Posts in September 2008

Ella, Elle L’a

Posted by Chanda
Sep
23
2008

One of the biggest hits on European radio this summer has been Belgian singer Kate Ryan’s version of France Gall’s 1987 song Ella, Elle L’a.  The song is translated as ‘Ella, She’s Got It’ and is a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald who was one of the most influential jazz singers in the 20th century.  Click here to read the lyrics in French and roughly translated into English.

The title and lyrics include a particular kind of pronoun, so I thought it would be fitting to discuss this a bit here.

Perhaps you noticed that the translation sounds a bit odd in English.  Although this kind of pronoun exists in the English language, we don’t usually repeat the subject in this manner.

Ella, Elle L’a

It is an example of what in French they call pronoms toniques.  In English, we normally refer to these stressed pronouns as disjunctive pronouns.  You can break the song title down grammatically like this:

Ella,              elle l‘                      a

Subject + Disjunctive Pronoun + Object Pronoun + Verb

Singular Disjunctive Pronouns
moi
toi
lui, elle

Plural Disjunctive Pronouns
nous
vous
eux, elles

They are used in isolated cases (as is the case here with the song title) to emphasize a noun or pronoun referring to a person.  Here is another example:

Moi, je chante le rock et toi, qu’est-ce que tu chantes?

They can also be used with the connectors et, ou, and ni when a sentence has more than one subject or object.  Here are some examples:

Mes amis et moi, nous sommes allés hier à la discothèque.
Je les aime bien, lui et elle.

Another way to use them is after c’est or ce sont.  Here are two examples:

Est-ce que c’est ton chanteur préféré ? - Oui, c’est lui.
Ce sont elles qui chantent dans le film.

Also, you can use these pronouns to replace subject pronouns when the verb is understood.  For example:

Elle chante.  - Nous, aussi. (Nous chantons aussi.)
Elle chante mieux que vous.  (Elle chante mieux que vous chantez.)

And they can also be used after prepositions.  Here are some examples:

Céline chante bien; je vais chanter avec elle.
Les artistes sont toujours en tournée ; ils ne sont jamais chez eux.
Ce CD est à lui.

On a side note, disjunctive pronouns can be used with même(s) for even more emphasis to insist upon someone’s identity.  For example:

Elle a écrit la chanson elle-même.

Watch Kate Ryan’s Ella elle l’a very modern music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdJN0ss7jA0

And compare it with France Gall’s version with Ella Fitzgerald in the background of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQkB-WWzsbg

I would love to hear which version people like best, so write a comment and let me know!  J’attends vos remarques!

 
Posted under Grammar, Music
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The First Lady of France Sings to the President in the Middle of the Night

Posted by Chanda
Sep
19
2008

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was born on December 23, 1967 in Turin, Italy.  She moved to France with her family in 1973 and attended boarding school in Switzerland.  She soon returned to Paris to study art and architecture, but left school at age 19 to become a model.  One of her first major campaigns was for Guess jeans.  In the 90’s, she was one of the 20-highest paid models in the world.   In 1997, she basically quit modeling in order to pursue her music and before recording an album of her own, she sold the lyrics she wrote.  In 2002, she released her debut album called Quelqu’un m’a dit which was very well-received by both the public and critics and in 2007, she released an English-language album called No Promises.

She has dated many well-known people such as Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger and Donald Trump and even a French philosopher with whom she had a son, Aurélien, in 2001; but what really got everyone talking was her whirlwind romance with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she met in November 2007 at a dinner party.  Their first public appearance was at Disneyland Paris the next month and after that time, they were followed everywhere by the press and their romance even ended up on the front pages of major newspapers and on the evening news throughout the world.    They married on February 2, 2008, at the Elysée Palace and ‘honeymooned’ at Versailles Palace. 

A month later, she accompanied President Sarkozy on a state visit to the United Kingdom where she met the Queen and made headlines with her Jackie Kennedy style.  That same year, she released a third album called Comme si de rien n’était, the proceeds from which are going to charity.  She juggles her official duties as First Lady of France with singing at various events and on TV.

