French Pronunciation of Words and Mannerisms

That’s right. It’s actually a thing. The French language, once you get the hang of the basics, is as unique as the people who speak the language and live in the country.

The vowels differ significantly to the English version, and they prefer not to pronounce the ends of words. Bordeaux is pronounced without saying the X at the end. They also don’t pronounce the T’s or S’s if it’s at the end of the word. The area and metro station“Grands Boulevards”, is pronounced “Grand Boulevard”

It’s the same with a word containing two Ls. How do you say Bastille or Billancourt like a French person? You should not completely form an L with your mouth where the tongue actually touches the palate of your mouth. It’s rather a suggestion of an L than an actual L. It almost changes into a J.

When a French person drops something they’ll often say “uap”. It doesn’t mean much, but it’s just something that they say almost automatically.

When they are checking a list, they’ll also tick of things by saying “tac, tac, tac…” as they go along. They don’t even have to check a list, it’s just to confirm that they’ve checked and followed a certain process to be sure it has all been checked. These cultural little details is done by most people, and I’ve lived here for over 2 years and I’ve heard it about 50 times.

They don’t pronounce the letter H either. So that’s why you think it’s due to the French accent that they say “ello” instead of “hello”, but in fact it’s because they don’t pronounce the H.

It’s a beautiful language, culture and people.