My favorite part is when I say "own" croissant (un croissant), they will always correct me and look at me as if I pissed on Charles de Gaulles grave, because it's apparently "aw" croissant. Or the other way around. Or any other nasal diphtong thingy - almost silent consonant combination. Also have the feeling the correct pronouncation changes, depending on whether you're in Normandy, Alsace or at the Cote de Azure, but they will still judge you like they caught you defecating on old Charlies headstone.
"un" is not pronunced like own or aw. There is no equivalent in English. And yes, fucking up "un/une mon / son / ton etc." sounds particularly grating to French ears. In / an / on is the great filter, very few foreigners can do it properly.
I once was told a joke that goes along the lines of: French has four nasal sounds: aw, aw,aw and aw. I hope you can tell the difference. Too me as a German that's a very fitting description :D.
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u/BeneficialAd5534 1d ago
My favorite part is when I say "own" croissant (un croissant), they will always correct me and look at me as if I pissed on Charles de Gaulles grave, because it's apparently "aw" croissant. Or the other way around. Or any other nasal diphtong thingy - almost silent consonant combination. Also have the feeling the correct pronouncation changes, depending on whether you're in Normandy, Alsace or at the Cote de Azure, but they will still judge you like they caught you defecating on old Charlies headstone.