth.

English sound /h/ — "hot"

Common error "ch" in "loch"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /h/ or silent "h" practice

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24. British "r"

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Fix problem British "r" is weaker & usually silent unless followed by a vowel.

English sound silent — "survivor"

Common error /r/ — "Sir Ivor"

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25. /ŋk/ and /ŋ/

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Fix problem Back of tongue to back roof. Nasal.

English sound /ŋk/ — "think"

Common error /ŋ/ — "thing"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /ŋ/ or /ŋk/ practice

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26. /j/ and /dʒ/

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Fix problem Glide /j/ (i:) the tongue quickly to next sound.

English sound /j/ — "yam"

Common error /dʒ/ — "jam"

Practice materials:
Minimal Pairs /dʒ/ or /j/ practice

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French language backgrounds