Bonjour à tous, hello everyone and welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast!

This is episode number 194 — numéro cent-quatre-vingt-quatorze.

In today’s episode, we’re continuing our Listen & Repeat pronunciation series, and this time, we’re focusing on the French vowel sound /u/ — that’s the sound you hear in words like toujours or rouge. 🎧✨

So here's how it works: I’ll say some French sentences where the /u/ sound appears, and your job is simple — just listen carefully and repeat after me.

This listen & repeat technique helps you train your ear and build muscle memory, so you can eventually feel more confident when speaking French.

To help you follow along, make sure to download your free cheat sheet — it includes all the sentences and English translations. You’ll find the link in the episode notes!

Let’s start with five French words that contain the /u/ sound:

• nous (we / us)
• rouge (red)
• toujours (always)
• genou (knee)
• bijoux (jewellery)

Ready to go? Let’s practice with full sentences!

Repeat after me:

1. Nous jouons au foot tous les dimanches. ⚽ (We play football every Sunday.)
2. Ma couleur préférée est le rouge. ❤️ (My favourite colour is red.)
3. La boulangerie ouvre toujours à 7h. 🕖 (The bakery always opens at 7 a.m.)
4. Je me suis fait mal au genou en courant. 🦵 (I hurt my knee while running.)
5. Louise porte beaucoup de bijoux. 💍 (Louise wears a lot of jewellery.)

Great! If any of those sentences felt tricky — feel free to go back and replay them.

Repetition really is the key to improving your pronunciation.

And that’s it for today’s episode!

Don’t forget to download your free cheat sheet — it includes all the French sentences and their English translations to help you follow along more easily.

Merci beaucoup for practicing with me today! I’ll see you in the next episode.

À bientôt, bye!