jean-dominique bauby’s alphabet

I recently watched “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and the movie has intrigued me ever since.

According to the movie, the French alphabet in order of frequency is:

E S A R I N T U L

O M D P C F B V

H G J Q Z Y X K W

Anyway, are these letters in the correct order? I searched through the good ol’ wiki pages and according to almighty wiki, the French alphabet in order of frequency is:

e
s
a
i
t
n
r
u
l
o
d
c
p
m
é
v
q
f
b
g
h
j
à
x
y
è
ê
z
w
ç
ù
k
î
œ
å
ä
c
ë
ĝ
ğ
h
ì
ï
i
j
ñ
ò
ö
s
s
ß
u
ü

You be the judge.

And if you’re curious, here’s the English alphabet in order of frequency of occurrence:

E T O A N I R S H D U L C M P F Y W G B V K J X Z Q

Sources:

Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequencies

http://www.rabbireport.com/archives/2007/09/30/DivingBell2.jpg

how do you pronounce the french “r”?

The letter R is probably the most difficult sound in the French language. I have looked high and low for tips or instructions on how to pronounce it from an English speaker’s point of view. And here’s the best answer I have found so far:

Make the sound in your throat that you would make if you were gargling a liquid, like mouthwash. But without liquid.

Sort of a ghghgh sound…

Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071015154025AAucp7r&show=7