One of the things that annoys me most about the French accent in English is the way they pronounce the final "-er" (like in "soeur pronounced just like the English "sir", except the "r"). The sound exist in French, yet they insist on pronouncing it "-air". I heard a French TV commentator pronounce Manchester "Manchestair".
Another thing is some people's inability not to nasalise some "an" or "en" sounds. In a documentary, a French guy visited Antwerp, and asked how people said "Anvers" ("Antwerp" in French) in Dutch. A local replied "Antwerpen", and the poor French guy was made to repeat it three times to the amusement of the local because he could not say the "An" without nasalising it like in French. Yet, had he been told that it was "Anne Twerpen", he would have pronounced it right.
So the problem of the average French speakers in deeply rooted in their brain-wiring, and is absolutely not related to their ability to say some sounds (like the Japanese, for instance). They just can't say something that is against the way their were taught to read in French. But once you change the spelling, they magically can pronounce it !!
Another thing is some people's inability not to nasalise some "an" or "en" sounds. In a documentary, a French guy visited Antwerp, and asked how people said "Anvers" ("Antwerp" in French) in Dutch. A local replied "Antwerpen", and the poor French guy was made to repeat it three times to the amusement of the local because he could not say the "An" without nasalising it like in French. Yet, had he been told that it was "Anne Twerpen", he would have pronounced it right.
So the problem of the average French speakers in deeply rooted in their brain-wiring, and is absolutely not related to their ability to say some sounds (like the Japanese, for instance). They just can't say something that is against the way their were taught to read in French. But once you change the spelling, they magically can pronounce it !!