I am teaching myself to be a classically trained singer and my goal is to cover the four basic languages in Western European music-Latin, German, French and Italian. Your tutorial videos have helped me immensely and I am very grateful for all the hard work you have put into them. Bisou, bisou. ❤️
Thank you so much. I've been trying to learn french for years and making some progress but the (eu) sounds are tough for an english speaker especially to know when each is used. But your video explains it soo well. It's is wonderful to have the sounds explained so clearly and with so many examples. I can't thank you enough.
It is surprising how much of this I had already picked up without even realizing it! I didn't even know there were two different sounds « eu » can make, yet I use both of them already. Thanks for the video!
Bonjour. Je suis coréenne et j'étudie le français depuis 2012. J'ai passé 6 mois en France mais je n'ai jamais prendre le cours de prononciation. alors j'ai des problèmes quand je prononce eu, v, g etc qui existent pas dans mon pays...je suis votre youtube channel pour améliorer ma prononciation. Ça marchera avec vois. :) Pas facile mais j'arriverai le niveau ce que j'ai voulu ! Merci bcp !
I love the way you teach French , you are near to heart and the you learned French is very simple and I’m always looking to have more videos from you ♥️
for me, this sound was really hard to say, but only from this video i know how to say it YOU'RE AMAZING!!!! Thanks about all the helpful videos you make!!!
Alexa, Your lessons are absolutely fantastic! I started following your channel recently to help my son learn French. You might be pleased to know that some of my son's online school teachers in Canada are using your channel to teach French to the Grade 4/5 kids. I have a question. In this video, why do you say, "J'ai peur, " for I'm scared as opposed to "Je suis peur ? " I thought J'ai meant, "I have." If you have a moment to respond, please let me know.
The difference between an open syllable and a closed syllable exists for all the vowels in French, but these two syllables are the same phoneme. That deserved clarification. Thank U for the lesson!
Thanks a lot for these comparison! For Asian like myself, it is out of the questions French sound is very difficult and confusing. Please do make videos on all vowel sound difference! It would be amazing to hear them at once as to compare! Bisou bisou !
Wow, I only learned this verb previously with one sound. Now it's much harder to create 3 sounds for the one word. To make it easier, the "eu" in open words like "fleure" sounds like the Ö in Turkish. FlEUre, Özel.
My textbook doesn't explain why 'eu' has multiple sounds so I was quite complicated until I watched this video and finally realized! Merci beaucoup Alexa!
OK just to confirm: 1) peu, bleu, veut are all pronounced with the closed "eu" (phoneticising in English, this sounds like a sharp "oo-r") 2) couleur, veuf, fleur are all pronounced with the open "eu" (phoneticising in English, this sounds like a long "uh-r") 3) "eu", the past participle of avoir, pronunciations (phoneticising in English, this sounds like a long "ooo") Is the correct? I especially wanted confirmation on the 3rd point. Thanks!
Hello I'm Jin from Korea and I've started learning French a week ago. This is the first video in vowels part and this is so hard for me... Anyway, thank your for the nice video! I really enjoy your videos :)
i had a problem about pronouncing ‘eu’ before i saw this video ! thank you for making these videos ! You have such a nice lecturing skill ! Merci beaucoup !!
Vídeos ótimos, excelentes! Nunca pare de fazer, por favor! Simplesmente você me inspirou a aprender Francês. Sou bilingue, falo português (Brasil) e Inglês e meu sonho atualmente é aprender Francês (French) ! Merci!
In my opinion there is an important omission in this lesson: The pronunciation of the (two-letter) word "eu," which is the (very useful) past participle of avoir. Eu is NOT pronounced like the start of the English word "earth" or the i in "first." Its sound does not arise in English (making it hard for Americans to say) but does in German, and of course it's like the u in French "tu." So, for example, eu rhymes tu and du, whereas peu and deux do not!
Americans do have it in the words "put," "soot," and "look." "first," "fur," and "earth" are wrong as they are more open, just like "beurre" or "veuve" (for the same reason--a fricative consonant following the vowel sound in the same phoneme). You can quibble and say the American sound of "soot" is still wrong because we elongate even our "short" vowels more than the French do, since we do not keep our jaws and cheeks as taut as the French--their "relaxed" filler word when making a speech is "euh," while ours is "uh" so we're far more relaxed (lazy?) in general--but the vowel sound of "soot" or "foot" is still the starting point for an American to say "eu."
