French is a beautiful language in the Romance family of languages. The other Romance languages include Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. These languages all share a common Latin root so the grammar and many of the words are similar. French has a fairly complex system of phonics that guides the correct spelling and pronunciation of its words.

Start by learning the names of the letters in the French alphabet. Unlike English, the French vowels have just one sound each when appearing in a word without being next to another vowel.

Recognize the main spellings of the sound "ay" as in the English word, "say." In French, this sound is spelled with a single or a double "e" in which the first one is topped with an "accent egou," which slants up toward the right (é). The same sound is also formed when words end in "er," "ez" and "et." The plural of the definite article "the" or "les" also includes this vowel sound.

Remember that when "s," "t" or "x" is the last letter in a word, it is silent unless it is followed by another word that begins with a vowel. In that case, the "s," "t" or "x" is added to the beginning of the next word. This is called the rule of liaison.

Drop the final "e" from small words like "le," "je," "ne," "te," "se," "ce," "de" and "que" and drop the final "a" from "la" when the following word starts with a vowel. In place of the"e" or "a," add an apostrophe and connect the little word to the beginning of the one that follows. This is called the rule of elision.

Learn to pronounce the sounds formed by groups of vowels. For example, "eau" and "au" are both pronounced "o" as in the English word "soda." "Eu" sounds like "er" in English as in the word "fur," and "ei" sounds like a short "e" as in the English word "pen."