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Pronunciation in Assimil French with Ease | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| KevinDks Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5326 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 21 29 April 2010 at 2:02pm | IP Logged |
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Dear all
I have recently started Assimil New French With Ease and I have reached lesson 9. The audio files are very good, but there are a couple of instances where one actor's pronunciation of a word is different to another actor's - one of the female actors in particular. I wonder whether I'm hearing emphasis, regional accent, affectation or something else. Here are two examples: 1. In the second lesson, Au magasin, the female actor I mentioned is playing the customer sheltering from the rain. She says "il pleut dehors, alors..." and pronounces that last word like "alorah". In the third lesson, Au cafe, one of the male actors says "Et alors?" and it doesn't have anything like the same emphasis on the final syllable. 2. In the eighth lesson, Une visite, the same female actor I mentioned from 'Au magasin' says "Vous voulez parler a ma mere?" and the last word sounds like "merah". In the Exercices for that lesson a different female actor says "Est-ce que votre mere est a la maison?" and she doesn't put that strong ah sound at the end of 'mere'. So far it seems to be one particular female actor emphasising the ah sound where other actors don't. That's what makes me wonder if she has a particular accent, but then again the scenarios she is acting out could justify special emphasis on those words. If anyone has any views on this I would be glad to hear them - I want to develop a standard French accent so it seems best to start off on the right foot. Regards Kevin 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kampernaut Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5385 days ago 38 posts - 54 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 2 of 21 29 April 2010 at 3:12pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Kevin
Spooky. I've recently been thinking about exactly the same thing. I've done a little digging into the topic. I'm no expert but I'll tell you what I've learned so far. Hopefully this thread will develop into an extensive discussion on the subject with contributions from people who know what they are talking about. I think you are noticing the peculiarities of a particular accent of the female actor. I'm not sure but I think the stress on the end silent letters is typical of southern places like Marseilles (no doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong). If you go onto iTunes and download lesson 34 of Coffee Break French they point this particular thing out for one of the people in the dialogue. I'm told there are relatively few accents in modern France except the south and particular districts of Paris. Apparently the purest neutral accent comes from Tours in the Loire valley. There is a site called SmartFrench.com that publishes materials that focus specifically on real, everyday spoken French with all the contractions. Christian Aubert the creator of these materials is the one that explained what I've just said about accents. He tells me that his accent is regarded as neutral and the most common in France. I've only worked with the first volume of his introductory materials so far but it has already helped me enormously with my French pronunciation when I read out my Assimil lessons (I'm on lesson 70 right now). Now I'm not sure I have the full story because I have Barron's Pronounce it Perfectly in French that I mainly bought to get to know the IPA. They say that the accent of the actors on their CDs is "la langue soignée" which "... means literally "well-groomed" and acceptable French that anybody in any level of society in French- speaking areas can easily understand." So, you French accent experts, what's the full story? 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| bertlanguage Newbie United States Joined 5336 days ago 18 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 3 of 21 29 April 2010 at 6:21pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for that info Kampernaut.
Quick other topic question re: assimil french. I just started the lessons. Do you write anything down (vocabulary, words to practice spelling) or do you just listen to the audio lessons and read the book (as recommended by the program)? I've always internalized things better if I write them down or draw pictures. Thanks again. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kampernaut Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5385 days ago 38 posts - 54 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 4 of 21 29 April 2010 at 8:09pm | IP Logged |
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Do exactly what the book says. The whole point of the first phase is just to absorb the sounds of the language and
let your brain just pick things up without effort. When you get into the second phase after lesson 50, you can write your translations, make flashcards and anything else you like. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| bertlanguage Newbie United States Joined 5336 days ago 18 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 5 of 21 29 April 2010 at 10:27pm | IP Logged |
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Great, thanks again!
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5568 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 6 of 21 29 April 2010 at 11:55pm | IP Logged |
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In my experience - mainly in Paris but also Haute-Savoie and tbe Suisse Romande - a rising 'ahh' placed on the end of some words is quite common in French - like 'alors' or 'une', especially when it helps with euphony. However, not everyone uses it and so it's something you have to train your ear for.
The benefit of Assimil (and this used to be advertised in the Without Toil series) is that it uses voice artists that can articulate clearly but still retain a degree of individuality. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kubelek Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland chomikuj.pl/Kuba_wal Joined 6855 days ago 415 posts - 528 votes Speaks: Polish*, EnglishC2, French, Spanish Studies: German | Message 7 of 21 30 April 2010 at 12:06am | IP Logged |
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There was a topic on the subject recently somewhere on the forum... If I remember correctly the consensus was that it's just an artifact. There's a puff of air coming out of your mouth when you end your sentence. If you keep producing a voiced sound, that puff creates a sort of shwa sound that you're hearing in the audio. Perhaps somebody else remembers what the topic was called exactly.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5594 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 8 of 21 30 April 2010 at 4:41am | IP Logged |
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Wow! Great question. I was wondering the same thing. I have a hearing problem so I was not sure if it was just me or whether the differences were real. I know that the French in 10 Minutes a Day has about 15 different French native speakers from different parts of France, Africa, Canada,etc. so that you hear the different accents.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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