You're thinking of the wrong vowel. The vowel in 'eu' is /y/ which is essentially 'i' but with rounded lips. This vowel is absent in most English dialects. The vowel in 'soot', 'put', et al. is /ʊ/ which is pronounced slightly more forward than /u/ and a bit more open and without rounded lips. The two vowels are quite different; /y/ ('eu') is pronounced in the same spot as /i/, so the front of the mouth, while /ʊ/ ('put') is pronounced slightly in front of /u/ but still towards the back of the mouth.
Ah, yes, I think I skipped over the first part of Louis' comment (since it doesn't make any sense, as she DOES cover the past participle of "avoir" in the lesson, starting at 6:15. I was thinking of the other "eu" sounds of the lesson, and only saying the "eu" of "feu" or "dieu" or "peut-etre," sound like the vowels of "put" or "soot" or "look" (only of course a bit more elongated, though not "open," like nearly all vowel sounds are in English in comparison to those of French, Italian, etc.). I understand that the "a eu" has an "eu" that sounds like "tu." I also know the reason for this is the same as why "avoir" conjugation is so weird compared to most "er" or "ir" verbs, which is that it is one of the most common verbs to be used, so its spelling and usage and pronounciation never changed over the centuries. Also, for the record, and I don't know if this is from my Southern Californian dialect or because I spent two years in Bordeaux and Geneva, but when I say "put," my tongue is definitely forward. I think what separates how a French person and an American say the English word "put" would not differ in tongue placement, exactly, but by the fact that the French in general have a more forward leaning JAW, with the cheeks more taut, while the American mouth is much more relaxed (compare the normal pause word in an American speech is "uh" and for a French person it is "euh." So if you looked at an x-ray, the French tongue might be further forward in the frame than the American's, but not more extended from its base--the entire mouth is. Again, I'm now talking about what most of this video is about, the "peu" and "feu" and "pleurer" "eu" sounds.
Watching from Brazil. Did you know that "eu" in Portuguese means I/Je? But in french it sounds completely different. It's nice to learn French with you 😄
hello! i would like to clarify if the word "neuf" both refers to the number 9 and the word new... also, what's the difference between using new & nouveau?
Alexa, I am an English speaker-American. I speak a little Spanish. Using my limited familiarity with the Spanish language should I be able learn French much easier? I see and hear some French words are similar to Spanish words. Also, I enjoy your lessons very much. Thank you
Any knowledge of language should help you be able to pick up French a little easier but with some knowledge of Spanish it should help a lot as they are both from the same family of languages! Bonne chance!
ohh I see my mistake I didn't know there were two sounds for this combination and I was pronouncing EU with the rounded and open E all the time. That's why I felt it sounded different to what I was saying.
I have some doubt..conjugate verb il a eu is closed sound and Elle or il veut is also closed sound. But u mentioned il a eu is the only exception. Il pleut and il peuvent are an open sound, the general rule. We have two exceptions or where am I going wrong in my understanding. Please comment.
"Il a eu" (he had): EU is pronounced [y], like the letter U in the words "tu" (you) and "salut" (hi) "je veux" (I want), "elle veut" (she wants), "il pleut" (it's raining): EU has a closed pronunciation - [ø], as the letters EU are followed by silent consonants (X and T) "ils peuvent" (they can), "il pleure" (he's crying): EU has an open pronunciation - [œ], as the letters EU are followed by non-silent consonants (V and R)
Hello! Fellow French student here. I determined it to be that, when EU is following a consonant, you would pronounce it with a more open mouth (i.e. ProfessEUR), but if not, it's more closed (fEU). I hope this makes sense ! Bonne chance !
How to pronounce "EU"...
*Britain has left the chat.*
made my day hahahah
@dom toredo k
AdiEU...
@@matiasguerra591 lol mon diEU
Your lessons are really great. I have just one request: when you name a noun, would it be possible to include the definite article?
learning a language is difficult, but with you is so interesting ,merci beaucoup Alexa
I look forward to the day where I will be conversing in French with new friends on my French holiday.
How did that go for you?
@@DragonFanngg I gave up. Lol.
@@Inaworldoflove why? How far did you get learning French?
@@lucasargandona4658 I only know a few words and I used them in Montreal on holiday.
@@DragonFanngg 新年快乐啊😊😊😊，😊😊，😊😊，😊
I'm learning with a tutor but I love using these videos to brush up on and improve my French inbetween lessons! Je te remercie, Alexa !
This lady deserves everything in this world. Wow her teaching style is so simple yet very good
I am teaching myself to be a classically trained singer and my goal is to cover the four basic languages in Western European music-Latin, German, French and Italian. Your tutorial videos have helped me immensely and I am very grateful for all the hard work you have put into them. Bisou, bisou. ❤️
Wow that is so cool, How did that go?
