Marseille Accent
Compared with Parisians, Southern French people speak French at a slower rate, which can make it seem easy to understand.
French Pronunciation is Challenging
And this can be a problem for English speakers. French pronunciation tends to make English speakers' heads spin. The French language tends to be difficult to pronounce at first because there are simply sounds that native English speakers aren't used to making.
Standard French (in French: le français standard, le français normé, le français neutre 'Neutral French' or le français international 'International French') is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language.
What is the most commonly spoken accent in France? Parisian French! This is often considered the most “standard” French, as it is closest to the standardised French taught in school. It can be understood in several regions in France, and recognised in other francophone countries around the world.
According to a Big 7 Travel survey, the accent found among New Jerseyans has the least sex appeal compared to the state accents. "Poor New Jersey dropped down one place from 2019 to end up in the last spot this year, making it the least sexy accent in America.
#1 Parisian French
Of the accents of France, the Paris accent is perhaps the hardest to nail down. And that's because Parisian French is considered “standard French” – or French without an accent. Also, not every Parisian speaks the same way (just think how many accents there are in London).
Of foreign accents, the British accent is the #1 most liked, chosen by 69% of respondents. In addition to being the general favorite, it also ranked among the sexiest and most intelligent.
The French accent has been considered for many years as being the sexiest accent in the world.
The New Zealand vowel system has undergone what linguists consider a “shift” in pronunciation. This means that a letter, such as “e”, no longer has the same pronunciation that the rest of the English world uses. For example: “Test” in New Zealand is pronounced as “Tist” = /e/ has become /i/.
French was also the most attractive accent when speaking another language. However, for the French people who were surveyed, the language of love was Italian and the most attractive accent to hear someone speaking French was the English one, taking 39% of the vote.
All that doesn't make the life of native English speakers easier when learning the French language. We have some good news, though. The three issues mentioned above – gender, conjugation, and subjunctive mood – are the most challenging aspects of French grammar.
Some French sounds are typically difficult to pronounce for an English speaker. The French “u” sound, the French “r”, the difference between “é” and “è”… So, saying something as common as “une rue” (a street) can be quite a challenge.
When you were born, your brain could recognize the sounds of all languages, but you lost this ability at 11 months old. This means that there are French sounds your brain can not distinguish properly, no matter how hard you try.
The results revealed that women and men find different accents attractive, and the only common accents on both lists were Australian and Southern. While men desired Israeli and Colombian accents the most, this was not mirrored amongst the women who were surveyed, who ultimately preferred British and Spanish accents.
Vowel count is often debated, but according to Wikipedia, French has 13 oral vowels and four nasal vowels, plus three semivowels and three glides, totaling 23. American English has 14-16. As a vowel-filled language, it makes sense that French is so breathy, and therefore sexy.
Serrurerie
Brace yourself: The hardest French word to pronounce is the word for locksmith - "serrurerie". It was the most commonly repeated response.
In their language difficulty ranking, the Foreign Service Institute puts French in the top ten easiest languages to learn for English-speakers, alongside notoriously easy languages such as Spanish and Italian.
In French, stress (l'accentuation) is placed on the final syllable of a word. This is very different from the placement of stress in English which varies according to the word itself.
Irish accent
The accents or dialects that you will come across most often will be Dublin English, Ulster English and West and South-West Hiberno-English. According to Everest Language School, “the Dublin accent is probably the one you will hear the most.
Parisian French is considered the standard type of French spoken around the world and is generally the dialect taught to those looking to learn French as a second language. It is often referred to as Standard French or International French and these phrases are often used interchangeably.