It's story time! Welcome to a French coffee shop and fancy restaurant where you'll be introduced to a number of common French loanwords in English. A loanword is a words borrowed from a foreign language.
American English is packed with French words; how do we pronounce them? Well, I know a lot of you are saying we butcher them, that's okay (I don't disagree with you!) In general, the pronunciation of a words depends on how popular / common a word is. If a French word is common in American English, naturally, there's an expected way to pronounce it, even if it's not how it is pronounced normally in French.
The goal of this episode is to teach you how we pronounce the common ones and what to do when you come across uncommon loanwords. Here is a sample of some of the words in today's episode.
- Patisserie
- Croissants
- Baguettes
- Eclairs
- Creme brulée
- Soufflé
- Crepes
- Facade (less commonly spelled façade in English)
- Chic
- Faux pas
- Maitre d’ (or also spelled maître d')
- Sommelier
- Connoisseur
- Hors d'oeuvres (we say this word often and I guarantee most people can't spell it!)
- Champagne
- Vinaigrette
- Omelet (or also spelled omelette)
- Faux
- Cliché (less commonly spelled cliche in English)
- Risqué
- Chauffeur
- Entrepreneur
- Rendezvous
- À la mode (also spelled a la mode)
- À la carte (also spelled a la carte)
- C'est la vie
- Déjà vu (also spelled deja vu)
Want to take your learning further?
⭐ Visit the website for more learning materials. You’ll also find the Academy there, where you can access bonus content for this episode (formerly “The Classroom”).
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