I cannot imagine learning French without you Alexa :*:*:*:* merci beaucoup :D:D Bisou-Bisou!!
Thank you so much. I've been trying to learn french for years and making some progress but the (eu) sounds are tough for an english speaker especially to know when each is used. But your video explains it soo well. It's is wonderful to have the sounds explained so clearly and with so many examples. I can't thank you enough.
I just discovered your french sessions and I am so excited to relearn my high school french and beyond.
I had a lot of fun in this lesson, trying to pronounce all the sounds was a mix of amusement and pride in my progress, subscribed!
It is surprising how much of this I had already picked up without even realizing it! I didn't even know there were two different sounds « eu » can make, yet I use both of them already. Thanks for the video!
fantastic, incisive and making learning French friendly. you are a true graceful teacher. I truly appreciate your teaching
Alexa, you are an awesome teacher!! Thank you for your wonderful videos, sharing your knowledge. They have helped my pronunciation tremendously!
i'm a one week beginner.. and searching for a French teacher for three days I have found Alexa! GREAT TEACHING..a new student. Au Revoir
Bonjour. Je suis coréenne et j'étudie le français depuis 2012. J'ai passé 6 mois en France mais je n'ai jamais prendre le cours de prononciation. alors j'ai des problèmes quand je prononce eu, v, g etc qui existent pas dans mon pays...je suis votre youtube channel pour améliorer ma prononciation. Ça marchera avec vois. :) Pas facile mais j'arriverai le niveau ce que j'ai voulu ! Merci bcp !
I love the way you teach French , you are near to heart and the you learned French is very simple and I’m always looking to have more videos from you ♥️
Best explanation I have ever heard of the different ways to pronounce 'eu'. Loved the examples, too!
I really appreciate all these videos, because it´s shown in an easy way. Thus, Alexa is very kind and enjoyable.
she is amazing! i only enjoy french when i’m watching her , i learn quickly with her
Great! The French vowel sounds are so nice and beautiful. But at the same time are so difficult to distinguish them. However, thanks a lot, Alexa!! :D
I enjoyed it
This teacher is perfect, finally, after a long time, I understood how to pronounce French vocabulary through her easy teaching.🙏
...simply & clearly. So understandable! Thanks Alexa!!!
for me, this sound was really hard to say, but only from this video i know how to say it
YOU'RE AMAZING!!!!
Thanks about all the helpful videos you make!!!
Thanks, Alexa. Your explanation is not only very clear but interesting.
Thanks for this very clear explaining! I am confused for a very long time with this "eu" prononciation. Now finally understood ;-)
AMAZING! You're a wonderful teacher. Thanks for the numerous examples, they do make the whole thing much more comprehensible. Merci beaucoup :)
I wish TH-cam would have shuffled you into my deck a lot sooner. I'm really enjoying your style of teaching!
I gave up learning French language. Because of the pronunciation. Now I start again with your video. Thank you so much.
Alexa, Your lessons are absolutely fantastic! I started following your channel recently to help my son learn French. You might be pleased to know that some of my son's online school teachers in Canada are using your channel to teach French to the Grade 4/5 kids. I have a question. In this video, why do you say, "J'ai peur, " for I'm scared as opposed to "Je suis peur ? " I thought J'ai meant, "I have." If you have a moment to respond, please let me know.
The difference between an open syllable and a closed syllable exists for all the vowels in French, but these two syllables are the same phoneme. That deserved clarification. Thank U for the lesson!
“English has so many silent letters, it’s so broken!”
French: *Tenez mon “ent”*
Thank you Alexa. Excellent as always. Your teaching style is very helpful.
Thanks a lot for these comparison! For Asian like myself, it is out of the questions French sound is very difficult and confusing. Please do make videos on all vowel sound difference! It would be amazing to hear them at once as to compare! Bisou bisou !
That was excellent Alexa. Very clear indeed. Thank you.
Wow, I only learned this verb previously with one sound. Now it's much harder to create 3 sounds for the one word. To make it easier, the "eu" in open words like "fleure" sounds like the Ö in Turkish. FlEUre, Özel.
I don't speak Turkish but I noticed the same similarity with ö. I speak some German and I think that sound is pretty close to eu in French
Yeah the open "eu" is the same with turkish "ö" sound.
Thank you, Alexa!! Best videos on French pronunciation on TH-cam :)
I love the way you teaching dear Alexa,you're just an amazing teacher 👨🏫:)
Really helpful and easy to follow.
My textbook doesn't explain why 'eu' has multiple sounds so I was quite complicated until I watched this video and finally realized! Merci beaucoup Alexa!
