How to pronounce OUILLE

Time and time again, ‘ouille’ trips me up when I want to pronounce it. Not only that, but I sometimes hear two ways of saying it. 

So I have kept this mini-lesson strictly simple, unpicking how you can say it right every time. Plus, the line up to practise with is a great challenge for you!

We should challenge ourselves every single day with something - here’s yours! 

In this mini-lesson, you’ll discover:

• How to pronounce “ouille”

• Step by-step demonstration

• Lots of practice for you 

How do you pronounce ouille in French?

When it comes to pronunciation, there are some elements you pay attention to. These are: 

• tongue position

• air flow

• mouth position

• intonation 

In order to produce ouille, start with the uuuu sound like in “you” and finish with the sound yyy like in…”you”!

In other words, ouille is the inversion of “you”. Easy right?

11 words to practise the French ouille sound.

The best way to memorise a sound is to produce it with real examples.

In this part, you’ll see 11 words and sentences to play with.

Here’s your list:

• Grenouille >>> frog
• Nouilles >>> noodles
• Andouille >>> smoked sausage, dumb bunny
• Bouilloir >>> kettle
• Mouillé >>> wet
• Fouiller >>> search
• Touiller >>> stir (familiar)
• Rouillé >>> rusty
• Citrouille >>> messed up, confused
• Embrouilli >>> messed up, confused
• Se débrouiller >>> manage/cope

Let’s begin.

• Grenouille >>> frog
• La grenouille est dans l’eau >>> The frog is in the water.

• Nouilles >>> noodles
• Il adore les nouilles >>> He loves noodles

• Andouille >>> smoked sausage, dumb bunny
• L’Andouille est une spécialité française>>> Smoked sausage is a French specialty.

• Bouilloir >>> kettle
• Nous utilisons une bouilloir pour faire le thé. >>> We use a kettle to make tea.

• Mouillé >>> wet
• Le pauvre chien est tout mouillé. >>> The poor dog is wet

• Fouiller >>> search
• Ils ont fouillent dans leur poche pour trouver les clés. >>> They're looking in their pocket to find the keys.

• Touiller >>> stir (familiar)
• J’aime touiller avec ma cuillère. >>> I like to stir with my spoon.

• Rouillé >>> rusty
• Son français est rouillé car elle ne pratique pas >>> Her French is rusty because she doesn’t practise.

• Citrouille >>> pumpkin 
• La citrouille est un légume d’automne >>> The pumpkin is an Autumn vegetable. 

• Embrouillé >>> messed up, confused
• Il ne comprend pas. Il est embrouillé. >>>  He doesn’t understand. He’s confused.

• Se débrouiller >>> manage/cope
• Même s’il ne parle pas bien chinois, il se débrouille. >>> Even if he can’t speak Chinese well, he manages to do it.

How to remember OUILLE.

Do you want to produce it perfectly each time? Here are some tips to help you just do this.

First, visualise the sound. Remember how to put your mouth, tongue, and everything required to say it.

Then, vocalise the sound. Don’t stay with the idea that you know how to say it without doing it aloud. The best thing you could do would be to record your voice and listen to it after to check. Even better, get instant feedback from a native speaker.

Don’t say the sound only but play with examples. Practice writing the sound in specific words and, as you write, say it aloud as well.

Finally, memorise one sound at a time. Master one then go ahead with another one. Trying to learn several sounds at the same time is counterproductive.  

In conclusion, the sound ouille is the inversion of “you”. Oui! The spelling is different but non! It's the same sound.

The following FREE masterclass is available to you to guide you through being able to speak French with confidence.  And if you speak with more confidence, you also hear more easily - really.  Take a peek . . .  https://www.simplyfrenchonline.com head for LEARN and then Masterclass. 

PS: I’m curious, what are the most tricky French sounds for you? What are the words you can’t pronounce naturally?