Libre circulation

Je prepare une presentation pour ma classe, sur la libre circulation de gens dans l’UE. –

But during the presentation I find that I stumble on every word. I revert to my weird Spanish / French pronunciation.

So to focus on pronunciation Amy reads it back to me with a more accurate pronunciation. Concentrating on the /ʒən/ for example, I repeat, bouncing the phrases back and forth.

I start to repeat the following phrase 'sont foux, completement foux' avec expression - with gesture  - and suddenly I find myself adopting a pronunciation poise. 

That a position with the neck, the mouth, the tongue and the throat. It's not me, not English David anyway. The pace of delivery is different – and perhaps it’s a bad parody of a French accent. But at least it’s not English. Adrian Underhill talks about this he says that as babies we explore the musculature of pronunciation. in this video. More about this soon I hope...

Adrian Underhill - Pronunciation is Physical Video

Lord of the Gap

A graded reader to get me reading and absorbing more french - Arthur Bernéde's 1927 Polar.

As usual I enjoy the feel of moving across familiar phrases in french but quickly lose the thread of the plot.

So looking on-line to cheat a bit on the story I find that a belphégor is a demon who helps people making discoveries.

His name 'the lord of the gap' makes him, for me, a strangely symbolic language learning companion.