I love Alexa! This is so incredibly helpful. Thank you.
Omg!! i learnd some french because of your podcast!! :')
You're so incredible!
You are wonderful! I love learning French with you. Your pronunciation and structions are clear and easy to take in. Merci beaucoup!!
Its a great explanation!! Thank you so much ❤
Alexa, I look forward to our time together....you give so many examples that I can practice on my own. Cheers!
You're so welcome! ☺
Super helpful video, I realized I've pronounced "eu" wrong the entire time.
Merci beaucoup madame Alexa!
I love your French language lessons! I've subscribed!
Very smart, objective and effective way for teaching French, motivating too. Thank you
Glad you liked it!!
OK just to confirm:
1) peu, bleu, veut are all pronounced with the closed "eu" (phoneticising in English, this sounds like a sharp "oo-r")
2) couleur, veuf, fleur are all pronounced with the open "eu" (phoneticising in English, this sounds like a long "uh-r")
3) "eu", the past participle of avoir, pronunciations (phoneticising in English, this sounds like a long "ooo")
Is the correct? I especially wanted confirmation on the 3rd point. Thanks!
Thank you and you are an excellent teacher!!
That's exactly what I was looking for.. thanks! Merci!
Hello I'm Jin from Korea and I've started learning French a week ago. This is the first video in vowels part and this is so hard for me... Anyway, thank your for the nice video! I really enjoy your videos :)
i had a problem about pronouncing ‘eu’ before i saw this video ! thank you for making these videos ! You have such a nice lecturing skill ! Merci beaucoup !!
Merci. Cette vidéo m'a beaucoup aidé. Surtout comme vous avez tellement doucement prononcé.
You teach very good I past my french pronouncition test.mersi!❤️
You could compare this to in German or in some other germanic languages.
I love u Alexa, u don't have any idea how much help u r in learning French
U r the best
Love your classes Alexa! Merci bcp!!
Alexa you clarified my confusion over these sounds. Thank you so much
Very good explanations, and excellent demonstrations :)
Vídeos ótimos, excelentes! Nunca pare de fazer, por favor! Simplesmente você me inspirou a aprender Francês. Sou bilingue, falo português (Brasil) e Inglês e meu sonho atualmente é aprender Francês (French) ! Merci!
In my opinion there is an important omission in this lesson: The pronunciation of the (two-letter) word "eu," which is the (very useful) past participle of avoir. Eu is NOT pronounced like the start of the English word "earth" or the i in "first." Its sound does not arise in English (making it hard for Americans to say) but does in German, and of course it's like the u in French "tu." So, for example, eu rhymes tu and du, whereas peu and deux do not!
Louis Jagerman Merci!
Americans do have it in the words "put," "soot," and "look." "first," "fur," and "earth" are wrong as they are more open, just like "beurre" or "veuve" (for the same reason--a fricative consonant following the vowel sound in the same phoneme). You can quibble and say the American sound of "soot" is still wrong because we elongate even our "short" vowels more than the French do, since we do not keep our jaws and cheeks as taut as the French--their "relaxed" filler word when making a speech is "euh," while ours is "uh" so we're far more relaxed (lazy?) in general--but the vowel sound of "soot" or "foot" is still the starting point for an American to say "eu."
You're thinking of the wrong vowel. The vowel in 'eu' is /y/ which is essentially 'i' but with rounded lips. This vowel is absent in most English dialects. The vowel in 'soot', 'put', et al. is /ʊ/ which is pronounced slightly more forward than /u/ and a bit more open and without rounded lips. The two vowels are quite different; /y/ ('eu') is pronounced in the same spot as /i/, so the front of the mouth, while /ʊ/ ('put') is pronounced slightly in front of /u/ but still towards the back of the mouth.
Ah, yes, I think I skipped over the first part of Louis' comment (since it doesn't make any sense, as she DOES cover the past participle of "avoir" in the lesson, starting at 6:15. I was thinking of the other "eu" sounds of the lesson, and only saying the "eu" of "feu" or "dieu" or "peut-etre," sound like the vowels of "put" or "soot" or "look" (only of course a bit more elongated, though not "open," like nearly all vowel sounds are in English in comparison to those of French, Italian, etc.). I understand that the "a eu" has an "eu" that sounds like "tu." I also know the reason for this is the same as why "avoir" conjugation is so weird compared to most "er" or "ir" verbs, which is that it is one of the most common verbs to be used, so its spelling and usage and pronounciation never changed over the centuries. Also, for the record, and I don't know if this is from my Southern Californian dialect or because I spent two years in Bordeaux and Geneva, but when I say "put," my tongue is definitely forward. I think what separates how a French person and an American say the English word "put" would not differ in tongue placement, exactly, but by the fact that the French in general have a more forward leaning JAW, with the cheeks more taut, while the American mouth is much more relaxed (compare the normal pause word in an American speech is "uh" and for a French person it is "euh." So if you looked at an x-ray, the French tongue might be further forward in the frame than the American's, but not more extended from its base--the entire mouth is. Again, I'm now talking about what most of this video is about, the "peu" and "feu" and "pleurer" "eu" sounds.
