December 2010
This is popular television in any country - gritty enquiries into confidence tricksters, carried out by fearless reporters. But I loved Jean-Marie Bataille, who sounds just like the actor Michel Serrault, and gave the lady reporter a verbal drubbing, finishing with "vous travaillez pourquoi, vous ? Pour des sucettes ?"
|
Files |
Description |
|
 |
Guérisseurs.avi Guérisseurs.srt Guérisseurs.doc Guérisseurs.mp3 |
A good example of a clip which I start transcribing thinking that it is a level-1, because of the voice-over. Then I get to the voices of the unhappy ex-disciple, the aggressive Jean-Michel Bataille, and the slightly nervous practitioner. It's the sound quality of these interviews that makes it difficult, the technique of many modern films with the microphone well away from the person talking to give a realistic quality. So - Level-3 |
Inevitably, there aren't many comedy sketches that find their way to this site, where the material has to be mostly comprehensible. However, here is a comedian I have never seen before, François Rollin. An unusual form of comedy, also purely linguistic. Stream of consciousness, I suppose. I need to warn you that the programme was from Montreux, and hosted by Stéphane Guillon, fired from France Inter, for overstepping the limits of good taste. So does François Rollin with his final joke about his mother's cancer. The French are less sensitive than we are about such things, but I think he lost his audience at that moment. But a good act and a useful exercise.
|
Files |
Description |
|
 |
FrançoisRollin.avi FrançoisRollin.srt FrançoisRollin.doc FrançoisRollin.mp3 |
His diction is crystal clear, (unlike his thought process), and the French is very formal. I think we'll call this level-1 |
Les Arnaqueurs, (Hustle) was quite a good BBC series. An appealing bunch of confidence tricksters - very slick, very London, and with a caste headed, bizarrely, by Robert Vaughan. The modern Robin Hood, I suppose.
|
Files |
Description |
|
 |
LesArnaqueurs.avi LesArnaqueurs.srt LesArnaqueurs.doc LesArnaqueurs.mp3 |
The dialogue has that modern, intimate quality which makes the French dubbing speed up and become quite difficult to follow. So - Level 2. |
With all the new stuff we're doing, mustn't forget the old favourites. Here's Comment c'est fait on the sèche-linge. Whenever I start one of these I wonder what challenges of new vocabulary lie in wait. Recognising new vocabulary by its sound is an excellent exercise, and it is only this series that offers it.
|
Files |
Description |
|
 |
CommentSèche-linge.avi CommentSèche-linge.srt CommentSèche-linge.doc CommentSèche-linge.mp3 |
Most of this extract is straight-forward. But ... is the word for the 'agitators' in the drum really 'sellette'? The sense sort of fits, but it doesn't quite sound right. What do you think ? |
The popular science programme on M6 is called E=M6, and it's a rather well-done series. This one was on the difference between men and women in the way we remember events. It seems that men in general have trouble remembering the date of their wedding. That's funny, I thought it was just me...
|
Files |
Description |
|
 |
E=M6 Mémoire.avi E=M6 Mémoire.srt E=M6 Mémoire.doc E=M6 Mémoire.mp3 |
This is a good example of a gentle level-1 which suddenly gets difficult. The young husband interviewed on the subject of his marriage will gain no prizes for good diction, I fear. |
A German tele-film dubbed into French, Le trésor oublié is about a team of trendy archaeologists intent on finding the treasure of the Nibelungen. You will note that at the end of this clip the experts find themselves unable to read Latin and have to call in the dominant female to help them. All good fun, though.
|
Files |
Description |
|
 |
TrésorOublié.avi TrésorOublié.srt TrésorOublié.doc TrésorOublié.mp3 |
German films and series dubbed into French are always good listening exercises, because German is a slower language than French. In this case, however, the language is relaxed and trendy, so it ends up a decent level-2 |