Two video responses to questions about this recording
Another 8-second “Hear 80%” exercise
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I have no problem understanding “éleveur” but even after repeated tries, I still can’t hear the “est” between ce qui and quand. But I will keep trying!
Hello Stéphanie,
I made a video and addded it above, right below the text.
Thanks Dave. When you slow the tape down, do you really hear the “est” between ce qui and quand?
Hi Allen,
I added a video above. In answer to your question, yes and no. “NO,” because I don’t really hear an “est” that you and I might expect to hear, but “YES” because I definitely hear the speaker making a sound to represent the ‘est.’ It is loud and clear and I am sure I heard it on the first listen when I received the recording from my journalist. But perhaps only because I know what to listen for. I have heard the string-of-words “ce qui est quand même…” so many times, that she could probably say it even more quickly and I would still recognize it.
This reminds me of a time I was walking along some cliffs over the ocean here in Northern Brittany and there was a birdwatcher with a huge looking-glass. He told let me have a look through his telescope at the bird that was out there on the water within our view. He could see a black body, white on the neck, a black crest on the top of the head, maybe even the color of the beak, I don’t remember… but the only thing I could see was a black speck on the water. Of course, he told me what kind of bird it was. My first reaction of course was to think he was pulling my leg. He could see all of those details because he had looked at a lot of birds.
There is a bit of a rhythm problem here with this sound. She speaks ‘normally,’ but the rhythm differs so much from what our English ears would expect, that it will take quite a few listens to hear all of the words. If you keep listening for that ‘est,’ I think you’ll finally hear it, in the end.
I am glad that you are giving it a try and hope you’ll have success.
Sorry for taking so long to respond!
Best regards,
David
This is a great exercise. Before looking at the answer I could not hear or understand éleveur or ce qui est.
Knowing what was said and listening several more times I finally heard it!
Merci beaucoup. Ready to try the next!!
Hello Carolyn, that’s the spirit! Thank you for letting me know that you finally heard it.
Best regards,
David
Yes, I could not understand eleveur due to the “L ” is not well clear and due to my lack of vocabulary. At first I could not catch what the speaker said between the word “New York” to “Fabuleux”. But seeing the answer and repeat listening, I was able to catch the between words clearly.
Thanks David!
Angie
Hi Angie,
glad you hear it, too. Thank you for letting me know.
Best regards,
David
Oui très bonne idée ! I’ve been told by someone smart that dictation is a super valuable yet sorely underutilized tool for language acquisition…
That was hard for me. In the first part I got all but éleveur which is a word I didn’t know and in the second part I only understood fabuleux.
What threw me off right away was the j’y instead of j’ai and then the speaker seems to be saying “anniveur” and not “eleveur”. Once you get off to that kind of start, no wonder one is out at sea ” with native speakers. This lady seems to have problems with her vowels although she would never admit it–I have hard some native French speakers to deny that French is anything but purely phonetic–or maybe my own hearing is seriously flawed. Reminds me of that recent “yanni” vs “laurel” controversy.
Hi Eric,
I remember the yanni vs laurel thing! I remember being surprised. As far as J’ai vs J’y, those are super-close, I agree. I will keep an eye out for other clips that have a j’ai or a j’y and put them on the site. As far as anniveur vs un éleveur, here is a video to help with the difference : https://youtu.be/a2YthBBrfPw
Merci1 Bon idee pour apprendre et comprendre les phrases.