After having studied the basics of the French pronunciation, you may notice that there are some couple of letters which have a specific pronunciation of French.
Groups of vowels:
on / om
We pronounce written “on” or “om” like this:
It’s a nasal sound. There are a few nasal sounds in French, they are all in the following sentence: Un bon vin blanc.
You can find “on” in bon (good) but also in pont (bridge); bonbon (Candy); pompier (firefighter)…
In / en / ein / un
We pronounce these groups of letters:
We can find “in” in intérieur (inside); pin (pine)…
We can find “un” in the article un (a/an for singular masculine words)…
We can “ein” in plein (full)…
We can find “en” in bien (well)…
It’s also a nasal vowel.
oi
We prononunce “oi” like this:
We find this phonem (=sound of a language) in oie (goose); emploi (employment), froid (cold)…
It’s an oral vowel.
euil / ueil / oeil
We pronounce these groups of letters:
We find “euil” in écureuil (squirel), feuille (leaf); portefeuilles (wallet)…
We find “ueil” in “accueil” (reception)
We find oeil in oeil (eye)
eu
We pronounce “eu” like this:
It’s a long sound.
We can find “eu” in eux (them); curieux (curious); il pleut (it’s raining)…
Groups of consonants:
gn
We pronounce these two letters:
We can find “gn” in champignon (mushroom); chignon (bun); peigne (comb); signe (sign) …
These celebrities speak French and are very successful in their career. Who doesn’t remember Jodie Foster who speaks French fluently in Elyseum?
Being able to speak another language always looks good on a resume. You will stand out from other Americans who don’t have this skill. As French is spoken in many territories on the planet, you’ll be able to do business with more countries easily. Canada is a bilingual neighbor country and the French-speaking countries located in Europe are quite successful economically (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco). So maybe it’s time to think about doing business with them or expanding your company!
International companies are trying to hire people who have extraordinary qualities: flexibility, open-mindedness, good writing and speaking skills, intercultural skills to do business, curiosity… Learning French will help you acquire these qualities and will allow you to have a better position and a better salary.
If you don’t have any BA in a foreign language, you can take very affordable tests called DELF and DALF to validate your level of French. Each test allows you to have a diploma which will be valid for the rest of your life and that you can put on your resume.
This is a short list of examples of jobs that you can have thanks to a diploma in French and you will see that French teacher is not the only job opportunity you can have:
Bilingual client care representative
International business consultant
Bilingual tour consultant
Book review editor
French teacher
Language assessor
French is the language of diplomacy 😉
Lawyer
Proofreader
Publisher
Translator
Actor
Travel agent
University professor
Writer
Technical writer
Journalist
Foreign exchange trader
Game tester…
A foreign language is a plus for your career and studying French is a self-fulfilling and challenging activity. And you? When are you starting your French classes?
If you’re American and you still wonder why you should learn to speak French, what follows is for you.
Be different and arouse admiration:
English, as it’s a language that the whole planet learns, is not a rare skill on the market. It’s hard time to make the difference with most of the English-speakers and show to the rest of the world that you, as an American, you also made efforts to learn a foreign language.
A superpower!
Speaking another language is a wonderful skill. You can add it to your resume and it’s like having a superpower! Indeed, you can communicate with a big part of the population in the world and by 2050, French will be the second most spoken language in the world. And thanks to French, you will increase your employability.
You’ll sound and look sexy!
French is the language of love, everybody knows that! As French is a beautiful language, you’ll look sexy when you speak it. And you may find Love, French-speakers love the American accent!
More culture!
You’ll be able to enjoy French-speaking movies, books and newspapers …
You will acquire many new skills and not only linguistic and cultural ones!
By learning French and by discovering the cultures from the French-speaking countries, your brain will begin to work in a different way and you will develop the following new skills:
You’ll be more open-minded.
You’ll be able to adapt to any unknown situation more easily.
You’ll be able to live in unfamiliar environments while being more comfortable.
Your writing and speaking skills will become better.
You’ll be more aware of your language and of your own culture.
You’ll be able to analyze and evaluate in a more relevant way.
You will understand many disciplines more easily.
You’ll be more comfortable with people who have a different culture than yours.
You’ll be more curious about the other cultures and the other languages.
You’ll feel almost at home in many countries: French is spoken on all the continents.
You’ll understand international relations better because learning a language is also learning a culture, a different way of thinking.
Learning French is an excellent exercise for your memory.
Traveling easily to many countries in the world and feeling at home everywhere!
In this map, you can see the French-speaking countries of the world.
French is spoken in many interesting countries such as Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Canada, Senegal, Mali, Morocco, Tunisia and many other countries in Africa.
France is an awesome country!
Paris will always be Paris! But the whole country is interesting from a cultural point of view. Besides, the French landscapes are various and wonderful: The Alps, the French Riviera, the West coast…
Le Pouldu, in Britany.
French food is delicious. French wine is great. French fashion is famous all over the world and the best perfumes are from France.
What can French bring you from a professional point of view?
Being able to speak another language always looks good on a resume. You will stand out from other Americans who don’t have this skill. As French is spoken in many territories on the planet, you’ll be able to do business with more countries easily. Moreover, the French-speaking countries located in Europe are quite successful economically (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco), so maybe it’s time to think about doing business with them or expanding your company. Besides, Canada is a bilingual neighbor country.
Many international companies are trying to hire people who have the skills mentioned above and being able to speak French may allow you to have a better salary.
If you don’t have any BA in a foreign language, you can take very affordable tests called DELF and DALF to validate your level of French. Each test allows you to have a diploma which will be valid for the rest of your life and that you can put in your resume.
This is a short list of examples of jobs that you can have thanks to a degree in French and you will see that French teacher is not the only job opportunity you can have:
Bilingual client care representative
International business consultant
Bilingual tour consultant
Book review editor
French teacher
Language assessor
Diplomat. French is the language of diplomacy 😉
Lawyer
Proofreader
Publisher
Translator
Travel agent
University professor
Writer
Technical writer
Journalist
Foreign exchange trader
Game tester…
And being able to speak French is always a plus in any career.
You already know so many French words!
Due to the fact that England had French Kings many centuries ago, many French words are still in the English language. You certainly use them every day, so a big part of the job is already done!
You will be able to learn Spanish and the other latin languages more easily.
There are many similarities between the latin languages.
French is an important language in the world.
French is the language of culture, diplomacy, a very important language in the EU and the number of French-speakers is growing in a very impressive way. Besides, it’s the fourth language on the Internet.
If you speak French well enough, you can study in a French university and have a wonderful experience abroad saving money!
Studying in France is much cheaper than studying in any American university.
You will become a better person
Learning a foreign language is the doorway to open-mindedness, tolerance, empathy and wisdom.
