Elocution

Elocution Tutor

My name is Paul Girone and I am 60 years old. I want to hire an elocution tutor to help me with French language pronunciation.

I have difficulty pronouncing French words and phrases. I have been trying to learn to speak French for 30 years or more. I even lived in France for a year, but it did not help. As a child, I had a reading problem, like dyslexia. At school, I had special English reading classes and I had elocution lessons each week for several years. So, I know what I am looking for in elocution exercises.

I test at an A2 level in the European language scale. I want to speak complete sentences in French without hesitation or foreign accent. No special training is necessary for a tutor. I want a tutor to correct me like one would correct a child. Anyone who is a native French speaker, whose mother tongue is French, who speaks clearly with a Standard French accent can be a tutor. This would likely be someone from France.

If you have children then you have already done this type of work. Parents correct children automatically all the time When a child pronounces something wrong, uses incorrect grammar, or uses the wrong word then a parent will correct them.

I would like to have a weekly session. It can be any day of the week and any time of the day. A session involves me standing at the front of the room and the tutor sitting and listening to me read something aloud (à haute voix) and the tutor will correct me, as you would correct a child.

And lastly, I am not looking for a conversation group, class, or tutor. And, you don't need to speak English.

Example of Elocution Exercises

Here are 12 example exercises that could be used in a weekly session. The important part is to learn to pronounce every word in a sentence individually and then repeat the phrase over and over, getting faster and faster while maintaining clear speech.

Some of the exercises will be repeated weekly. Some exercises are done only once, like reading from a book or reading a newspaper article. Some will be done rarely, like presenting a short speech. Many exercises are done, over and over until I have memorized them and the tutor judges that I am speaking with a proper French accent.

Basic Exercises

1. Read a Poem

Read a poem for multiple weeks until the tutor determines that the pronunciation is correct.

The tutor will supply the poems, because I do not know what poems are well known, nor their difficultly. It could take several weeks to speak the poem correctly from beginning to end. Here is an example poem.

Demain, dès l'aube, par Victor Hugo

Demain, dès l’aube, à l’heure où blanchitla campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tum’attends.
J’irai par la forêt, j’irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.

Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mespensées,
Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit,
Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,
Triste, et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit.

Je ne regarderai ni l’or du soir qui tombe,
Ni les voiles au loin descendant versHarfleur,
Et quand j’arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe
Un bouquet de houx vert et de bruyèreen fleur.

2. Read from Books

I will read some paragraphs from a book each week. The tutor will correct my pronunciation as one would correct a child. The books will be adolescent level. It may take many weeks if not months to complete a book. Here is an example of a book I would like to read. I will supply the books.

3. Read Song Lyrics (Parole)

Here are some example lyrics that I can read. I think I would rather read them than sing them.

Ma Première Ride par Grande Sophie

Dix ans dans la tête

Ca fait dix ans que j'te guette

Ma première ride

Dix ans c'est flippant

Comme le premier cheveux blanc

Ma première ride

Mon Age par Nolwenn Leroy

J'ai la gorge nouée

Une porte à poussé

Tu ne dois rien savoir

De mon émoi

C'est un jour de soleil

Mais tout est triste en moi

Et je me suis jurée

D'être forte pour toi

Et pourtant, Je crois,vraiment

Qu'il faudrait si peu de choses

Pour que je craque et que je me montre

Vulnérable enfin

4. Read Newspaper or Magizine Articles

Read a different newspaper article each week. These articles will be selected by the tutor. The articles should be relatively short, two or three paragraphs. The material should be light and not difficult. It should not be about politics or disasters. Here is an example from Le Monde.

Trois recettes végétariennes pour se mettre au vert

Mardi, c’est veggie ! Des haricots verts parfaitement cuits, un pak-choï cuisiné à la sauce japonaise, une salade de petits pois, fèves et pois mange-tout… Cette semaine, on vote pour un « green deal » culinaire.

5. Read a Vocabulary List

Have a vocabulary list that is read weekly, until all the words are pronounced correctly. Read the word, the definitions, and the example sentences. Once the tutor approves of the pronunciation of all the words, then start a new list. I will produce lists of words. Later lists may contain alternate conjugations of the same word. Some word will be alone with a sentence. Some words will have detailed definitions from TV5, as show below.

Definition "Ensoleillé"

verbe transitif

1. Remplir de la lumière du soleil.

2. Illuminer, remplir de joie.

adjectif

1. Où il y a du soleil ; couvert de soleil

2. Exposé au soleil ; éclairé par la lumière du soleil

phrase

C'était une longue journée ensoleillée.

Synonyme "Ensoleillé"

verbe

illuminer, réjouir

nominal

beau, gai, lumineux, radieux, soleilleux

6. Repeat Tongue Twisters (Virelangues)

Tutor will provide tongue twisters that I will repeat until spoken properly.

Douze douches douces
Pour qui sont ces serpents qui sifflent sur vos têtes?
Seize jacinthes sèchent dans seize sachets secs

7. Repeat Idioms and Proverbs.

The tutor needs to provide idioms and proverbs. Here is an example.

Quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent.

8. Imitation

The tutor will speak some words, sentences, or small paragraphs, and I will repeat them. The tutor will supply this material so that they is new to me.

Advanced Exercises

9. Present a speech

Periodically, I will write a small speech and present it at a session. This is a place where the tutor would correct the sentences as I speak, correcting appropriate sentences and grammar.

10. Extemporaneous Speaking

I will make up a speech on an impromptu topic given by the tutor.

11. Read from a Play

Read a character’s part from a play. The tutor can read the other part. The tutor will choose the play to be read.

12. Give Directions

Give direction on how to do, make, or fix something, or how to get somewhere. The tutor will select the task to be explained. Sometimes simple things can be very hard to explain, like how to tie your shoe laces.

Example Schedule

The schedule will be once per week. It will start with simple exercises with a session of perhaps 30 minutes long. Later we will add more complicated exercises and extend the sessions to 1 hour.

Time Activities

10 minutes Vocabulary

20 minutes Reading a Newspaper or Magazine Article

15 minutes Song Lyrics, Tongue Twisters, Idioms, or Proverbs

15 minutes Reading from Book is always last

Definitions of Elocution Related Words

Here are the definitions for some of the words used above that are related to Elocution.

Speech Arts is the modern term for the word "elocution" in English.
Pronunciation is related to the word itself, focusing on which syllables should be emphasized and how certain letters (or combinations of letters) should sound when spoken.
Enunciation is the act of pronouncing words or parts of words clearly.
Diction is the style of enunciation in speaking or singing. Diction exercises improve enunciation.
Elocution is a general term for the skill of clear and expressive speech, especially of distinct pronunciation and articulation. It includes the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms
Recitation is the action of repeating something aloud from memory. The difference between recitation and elocution is that recitation does not care about your voice, gesture, tone, attraction of audience, or content. It is the test for memory. On the other hand elocution represents your whole to the audience. It has a greater impact on audience and you may add or delete anything when you elocute but not in recitation.
Declamation is focused on delivery, while elocution focused on the voice. Declamation is articulation, diction, and pronunciation. It involves movement, focused on improving speech and gesture to convey the full sentiment of the message.

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