French pronunciation can be a total pain sometimes.

When I asked the people over at the Talk in French page on Facebook what the French words they simply couldn’t pronounce, I received a whole truckload of answers. As Elizabeth described it on her comment, “It’s easier to list the ones I can pronounce.”
I totally feel your pain. Which is why in this series of articles, I have provided the pronunciation for the most troublesome words submitted via the Facebook post. This is the 3rd part. You can also check out the
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So, are you ready? Let’s hear it!
Hurluberlu | an eccentric person, a weirdo | (0:01 min) |
Instruction | education | (0:14 min) |
Jaune vs. jeune | Jaune is yellow while jeune means young | (0:27 min) |
Je préférerais | I would prefer... | (0:42 min) |
Joue | cheek | (0:51 min) |
Journal | newspaper | (1:01 min) |
Juillet | July | (1:14 min) |
Jus | juice | (1:25 min) |
L’emploi | employment | (1:36 min) |
L'environnement | the environment | (1:48 min) |
La serrurerie | locksmithing; the trade of a locksmith | (2:00 min) |
Le thé | tea | (2:13 min) |
Les oiseaux | the birds | (2:25 min) |
Libellule | dragonfly | (2:37 min) |
Maintenant | now | (2:50 min) |
Malheureusement | unfortunately | (3:02 min) |
Merci beaucoup | thank you very much; thanks a lot | (3:14 min) |
Mille-feuille | a French dessert made of thin layers of puff pastry and fillings | (3:27 min) |
Probablement | Probablement | (6:07 min) |
Prononciation | pronunciation | (6:19 min) |
Which words on this list is the most difficult for you to pull off? Try practising it with the audio. You can also download a copy of the audio when you subscribe to the Talk in French newsletter.

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