Do you want to speak French without an accent in 3 months? According to experts in phonetics and language acquisition, this is ambitious but possible if you combine method, regularity and direct feedback. Here’s a practical and proven plan to sharply reduce your accent in a trimester.
Start by listening intensely. Every day, expose yourself to 30–60 minutes of native speakers: podcasts, audio journals, series without subtitles. The objective is not only to understand, but to identify the sounds that are causing you problems (R, nasal vowels, silent e, intonation).
Work on targeted phonetics. Experts recommend identifying 3 to 5 phonemes that are critical for you and practicing them daily through minimal even exercises (dough-paw, good-bench). Use the Phonetic API (API) to visualize the position of the tongue and lips, then mime in front of a mirror.
The shadowing technique is essential. Repeat immediately after a native speaker, mimicking rhythm, intonation, and stress. Do 10–15 minute sessions, twice a day. Record, compare, and correct: awareness does 50% of the work.
Receive external feedback. A coach, a native tutor (iTalki, preply) or a language community will help you correct recurring errors. Experts emphasize the importance of immediate feedback to adjust pronunciation before bad habits take hold.
Organize a 3-month plan:
– Month 1 — Diagnosis and foundations: identify your weak sounds, intensive listening, oral positioning exercises, 30–60 min/day.
– Month 2 — Automation: daily shadowing, minimal evens, recordings, 45–75 min/day; Guided conversations 2×/week.
– Month 3 — Improvement and spontaneity: real exchanges (tandem, conversation with native speakers), telephone simulations, fine correction of intonation and rate.
Integrate targeted tools: audio dictionaries, Forvo to hear isolated words, pronunciation applications with speech recognition (Speechling, ELSA), and videos from phonics teachers. Combine this with spaced repetition to memorize slurs and sequences.
Don’t neglect prosody: the accent is not just the sounds, it’s the rhythm, the pauses and the intonation. Work on entire sentences rather than isolated words to sound natural.
Finally, be patient and measurable: check in every two weeks to see progress. According to specialists, intense, structured and accompanied practice can make your French largely understandable and much less marked in three months. Start today and maintain consistency — that’s key.
