1. Firstly, it is important that we always read with comprehension in mind.

When someone
understands what he is reading, that is always clear. Lack of understanding of what you
are reading can lead to grouping words together in an unnatural way.

2. We must be able to understand these words when abbreviated:

M. - Monsieur
Mlle. - Mademoiselle
Mme - Madame
Mlles - Mesdemoiselles
Mmes - Mesdames
Mssrs - Messieurs

3. Numbers are important as well, you must know your numbers!

Eg. 250 - deux cent cinquante
93 - quatre-vingt-treize
1995 - mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-quinze (as in dates, for instance)
1,5 - un virgule cinq (note that where in English we use a point a comma is used instead
in French
60% - soixante pour cent

4. Accents - accents are super important for two main reasons: they affect in large part how
a word is pronounced and they sometimes differentiate one word from another when
they are spelled the same.
An example of the latter:
ou - or
où - where

These are the three main ones that affect pronunciation in a notable way.

An acute accent is found on a letter e only and it is very important that we pay attention
to words that are spelled with this accent.
Eg. télé, prépare, écoute, égoiste, télévisé, évident
This is particularly important where the passé composé is being used to tell of a past
action.
Eg. travaille, travaillé
Prépare, préparé
Joue, joué
Préfère, préférée
Etc.
 Another accent is a cedilla, which is found on a letter c and changes its pronunciation to
an ‘s’ rather than that of a ‘k’.
Eg. français, façade, leçon, maçon, lançons, reçu etc

A trema accent is found on vowels ë, ï and ü and its function is to indicate that the
accented vowel must be pronounced distinctly from the vowel that precedes it.
Eg, maïs, caraïbe, naïf, canoë, Noël

5. The silent ‘s’. Usually words that end in ‘s’ do not have the pronunciation of that ‘s’
unless we are doing a liaison (liaison = the joining of a consonant sound followed by a
vowel sound)
Eg. Ils mangent (this -ent is not pronounced) WE NEED TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT
FOR THIRD PERSON FORMS OF THE VERB.
Ils ont mangé

Also, t is not pronounced unless it is followed by an ‘e’

Eg. intelligent,intelligents, intelligente, intelligentes
Petit, petite

6. Punctuation - Often overlooked, but very important in reading. We must pause at a

comma and pause for a longer period when we come upon a full stop.
At question marks our intonation must be raised to communicate that we are in fact
making an inquiry. When there is an exclamation mark this must be communicated in
tone as well.
Eg. Qu’est-ce qu’il a fait?
Eg. Quelle question importante!

7. Always practice reading ALOUD. Practice several times.

8. Always read your passage title before beginning to read the passage.
9. Pay attention to articles - to be sure that you are reading what you see.
10. Qu is pronounced as a k in French, as that sound that we know in English does not exist
in the French language.
11. Th is a regular sounding ‘t’ in French, unlike in English.
12. Quand when followed by a word beginning with a vowel takes on a ‘t’ sound
Eg. Quand on fait du foot…

Now let’s practice together…