How to lose your English accent when you speak French

HOW TO LOSE YOUR ENGLISH ACCENT WHEN YOU SPEAK FRENCH

So, do you feel that you speak French with a thick English accent?

It could be frustrating to be told that you speak English with French words, no?

I’m wondering how much it bothers you – I’d really love to know – because every person is different.

And I know that you know that you might have an accent. I also know that you put this off, on the back burner, because it’s a grand mystery: how does someone lose their accent? How does someone acquire an accent?

Read the article below, to find out how to lose your English accent when you speak French, and watch the video for some French safe to acquire.

(This week: verb ACQUÉRIR – to acquire)

This morning I woke up excited to start my daily practice for Italian.

Yes, didn’t I tell you? I’m learning Italian… and I also have a friend who barters with me Spanish for French.

Yup, busy bee 🙂

And I hear my own words when I speak to you, and I am following all my own advices: speak out loud when you read, when you write, don’t fall back onto English… and that’s about it, I’m 17% ‘fluent’ in Italian – I’m very happy!

Then I realized that I do have an accent. I speak French and English every day with you, so the muscles of my mouth have to serve me in both languages. Yes, I have an accent in Italian, but I’ll listen more and use my own Ear Gymnastics technique, the Deep Practice and the Sense Memory.

Bam! Done!

Done? Hm, not so sure, because it will take a while if I do it on my own, just as it took me with English, and even longer, if I don’t get an Italian language coach. But I already found a few via LinkedIn.

So, now, I’m all set, but what about you?

How much does it bother you that you have an accent in French, and do you want to lose it?

If you do, I have two solutions for you, and they come one after the other:

1.
Work with a French language coach (I have a couple of spots left, that you can apply for), who will help you to eventually hear your own mistakes, and correct yourself during conversation.

This is huge – most people go directly from an app or software (Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, etc.) to an immersion. Be very careful, if you are not aware of your own mistakes, an immersion can become very frustrating, especially if it’s a group program.

2.
Go into a French immersion, 1:1 first, if available (you can see when my next 1:1 French Immersion Retreat in Paris takes place), or in group. Immersion after 1:1 coaching works miracles.

Careful again: in an immersion 1:1, I can adjust the level of conversation to yours, but in a group immersion, you’ll have to adjust your level of conversation to the group’s.

If you still have to work on your accent/pronunciation after the Immersion, go back to your French coach.

Rinse and repeat! 🙂

Now, I’ll say something that may surprise you:
if you speak with an accent, that only means that you speak one more language than your friends who only speak English. While working your way through perfecting your accent, don’t beat yourself up. Don’t rush the process. It will only hurt your feelings and make you be less patient in the process.

AND DO RESPECT THESE RULES OF THUMB:

Trust yourself.

Trust your language coach.

ALWAYS trust the process.

You’ll arrive faster than you ever thought possible!

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!
Tell us in the comments below, what is one thing that you find challenging about your French accent or pronunciation, and what will you do about it in this month?

Let me guess.