Tongue forward ALL of the time? Or only for the French R?

fluentlistener.com/
Do you need to push the tongue forward ALL of the time? Or just for the French R? A subscriber to the newsletter called and asked me this over the phone. I think this answer will help you understand that, yes, if you keep your tongue forward all of the time, all of your French will improve.

[@heatherfeather1293]

That's how I finally (sort of) mastered the French R. Thinking of it as an English H

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

Hi Heather, so that worked for you? Good to know. I am still thinking about the French R, even after all of these years. Have a nice day, David

[@sotripians]

Oh my... thank you so much. It really works, presque parfait ! I'm a Korean learning French. In Korea, English is a mandatory course in elementary schools and we are taught with the illustration of tongue so I was looking for them with French. I had watched many videos and have been grappling with the french R but this one is legit. (I was thinking that French sounds better maybe when the shape of mouth is round with every word..) I'm adopting your way and it does make the change with the sound. Merci beaucoup !

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

Je vous en prie, Sophia. Bonne continuation, David

[@tceterex]

Super Tip. Really helpful. No one else has clarified this so well

[@RP-we1rs]

Man I wish I watched this years ago. Was a French minor and never knew this.

[@rebekahconroy7136]

This was very helpful! Thank you!

[@Kymber96]

I have been struggling figuring out my mouth placement and this is so helpful!!!

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

Hi Kymber-Lynn, I'm glad it helped! Thank you for letting me know.

[@timrizzo3941]

This is the one that finally showed me what I was looking for(and after trying the methods suggested in at least a dozen videos, books and web pages). As a side effect, it also cured another problem I had, where, having learned Italian first, I would tend to accidentally roll my Rs. Very frustrating! But taking that spot where the tongue constricts against the soft palate to make the sound and moving it forward, it essentially makes rolling the R impossible as well. I can't always manage it, but at least now I know what I'm aiming at. Thank you so much!

[@fluentlistener7496]

Hi Tim, thank you for letting me know it was helpful!

[@yostevedotcom]

On the flip side I can't roll my r's and it's frustrating to me

[@isharas3101]

Thank tou so much its much clear now. It really works

[@jamieba3971]

Really helps!

[@souvikdas5009]

Thank You Sir for this video. it was enlighting. It would be great if you can suggest some articulation exercise for a fluent articulation of French.

[@jhm6065]

2021- Hi from Brasil. Thank you so much. Merci!

[@lafritegaming7713]

im FRENCH what the hell am i doing here?good luck, french is difficult Btw so sorry

[@LearnFrenchWithMe]

Merci! 😊

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

You are welcome! Best regards, David

[@peaces1603]

Nice

[@inigosembrano2321]

merci!

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

Je vous en prie Inigo! Cordialement, David

[@Cakemarvelous]

As a french person I have a problem with the other way around lmao

[@urbanodebora]

My first immediate thought was the Spanish j and I had completely forgotten about the English h till now which is a little weird considering I speak English as my main language. But basically the same sound.

[@stephanieosadchuk5689]

I think I may have a short tongue. I can’t formulate a coherent sound with my tongue touching the ridge below my bottom teeth.

[@Barelo]

Stephanie Osadchuk you can't have too short tongue for the French, believe me.

[@peaces1603]

Je vous remercie beaucoup, donc si j’ai bien compris, même pour cette phrase: « j’ai des bonbons dans ma voiture » je garde la pointe de la langue en avant tout au long de la prononciation, même pour « bonbon »? Or le son « on » normalement la pointe de la langue doit être en arrière pour le prononcer Je vous remercie d’avance

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

Bonjour Peace. Excatement. Par contre, si vous demandez à un Français s'il fait cela, il vous dira que non. It is my advice for native English speakers learning French. It is not what the French do. I know because I've asked my wife! Thank you for asking (and thank you for forgiving me to take so long to answer?) Good luck with your French! If you work on echoing over and over small bits of recordings while keeping your tongue forward and your mouth somewhat closed, I think you will start to feel what I call the French mouth position. It is very different from the way we move our tongues and lips when we speak English. Doing this will also slowly improve your ear so that you hear more of the sounds that they speakers are making and hear them more accurately. When you do this, you will not get the benefit of the exercise if you switch recordings often. If you have 5 to 8 minutes of recording, you can continue to use that for many weeks. (Ha ha! that is why it is nice to find a recording on a subject that interests you - you'll be listening to it many times.) Bonne continuation!

[@GV-wv8uf]

...I am trying my hardest...I sound like Stitch of Lilo & Stitch. For the love of God, can anyone tell me what my problem is.

[@Guedjouma]

I am unable to produce the uvular fricative r if I push my tongue forward. But pulling the back of my tongue toward the soft palette just like in G or K sound I can produce the r sound much better,, Not quite perfect as of yet but i a working on it.

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

Hi Louis, my experience is this: for many years I pronounced the R by pulling my tongue back and making something similar to a scratchy K sound. I think this is what you describe. But, living here in France, I was never able to make that type of French R on the fly, all the time, without stopping and setting it up and thinking very hard. Therefore, in the end, I was never able to incorporate that R into my spoken French. So, I could make that R in a single word, in isolation, if was not also having a conversation; but I wasn't able to make that R when I wasn't thinking about it. I spent perhaps 12 or 15 years trying to integrate that 'scratchy-K type of R' into my French and never was able to do so.

[@ianmathew4281]

I’m still having a problem rolling my R on some words! Not like a Spanish R but rolling the uvula, any tips for how to fix this?

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

Hi Ian, I agree with you: it's not like a Spanish rolling R. (Except for some older speakers from rural areas of France.) So, there are a few different R sounds that you will make, depending on the word. Some sound similar to a short cough. But you are talking, I think, about the sound in a word like virulent, where you have kind of a 'knocking' sound at the back of the tongue. I put the tip of my tongue forward (you could even rest the tip on the top of your lower teeth!) and practice saying 'viru', 'viru' 'viru' and let the back of your tongue knock against the back of the top of your mouth, kind of in your throat. Then add the rest of the word : virulent. The error people make is thinking that they need to pull back to make some kiind of coughing sound. You actually need to be pushing forward in order to make the correct sound at the back. Hope that helps! Keep practicing in any case. It takes time and part of it is getting your ear re-tuned (takes time). Another part may be muscle re-training. Keep echoing so that you continue to improve. If you keep echoing native speakers, you continue to learn new constructions, so that is another benefit. Bon courage!

[@wir6228]

Encore du riz rouge René ? ;-D

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

:-) Great tongue twister. I have problems with that one!

[@yostevedotcom]

One of the best explanations I found was say the k sound, then say the r sound there.

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

I like that one Steve. Thanks for the tip.

[@medoingstuff1284]

merci!

[@frenchpronunciationdiction9366]

You are welcome. Best regards, David Tolman