In this fun activity, you will work on:
- how to ask questions in French
- your French pronunciation
- the pace of your speech / your oral fluency : if you pause for too long, Siri will think that you were done asking your question and you will have to start again!
Instructions
1. Set Siri to French language
Go to:
Settings > General > Siri > Language > French
2. Try to answer the questions below.
Find out the information using only your voice!
Download and print out my free PDF French pronunciation worksheet. Includes the answers.
- Hold down the main button of your iPhone to start Siri.
- Ask Siri your question in French.
- Check what Siri understood (the transcription of what Siri “heard”). This can help you identify any mistake or pronunciation issue.
- Keep track of the number of attempts you had before Siri answered your question.
Note: take it with a grain of salt. Although voice recognition softwares are becoming more and more efficient and reliable, they are not perfect!
I’ve had times when Siri understood something totally different from what I said, and it once tried to call a business contact of my husband late at night (I was playing with his phone, discovering the Siri feature and having a blast). My husband was mortified and didn’t want me to play with his phone anymore after that!!
Still, I have tested this activity with my students. It worked pretty well and we had a lot of fun while learning French pronunciation!
The Questions
Find the following information:
1. What Molière’s date of birth is.
2. What time it is in Paris.
3. What the weather is like in Bordeaux.
4. How many legs a centipede* has. (*a centipede= un mille-pattes)
5. How long a giraffe lives.
6. What the best season to plant tomatoes is.
7. What Paris’s best hotel is.
8. What year penicillin* has been created. (*la pénicilline)
9. What languages Siri can speak.
How to Make the Most of This Activity
Feel free to make up your own questions and, why not, to engage in a fun conversation with Siri… in French of course!
If you have experienced difficulties with this activity, try to assess what they are:
- Did you experience problems with how to structure a question in French?
- Do you need to work more on your French pronunciation? Take your time to articulate slowly and clearly.
- Did you have any other difficulty ?
Hopefully, this will encourage you to keep playing with Siri in French, and maybe also set your phone to French language so that you can add a bit of French practice in your everyday life!
Don’t hesitate to leave your feedback, I’d love to know how you went. 🙂
Please spread the word if you’ve found this French pronunciation activity helpful. Merci!