The Corsican Accent

[user472884]

And careerwise, you'd be better off with learning Spanish, or Chinese or Japanese, you do realize. know...)

oh, don't worry about that.

I've been studying spanish which I'm fairly proficient at,

French of Corse

My really cool friend at school is teaching me German slowly

My ethnicity and Korean culture kinda require me to speak Korean, so I'm going to get the Rosetta Stone of that.

I'm going to have to learn Italian at one point (so I can fulfill my architectural quests)
........................................

Oh yea, I really do love language. It freaking fascinates me. When you understand a language, you have a new view of how people think.
"Why would 'con' be offensive in France, but merely mean 'with' in Spanish?"
I love thinking of questions like that

[Jess]

Originally Posted by Chuck

I just gotta jump in and say that this is one thing (of many) that's amazed me about Alizée: She's got us all learning French! That's like a bird that flies overhead, and inspires rats on the ground to try to build wings!

Hey Chuck good to see you on this side of cyberspace !! I just want to add that your post gave me a good chuckle.

[Chuck]

Cheers to you too, Jess! 'n Thanks! Jalen, Fall06 > back at you

Ahem:
délitdocile has very kindly given us a reply to the original question:

Alizée chante sans accent, et ce depuis le début. Elle articule bien avec une prononciation "classique" tout à fait orthodoxe.On peut en juger dans une chanson comme Psychédélices.
D'ailleurs, je sais que le clip de ML a servi dans des classes de langue en Allemagne et en UK. C'est peut-être une idée à creuser Aux USA...
Elle a un peu d'accent, et quelques expressions méridionales dans ses tous premiers interviews.

"Alizée sings without an accent, and since the very start. She uses good articulation and completely "classic", orthodox pronunciation. You can tell in a song like Psychédélices.
Besides, I know that the Moi Lolita video was used in language classes in Germany and the UK. That could be an idea to try out in the USA...
She had a bit of an accent, and used some southern expressions in her very first interviews."

So there. This may be just one reply, more may come back still, but I concur and don't expect a lot of variation... As for the "Growling Rrrrrrr's" in the back of the throat, yeah, that's French. Practice that, if you haven't, a lot of Americans find that sound impossible.



Wasabi, buddy, and all who want to know another language: "proficient" depends on what you want the language for--traveling, reading lyrics, or writing speeches for Sarkozy. I'd say anyone determined to do so could learn enough to travel around France comfortably in a few weeks. But I don't consider myself "proficient", maybe I know about half of what there is to know. Maybe not even.

Really, French is wack. It's not gaining in world popularity polls the way English is. They've got two genders for all their nouns, a million diffferent endings for all the verbs, adjectives that have to match the gender and plurality of the noun they modify.... I mean who invented this crap??? Oh yeah. French people.

A language is a creation. Created by a community. And like all creations, it reflects the philosophy and values of its creators. Superficially, then, while French seems to almost value style more than substance, it also reflects a deep reverence for tradition. As in "Franch is ze best! It has always been ze best! We are not going to fock wees zat!" If you agree, you will probably want to learn French. If you don't agree, no problem, you just keep walking. Well, that's my take on it, anyway!

{Final tip - WordReference.com is better than a standard English-French dictionary by far. Although not as portable. But just try the "conjugator".}

*****************************************(later)** ********************

French, Spanish, German, Korean, Italian---Aren't we a bunch of cunning linguists? sorry, just had to say that one

Say, it occurred to me, for those of you in ROTC's:
The services have some excellent language programs. I learned about 5 years worth of German in under a year. They may have classes near you, or they may cover your tuition at your college? I don't know for sure, but it may not hurt to ask someone about it!

Don't say you want to learn Corsican, though!

[CFHollister]

I suspect that Corsicans today probably speak pretty standard French but if you really want to sound like a native, try learning some Corsu

[lovingalizée]

Originally Posted by Chuck

They've got two genders for all their nouns, a million diffferent endings for all the verbs, adjectives that have to match the gender and plurality of the noun they modify

Yeah there are some things with the French language that seem to be very odd and add a lot of unnecessary work ("un" go with some words and "une" with others - and no way to really tell any difference between all the "un" words and the "une" words), but I'm sure all languages have their weird idiosyncrasies, including English. And I'm thinking that English took off more than French worldwide more for societal reasons than for ease of use (even though I'm not sold that English is easier to learn for somebody brand new to the language than French is).

[Chuck]

lovingalizée: Yeah, you're right. French ain't so bad! So if I sounded kinda negative or discouraging there a couple days ago, please kick me somebody! I was kinda bitter that day. My kids said they're a little sick of Alizee. Don't worry, I cut off their noses.

Originally Posted by Chuck

...careerwise, you'd be better off with learning Spanish, or Chinese or Japanese, you do realize......

Really, French is wack. It's not gaining in world popularity polls the way English is. They've got two genders for all their nouns, a million diffferent endings for all the verbs, adjectives that have to match the gender and plurality of the noun they modify.... I mean who invented this crap??? Oh yeah. French people.

Complain, complain, complain!
At this point, I'm hoping that anyone who listened to these rantings can go back and try to imagine as if I'd never said 'em.

