FRENCH LEARNERS' LIST

GENERAL:

Almost all these words are pronounced in a predictable way (there are many rules; don't worry too much about them). Use the examples, and try to pronounce them as if you were Maurice Chevalier .

1. Always accent the last syllable in the word, even if that isn't the way it's done in the similar English word, e.g. NaTIONS UnIES, autoBUS, immiGRANT. 
2. In Parisian, e-  at the end of a major word is pretty much obliterated. 'e' at the end of one-syllable words becomes a schwa-sound, as in the English 'put', e.g. le, de, se, que.
3.  Usually, you DON'T pronounce the final consonant (or any 'h', or 'u' after ''q' or 'gu').
DO pronounce the final consonant in... words ending with c,r,f,l,q ('careful q') *, 
 ... near-final consonants followed by an e or (e+ the plural 's'), e.g. la plante, Jardin des Plantes  
* Note a third of the final 'r's are silent, and a few others for 'c' and 'l' .

4) The most weird VOWEL sound is 'i'. By itself, it's pretty reliable - it is itself always pronounced like the 'i' in poutine - sardine, Nice, film, Simone;
but when 'in' or 'im' is at the end of a word,  or at the end of a syllable, it becomes 'ehn' as in le vin, also Rodin, saint, invention, imposition; and -ien seems to have taken over the same role e.g. bien (BYEHn), rien, Canadien. Also the diphthong 'oi' is pronounced 'wa' as in moi, mois, trois etc. And, the 'ti' sound in '-tion' word endings is pronounced as if the 't' had been converted to 'ss'. Nation rhymes with passion.

EXCEPTIONS: 

1a) weird: femme, oignon, 
1b) pronounced final consonant: six, dix, sept, huit, Aix, Brest, sens, correct, exact, est,  ouest, sud (directions), mars, aout (months)
1c) Final consonants NOT pronounced despite 'careful q rule' blanc, le banc, , le porc, la clef, le cerf(deer) cul, gentil, travail, parler, chevalier, sommelier, janvier 
-occasionally 's' in the middle of a word is NOT pronounced - René Levesque

2) As a word ending in ille is usually pronounced like the consonant 'Y'.
e.g. fille (daughter), Marseille, Versailles, ratatouille, le Bastille.
exceptions: ville (city), mille (thousand), Lille.

3) Silent 's', before a vowel (or muted 'h' is ELIDED as a z-sound. e.g. vous êtes (voo-ZEHT), mes amis (may-za-MEE), les enfants (lay-ashn-FAHn), les États Unis (lay zay-TA zu-NEE) 

EXAMPLES (that more or less follow the rules):

Gil: Je suis heureux (content). Becky: Je suis heureuse (contente)
Gil: Je suis Canadien. Becky: Je suis Canadienne.

bon; mauvais
bien; mal
bonjour
bonsoir
attaché
après-midi
bonjour
bonne nuit
bourgeois
Bourguignon (boeuf)
ça va
aubergine
baguette
couture
cuisine
déjà vu
école
baba au rhum
cassoulet
Châteauneuf-du-Pape 
chic
collage
confit
croissant
escargot
esprit de corps
foie gras
gouache
hôtel
Iroquois
jeu-de-mot
les Ballets Russes
ménage-à-trois 
mille-feuilles
montage
moules
panache
pâté 
poisson
pomme de terre
quiche
ragoût
sauter = sauté
sardine
sauce
Sauvignon
silhouette
soufflé
soupe
suave
taxi
vichysoisse
l'Alliance Française
la vie en rose

pommes frites
sac-à-dos
suave
tête-à-tête
rendez-vous 
le bureau
l'armée; la marine


la Seine
le métro
Denfert
Notre-Dame
Sainte-Chapelle
l'Île de la Cité
Le Marais 
St-Martin
le Louvre
Place de la République
le Quai d'Orsée
le Marmatton
Montmartre
Pigalle
les Invalides
le Jardin du Luxembourg
le bois de Boulogne
le Champs-Élysées
l'Arc de Triomphe
Marie Antoinette
Honoré de Balzac
Jacques Brel
Jean Charest
Maurice Chevalier
Jean Chrétien
Marie Curie
René Descartes
Raoul Dufy
Anatole France
Henri Matisse
Louis quatorze
Philippe Pétain
Georges Pompidou
le marquis de Sade
Georges Seurat
Voltaire (Jean-Marie Arouet)
Émile Zola

all the -au-s , and some other 'o' combinations are pronounced 'oh!'
Paul Gauguin
Paul Cézanne
Gabriel Fauré
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
"Les Deux Magots"
Marcel Marceau
Claude Monet
Henri Rousseau
Jean-Paul Sartre
Pierre Trudeau
François Truffaut 



Arles
Avignon
Bordeaux
la Camargue
le Canada
Cagnes
Cannes
Chamonix
la Champagne
Dijon
la France
Giverny
Grenoble
Limoges
la Loire
le Louvre
Lyon
Maresches
Marseille
Neuchatel
Nice
Normandie
Orly

Pau
Provence
St-Germain-des-Prés
St-Tropez 
la Suisse
Toulouse
Trois-Rivières
Versailles