Learn to read French
A short, active path into reading French: decode real words before revealing their sound, learn the silent endings and the joins between words, follow where the pieces of a sentence sit, and read a small story before opening your first book.
Start here
1 sectionStart here: what this path does
- This path starts from no French and ends with a short story whose pronunciation and English begin hidden.
- You will attempt a word before revealing how it sounds or what it means.
- Wherever a French word could stop you, a respelling in ordinary English letters sits beside it.
- French’s first obstacle is that the written word and the spoken word are different lengths — the next three sections fix that.
- Stop after any checkpoint. The letter and word references are for looking things up, not memorising in one sitting.
This is short preparation for reading a book, not a grammar course. It teaches how French spelling hides its own sound, where the pieces of a sentence sit, and enough recurring words for a first page. Three plain terms, because this path uses them: a naming word names a thing (fox, water), a doing word says what happens (sees, is), a describing word describes a thing (big, red).
the fox
le renard
luh ruh-nar
The large text is the spelling. luh ruh-nar is the pronunciation guide. The English is the meaning. At checkpoints, the last two stay hidden until you choose to reveal them.
The respellings that do not read themselves
| Respelling | Say it like | French example |
|---|---|---|
| ew | no English equivalent: say “ee” with your lips rounded | lunelewn“moon” |
| uh | u in fur | leluh“the” |
| wah | wa in watch | troistrwah“three” |
| zh | s in measure | jourzhoor“day” |
| r | no English equivalent: a soft scrape at the back of the throat | rougeroozh“red” |
| (n) | the vowel before it goes through your nose; the n itself is not said | ventvah(n)“wind” |
Everything else reads as English expects: ah as in father, ay as in day, eh as in bed, ee, oh, oo, sh. The letter reference section holds the full key.
How to use a checkpoint
Look at the French first and try to say it. Then reveal.
- chat
The ch is the sh of ship, and the last letter is not said at all.
Show answer +Hide answer −
chatshah“cat”. Four letters written, two sounds spoken.