Miscellaneous extracts with text - Archive 10
| Level | Video | Description |
| 1 |
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An excellent programme, La grande librairie Here is Frédéric Beigbeder who says that there are no more adults today. |
| 2 |
 |
I am always struck by the fundamental difference between the French and English attitudes to (classical) music. We are still in the Victorian concert hall with the lights down and an attitude of respectful devotion on each face. The French are democratic in their approach and try to make it enjoyable. And sometimes it strikes me as a bit vulgar, frankly. But this programme was superb. Wonderful playing from this exponent of what we call the recorder. |
| 3 |
 |
This is very curious. Graffiti90 revisits 20th century
French history in the context of popular culture. I started it as an
extract for listentofrench.org
. Most of it is straightforward. But my goodness, look at the moment where
the coffin of Mitterrand is being loaded into the hearse and his dog,
Baltique appears. And suddenly one fails to comprehend, and what one
appears to hear seems nonsense. Can any one help with this ?
|
| 4 |
 |
I avoid political discussions for obvious reasons, and because such issues lose their interest very quickly. However, I wanted to include a discussion from Yves Calvi's daily discussion C'est dans l'air, which often features the brilliant editor of l'Express, Christophe Barbier. And come to that, the question of why French socialists can't modernise their party will no doubt be as relevant thirty years from now as it was thirty years ago... |
| 5 |
 |
Dr House, or how a rather minor English comedian goes to America and becomes a star. He was on the cover of my French telly magazine a few months ago. They adore him too. Linguistically, a good exercise. Fast-paced, not a terribly easy listen |
| 6 |
 |
Boulevard du Palais is, it must be said, an uninspired police series of dreary predictability. I wanted to include an extract because of the dialogue which is French (ie not dubbed like Dr House), and varies in comprehensibility according to the different characters. |
| 7 |
 |
Above level 5 it is the rapidity of speech that starts to make life difficult for us. Henri-Jean Servat has a very clear voice, but here he is excited and his delivery speeds up. Why is he excited ? He is speaking of Brigitte Bardot. Tout est dit |
| 8 |
 |
When I heard Philippe Delerm speaking on La grande librairie I knew he would make a good subject for transcription, with his rapid delivery, indistinct articulation, and rather haphazard flow of thought. One cannot say that he is a great publicist for his own work. But as a listening exercise it works very well. See my comment on using Audacity to slow down speech |
| 9 |
 |
Gad Elmaleh is one of the most original of the French comics. Born in Morocco of Jewish parents, and strongly influenced by his years in Canada, his humour is a heady mixture of different cultures. Here he celebrates the pleasure of learning to smoke ! |
| 10 |
 |
Guy Bedos has cornered the market in the portrayal of male chauvinist nerds, and Les filles comme des mouches is a good example. The end of the sketch escaped me completely, I'm afraid. But look, this is why comedy sketches are such good practice. One desperately wants to understand. It's very frustrating. One day perhaps.... |