Difficult getting pronunciation right

Anybody else had problems with pronouncing the expression "ce vol" in “Travelling by Air” in the Travelogue? I have tried it tens of times but it could never synchronize 100% ! Most of the time, the synchronization came out as "c'est vol". I however do not believe that I was pronouncing it wrong as such! (Note: I am East African (Ugandan) with English as my main foreign language, spoken with a noticeable accent). 

George, I just did both instances of ce vol in that lesson without a hitch.

Pardon Monsieur. Servez-vous le déjeuner sur ce vol ?      and    ce vol

The recorder can be the source of a lot of grief, but does not appear to be the problem this time, as long as you're really emphasizing the correct pronunciation. It can be quite picky with de, le, ce, etc. Sometimes you have to say them with a very “stern tone”. I don't know how else to phrase it, especially since there's nothing in English that even comes close to how those syllables are pronounced in French.

It's also worth mentioning that the recorder will very often mislead with respect to what it doesn't like. If the only thing that's red is c'est vol, then that's probably it. But if it's not, you should know by now (a ref. to your badge) that it's not uncommon for it to blow up several words because of a single-syllable mistake (pattern recognition).

I hope you enjoy Travelogue as much as I have.

Hi Robert, many thanks for your input! You are spot on about the temperamentality of the recorder, although I have to say it is mainly compliant with most of my pronunciation efforts. In addition to its lack of cooperation with respect to the specific phrase I wrote about, it also typically refuses to synchronise my pronunciation of “un”, “an” and other short words and those that require a tonality or inflection emphasis in pronouncing them as you have pointed out. I try modulate the tonality or inflection, which sometimes helps, but what tends to work more successfully is to use and pronounce the troublesome word in a phrase or short sentence. The recorder then greens it while ofcourse redding out the rest of the phrase/sentence. And yes, I definitely enjoy the Travelogue very much, but, I have to say, every feature too of Rocketlanguages👌🏾. Many thanks again and all the best with your learning journey!

George, I'm fairly certain that, aside from myself, you're the first person in several years that's made any reference to Travelogue in this forum. So, I'm curious, as to how much of the rest of the platform you've covered before you ventured into Travelogue. The reason I ask is that when I started it, after going through all three levels, it occured to me farly soon that, although it starts out easily enough, it quickly ramps up such that you need to have studied quite a bit a French in order to be able to recognize what you're seeing in the absence of the usual explanations. And this is especially true, if one is going to be able to appreciate the broad learning experience provided by the French narratives.

Robert - Realising that there's no norm for learning styles, I'm curious how long it took you to get through all three levels of French.  When I did the Italian course, it took me 4.5 years at my pace, also using other apps for variety.  French poses the extra challenge of pronunciation as compared to Italian, I reckon.

Chris

Chris, given that I typically spent about 5 hrs per day, every day, nose-to-the-grindstone-studying, including scouring the internet for clarifications, I'd guesstimate about 15 months to get through the 3 levels plus Travelogue. I still spend about the same amount of time engaged with French each day, but in more various ways. I very seldom get bogged down, but when I do it takes the form of not only feeling like I can't fit another word of French in my head, but also that I can't remember a single word that I've learned.