Learn about the meaning of intonations
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Bonjour chers auditeurs! Je m'appelle Gabriella. A Touch of France in Hollywood. |
| Jeremy: Moi, c'est Jeremy. |
| Gabriella: Let's get started. Quel est le sujet de la leçon d'aujourd'hui ? |
| Jeremy: In this lesson, you'll learn about the meaning of intonations in French. The conversation is between Laure and Vincent. |
| Gabriella: Ok, donc c'est une conversation familière ? |
| Jeremy: Oui, et Laure est étonnée de voir beaucoup d’acteurs français à Hollywood… |
| Gabriella: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Laure: (regardant une émission de télévision) C'est fou le nombre d'acteurs français qui réussissent aux Etats-Unis en ce moment. Jean Reno, Jean Dujardin, Marion Cotillard... et maintenant, Omar Sy dans les X-Men ! |
| Vincent : C'est vrai que c'est surprenant. On a toujours eu des acteurs français à Hollywood, mais depuis quelques temps, c'est comme une nouvelle mode. |
| Laure : Je ne leur souhaite que de réussir. Mais Marion Cotillard, qu'est-ce qu'elle était ridicule dans Batman... Tout Internet s'est moquée d'elle ! |
| Vincent : C'est vrai qu'elle jouait mal dans ce film. C'est plutôt une bonne actrice, en fait. |
| Laure : Oui, plutôt. (rêve) Ah lala, qu'est-ce que j'aurais aimé être actrice... |
| Gabriella: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Laure: (regardant une émission de télévision) C'est fou le nombre d'acteurs français qui réussissent aux Etats-Unis en ce moment. Jean Reno, Jean Dujardin, Marion Cotillard... et maintenant, Omar Sy dans les X-Men ! |
| Laure: (while watching a TV show) It's amazing the number of French actors who are succeeding in the USA recently: Jean Reno, Jean Dujardin, Marion Cotillard...and now Omar Sy! |
| Vincent : C'est vrai que c'est surprenant. On a toujours eu des acteurs français à Hollywood, mais depuis quelques temps, c'est comme une nouvelle mode. |
| Vincent: I have to say that it's quite surprising. There have always been some French actors in Hollywood, but lately, it seems like a new trend. |
| Laure : Je ne leur souhaite que de réussir. Mais Marion Cotillard, qu'est-ce qu'elle était ridicule dans Batman... Tout Internet s'est moquée d'elle ! |
| Laure: I wish them only success. But Marion Cotillard...how ridiculous was she in Batman? Everybody was making fun of her all over the Internet! |
| Vincent : C'est vrai qu'elle jouait mal dans ce film. C'est plutôt une bonne actrice, en fait. |
| Vincent: I have to say that her acting in that movie was bad. She's usually a rather good actress, though. |
| Laure : Oui, plutôt. (rêve) Ah lala, qu'est-ce que j'aurais aimé être actrice... |
| Laure: Yes, indeed. (daydreaming) Ahh, how I would have loved to be an actress... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: So are there really so many French actors in Hollywood? |
| Jeremy: Not so many, and it’s not new. Gérard Depardieu has already been known in the US for a long time. |
| Gabriella: C’est vrai, j’aime beaucoup cet acteur ! Et Jean Reno, aussi ! |
| Jeremy: Oui, il est assez connu également. But lately, it seems that French actors are in fashion! |
| Gabriella: I saw Marion Cotillard in Public Enemies and Inception, she was great! |
| Jeremy: Yes, she's a very good actress. I can mention Jean Dujardin too, who appeared in the fantastic movie The Artist. |
| Gabriella: Is it the silent movie which won a lot of awards - The Oscars, Golden Globes, and so on ? |
| Jeremy: Oui, Jean Dujardin a été le premier Français à recevoir un Oscar! |
| Gabriella: Wow, that’s impressive ! |
| Jeremy: It sure is! The French were really proud of that! And soon, Omar Sy will be in an X-Men movie too. |
| Gabriella: It seems this new trend will continue! That’s good! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Gabriella: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Gabriella: The first word we shall see is... |
| Jeremy: c’est fou [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: that’s amazing |
| Jeremy: c’est fou [slowly - broken down by syllable] c’est fou [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Jeremy: réussir [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to succeed, to accomplish |
| Jeremy: réussir [slowly - broken down by syllable] réussir [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Jeremy: en ce moment [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: recently |
| Jeremy: en ce moment [slowly - broken down by syllable] en ce moment [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Jeremy: surprenant [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: surprising |
| Jeremy: surprenant [slowly - broken down by syllable] surprenant [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Jeremy: ridicule [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: ridiculous |