Here is an article from Hello Magazine on her recent appearance on British TV: http://www.hellomagazine.com/music/2008/09/17/carla-bruni-metalica/

You can read more about her in French or in English at www.carlabruni.com and you can even sample her music.

Or if you are even more courageous, here is an interview with her that was published in L’Express where she said she would do her best as First Lady.
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/carla-bruni-sarkozy-je-ferai-de-mon-mieux_470158.html

 
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Let’s Talk About Verbs

Posted by Chanda
Sep
18
2008

Verbs in French can be used alone or be followed by an object, a complement, a subordinate phrase or another verb.

Here is an example of a verb used alone:
Je lis.

Here is an example of a verb followed by an object:
Je fais de la natation.

Here is an example of a verb followed by a complement:
Je suis mariée.

Here is an example of a verb followed by a subordinate phrase:
Je pense que l’espagnol est plus facile.

And here is an example of a verb followed by another verb:
Je ne voulais pas manger.

Now, a verb that stands alone is called an intransitive verb meaning that it does not have an object.   (Intransitive verb = No object)

Here are some examples:
Le soleil brillait. (Subject + Verb)
Ne pars pas! (only a Verb since it’s a command/imperative)

Remember, a verb can also be followed by an object which means it would be called a transitive verb. (Transitive verb = Object)
This can be a direct object meaning that the action happens directly to the object without any preposition in the middle.  Ex:
Je prends mon temps. (Subject + Verb + Direct Object)
J’aime les biscuits et le chocolat. (Subject + Verb + Direct Object)

It could also be an indirect object meaning that the action happens indirectly to the object with a preposition in the middle (à or de). Ex:
J’ai parlé à mon mari. (Subject + Verb + Indirect Object)
Je m’occupe de mes enfants. (Subject + Verb + Indirect Object)

And as I said a verb can be followed by a complement for example an adjective, noun or a past participle used as an adjective.
These are some of the verbs that are followed in this way:

être, avoir l’air, devenir, mourir, naître, paraître, sembler, rester, tomber, vivre, etc.

Examples:
Mes yeux sont bleus. (Subject + Verb + Adjective)
Je suis maman. (Subject + Verb + Noun)
Elle est devenue guérie. (Subject + Verb + Past Participle)

I also mentioned how a verb can be followed by another verb, right?

When you use one of these verbs - aimer, entendre, oser, sembler, aller, espérer, penser, souhaiter, désirer, faire, préférer, valoir, détester, faillir, pouvoir, voir, devoir, falloir, regarder, vouloir, écouter, laisser, savoir, etc. - the second verb phrase is usually an infinitive…
J’aime danser. (Subject + Verb + Infinitive)
Ma mère semblait ne pas savoir. (Subject + Verb + Infinitive)

..or you use the preposition à plus an infinitive for one of these verbs - s’amuser, s’habituer, tenir, arriver, hésiter, commencer, apprendre, se mettre, penser, chercher, parvenir, continuer, se décider, réussir, etc.
Ex:
J’apprends à parler bien. (Subject + Verb + Preposition + Infinitive)
Ma petite fille arrive à s’habiller toute seule. (Subject + Verb + Preposition + Infinitive)

…or the preposition de plus an infinitive for one of these verbs - accepter, arrêter, avoir besoin, avoir envie, avoir peur, cesser, choisir, commencer, continuer, craindre, décider, se dépêcher, essayer, éviter, faire exprès, finir, oublier, refuser, regretter, risquer, tâcher, tenter, etc.
Ex:
J’ai peur de ne pas savoir. (Subject + Verb + Preposition + Infinitive)
Arrête de faire des bêtises ! (Subject + Verb + Preposition + Infinitive)

And finally, I mentioned that a verb can be followed by a subordinate phrase.  Here are some examples:
J’ai dit que les verbes sont compliqués.
Je ne sais pas si mon mari a fait les courses.

There is much more such as verbs followed by two objects or by an object and an infinitive, but for now, these are some basic verb structures you can get started with.  Qu’est-ce que j’aime la grammaire!

