French is hard to pronounce for English first language users. This is because the French phonological system is so different to that of English (whatever version of English you speak). The nasal vowels, uvular 'r', vowels in general (use of cardinal vowels and little use of diphthongs), subtle differences in consononant pronuciation (e.g. the lack of aspiration in plosives such as 't' and 'p'. Then of course there is the intonation system which, while less vital for intelligibility, is significantly different with its lack of word stress and its different pitch patterns. No wonder many pupils find it hard. I taught many higher-aptitude students who coped really well, largely just through input, reading aloud and communication, others who struggled more. I know of many adult learners who struggle a lot to produce individual sounds, especially that pesky 'r'. I know that I struggle myself with rolled/trilled 'r's, so I recognise the problem. So wh...
I'm delighted to let you know that that my new book Thinking About Language Teaching (Volume 2) is now out and available as a paperback or Kindle version from Amazon. You might recall that Volume 1 of this collection of themed reflections on language teaching came out last September. I was hoping Volume 2 would be published sooner, but we had to move house before Christmas and have been pretty busy, so the new book took longer than expected. And it is, as often, the editing and formatting which took the longest. My wife Elspeth Jones spent a long time weeding out errors, editing and formatting the text for publication. To remind you, this roughly 300-page book is a collection of reflections written between 2012 and 2025, with additional commentary and thoughts. The original posts were lightly edited in many cases. I am very proud of the range of content I have been able to share. Teachers will not only think about their craft on reading the book, but will get masses of ideas for ...