| Jeremy: ridicule [slowly - broken down by syllable] ridicule [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Jeremy: mal jouer [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to act badly |
| Jeremy: mal jouer [slowly - broken down by syllable] mal jouer [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Jeremy: depuis quelques temps [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: lately |
| Jeremy: depuis quelques temps [slowly - broken down by syllable] depuis quelques temps [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: And last... |
| Jeremy: nouvelle mode [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: new trend |
| Jeremy: nouvelle mode [slowly - broken down by syllable] nouvelle mode [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. So, what’s our first word? |
| Jeremy: It’s an expression - c’est fou. |
| Gabriella: "That’s crazy!" |
| Jeremy: It can be used to express astonishment, but also for something incredible, in a good or a bad way. |
| Gabriella: So if someone is talking about a big car crash, they can use it ? |
| Jeremy: Oui, tout à fait. On peut le dire avec ironie aussi, quand on n’est pas du tout surpris. |
| Gabriella: The French humor, right? |
| Jeremy: Bien vu! C’est ça. |
| Gabriella: The next word is… |
| Jeremy: … another expression! Bien jouer or mal jouer. |
| Gabriella: “to act well” and “to act bad”, talking about comedians and actors. |
| Jeremy: You also have the expression Bien joué, talking about a good move in a game. |
| Gabriella: Oh, oui, je me souviens d’avoir entendu ça déjà. |
| Jeremy: You might also say mal joué, but your partner in game may not appreciate it! |
| Gabriella: (laughs) I guess so! What’s next? |
| Jeremy: An expression again… Depuis quelques temps. |
| Gabriella: "Recently" or "since a few…" |
| Jeremy: days, weeks or even years. It depends on the context. Depuis quelques temps, la mode ne sort rien de vraiment nouveau. |
| Gabriella: "Since a few years ago, there’s hasn’t really been anything new in fashion." That’s true ! |
| Jeremy: Probably, haha. Next, we have En ce moment. |
| Gabriella: "Lately." |
| Jeremy: It means that something started in the past and is still happening. En ce moment, ça ne se passe pas très bien au travail. |
| Gabriella: "Lately, everything’s been going wrong in the office." Oh no, really? |
| Jeremy: Not at all, everything’s fine! |
| Gabriella: Oh ok, great to hear! Ok, let’s move on to the Grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn about the meaning of intonations. |
| Jeremy: On va parler des intonations en Français. Many people told me that hearing French people talking was like listening to a song. |
| Gabriella: C’est vrai! |
| Jeremy: It’s because we have a lot of different intonations. Let’s start with a simple one – interrogation. |
| Gabriella: I know that one! The pitch is rising at the end! |
| Jeremy: Oui, c’est ça! Imagine your friend is talking about playing sports, you may ask -Vas-tu à la piscine dimanche ? |
| Gabriella: "Do you go to the swimming pool on Sunday?" |
| Jeremy: Even if the verb and the subject are not reversed, this intonation always indicates a question. Tu vas à la piscine dimanche ? |
| Gabriella: Ok! How about affirmative sentences? |
| Jeremy: It’s even easier! I always talk this way, but let’s hear an example - Vous ne pouvez pas encore reprendre le travail. |
| Gabriella: "You can’t go back to work yet." So the intonation falls at the end. |
| Jeremy: Yes, that’s it. You can also express sadness with that. |
| Gabriella: Another important one to know – irony. |
| Jeremy: Oh oui, c’est très important. It can be rising at the end, or monotonous, like in - Tu as vu ? Ils ont fait de nouveaux Pokemon ! - Oh, oui… C’est… fou… |
| Gabriella: “Did you see? They created new Pokemon! -Oh yeah, that’s… hum, crazy…” Ah! We find our c’est fou here. |
| Jeremy: Yes, so you have an ironic example of this one too. |
| Gabriella: Merci ! Ensuite, nous avons la colère, anger. |
| Jeremy: This one can be quite obvious, it’s rising at the end, with a strong tone, in case of a burst of anger. |
| Gabriella: What about cold anger? |
| Jeremy: It will be spoken with a monotonous pitch, but really firm. |
| Gabriella: C’est plutôt simple! |
| Jeremy: Non, ce n’est pas très difficile. Il faut entraîner son oreille. |
| Gabriella: Donc, n’hésitez pas à pratiquer et à poser des questions en commentaire ! |
Outro |
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| Jeremy: Bonne chance, et à la prochaine! |
| Gabriella: Remember to check the lesson notes, and we’ll see you next time. Salut! |
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