Sounds and listening

French spelling and French sound are far apart. A learner can read a sentence and still fail to hear it. This hub explains the main causes, one by one, with sentences that you can listen for: liaison and elision, silent letters, nasal vowels, the differences between France and Quebec, the small words that speakers use to think, and how to use subtitles.

Each entry gives you something to listen for in the next clip that you watch. That is the point of this hub: to turn a vague feeling of “they speak too fast” into specific patterns that your ear can learn.

Entries in this hub, in reading order

1. Why is spoken French hard to understand? → French words often join in speech, and spelling does not show every sound directly. Familiar written words can therefore be hard to recognise in a continuous sentence.
2. French liaison and elision by ear → Liaison links a normally silent final consonant to a following vowel sound. Elision removes a vowel in writing and speech before another vowel, as in l’ami.
3. French silent letters in listening → Many final letters in French words are not pronounced, but they can still show grammar or become audible in another form. Learn them in phrases rather than applying one rule to every word.
4. How to hear French nasal vowels → French nasal vowels are vowel sounds made with air passing through the nose as well as the mouth. Compare whole words and listen for the vowel, not just the spelling.
5. Listening to French from France and Quebec → French speakers in France and Quebec share a language, but accents and some everyday vocabulary differ. Listen to individual speakers from both places rather than treating either group as uniform.
6. French filler words: bah, du coup and en fait → Small expressions such as bah, du coup, and en fait can help speakers respond, connect ideas, or revise a point. Their meaning depends on context, so avoid giving each one a single English equivalent.
7. How to use French subtitles → Use subtitles as a tool to connect speech with words, not as a test you must pass. A first listen followed by a captioned replay can reveal what you missed.

Looking for the full list? Open the library. Unfamiliar word? See the glossary.