Teach your child how to pronounce the CH sound: tips and downloadable exercises

Another one of the most difficult French sounds to pronounce

The CH sound is also one of the most difficult French phonemes to learn to pronounce. Very often, young children will even replace it with an S, and adults around them almost never have trouble understanding it.

The same goes for the J sound, which becomes a Z. Who hasn't heard a 4-year-old talk about a "zoli sa" (joli chat - pretty cat) or a "zenti sien" (gentil chien - nice dog)?

However, as the child grows older and it's time to go to school, parents' concerns begin to grow...

Is it normal?

The pronunciation of the CH sound appears quite late in a child's sound development. Indeed, according to some studies on the acquisition of sounds in Quebec French[1], a child may begin to use this sound around the age of 2, but the majority of children only master this sound by the age of 5 and a half.

In practice, this means that a child can even replace CH with S (and J with Z) until the age of 6 without it being considered a delay and without speech therapy intervention being necessary.

When to worry?

While it is necessary and prudent to give the child time to develop the maturity needed to master the pronunciation of the CH sound, it might be appropriate to consult a speech therapist in these situations:

• If your child is over 3 years old and replaces the CH sound with a sound other than S.

• If the CH sound is imprecise and pronounced without clear friction (as if keeping the mouth too open) after the age of 6.

• If they still replace CH with S or J with Z after the age of 7.

How to practice it?

Before consulting and to help you understand how to properly pronounce the CH sound, the Symbolicone team has put together a free sheet that simply explains 3 important things to know:

1. The phonetic characteristics of the CH sound (placement of the mouth, lips, and teeth, vocal cord vibration, etc.)

2. A sound that can be associated with it

3. A gestural reminder

... As a bonus, a list of illustrated words containing the CH sound!

Exercises to practice it:

Now that you know everything (or almost everything) about the CH sound, you can do this little activity that we offer you for free. Take the opportunity to notice how your child pronounces CH, and if they do it correctly, don't hesitate to praise them!

Have fun!

To go further, discover our magnetic book today

[1] Development grid of oral and written language by Audette Sylvestre, Andrea A.N. MacLeod, Vincent Martel-Sauvageau, Stefano Rezzonico and Natacha Trudeau, 2019 version.