New Ideas
I am going to use this page to try out different ideas that may help us to learn to listen. The audio magazines that are on the market are useful, but basically they are variants on the theme of recording plus transcript. So we need to try out different ideas, focalise on different aspects of listening. Do please email me to let me know how you feel about these methods - and of course I will be delighted to receive suggestions
 |
20HFraude.zip. 23 Mbytes. Right-click on the link or the image and download the zip file. Save it to an empty folder and unzip all the files into that folder. Then double click on the file 20HFraude.html. The instructions are on the local Web page that will start up, but essentially, the idea is first to follow a video, (this is from the evening news on Internet fraud) but then to focus on the sections that are difficult. The page offers fragment of text with links to the equivalent audio fragment. |
 |
DernierBal.zip 70 Mbytes. As
above, right-click the image or the link and download. After unzipping
into an empty folder, click on DernierBal.html. You will also find in the
folder two files Level_1.bat and Level_3.bat. They switch the subtitles in
between all (Level 1) and just the hard parts (Level 3) This is a piece on the final days of the IVth Republic, with a straightforward voice-over, but some quite difficult period commentary as well. Note, it's ten minutes long, 70 Mbytes |
 |
FranceTélécom.html FranceTélécomR.html FranceTélécom.avi FranceTélécom.mp3 This is a listening test of the sort used in the DALF C1 exam. Download the files into the same folder. FranceTelecom.html is the file with the questions. It will open in your browser. In the exam you listen once to the extract. You have a few minutes to
organise your notes. Then you hear it a second time, and you have to fill
in the blanks on the question paper. However, with this example, listen as
often as you like ! |
 |
Franc-maçonnerie.avi Franc-maçonnerieQ.html Franc-maçonnerieR.html Franc-maçonnerie.doc Franc-maçonnerie.mp3 This is a listening test of the sort used in the
DALF C1
exam. Download the files into the same folder. In the exam you listen once to the extract. You have a few minutes to
organise your notes. Then you hear it a second time, and you have to fill
in the blanks on the question paper. However, with this example, listen as
often as you like ! |
 |
20HFondsSouverains.avi 20HFondsSouverains.srt 20HFondsSouverains.doc
20HFondsSouverainsQ.html Here's France 2's evening news getting all worried about these countries who want to invest large amounts of money in their country. The files have the same format as previously |
 |
evier_inox.avi evier_inox.srt evier_inox.doc evier_inox.mp3 Another programme
in the series Comment c'est fait. |
 |
Tatouages.avi Tatouages.srt Tatouages.doc Tatouages.mp3 Here is Comment c'est fait on the gentle art of tattoing. As for the clip above it is mostly a gentle Level-1, but there were one or two words which foxed me for a few moments. What on earth was a cat doing on the other end from the needle ? Minimal subtitle file, but the .doc file is complete |
 |
Learning French is like retracing the steps of one's life. Another
culture, another history - particularly of songs, films, plays, and the
things that made us laugh. In the England of the '50s we had the Goon
Show, the famous radio series. And there was a French equivalent
it was written by Pierre
Dac and Francis Blanche, and called
Signé Furax.
The same style of humour, fantastic situations, funny voices, the
master criminal. And a new technical offering for this site. This is an audio recording. You get the text of this first episode of 8 minutes, a subtitle file, and a video. I've done this to allow you to listen to the episode while (optionally) reading the subtitles. The video is Windows Media Video, but AlShow and GOM player will play it, and allow you to rewind where necessary. Enjoy ! |