 
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Celine Dion and Her 4 Types

Posted by Chanda
Sep
17
2008

I love music and think it is precisely one of the best things about understanding French. When you learn French, you can understand and really appreciate the music. The French-language music industry has some great singers and writers. One of the most internationally renowned French-language singers is Celine Dion. If you have only heard her English songs and really like them, you should listen to a few of her French songs and you’ll be blown away…French (the Canadian variety) is her native language after all. In fact during the concert she gave in Paris which she used to record her live album Au Coeur du Stade (which is I think my very favorite album of hers), she even made reference to the beauty of singing in French (which made the French public go crazy of course) when she said, “…le français c’est la plus belle langue pour chanter l’amour.”
Go to her official website and you can listen to clips of all of her songs and read the lyrics. There, you will notice that one of her French-language albums is called 1 Fille & 4 Types. Types? You may be wondering what that means…I know I once did. Well, they’re her guys. She made that album in close collaboration with 4 outstanding singer-songwriters-musicians who I’m pretty sure are also close friends of hers: Jean-Jacques Goldman, Erick Benzi, Jacques Veneruso and Gildas Arzel.

I remember one of the first slang words I came across the first time I lived in France was ‘mec’ which totally threw me off at first. I came to find out that it was just another word for ‘guy’. Later, I learned that ‘type’ was another word for ‘guy’. The title of this album got me thinking…hmmm…how many different words are there to say ‘man’, ‘guy’, etc….just how many words are there in French that refer to a ‘male person’??? And these are some that I came up with:

un mec, un type, un gars, un homme, un garçon, un bonhomme, un zig, un frangin, un gus, un Julot…

Maybe someone out there could add to this list…it would be great if you could leave a comment with your contribution! Merci en avance!

 
Posted under Music, People, Vocabulary
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5 Tips For Becoming Proficient In French

Posted by Chanda
Sep
15
2008

I would like to start this blog off with my tips on how to become proficient in French. Now, these are all based on my own personal language-learning experiences so you may or may not agree with all of them, but I can assure you they have all worked for me.

1. Read a lot in French and not just your textbook or the books/novels your teachers assign, but also newspapers, song lyrics, menus, billboards, notices on the metro and other places when you are in a French-speaking country (in short, everything your eyes can possibly find at any time) and my personal favorites…celebrity gossip magazines. And to get you started off…click here to take a look at Voici magazine.

2. Get a French-speaking boyfriend or girlfriend. Native French-speaking friends are great and help you out a lot, so be sure to find some of those too. But, a boyfriend or girlfriend really has an interest in what you have to say and will help you out even more. And most likely, you will spend a lot of one-on-one time with him/her which is a lot of time to absorb language.

3. Learn grammar…but in context. I am a certified teacher, so I love grammar and believe it is extremely important, but if you want it to stick…don’t just memorize your textbook rules, but rather look those rules up when you come across a new grammar point that you haven’t seen before or are curious about when you are reading one of those sources (or any others) I was talking about in tip #1.

4. Vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary. Enrich your vocabulary and not necessarily by studying dictionaries page by page…when you come across a word that you don’t remember having heard or seen before and you think it is important to understanding whatever you are reading or listening to…look it up in a dictionary. But, don’t get obsessed with all the words you don’t know when you are reading or listening or bogged down by looking up all the new words you come across as that will usually lead you to becoming bored with whatever you are reading or listening to and then you will probably starting getting blocked in your learning process. Also, pick up all the slang words you can, especially when listening to native speakers…that will open up a whole new vocabulary world that you probably have never been exposed to and that world will unlock many doors to becoming proficient. You’ll understand more when you listen and feel more confident when speaking.

5. Most importantly, experience the language. Languages are to be lived. Participate in activities where French is spoken, travel to a French-speaking country, join a French club, live in a French house if possible where you study, use French products, eat French food, read about French-speaking people and their customs, and if you have the opportunity, live in a French-speaking country.

I will write more about all of these tips and give you more details on my experiences in later posts, but for now… à la prochaine!

 
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