THis is at time 6:30. It was addressed in the video. :D
thank you so much i really like. everytime i want to practise french if have time im always watching your video. thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Alexa! You made this so clear!😊
Very helpful. Alexa. Everyday. My french is progressing very well day by day under your video.
Teacher Alexa I really salute you and love every step
Watching from Brazil. Did you know that "eu" in Portuguese means I/Je? But in french it sounds completely different. It's nice to learn French with you 😄
Merci Vitor !! 😊
Your lectures are very helpful.
Made my french homework a lot easier thankyou.
Alexa is a wonderful and bright teacher
Hi Alexa, You should included the word "heureux" meaning happy. That one has both the open and close sounds of "EU". It's funny word the say too.
thanks alot Alexa...I enjoy you teachings..bravo
Thank you so much for these wonderful lessons!!
You really are a teacher. A very good one.
really you are wonderful teacher and you have A great way your voice is very clear
keep it up that great work love your channel
Now i have gotten closed one and open one. Thank you so much.
Such a nice teacher
I think when pronounced with or without the endings, it will come naturally "peu" "peur"
The two different sounds will come naturally
I'm having a difficulty pronouncing EU and OU, it sounds exactly the same!
Its really interesting to learn french from Alexa...Merci beaucoop.
i wonder why i understand madam alexa more than my french teacher at the university.....merci alexa
You are a wonderful teacher thank you
Very enjoyable and rich of info as usual, thanks Alexa. Have a nice day :)
Merci!
I have a question: is eu in "neuf" when part of "neuf heures" pronounced differently than in the "neuf" alone? (neu-vOEr but nOEf)?
hello! i would like to clarify if the word "neuf" both refers to the number 9 and the word new... also, what's the difference between using new & nouveau?
I've learnt alot. Thanks
A very useful video merci beaucoup!
Just marvelous. Great explanations, thanks, Alexa :)
the third rule is not really an exception? eu ends with vowel sound (u) and follows first sound (short oo). I dont see what the exception is.
thank you so much, your videos are so helpful
Thank you. Great classes.
I'm enjoying your French lessons!
Alexa, I am an English speaker-American. I speak a little Spanish. Using my limited familiarity with the Spanish language should I be able learn French much easier? I see and hear some French words are similar to Spanish words. Also, I enjoy your lessons very much. Thank you
Any knowledge of language should help you be able to pick up French a little easier but with some knowledge of Spanish it should help a lot as they are both from the same family of languages! Bonne chance!
you are the best in the world for teaching
thank you because the 'eu' participle exception was driving me crazy!
ohh I see my mistake I didn't know there were two sounds for this combination and I was pronouncing EU with the rounded and open E all the time. That's why I felt it sounded different to what I was saying.
It would be helpful to add the definite or indefinite articles to the nouns you use. Wouldn't it? I enjoy your lessons!
How can i identify whether the word is giving closed sound or open sound? Is there any rule?
I have some doubt..conjugate verb il a eu is closed sound and Elle or il veut is also closed sound.
But u mentioned il a eu is the only exception.
Il pleut and il peuvent are an open sound, the general rule.
We have two exceptions or where am I going wrong in my understanding.
Please comment.
"Il a eu" (he had): EU is pronounced [y], like the letter U in the words "tu" (you) and "salut" (hi)
"je veux" (I want), "elle veut" (she wants), "il pleut" (it's raining): EU has a closed pronunciation - [ø], as the letters EU are followed by silent consonants (X and T)
"ils peuvent" (they can), "il pleure" (he's crying): EU has an open pronunciation - [œ], as the letters EU are followed by non-silent consonants (V and R)
Could anyone please tell me how to determine when to pronounce eu as "euhr" and "ew" in a word?
Hello! Fellow French student here. I determined it to be that, when EU is following a consonant, you would pronounce it with a more open mouth (i.e. ProfessEUR), but if not, it's more closed (fEU). I hope this makes sense ! Bonne chance !
keep in mind you should also ignore silent consonants when using this method
@@MrRobot12 Merci
Thank you so much. It was very helpful.