Did you know that the impressionists and post-impressionists borrowed liberally from the Japanese?

On the left side, a Japanese woodblock print. On the right, a study made by Van Gogh…

An interview with Geneviève Lacambre, Conservateur général au Musée d’Orsay, chargée du Musée Gustave Moreau (en 2001). – Conservateur honoraire du patrimoine (en 2005)

To download the recordings, click here.

4-week lesson-plan suggestion.

If you’d like to set yourself the goal of learning this interview in 4 weeks, here are my suggestions.

1.  download the MP3s so that you can listen even while you are away from the computer.
2. Listen to the online listening pages below, organized by week, then test your ears with the sound flashcards. (Those links are also below.)
3. What about the slow-echoing tracks? I suggest that, for the purposes of this 4-week lesson plan, you just work on listening to the original recordings and getting to where you can understand them. If you are more advanced, you may also enjoy working with the slow-echoing tracks to improve your pronunciation.

Week 1 – Tracks 2 and 3

5 minutes, 44 seconds of sound
Japonisme Track 2, part a

Japonisme Track 2, part b

Japonisme Track 2, part c

Japonisme Track 2, part d

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 2

Japonisme Track 3, part a

Japonisme Track 3, part b

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 3

Week 2 – Tracks 4 and 5

8 minutes, 18 seconds of sound

Japonisme Track 4, part a

Japonisme Track 4, part b

Japonisme Track 4, part c

Japonisme Track 4, part d

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 4

Japonisme Track 5, part a

Japonisme Track 5, part b

Japonisme Track 5, part c

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 5

Week 3 – Tracks 6 and 7

5 minutes, 53 seconds of sound

Japonisme Track 6, part a

Japonisme Track 6, part b

Japonisme Track 6, part c

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 6

Japonisme Track 7, part a

Japonisme Track 7, part b

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 7

Week 4 – Tracks 8, 9 and 10

7 minutes, 38 seconds of sound

Japonisme Track 8, part a

Japonisme Track 8, part b

Japonisme Track 8, part c

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 8

Japonisme Track 9, part a

Japonisme Track 9, part b

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 9

Japonisme Track 10, part a

Test your ears: sound flashcards for Track 10

Sound flashcards for all tracks : 121 sound flashcards.