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Hot Tip: Pronouncing The French ‘U’

Learning French is one thing. Learning to pronounce it correctly is another. On one hand, it seems as though you can just ignore half the letters because a lot of them aren’t pronounced. On the other hand, subtle differences — like the one between the French u and the French ou — seem to matter a lot.

French teacher Audrey admits that the French u sound is difficult to hear and pronounce for a lot of learners. Many of her students either use the English pronunciation of u or pronounce it the same way as ou, which can lead to misunderstandings.

To help her students, Audrey shows them where the difference between u and ou is physically in her mouth. Here is her quick guide to nailing the difference:

  • u: Lips in whistling position, tongue touching your bottom teeth
  • ou: Lips in whistling position, tongue at the bottom of your mouth

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