I’ve enjoyed the last few days off work and made some French food for myself as well as cleaning, cooking, reading and enjoying a few beers in the sunshine. At last the Spring has arrived and the daffodils look great in my neighbour’s garden. Yesterday I made a creamy Gratin Dauphinois with spicy sausage and today I made one of my favourites, a courgette tien. Both recipes came from Anne Willan’s Look and Cook, French Country Cooking. Today, I am full of optimism and am thinking about improving my French language. I have recorded some simple text in French and would like to hear from those that live in France, be they French or English, if my accent is good or not. I still have lots to learn and struggle with expressions that reflect the past. In truth I don’t take time to practice enough. I hope that I didn’t sound too much like the lovely American lady at the end of the film 'I Love Paris'. |
| Gratin Dauphinois with spicy sausage |
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| courgette tien with ham, tomatoes and gherkins |
'Hello, my name is Philip and I enjoy cooking , especially my versions of French food. I also enjoy life here in England but often consider what a life in France would be like, especially if I spoke French fluently. Perhaps one day my dream will come true if I work hard at improving my French.'
Translation:( Babelfish)
Bonjour, je m’appelle Philip et j'ai plaisir à faire cuire particulièrement mes versions de nourriture française. J'apprécie également la vie ici en Angleterre mais considère souvent comme ce que serait une vie en France, en particulièr si je parlais français couramment. Peut-être pendant un jour mon rêve viendra vrai si je travaille dur à améliorer mon français. Au Revoir.
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7 comments:
Sounds OK to me. But then the only other Frenchmen I've heard are Jacques Tati and Inspector Clouseau!
I even turned Radio Four off to sit and listen to you. I was very impressed. The only word I thought you could have emphasised a bit more was *nourriture*, the first vowel I thought was not pronounced sufficiently (hark at me, a Londoner giving advice; but I did end up being able to speak it fairly well).
You have a nice pitch voice though - that is one of the most important things to me, the timbre of a man's voice.
Gailsman: add in Marcel Marceaux and you have the whole French nation in a nutshell, not. lol
French Fancy: merci bien. Even switched off Radio four? Wow. I'm honoured. Merci encore.
You're the (french) man Phil!
Dauphinois are easily the best potato dish going. I like it with a roast chicken leg and some peas!
Well done with the language too - keep to it.
I really enjoy your blog Phil - it's always so positive, and very interesting.
I studied French up to uni level and would say that while the Babelfish translation doesn't give really colloquial French, your pronunciation is really pretty good. The biggest single leap I made while studying was when I was finally told (by a French teacher rather than an English teacher of French) that in French there are no diphthongs - vowel sounds are pure. It's difficult to explain that in text, but as an example, take the word "du" as in Gare du Nord. We English tend to mix vowel sounds and say "deeoou" while the French would expect "doo" and nothing else. Hope that makes sense...
Very good pronunciation. Not a hint of Crabtree anywhere !!
Where have I heard that before,mmm Paris Je'taime?!!! Hee hee only kidding - your pronounciation is much better than anything I could achieve - bravo!
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