"Say the English word little. Notice how your tongue moves from the front to the back of your mouth. In English, we have two ways of producing the consonant l: a front l, with the tongue against the upper front teeth and a final l, pronounced with the tongue pulled back. To pronounce a French l, however, always keep your tongue against your upper front teeth, just like the English front l."
Sometimes, in French, the -ill- combination of letters is pronounced with the /l/ sound and sometimes with the /j/ sound. This is totally unpredictable and must be memorized. Here are some examples:
/l/
mille (thousand)
la ville (the city)
tranquille (calm, quiet, still, peaceful)
un million (a million)
le village (the village)
/j/
la fille (the girl or the daughter)
se maquiller (to put on makeup)
s'habiller (to get dressed)
la famille (the family)
We're also learning about verbs like choisir (to choose) which is conjugated like this:
Je choisis nous choisissons
tu choisis vous choisissez
il/elle/on choisit ils/elles choisissent
past participle: choisi
Some common verbs conjugated like choisir:
finir (to finish)
obéir à (to obey)
désobéir à (to disobey)
punir (to punish)
réfléchir à (to think)
réussir à (to succeed or to pass)
And speaking of apartments. Here is a fabulous look into a Parisian apartment of an American couple. Enjoy!
Credits: Chez Nous, 4th ed. Valdman, Pons and Scullen and elledecor.com
