Word of the Week #31 - “S” & “N”-Not Like English - Mastering French Pronunciation w/ Geri Metz

#31--”sensationnel” --a great word-learn how to say it correctly!
Bonjour! I'm Geri Metz and this is the "Word of the Week!" A mini video lesson in French Pronunciation!
Please visit pronouncingfrench.com and sign up for a free French pronunciation lesson, phonetics chart and many other useful learning tools for teachers and students alike! Enjoy!
The purpose of PronouncingFrench.com is to improve the quality of spoken French among teachers, students and
all who wish to sound more authentic when speaking the beautiful French language.
If you enjoyed this video please click the "thumbs up" button on the bottom right of the video, subscribe to my channel and share with your friends! Merci!
---------------------------------------­--------------------------------------
Word of the Week #32-sensationnel
Bonjour. This is Geri Metz of Pronouncingfrench.com and I’m here with Word of the Week # 31. This week our word is “sensationnel” and it looks almost the same in English as in French. But there are some interesting features to note.
If we say this word in English, we hear a lot of consonant noise “sensation, s, s, sh”. And we also notice the neutralization of unaccented vowels: sen-sa-shun-uhl where the vowels in the last 2 syllables have lost their identity to become the “schwa” or neutral vowel.
To make the “s” in English, we make the friction against the gum ridge with the tip of the tongue. If you look at your mouth with a mirror it’s a little hard to see, but you will notice that the friction for the “s” is against the gum ridge, and that the tongue is curled upward. You can feel the sides of your tongue pressing against the back molars.
In French, as we have said before, everything is pronounced further front in the mouth. So for the French “s”, the tip of the tongue is against the lower teeth and the blade of the tongue, just behind the tip is making the friction; but this time the friction is not against the gum ridge, but against the upper teeth. And the sides of the tongue which you could feel pressing against the back molars for the English “s” you can now feel pressing more forward on the teeth, on the front molars. Say “sensation” a few times and try to identify these changes in your mouth. (sensation, sensation).
Now making the longer word “sensationnel”, we have the open “o” as in “Paul” and for this sound, you may recall that we round the lips but also draw in the sides of the lips with more tension than in English. And we finish this word with “nel”. Here we have the “n”, again more forward in the mouth than in English where “n” is pronounced against the gum ridge with the tongue tip. In French “n” is made with the tongue tip down behind the lower teeth and the closure against the upper teeth. The final sound, “l” is made in English against the gum ridge, but in French by placing the tip of the tongue firmly against the upper teeth (“sensational” than contrasts with the French “sensationnel” and this whole word points out that in French all sounds are made more forward in the mouth. Our course, Mastering French Pronunciation helps you master these principles through oral exercises that you repeat after the model of a native speaker of French. That is really the only way to achieve mastery of these principles. So enjoy this lesson, et à la prochaine.