Word of the Week #32 - Eliminate Puff On Initial “P” - Mastering French Pronunciation w/ Geri Metz

WORD OF THE WEEK #32 “papillon”--a beautiful word to learn about eliminating the English puff of air on initial “p's”
Bonjour! I'm Geri Metz and this is the "Word of the Week!" A mini video lesson in French Pronunciation!
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Word of the Week #32-papillon
Bonjour; I’m Geri Metz and I’m here with Word of the Week #31 and this week it’s a beautiful sounding word that represents one of Nature’s most beautiful beings, the butterfly.
This word starts with the consonant “p” and has a second “p” in the next syllable. The “p” is what we call an occlusive, meaning that it is produced by closing off the passage of air by bringing together the two lips; (“p”, “p”); and it is voiceless, meaning that the vocal cords are not vibrating to make a sound during its utterance. Since this seems like the same consonant we have in English as in “pack” or “Peter”, you might think that this sound is identical in the two languages. But remember as I have said before, NO sound is exactly the same in English and in French. When you say the “pack or Peter” in English, there is a very noticeable puff of air that accompanies the “p”. Say those two words a few times and hold your fingers in front of your lips to feel the air escaping. (pack-Peter; pack-Peter) Now say “papillon” with this English language habit and feel the air on your fingers.
As you might have guessed, in French this is not the case. In Mastering French Pronunciation, the course I am developing, we examine several ways to correct the English habit of producing this breathiness with the “p”. This is actually one of the harder points of French for us English speakers to correct. We don’t have time here to look at all of those ways to change this habit, but you can go a long way toward making the correction by anticipating the vowel. In English as we have seen, we emphasize consonants so we hit the “p” hard; so we say “papillon”, by hitting the 2 “p’s” and letting a lot of air escape. See if you can go toward making the correction by reaching for the vowels, aiming for the vowels first, with the “p” having a lot less importance. So instead of aiming for the “p” aim for the “a” and the “i” (pa-pi) And also, try making the lip closure more firm than in English. Try it and hold your fingers next to your mouth to see if you feel less air escaping. (papillon)
For the rest of the word, you have the semi vowel “yuh” which comes from the two “l’s” (yuh, yuh) and finally the nasal vowel “ohn”. And putting it all together, we have the lovely word “papillon”.
I do hope that many of you will take the Mastering French Pronunciation course. You owe it to yourselves and especially to your students if you are a teacher, to be your best in French and to pass on to the next generation the very best model you can be. Merci, et à la prochaine.