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When you learn to speak French, itâs easy to get lost in a world of verb conjugations, adjective agreements, and subordinate clauses. While pronouncing words well is an important factor in being understood, as long as we are understood we shouldnât worry too much.
The French simply love an English speaker trying to converse in their language. And an English accent is quite cute to them too!
However, if you are struggling with pronunciation or want to improve your French accent, there are many things you can try. Be warned though, itâs very unlikely you will lose your accent altogether. This only really happens when children learn to speak French by total immersion. As we age, we lose this ability to appear native.
Whether your accent is affreux, pas mal, or bien, our 12 effective tips will give you techniques on how to improve your French accent.
How to improve your French accent
1. Speak to natives
The best way to do this is to immerse yourself in a French-speaking country! But alas, not many of us have the time or budget to do that for long enough. However, depending on location, there are lots of French-speaking ex-pats all over the world who would relish the opportunity to practise their English.
Youâre more likely to find native French speakers in large cities where thereâs an international student population. Nowadays, I imagine there are posts online for such meetups. Back in my day though, it was a poster with a number on a tear-off strip!
If youâre learning French, ask your teachers if they know of any available native-speaker conversation practice.
2. Listen to French radio stations
Ah! Merci Internet! These days, finding a French radio station is as simple as typing âFrench radio stations onlineâ in Google. One click and voilĂ , youâve hundreds to choose from.
Some good ones include France Info (this is mainly news so you get to listen to a lot of dialogue), France Inter (this is a talk radio that mainly covers cultural topics), and FIP (this is mainly French music).
3. Watch French films and programs on Netflix
Mais oui there are so many options for improving French accents! Netflix is an excellent way to enjoy improving your French accent.
Like with French radio, just by listening to French being spoken, you will be taking in subtleties that you can then replicate. You can experiment with varying levels of immersion too.
Just a beginner? Put on the French audio with English subtitles. Intermediate level? Put on the French audio with French subtitles. Advanced level? Just put on the French audio with no subtitles.
Some popular French movies on Netflix include:
- Câest quoi cette famille?! (We Are Family)
- Un + Une (One Plus One)
- Le jeu (Nothing to Hide)
- LâAscension (The Climb)
- Balle perdue (Lost Bullet).
Here’s another tip: You can use French learning apps like Lingopie and FluentU to watch content that interests you, be it French movies, TV shows, music videos, or news. Both apps have clickable subtitles that give you translations and help you learn the correct pronunciation. Plus, you can save words into flashcards that you can go back to later!
4. Tune into a podcast
Just like French radio or French films on Netflix, tuning into a French podcast like Coffee Break French can really help improve French accents. These are excellent to put on for your daily commute or while youâre eating lunch!
5. Practise French tongue twisters
English tongue twisters are hard enough so donât expect to find French ones very easy at all. Theyâre a great way of improving French accents thought! This is because they really make you think about how your mouth and tongue are moving when youâre saying them.
Here are three famous French tongue twisters to get your mouth around:
- Un chasseur qui chassait a fait sÊcher ses chaussettes sur une souche sèche
= A hunter who was hunting dried his socks on a dry stump
- Les chaussettes de lâarchiduchesse, sont-elles sèches ? Archi-sèches
= The archduchesses socks: are they dry? Very dry.
- Ces six saucissons-secs-ci sont si secs quâon ne sait si sâen sont
= These six dried sausages are so dry that we donât know if they are (dried sausages)
6. Organise conversation classes with an online tutor
If youâre really struggling with motivation to learn how to improve your French accent, there are sites where you can arrange to have conversation classes.
Italki and Preply offer one-to-one classes with online tutors so you can learn from the comfort of your own home. Best of all, there are French tutors for every budget.
7. Choose an audio-based French course
There are courses out there like the scientifically proven method of Pimsleur, that focus entirely on people becoming conversational in the language. Pimsleur even has the tagline âspeak like a nativeâ on their website.
You can also sign up for the course offered by Ăcole Polytechnique on Coursera. Aimed at level B1/B2 in accordance with CEFR standards, this course immerses you through videos, texts in multiple formats, and short extracts from films. It helps improve oral and written comprehension, listening and speaking, as well as grammar and vocabulary.
Cudoo and Skillshare are other platforms worth checking out if you want to improve your French accent and speak like a local. There are tons of courses you can access â you simply have to commit ’til the end to see improvement.
8. Read aloud
If you donât have many opportunities to converse with a native speaker, simply reading aloud can do wonders in improving French accents. By reading aloud, you force yourself to listen to the words youâre saying and how they sound.
Spend time reading slowly and if you stumble over a word, re-read it to try to get it right.
You can start by using French learning books or French textbooks. If you’re feeling more determined, you can also read French grammar books, workbooks, and even dive into French novels!
9. Record yourself speaking French
Ok, so most of us hate listening to our own voices on a recording. But doing this is a magnificent way of improving your French accent. You could try reading a page of a French novel, a poem, or just make up a conversation.Â
When you listen to it back, especially if itâs not straight away, try to note down where your accent isnât quite spot on. You could then focus on those words or sounds and practise.
10. Learn French sounds
When children learn to read and write in English, they use a system of phonics i.e., they learn what sounds different letters and combinations of letters make in spoken English.
For example, we learn that ph makes an ff sound.
In France, itâs the same. All children have a notebook of sounds called a cahier de sons. You can find cahier de sons YouTube videos. These are designed for French children to learn the different letter sounds but theyâre also great for French learners too!
11. Drill down on the most challenging French sounds
You canât improve French accents overnight. As the adage goes, practice makes perfect. Instead of trying to improve everything all at once, focus entirely on a sound that you find the most difficult. For English speakers, itâs usually the French R or the differences between ou and u.
If R is difficult for you, practise, practise, practise. Choose words that are challenging and include R + vowel as well as words that have Tr, Gr, and Dr combinations too!
If ou and u are the ones you find most tricky, practise pairs of words that would ordinarily sound the same in English. For example, bouche (mouth) and bĂťche (log).
To differentiate between the two, the ou sound is like the ou in the English word âsoupâ.
The u sound is much more difficult to master.
When I was teaching beginners French, I would tell my students to start by saying the English sound âeeâ. Then, when they were continuing to say this sound, I told them to move the shape of their lips to the shape their mouths would make if they were saying âooâ. The trick here is to not change the sound your voice is making. Try it!
If you want another (slightly risquĂŠ) one to practise with, cou (neck) and cul (ass) are often mispronounced by English speakers, which does lead to amusement!
12. Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Not to be confused with the Nato Phonetic Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.), the IPA is an international phonetic script. It tells users of all languages exactly how to pronounce new words.
For example, the English word âhelloâ would be written âhÉlÉĘâ. This tells anyone who understands IPA exactly how to say the word.
Why is this useful for improving French accents? Well, it appears in all big dictionaries. So when you look up a word, youâll see the phonetic script telling you how to say the word too!
Final thoughts
As we said at the start, having a great French accent is great, but itâs not the be-all and end-all.
One of the most influential French professors I had at university had a terrible French accent. He was even married to a French woman. Alas, it didnât and doesnât matter as long as you can be understood. Itâs always good to work on your accent though!
Our list of French learning resources will surely help, not just for improving your French accent but boosting all your French skills!