Lesson 11

Sound [о]

The sound may look easy, but it’s not. It’s similar to the English sound in the word “go” [gou] but without the ending [u].

In order to get closer to the French [o], make your lips like you are going to pronounce the sound [ø], i. e. to whistle (see lesson 9). Then, without changing the position of the lips, pronounce the French [ɔ]. This gives you something similar to the French [o]. Practice makes perfect!

Compare the pictures 1 and 2. Do you see the difference between [ɔ] and [o], don’t you?

[ɔ]	[o]
Pic. 1	Pic. 2

Exercise 1. Try to pronounce [ɔ] and [o] differently in your speech. Look at your lips in the mirror and compare them with the pictures 1 and 2:

[pɔ — po — pɔ:r — po], [sɔ — so — sɔl — so], [tɔ — to — tɔs — to], [nɔ — no — nɔ:r — no], [ɔ — о — nɔt — no], [ɔ — о — ɔm — o], [ɔ — о — ɔm — o:z].

Exercise 2. Read the words and try to memorize them:

Exercise 3. Read and translate:

Sound [ɔ̃]

As you may have already guessed, in order to get the French [ɔ̃] you need to “moo with the open mouth” again (see lesson 10), then, without stopping this, pronounce the sound [ɔ] that you already know. Do not forget that there should not be any real [n] in this sound.

Exercise 4. Pronounce:

[ɔ — ɔ̃], [mɔ — mɔ̃], [tɔ — tɔ̃], [sɔ — sɔ̃], [pɔ — pɔ̃], [ɔ:r — ɔ̃], [ɔm — ɔ̃], [ɔl — ɔ̃], [ɔd — ɔ̃], [ɔb — ɔ̃].

Exercise 5. Произнесите слова и выучите их:

mon [mɔ̃] m — my
ton [tɔ̃] m — your (singular)
son [sɔ̃] m — his, her, its
nom [nɔ̃] m — name
sombre [sɔ̃br] m, f — dark
compliqué [kɔ̃plike] m, compliquée [kɔ̃plike] f — complicated
bon [bɔ̃] m — good
long [lɔ̃] m, longue [lɔ̃:g] f — long
bonbon [bɔ̃bɔ̃] m — sweet, candy
garçon [garsɔ̃] m — boy
pont [pɔ̃] m — bridge
leçon [ləsɔ̃] f — lesson
maison [mɛzɔ̃] f — house, home
raconter [rakɔ̃te] — to tell
montrer [mɔ̃tre] — to show
profession [prɔfɛsjɔ̃] f — occupation, profession
agression [agrɛsjɔ̃] f — aggression

Exercise 6. Read horizontally and compare how the letter combinations on, om are pronounced:

Exercise 7. Fill in the blanks with the word on the right to get complete sentences. Read these sentences aloud adding additional [n] or [m] in the highlighted positions:

Exercise 8. Read the words and try to guess what they mean (use a dictionary if necessary):

Sound [u]

The French [u] is a bit more rounded than the English [u]. Your tongue should touch your palate at the back of your mouth.

Exercise 9. Read and memorize the words:

Sound [w]

This sound is easy because you know it: wow, wild west. The same old [w].

Exercise 10. Read and memorize the words:

Exercise 11. Read and translate: