my new lesson for class is a list of about 50 english words that i always hear the french mispronounce. it's a kick. everyone gets involved, i get to be dramatic, we all have a good time. here are some of the words on my list:
narrator, catastrophe
determined, shit
hungry, money
angry, Marilyn Manson
Jennifer Aniston, vitamin
mother, bathroom
cd, Chicago
calendar, photography
colleague, car
when speaking in french, there are no accents on words; "photography" in english sounds like "phoTOGraphy"; other examples include "chiCAgo", "CALender," etc. obviously it's as hard for them to pronounce the "th" sound as it is for me to pronounce the "u" and "r" sounds in french.
difficult words for me are "gratuit" (free), "grenouille" (frog, and the hardest for me!!); "cernes" (dark circles under your eyes) and "Ruinart" (the name of a champagne house and the street in my address). i always make sure i say these words in french so they can have a good chuckle at me, too.