Should You Try and Develop A French Accent If You Are Learning French?

If you are learning French you will probably get to a point where you ask yourself if you should try and develop a French accent or not.

Honestly, this is a personal decision and there is no real right or wrong answer. Trying to sound more French could be helpful for you, but at the same time, you are not French so you don’t need to worry about it too much.

I believe working on your accent is not important, so long as you are pronouncing the words well enough; your accent should not matter.   

Why Developing A French Accent May Help You

The main goal of an accent is to make you sound more like a native French speaker, which should allow you to communicate more efficiently as you can pronounce the words more clearly and naturally.

However, I think an accent is really only the tip of the iceberg. It can certainly be good to sound more French, but really you can focus on so many other things that will benefit you more.

Why An Accent Isn’t Actually Important

An accent in any language isn’t really that important and while it may sound better, it doesn’t really have any benefit.

If you take a step back and look at anyone who speaks English (I’m assuming English is your native language) we can tell where they are from pretty quickly. We can spot an American from an English person and likewise we can spot when someone may not be a native English speaker. 

There will just be little clues in how they say things that give them away. However, we can still understand the non-native with no problem. The different accent is not affecting communication in anyway.

The issue only comes when you do not know how to use the language properly and you make mistakes or have a strange flow. This is what causes communication problems, not your accent.

You may be better off focusing your time on mastering the language, rather than the accent.

Rhythm and Intonation

I think the real issue for non-native speakers is that they can lack a natural sounding rhythm to their speech which is far more detrimental than their accent. If you form sentences that just don’t flow smoothly, it can really throw a listener off.

This is hard to explain in writing, but when you experience it, it will stand out like crazy. It is basically when the speaker may put a natural pause into their sentence, but just in an unnatural way or they put more emphases on a certain part of a word that a native speaker wouldn’t.

As natives speakers we expect words to flow in a certain way, and when this pattern is broken is can really make us struggle to understand.

Even if I spoke in English (with my normal accent) it would still be jarring to hear a sentence where the flow was off.

Imagine I said “Hi, I’m lost, do you know where the ticket office is?”  That would sound normal, but what if I said “Hi I’m lost do you,  know where the ticket,  office is”

…it seems a little off? Maybe it’s a little harder to follow this second sentence as the pauses are not where you are expecting them?  …even though I have a native accent.

I know it’s not best example, but it gives you an idea how important rhythm can be, and intonation is the exact same. If different parts of the word are stressed than you would normally expect, it can really throw the listener off.

You Just Lack Confidence

I think there can be a lot of worry and self doubt when you are speaking French as a non-native. You will compare yourself to natives and really think you are so different, which is true, but this is not really anything to worry about.

You need to have some confidence in yourself. So long as you are able to communicate and your conversations are running smoothly, then everything is fine. Adding an accent isn’t going to change anything apart from the self belief that you sound better.

As I said above, so long as you pronounce your words with the correct intonation and use the right rhythm then you should not have a problem, no matter what accent you have.

Just have the confidence that you are doing enough to be understood and be happy with that.

You Will Never have The Perfect Accent

You also need to be aware that you will never have the perfect accent. Unless you grow up in France, you will never fully sound like a native french speaker.

You will occasionally find some non-native French speaker who may have learned French when they were young, and maybe even have spent time in France. Their accents may be amazing. Maybe it’ s 99.99% perfect, but it will still never be completely perfect.

A native may still hear them and just not be able to place where they are from. You can’t hide it and that is okay. Think of some of the best non-native English speakers you know, maybe they sound really good, but you will always be able to tell they are not native.

No One Dislikes Non-Native Accents

I think we also need to realise no is disgusted by a non-native accent. I think most of us like when someone speaks our language with a little hint of their own.

It can be endearing, you can fully understand what they are saying in your language, but you also know where they are from. You can just detect it in their accent and I think that is cool.

The fact they can speak your language shows what can be achieved. They are able to operate extremely efficiently in a second language, while still retaining some of their original identity.

French people also like when you make the effort to learn their language, so even if they can detect your native accent, but have flawless French …they are going to be impressed with you.   

What Should You Focus On Instead Of An Accent?

If an accent is really not that important when learning French, then what should you focus on? The answer is easy, focus on the language. Get better at listening, reading, writing and of course get better at speaking.

You should try and get faster and learn more words. This will be far more beneficial in the long run.

I would rather have a deep conversation with someone with a different accent, rather than speak to someone who sounds perfectly French, but can only order a baguette.    

Focus On Pronunciation

Pronunciation and accent can overlap. Of course the better your accent, the better you will pronounce things, but it doesn’t always work that way.

So long as you can master making the right sounds, you will be able to speak perfectly well, while still not really having a French accent. Practice making the nasally sounds and getting the French R right and make sure you know what letters are silent.

So long as you do this, you will be understood, no matter what your accent is.  

(You can read more about – Why Is French Pronunciation So Difficult For Language Learners?)

Use French Filler Words

A easy way to sound more French, without working on your accent is to use French filler words. If you listen in English you will hear people say “Umm and Ahhh” when they are thinking about what to say.

French people do this too, but make slightly different sounds, which if you should try and use too. Things like “ehhh” will make you sound more French, even if you accent isn’t perfect and it’s much easier to do this than perfect an accent.

Conclusion

I think you are better spending your time on learning more of the language and general pronunciation, rather than trying to get a French accent.

Having an accent doesn’t really add anything to your ability. You are never going to fool anyone completely, they will always know you are not French, so I think your time is better spent just accepting that and increasing your knowledge instead.

So long as you can speak clearly enough you will be able to talk to anyone in France, which is all that matters and when they realise you can communicate to a high level, they will be impressed, no matter what your accent sounds like.

(You can read more about – How To Sound More French When Speaking)