American Accent Training for French Speakers

Experienced teacher helping French speakers speak clearly and be understood in American English

Do you ever feel like you have to repeat yourself to be understood?

If you're a French speaker, your English might be fluent and your vocabulary strong — but you still find people asking "sorry, what?", or you can tell they didn't quite catch what you said the first time.

I help French-speaking professionals fine-tune their pronunciation, word stress, rhythm, and intonation so that people understand them easily, the first time, without the strain of repeating themselves.

Why work with me?

I've spent years working closely with French speakers on their American accent, and I studied French for two years at university myself. I understand where French pronunciation habits come from, how the two sound systems differ, and how to fix them in a way that sticks. French and English share thousands of words, but the way those words are stressed and pronounced is very different, and that gap is what I help you close.

Lessons are fully in English and focused on practical improvement.

Examples of common mistakes I help French speakers fix:

• The "h" sound French doesn't pronounce "h" at the start of words, so "house" becomes "ouse" and "I'm happy" becomes "I'm appy." The opposite also happens — an "h" gets added where there isn't one, turning "eat" into "heat." Learning when to produce a strong American "h" and when to leave it silent fixes both at once.

• Word stress This is often the single biggest thing that marks a French accent. French gives every syllable roughly equal weight with a slight rise at the end, while English puts one strong stress in each word and reduces the rest. Words like "important," "development," and "photography" land in the wrong place, and fixing stress alone can make you dramatically clearer.

• The "th" sounds Replacing "think" with "sink" or "zink," and "this" with "dis" or "zis" — the American "th" doesn't exist in French, but it's very learnable with the right tongue position.

• Vowel length and quality The difference between "sheep" and "ship," or "beat" and "bit," comes from a vowel contrast French doesn't have. We train both hearing and producing it.

• The American "r" The French "r" is made in the back of the throat, while the American "r" is made with the tongue pulled back in the middle of the mouth. This is one of the most recognizable features of a French accent, and one of the most satisfying to fix.

• The "u" vowel Words like "student," "new," and "duty" use a sound French speakers often replace with the French "u," giving a distinctly French color to the word. We work on the American version directly.

• Intonation and rhythm French melody carried into English can make your statements sound like questions — the voice rising where an American would let it fall. American English has a bouncier rhythm with statements that resolve downward, and learning it makes everything you say sound more natural and certain.

• Silent letters and spelling traps French and English disagree constantly about which letters to pronounce, leading to mistakes on words like "comfortable" and "vegetable."

What my students say

"Jesse is a great teacher who quickly identified the key areas I needed to work on. After three months of lessons I've noticed a real difference, my work colleagues understand me better, and I feel more confident. Each session is practical and engaging. I highly recommend Jesse."

— Florian from France

"Jesse is an incredible teacher! He helped me so much with my English, I'm being understood more easily. His patience, structured lessons, and deep knowledge of pronunciation made all the difference. Highly recommend!"

— Matthieu from France

You can find more feedback on my student reviews page.

About Lessons

Whether you want to polish your pronunciation, improve your rhythm and intonation, or correct grammar that sounds "off" to native speakers, I offer a structured and personalized training plan tailored to French-speaking learners of English.

Accent lessons are designed to help you sound more natural and confident in American English — not just by learning individual sounds, but also by mastering the intonation, rhythm, and flow of how Americans actually speak.

We'll work with detailed, illustrated guides to break down each part of the American accent. For each new sound or concept, I'll show you how to position your tongue and shape your mouth — with diagrams, examples, and audio recordings. You'll develop phonetic awareness so you can hear and fix mistakes on your own.

Lessons are hands-on and practical. You'll:

• Read out loud with live pronunciation coaching

• Speak about topics designed to use the sounds or grammar we're practicing

• Receive targeted corrections and tips in real time

• Practice with customized texts, tongue twisters, and listening exercises

• Get recordings and exercises to review between lessons

If grammar or vocabulary is a weak spot, I also offer discussion-based lessons that help you learn and use correct advanced grammar in real conversation. For French speakers, this often means fixing habits like using the wrong preposition, adding articles where English drops them, or false friends — words like "actually," "library," and "attend" that don't mean what their French look-alikes do.

Most students take a mix of pronunciation, advanced grammar, and fluency training — depending on their goals. Everything is personalized, and I'll adjust the lessons based on your accent and speaking habits.

Let's get started

If you're ready to be understood easily and speak with confidence — I'd love to help. Reach out for more information at JWagnerEnglish@gmail.com