6 Practical Ways to Perfect Your French Accent

Technically there is more than just the one charming French accent. France is known to have at least 28 accents in current use within its borders. Not to mention that unique type of accent big screen Belgian detectives are known for using while solving crimes or the one used by foreigners everywhere as a tribute to the musicality of the French language. 

For there are unique sounds speakers adopt as soon as they become more fluent in any language and French is no exception. Luckily, there a few tricks new French speakers tend to use as they gain more mastery over the language and begin to perfect their accent. Here are some of them

Tongue Twisters

This pronunciation technique is an oldie but a goodie. It will help you master those accentuated syllables that are such an integral part of the French language. Learn them in your mother tongue, learn them in French, either way, your aim will have those u's and r's rolling out of your tongue like they were meant to.

Related article: 15 French Tongue Twisters to Improve Your Pronunciation

Listen to the Greats

Edith Piaff, Joe Dassin are two of the great French songwriters of their time. Just by listening to the simple lyrics and their own pitch-perfect delivery you'll be sure to be pick-up on the right pronunciation and teach your brain how to replicate it when the time comes for you to have your say in French.

Mimicking and mirroring

Impersonating some of your favorite French celebrities or fictional characters is a great way for you to perfect your accent. Pay particular attention to intonation and their use of vocabulary. Details are what's important here. Once you're done analyzing and deconstructing you'll have picked up not only on verbal idiosyncrasies but also on grammar structures and new vocabulary.

Record yourself

Listening to how you speak is just as important as listening to others. You'll be adding inflections to the language depending on where you're from and listening to the way you break down sentences or spell out words will prove just as important as learning how the language might be used by native speakers.

Vocal Warms Ups

Releasing your inner theatre kid will make the learning process essentially a lot more fun. Dramatic performance automatically triggers your creativity and is one of the key tools you'll need while learning a new language. Engaging in vocal exercises is another one. Get loud. Get creative. Purse your lips and close your eyes. Do what you go to do to effectively produce a wide array of sounds that always seems to come so naturally to the French speaker.

Read aloud

Reading French books aloud, be it children's books or literary classics or both, whichever genre you choose will you help highlight the words you struggle the most with. Further putting those words into context will help you localize the sound and excite your memory. Think of it as an auditory post-it you'll have glued to your memory and you can use it as a cheat sheet whenever you want.

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