To French students learning movies, it presented armchair cinema of a different sort altogether. For example, this slang labyrinth that is often put in French guns sounds strange or altogether unintelligible. That’s why the more there is slang in French films the harder it becomes for foreigners to understand what they are saying. Now let’s discuss good french movies for french learners. It is but a lively tapestry of colloquial idioms. Only by rejecting the pretenses can you risk the perils and rich rewards of conversing on unusual and fresh terms: sans frontières Indeed, French films frequently feature this style–they are filled with slang like strawberries on an ice-cream sundae.
Although this may give the movie flavor, for a learner entering such linguistic halls of mirrors is disconcerting, to say the least. Does it add flavor, true–but does it bewilder? Of course. How often do you hear “They blundered on the subtitle for that scene!” Imagemagine this scene from a French comedy–it starred a grin like the one in Cheshire Cat and a cheeky expression such as you’d never find in any textbook. This sort of thing makes you feel thrown into a tango without knowing any of the steps To start with, the good thing about films is that they offer up real-life dialogue which we can learn from.
Upon a time in a small Parisian café, I overheard the life of a group of locals in their lively slang. This is the sort of daily chatter so skillfully and naturally caught by French directors. One friend by my side muttered, “It’s like assembling a jigsaw puzzle using pieces from three different boxes!” Movies reflect several different ways people communicate, don’t they?
But informal speech and vernacular meaning need context. Can betray you in this In this respect your trusty dictionary (which does so well on formal expressions and frowns at information) is no help at all. But films do give those language learners that missing piece –emotion, setting, and a slice of la vie française. They serve these sayings up on a silver platter, turning the riddle into a readable code.
After all, the French are so good at living. Language is no exception: it’s great fun to hear them come out with idiomatic expressions that have nothing whatever to do with their literal meanings. The exuberant feeling is captured in the title of our English translation chapter: “In High Spirits.” Ever hear “être dans la lune”? It means “to be on the moon.” In other words, you are dreaming With the world’s largest movies, install one of them on your computer and catch all those small details that may have been getting away from your understanding ears like so much smoke when you try to pin it down by hand.
Consider the scene when Amélie from Montmartre gives a mischievous smile and speaks endearing slang. It is a perfect snapshot of the essence of French (Colloquial)–hypnotizing yet defying explanation. To a person learning French, it could feel like trying to nail jello to the wall. The words are all out there, swirling around you, just beyond your grasp.
Therefore, how do you plunge into this teeming sea of slang but avoid being swamped? Well, then, my friends, there is repetition and exposure. Watch the same scene over and over. Surround yourself with that which at first seemed baffling until those words acquire an intimate feel.
Application of Cinema to Pronunciation in French: A Case in Point
But then we’ve all been there–staring at textbooks and listening to audio lessons. Trying to catch up that clear French ‘r’ can be like following the example of a leprechaun, standing at the end of an arc. Fear not! This time, the French films you will encounter as part of this effort to cultivate a formative, homogeneous pronunciation represent a big round peg in a square hole. If you met baguettes, and berets, and felt the allure of berets in these wonderful tales, they give you the power to escape from a desolate classroom into a comforting comfortable scenario– the bistro of an authentic French Café or a pretty cote d ‘Azur vista. Ode to My Father, Entertainment with a Theme: Improving One’s Pronunciation through French FilmsWouldn’t it be wonderful if, while you enjoyed your Saturday movie night, you were also picking up on some serious pronunciation skills? French movies are a treasure trove of daily dialogue. This is Fly to the French for a mother lode of your new rich. French comedy! Let me take you on a trip with my cousin, Clara. Clara was unable to speak a word of French. Until one day she happened upon one such comedy, not well-known at that. The unvoiced cause was quite fascinating to her, tickling as it did she could not tell what. As Clara sat on her pad, watching scene after scene played out on screen until I would be ashamed to confess how many times she rewound it. By now she was mimicking their sing-song anywhere close enough that she knew full well she’d been culling by some sort of secret supernatural force. Proven tip: choose your movies carefully. Start with some chatter-heavy stuff, maybe a classic drama. Crime movies contain a pattern of quick dialogues–this is confusing. However, because feelings provide clues to language comprehension romantic dramas are ideal. They talk slowly, giving you golden chances to catch the flow and rhythm of the language. That’s where the habits hide. Unlike stories, where you don’t just read a story but turn yourself language, too. You can try enjoying “Amélie” but in French. Let the dialog pass, and then pretend you’re saying it. Breathe a little wildly! Try out different accents. At this point, you have entered your acting studio.
Disputation is hot and an engaging affair with subtitles. Arguably, subtitles can be your crutch — just use them hard. For an interesting twist turn them off, or try listening to French movies with your translation superimposed so that as you look you reinforce spelling as well as pronunciation.
Patience, people! No one pretended otherwise, but this certainly does not mean that you will sound just like Edith Piaf the first time out. Don’t give up but listen again and again–eventually, you must succeed. That’s a cardinal virtue (of sorts), as inevitable as spilling wine on the white shirt during French picnics. Welcome to it. Blunder are stepping stone toward fluency.
For any French student I know, this is probably the greatest hurdle of all: distinguishing these nasal sounds. Why, when written phonetically in English script it’s even conceivable that “on” may sound like “en” to begin with! Movies offer you plenty of listening material to refine these longings.
Someone once told a story about a woman I know in Paris. It said that she was so happy, and took great delight in the fact that finally after many furtive tries striving mightily on her own without the aid of subtitles to watch fast films, she understood all the details. It was like discovering a brilliant synthesis of quantum mechanics and Romper Room. Happiness, indeed.