And now I'd like to go on record saying--Things Are Changing. For Example:

> HAS ANYONE SEEN THAT NEW COMMERCIAL ON TV FOR DEGREE ANTIPERSPIRANT? FEATURING A SONG (sung in French) BY A CLAIRE DENAMUR? She was at least as unknown in this country as Alizee, but already, people are blogging about Claire Denamur, and buying records!

> Another sign of change: OBAMA. For decades, The US's official policy toward France was "Policy? What's that? France? Huh? Can I watch some TV now?" We didn't pay much attention to the French, and they certainly lost a lot of respect for us. But that's already improving...

> Another sign: for the past four years, Madtown here has had a Bastille Day Fest, featuring French-language musicians from around the globe.

> Another sign: Suddenly I've got at least 8 neighbors on my street who are fluent in French! 4 of em just moved in. From France! From Friggin', Froggy, France!



Finally- careers speaking French? Of course there are! You are all some very bright people here. You're limited only by your talents and imagination. But here's a new career suggestion: learn French and you could make your mind up to become Alizee's North American Tour Manager!







...Or don't learn French, and someone else will get that job!

[VVVACCPLPNLY]

Originally Posted by Chuck

Cheers to you too, Jess! 'n Thanks! Jalen, Fall06 > back at you

Ahem:
délitdocile has very kindly given us a reply to the original question:

Alizée chante sans accent, et ce depuis le début. Elle articule bien avec une prononciation "classique" tout à fait orthodoxe.On peut en juger dans une chanson comme Psychédélices.
D'ailleurs, je sais que le clip de ML a servi dans des classes de langue en Allemagne et en UK. C'est peut-être une idée à creuser Aux USA...
Elle a un peu d'accent, et quelques expressions méridionales dans ses tous premiers interviews.

"Alizée sings without an accent, and since the very start. She uses good articulation and completely "classic", orthodox pronunciation. You can tell in a song like Psychédélices.
Besides, I know that the Moi Lolita video was used in language classes in Germany and the UK. That could be an idea to try out in the USA...
She had a bit of an accent, and used some southern expressions in her very first interviews."

So there. This may be just one reply, more may come back still, but I concur and don't expect a lot of variation... As for the "Growling Rrrrrrr's" in the back of the throat, yeah, that's French. Practice that, if you haven't, a lot of Americans find that sound impossible.



Wasabi, buddy, and all who want to know another language: "proficient" depends on what you want the language for--traveling, reading lyrics, or writing speeches for Sarkozy. I'd say anyone determined to do so could learn enough to travel around France comfortably in a few weeks. But I don't consider myself "proficient", maybe I know about half of what there is to know. Maybe not even.

Really, French is wack. It's not gaining in world popularity polls the way English is. They've got two genders for all their nouns, a million diffferent endings for all the verbs, adjectives that have to match the gender and plurality of the noun they modify.... I mean who invented this crap??? Oh yeah. French people.

A language is a creation. Created by a community. And like all creations, it reflects the philosophy and values of its creators. Superficially, then, while French seems to almost value style more than substance, it also reflects a deep reverence for tradition. As in "Franch is ze best! It has always been ze best! We are not going to fock wees zat!" If you agree, you will probably want to learn French. If you don't agree, no problem, you just keep walking. Well, that's my take on it, anyway!

{Final tip - WordReference.com is better than a standard English-French dictionary by far. Although not as portable. But just try the "conjugator".}

*****************************************(later)** ********************

French, Spanish, German, Korean, Italian---Aren't we a bunch of cunning linguists? sorry, just had to say that one

Say, it occurred to me, for those of you in ROTC's:
The services have some excellent language programs. I learned about 5 years worth of German in under a year. They may have classes near you, or they may cover your tuition at your college? I don't know for sure, but it may not hurt to ask someone about it!

Don't say you want to learn Corsican, though!

Not to be a jerk, but the Romans invented this nightmarish part of Romance languages. I have had Latin one and two in high school, and that was the worst part. But it has assisted me in teaching myself French. I am by no means proficient, but can at least form simple sentences, and I can look at an English to French translation and tell to some degree whether it looks right.

[FanDeAliFee]

Originally Posted by Chuck

...a family just moved in down the block (with kids same ages as ours) that are from France! He's a helicopter engineer. We've been helping them adjust. Cool! Who knows what this could lead to, but they are heading back in a couple years. Maybe we'll have weaseled ourselves an invite to France by then!

If you need help, Boston-based <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/member.php?u=1762">Scruffydog777</a> can speak accent-free Helicopter to the guy!

[Bigdan]

Originally Posted by Chuck

(p.s.: *For what it's worth, I posted on Lillytown.net to ask if the French detect a Corsican accent in her singing -- no answer yet. But I'm pretty sure the answer's gonna be "no".) C

The answer is effectively "no". A lot of french singers lost their accents when they sing. But I can say that what's alert me when I pass her in the street in Paris, it's precisely her light south accent, and her unique tone.

[para.izée]

Originally Posted by Bigdan

The answer is effectively "no". A lot of french singers lost their accents when they sing. But I can say that what's alert me when I pass her in the street in Paris, it's precisely her light south accent, and her unique tone.

Precisely what makes me so addicted to her long TV and radio interviews.

If only they they had more quantifiable returns for her, being that such publicity consumes a lot of resources from Alizée, seen and not so apparent.