French difficulty level?

[philiphayes]

Is it me or is the French difficulty level rather high for beginners? I have been moving quickly through Spanish pronunciation yet seem unable to speak even simple French phrases at level Duolingo will accept. Two native French speakers tell me that I have a neutral accent and am easily understood. Anyone else experiencing difficulty, or success, with Duolingo French pronunciation?

[icouto]

I have noticed, that background noise can directly affect the capacity of Duolingo to understand what I'm saying. Not just the amount, but also the type of noise seems to matter: having some ambient music in the background seems to be ok, but if my dogs start barking, I have to repeat myself multiple times. To be expected... :-)

Also: if a sentence seems to be particularly troublesome, try slowing RIGHT DOWN, and enunciate every word quite carefully - this usually does the trick for me.