Clips organised by level
Level 2 Page 3
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C'estdans
l'air-Histoire.avi C'estdans l'air-Histoire.srt C'estdans l'air-Histoire.doc C'estdans l'air-Histoire.mp3 |
It is the voice at the end that poses a little
challenge. However, although rapid, the diction is mostly clear, and where
it is not one can infer the content. A decent level-2. |
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The extracts refer to the classes of 'Sixième' and 'Cinquième'. You may find this diagram useful - I can never remember what these names mean |
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CommentCalfeutrage.avi CommentCalfeutrage.srt CommentCalfeutrage.doc CommentCalfeutrage.mp3 |
Lots of vocabulary but a
modest level-2 in terms of difficulty. Always some difficult moments,
though. Very often the sound comes to our ears distorted, and it is the
context that enables us to understand |
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HommesViennent.avi HommesViennent.srt HommesViennent.doc HommesViennent.mp3 |
It makes a good listening exercise this,
because Paul Dewandre speaks very clearly, but sometimes very fast. It
allows us to practice following rapid speech without the extra problem of
clarity. Level-2. |
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TF120HRentréeScolaire.avi TF120HRentréeScolaire.srt TF120HRentréeScolaire.doc TF120HRentréeScolaire.mp3 |
And no problem either with this piece from the point of view of listening. It's a decent level-2, with voices recorded in factories and shops, but reasonably clear. |
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DocteurPatch.avi DocteurPatch.srt DocteurPatch.doc DocteurPatch.mp3 |
A slow-paced slushy American comedy - should be a level-1. But in fact the intimate, breathy dialogue, with many words implied rather than clearly pronounced, puts this towards the top of level-2 |
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Murdoch.avi Murdoch.srt Murdoch.doc Murdoch.mp3 |
The dubbing is exceptionally clear. You might expect the French dubbing actors to adopt Canadian accents, but no - standard French pronunciation is what we get. However, the delivery is sometimes rapid, and that makes it a very useful level-2 |
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CommentBateauFibre.avi CommentBateauFibre.srt CommentBateauFibre.doc CommentBateauFibre.mp3 |
I think it will be useful
to describe a very common problem that cropped up in this extract. I
suggest you download the mp3 or the avi; but not the doc or srt for the
moment. I'm going to describe what I found, in the hope that it will help
you At 54 seconds into the piece the voice-over seems to say 'On commence par construire le seture' The voice is very clear, there is a slight emphasis on the le, but unfortunately there is no such word as seture. In this situation one tries to imagine from the context what the word could be, one can enter the sentence into Google, which often obligingly corrects the spelling, one looks up pages relating to glass fibre boat building. No luck... And it is very frustrating. When speech is rapid, or unclear, or there is background noise, we can excuse our inability to understand. But when it is completely clear... So I typed up the rest of the piece, and then came back to this moment. Finally I thought that perhaps it wasn't le but l' followed by a vowel. And so it proved. I won't give you the solution - try it for yourselves. Or perhaps you won't find that passage difficult ! Let me know... |
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TF120HVersailles.avi TF120HVersailles.srt TF120HVersailles.doc TF120HVersailles.mp3 |
Most of the time this is a very modest level-2. But I counted four or five places where my ear failed, and a few where I had to listen a few times to understand |
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Toqués du chocolat.avi Toqués du chocolat.srt Toqués du chocolat.doc Toqués du chocolat.mp3 |
I am always glad to find voices recorded 'in the street' - or even in the Amazonian rain forest, who speak quickly but quite clearly. It is certainly true of this chocolatier |
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DRAMaroc.avi DRAMaroc.srt DRAMaroc.doc DRAMaroc.mp3 |
The voice over here is slightly more trendy than usual, so perhaps a little harder to follow. And Laila the architect speaks clearly, but volubly, and she offers some difficult moments for comprehension. I know I got quite a few words wrong. See if you can identify my mistakes and correct them. |
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OrthographeMaths.avi OrthographeMaths.srt OrthographeMaths.doc OrthographeMaths.mp3 |
There is a great variation
in difficulty here. The voice overs, as always, the mathematicians who
speak quickly, the young people. And how interesting it is that these
young folk who have such difficulty writing their language have no
problems at all when it comes to following a modern film... |
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TF120HAntibiotiques.avi TF120HAntibiotiques.srt TF120HAntibiotiques.doc TF120HAntibiotiques.mp3 |
This is a good, middle of
the road level-2. The people being interviewed offer some interest without
being too difficult to understand - although the lady who's child suffers
from earache made me wonder if I had heard correctly. |
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Dieulefit.avi Dieulefit.srt Dieulefit.doc Dieulefit.mp3 |
It's a good level-2, because of the informality and rapidity of the voices, especially that of the niece of Jeanne Barnier |
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MichelBerger.avi MichelBerger.srt MichelBerger.doc MichelBerger.mp3 |
There are a whole range of voices and songs here, so it is an excellent mix at round about level-2 |
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Kennedys.avi Kennedys.srt Kennedys.doc Kennedys.mp3 |
This is not quite the same as an ordinary documentary voice-over. It is literary, emotional, intimate. Not hard, but one has to listen carefully. A good level-2 exercise. |
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GuignolsInfo101129.avi GuignolsInfo101129.srt GuignolsInfo101129.doc GuignolsInfo101129.mp3 |
This extract defines Level-2 for me. While Level-1 is the crystal clear diction of the documentary voice-over, this offers a conversational style where the words are frequently indistinct and have to be inferred from the context. There are always a few places where one is not quite sure. |
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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. |
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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 ? |
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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 |
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DOS.avi DOS.srt DOS.doc DOS.mp3 |
Although the dubbing is clear, the dialogue is nrapid-fire and very informal. It's a good level-2. |
