French for Beginners

Pronunciation differences: The French difference is based on voiced as opposed to unvoiced consonants. The English (and Cantonese) difference is based on aspiration.

English	English	English
Kate	Skate	Gate
	French	French
Aspirated	Unaspirated	Unaspirated
Unvoiced	Unvoiced	Voiced
P’	P	B
T’	T	D
K’	K (QU)	G (GU)
	F	V
	S, Ç	Z, S (in between vowels)
	CH	J

Note :

Cantonese does not differentiate between unvoiced & voiced consonants
Beware of the letter J pronounced as in the word MEASURE (as opposed to MAJOR )
L (ONLY ONE ARTICULATION IN FRENCH) LOOK NOT COOL
R EXISTS IN CANTONESE BUT NOT IN ENGLISH
M, N SIMILAR TO ENGLISH

> SELECT THE WORD YOU HEAR :

1. PAS - BAS

2. TOUT - DOUX

3. FOU - VOUS

4. CAS - GARS

5. COU - GOÛT

6. CHOU - JOUE

ANSWERS: You should have selected the following words : pas, tout, vous, cas, goût, chou

previous | next

French at HKU