Focus Language, located in Phoenix Arizona, offers highly effective and enjoyable Intensive French courses year-round. Our programs can be custom-designed but normally last for eight days (for all levels). Jean-Paul Setlak teaches all the intensives. He is a native Frenchman and a master linguist who speaks and teaches seven languages. In our Intensive French program, you will be closely guided so that you improve your pronunciation, your capacity to express yourself comfortably in French and your ability to understand normal spoken French. You will learn powerful vocabulary expansion strategies. You will also learn how to move quickly and competently through new grammar.
24
Sep
2009
Uncategorized
French and English have much in common, especially on the level of vocabulary. They are more distant when it comes to pronunciation. English is fundamentally a Germanic language, and its sound system reflects it. French comes almost completely from Latin, though, on the level of pronunciation, it was also influenced by the Germanic tribes which invaded Gaul (France) in the early Middle Ages. (Remember that the Franks who gave France its name came from Germany.) The famous French "R", "EU and "U" are really Germanic sounds.
So how can you maximally improve your pronunciation in French? The following ideas are meant for beginners, but they can really be applied at any level.
- Immerse yourself in the sound and sounds of the language. Listen to French
One of the most crucial and yet elusive tasks at hand when you are learning a Foreign Language is to develop your comprehension in a systematic way. Just exposing yourself to the language will not do it, or we would all learn French simply by walking around the streets of Paris. Yet, you originally learned English without knowing any other language. What made it possible? Well, for one thing, you had nothing but time on your hands laying in your crib or screaming in your playpen. You also had a good staff (Mom and Dad) taking care of your basic needs and wants, allowing you to focus on understanding what was going on around you, and learning communicate with the locals. It still took
