The following principles summarize the fundamental practical rules of pronunciation that native speakers of English should strive to follow if they wish to speak French with a minimum of a foreign accent. [The numbers in square brackets refer to the chapters and pages in the text where these questions are discussed.]

1. Pronounce each syllable with approximately equal stress. Maintain for each vowel a full, unreduced quality. [3.33–5]

2. Do not diphthongize vowels; maintain a constant quality during their entire production. [3.39–42]

3. Distinguish between the front rounded vowels and the back rounded vowels, especially between [y] (tu) and [u] (tout). [3.42–3]

4. In the production of rounded vowels, project the lips forward while rounding them well. [3.43–5]

5. Avoid nasalizing oral vowels before nasal consonants. [5.69–73]

6. Do not aspirate the voiceless stops [p, t, k]. [8.129–30]

7. Be sure to produce a clear l in all instances; pay especially close attention to the pronunciation of l in syllable-final position. [9.137–9]

8. Be sure to produce a back r; pay especially close attention to the pronunciation of r after a vowel and before a consonant. [9.142–6]