The weekly exercises date from 2006, so I am going to edit them to keep the most useful extracts and ditch those that are outdated, or too long, or not useful. I also intend to use the help of your friendly French teachers, Isabelle and François. Who they?
The great, great ambition is to be able to follow modern French films with ease. It will take a while. Some hints and tips.
- Don't watch French films with English subtitles, unless you accept that you're simply watching (reading) an English-language film. You cannot read English and understand spoken French at the same time.
- Get French TV and watch American films dubbed into French. They are easier to follow
Text here Listen to it here. Francois Who?
I love this parody of Nicolas Sarkozy.
Tout va bien, Madame la Marquise.
French teachers love to make us listen to chansons, which I find irritating, because they are very, very hard for us to follow. Songs are poetry, poetry stretches the bounds of language, and sung French is any case intrinsically difficult. But as long as you have the text - wonderful practice. Make sure you can follow every syllable - including the final section of patter.
Text here Listen to it here. Francois Who?
The great, great Louis-Ferdinand Céline. The reader here is Arletty, the actress of the thirties and a friend of Céline
Text here Listen to it here. Isabelle Who?