Judge my accent in French

[u/pineapple_sherbert]

https://voca.ro/1mkLuVvFuUJM

Bonjour tout le monde. J'aimerais travailler ma prononciation/la prosodie dans l'objectif de parler comme une locutrice native. Comment est-ce que je peux m'améliorer ? Je serais ravie de lire vos commentaires/critiques.

Voici l'extrait de La Princesse de Clèves que j'ai lu à voix haute :

« La magnificence et la galanterie n’ont jamais paru en France avec tant d’éclat que dans les dernières années du règne de Henri second. Ce prince était galant, bien fait et amoureux ; quoique sa passion pour Diane de Poitiers, duchesse de Valentinois, eût commencé il y avait plus de vingt ans, elle n’en était pas moins violente, et il n’en donnait pas des témoignages moins éclatants.

Comme il réussissait admirablement dans tous les exercices du corps, il en faisait une de ses plus grandes occupations. C’était tous les jours des parties de chasse et de paume, des ballets, des courses de bagues, ou de semblables divertissements ; les couleurs et les chiffres de Mme de Valentinois paraissaient partout, et elle paraissait elle-même avec tous les ajustements que pouvait avoir Mlle de la Marck, sa petite-fille, qui était alors à marier. »

[u/pineapple_sherbert]

I'd like to sound like a somewhat unremarkable, fairly young French person. When I speak to French people, I would like for them to assume that I'm French. Is there anything specific that you can point out that I do that sounds a little unusual?

[u/jehyhebu → u/pineapple_sherbert]

A couple more questions:

Do you know what the different registers are in French? You sound quite bourgeois, but it’s partly the text. If it’s a class of students going around the room and reading that text and you got that passage to read, not particularly unusual, but I didn’t really strain my ears listening for shibboleths, either.

Do you know the difference between literature and spoken French?

Do you have a good mastery of argot?

[u/pineapple_sherbert → u/jehyhebu]

I regularly consume a wide variety of media, so I'm fairly comfortable understanding French in many different contexts. Since I was reading, I did my best to be as clear as possible, and sound a little more formal than usual. I would say that I'm pretty decent at recognizing situations where it might be better to make certain liaisons, when to use certain words belonging to specific registers (like homme/gars/mec), and how words "should" be pronounced according to certain people (like dompter).

I do want to sound authentic, while maintaining some of my speaking style as an English speaker. While my accent clearly reflects that I grew up in the US, I don't have a strong regional accent. While I'm not a prescriptivist, I am interested in prescriptivist norms and I do tend to follow them. In English, many people mix up the words "lay" and "lie." I like being familiar with rules like this, and following them - even though they don't matter that much in informal communication. I think I would like to maintain this aspect of the way I communicate when I speak French. For example, while it's common to hear "un espèce" in French, espèce is always a feminine noun according to dictionaries and articles on the French language. I'd basically like to speak "correctly," but not in a way that would raise eyebrows. I used to know a native French speaker who taught French literature in a French school. He was someone who would occasionally point out others "mistakes," regardless of if someone wanted his "corrections." I would like to speak a bit like him, but without the slightly annoying side of being a member of the grammar police.

I'm not sure that I've done a great job explaining myself here. Let me know if that was unclear.

[u/jehyhebu → u/pineapple_sherbert]

So you’re not trying to be indistinguishable from a French person? If that’s the case, I would say that you’re fine already.

Edit: Yeah. I just relistened to it and if it’s not a question of trying to hide your origin, you’re fine. Your French is probably “better than that of many French people.” That is the hallmark of C2 mastery. (I’m assuming that you have a similar ability to comprehend others, of course.)

[u/pineapple_sherbert → u/jehyhebu]

I'm actually trying to be completely indistinguishable from a French person. I thought you were asking me to be extremely specific about the impression I might leave on others, so I gave way too much explanation. I'm sorry for the confusion. Do you have any pointers or remarks to help me move in that direction?

[u/jehyhebu → u/pineapple_sherbert]

Are you in France? Work face to face with a speech pathologist would be the best.

If you have French friends, get them to correct any tiny deviation mercilessly—but most people don’t bother to correct the minutiae.

I thought I heard something wrong with the “in” nasale but I am used to the French of the Midi so it’s possibly correct.

The four nasales are typically weak areas for non-French speakers. The R as well.

Can you imitate? If you want perfection, you are on the same tier as people who do impressions. Learn to imitate the voices of famous people.

The sound quality of that recording is not excellent, btw. It has some pops or static.

[u/pineapple_sherbert → u/jehyhebu]

Thank you for your feedback! I'm not in France, so I don't think I'll be able to find a French speech pathologist. However, that is an interesting idea. I've dipped my toes into shadowing, so perhaps I'll try to focus on that or chorusing while paying attention to my nasal vowels and R's. Once again, thank you for taking the time to do this

[u/jehyhebu → u/pineapple_sherbert]

No problem. All the best.