French Made Easy

215 - The French R (French Pronunciation Practice)

• Mathilde Kien

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In this episode, you’ll practice the French R with a simple listen & repeat exercise. 🎧✨

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

This is episode number 215, numéro deux-cent-quinze. 

In today’s episode, we’re continuing our Listen & Repeat pronunciation series. 

Today, we’re practicing one of the most famous French sounds: the French R. 

That’s the sound you hear in words like trois, Paris, or even tarte. 🎧✨ 

Now, I already have a full episode where I explain how to pronounce the French R, so if you’d like a step-by-step explanation, make sure to listen to that one too. I’ll link it in the episode notes. 

But today’s episode is all about practice. 

So don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. The goal is simply to listen carefully, repeat, and get more comfortable with the sound. 

So here’s how it works: I’ll say some French words and sentences where the French R 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 words, sentences, and English translations. And to practice, head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library, I’ve created a Listen & Repeat exercise for you on the French R. You’ll find the link in the episode notes! 

Let’s start with a few French words that contain the French R sound: 

  • le train (train)
  • trois (three)
  • la tarte (tart)
  • regarder (to watch / to look at)
  • Paris (Paris)

Alright, now that we’ve got our words, let’s practice the French R sound with full sentences! 🎙️
 
Repeat after me.

  • Pierre réserve un billet de train pour Strasbourg. (Pierre books a train ticket to Strasbourg.)
  • Je voudrais réserver une table pour trois personnes. (I would like to reserve a table for three people.)
  • Brigitte prépare une tarte aux fraises. (Brigitte is preparing a strawberry tart.)
  • Claire préfère regarder un film français avec des sous-titres. (Claire prefers to watch a French movie with subtitles.)
  • Marie adore marcher dans les rues de Paris. (Marie loves walking in the streets of Paris.)


Excellent! That’s it for our sentences with the French R sound.
 
If this sound felt difficult, that’s completely normal. The French R can feel very different from the English R, so don’t worry if it doesn’t feel natural yet.
 
The most important thing is to keep listening and repeating. Little by little, the sound will become more familiar.
 
And that’s it for today’s episode! Don’t forget to download your free cheat sheet. It includes all the French words, 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!