Say Aaaaaah!

Listen to the sound represented by the letter a in the following French and English words.  Notice that the sound is somewhat different.  In fact, the a in English is more fronted and a bit higher than the one in French.  That means that, in English, your tongue is more to the front and a bit higer up than it is in French to produce the sound.  (And remember, we're referring not to letters, but to sounds.  The letter a in English and in French can represent several different sounds.)  Notice the difference and practice it until you can hear the difference and can produce the French [a].