Intricacies of Learning the French Language
French language has the reputation of being difficult to learn among
native English speakers. Before throwing yourself into an arduous course
that might take you months, first give a thought as to the reason you
are learning French. If it is for a short vacation trip, it is
unnecessary to enroll for lengthy courses. Learning a few of the basic
words and sentences should enable you to communicate quite effectively.
However, for a longer stay or if you plan to emigrate and you need to
sit for French Proficiency tests, then more effort needs to be put in
it.
French and English are somewhat related. French is a Latin language
with influences from German and English. English is a Germanic language
with Latin and French influences. These two languages are similar with
each other in some ways. The alphabet is virtually the same, and over
1700 words are pronounced in the same way. There are however a number of
differences which make learning French for the English speaker quite
complex. Some of these differences include:
- The presence of accents in many words.
- A greater use of articles.
- All nouns and pronouns have genders, unlike in English; all
articles used with the noun must agree to this gender
- Rhythm of speech is different.
To speak French, there is a need to understand these differences and
overcome them. A detailed look at pronunciation will give a better idea
of the pitfalls awaiting the new French learner.
French pronunciation is very complex. While the alphabet is virtually
the same as in English, the way each letter is pronounced is very
different. It is recommended that the new learner gets audio tapes of
French in order to get an idea how each alphabet is pronounced.
Moreover, complexities such as silent letters, different sounds for s
single letter, and numerous exceptions to grammatical and pronunciation
rules make the language a real conundrum.
The existence of accents also make pronunciation complex. The
following accents occur in French language:
- Accent aigu (acute accent)—used only on the vowel “E” and
indicates that an S followed the vowel in the word e.g. été.
- Accent grave (grave accent)—found on A, U and E; essentially
used to distinguish between words that are very similar but have
different meanings e.g. ou (or) and où (where).
- Accent circonflexe-used on A, E, I, O, U indicates that an S
used to follow the vowel and distinguishes between similar words as
well.
- Accent trema—on E, I and U and is used with vowels that are
adjacent each other
- Accent cedilla—found in letter C and causes it to be pronounced
as an S.
Many people agree that the best way to learn French is to live in
France. If you need a rapid uptake of French speech mannerisms, it is
better to meet with French-speaking people on a daily basis. This is
often out of the question for most of us. A less radical immersion is
possible, for example by listening and watching French programs on TV
and radio; reading French articles in newspapers and the internet and
buying French movies. This will enable the beginner to grab the
rudiments of the language by getting a good idea of how words are
pronounced.
From: www.frenchwords.org.uk
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