In my last post, I gave you information about the Fabulous Five vowels that are used most often in French. I told you about the first four: e, é, è, i. Today, I would like to tell you about the last one – the sound “u”.

This French sound does not exist in English.

One example of a French word where this sound is used is “rue” like in “rue de Paris”.

To say this sound there are a few steps:

1. Say the French “i” which is “ee” in English.

2. Pucker up – tongue flat against your bottom teeth, lots of tension in your lips, tense up your body from the stomach up, do not move anything!

3. Go back and say the French “i” from that position.

You should be saying the “u” correctly if you follow these simple steps – that’s all there is to it!

There you have it – the Fabulous French Five vowels!

Let’s recap – in French, you must:

1. Never suppress vowels, especially the Fabulous Five which are called “prime” vowels.

2. Keep your tongue flat against your bottom teeth.

3. Always say vowels the same way (they don’t change in French as they sometimes do in English).

4. Pay attention to mouth position and tension.

If you have any questions, you can email me at robert@rebelfrench.com.

A la prochaine…..

Robert