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I tried to post this ad last night but the forum locked out and was unacessible until this morning although i do see there were one or two posts, so the heading should really now be "Did you or didnt you" and judging by the absence of postings this morning i suspect most of you didnt.

Below is what I was unable to post last night:

 

 

(Will you or wont you) Be watching the debate which starts in a quarter of an hour?
I will and I will be patting myself on the back for how much my French has come on since the last election, back then I barely had a clue what was going on and didnt even understand which of the parties was right, left or centre.
Frightening really to think how ignorant I was after 2 years in France (it took me 18 months to find a French teacher) and yet............................
Back then I had contact with a lot of English in the area and my French as pi55 poor as it was then was streets ahead of theirs which appears to remain at the same level today.
I remember struggling through the debates and broadcasts back then and asking French people "what did you think of Sarkozy of Royale last night" they all answered, didnt watch it, cant stand him/her, perhaps i wasnt as ignorant as I thought I was. None of the women at the keep fit class tonight are going to watch it, same sort of excuses although most are not there as they cannot comprehend doing an activity during a vacance scholaire.

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Ashamed to say that I didn't.  Having cancelled Canal + I'm still waiting for my works to be finished so I can install TNT Sat in my new den - where I can watch the telly without irritating the o/h who is allergic.

I have been catching up this morning, however, in the press (plus I get sent reams of stuff in the virtual mail by the PS).  Whom did you think was the more impressive of the two, Chancer (politics/policies apart?)

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TV5 monde had it on, for those with  sky it's 799 and virgin 825, if it's in your contract.

I watched some of it, but marathons are not for me, at all. I watched the headlines later and it looked as if it had continued in the same vain. Hollande sang froid and Sarkozy animated and slightly mad looking......... just how I see them both.

All I can say is that Sarkozy actually amused me when constantly interviewed in the coulisse on his way to the debate.

 

I'll be watching France 2 journal de 8h on TV5 monde tonight to see what is said about it all. It'll be on at 20h30 in France and 19h30 BST.

 

 

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[quote user="cooperlola"]

Whom did you think was the more impressive of the two, Chancer (politics/policies apart?)

[/quote]

Difficult to answer as I try my hardest to ignore the personalities but listen to their policies and ask myself do they really mean that will they could they really do any of that?

Also I am a socialist at heart yet want to see the UMP re-elected, I dont know how much my judgement of how they performed was influenced by my siding with one against the other.

For me Sarkozy was at the top of his game which sadly will probably alienate him from those who are swayed by the personalities and dislike him, for them he was at his worst, Hollande floundered a few times, thats not to say that he was on the ropes but he was nervous and could not find his words, said the wrong things and rapidly corrected his-self, had a few panicky pauses before he could articulate, I have suffered from all of these at some time or another so at least it makes him human and lets not forget that around me at least 99.999999999% of people are incapable of articulating for more than " seconds without a moronic "eeuuuhhhh". That was something that Sarkozy used to do and I suspected it was an affectation to make him seem to be more on the level of the common moron, sorry man in the street.

Sarkozy did say that several times that what Hollande had quoted was a lie, (and I think that he had reason) Hollande then acted the victim and said that he was being called a liar, a theme that he repeated many times although by then Sarkozy had started to use words like calomnieux (one of the two new words I learnt!), both of their summary speeches were physchological re-inforcing that the people were frightened, it was a frightening world out their which would only get worse with the other party but everything would be fine if they voted for them instead.

I find it so sad that so many people would not even watch the debate because they despise one candidate or the other, i get so cross when people repeatedly post "the dwarf" about Sarkozy, call Gordon Brown blind etc, and all the president bling bling stuff, where the hell does that come from, I have seen him wear a pair of Ray Baz sunglasses thats all, even I have a pair as poor as I am they are bloody good eye protection.

I discussed it this morning with my French friend, he didnt watch it because he cannot stand Sarkozy but was keen to know what was said nonetheless, he said something which "resonned" with me (sorry for Franglais) that had François Fillon been the candidate then the UMP would have walked it, i am sure that he is right but ignoring the personalities I think that Sarkozy would make the better president backed up of course by François Fillon, in fact he would probably be lost without him.

Just think that the two contenders may have been DSK and François Fillon.

I told my pal how pleased I was to have learnt only 2 new words during the whole debate and he quipped that last time i probably only understood 2 words and he is very close to the truth!

P.S. please help me find the other word which I have already forgotten, it was a long and impressive sounding one used to describe the preceding term of office, a mandate or tenure, I cant find anything in my dictionary, its not mandat or echéance

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As well as BFMTV (France's 24 hour news channel) already mentioned you can also go to www.pluzz.fr and France televisions and watch live French tv. All three also have apps for iPad/iPhone too if you have one. Direct and replay French TV on your computer, so no excuse not to watch it if you wanted to.

I watched it too (fell asleep towards the end - too tired not necessarily because of the subject matter). Sadly I don't think that Sarkozy will win this election. Holland just insn't presidential enough, as I was told by a neighbour earlier.
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We watched beginning and end and a few other bits.

In terms of manner (rather than content) I found Hollande *extremely* rude with his constant interruptions.    That would have been enough to sway me to vote for Sarko,   even though the latter has done plenty to cause me grief (this time last year we thought we were going to have to sell up due to the "new tax on foreigners with homes in France".

Thankfully perhaps I don't have the vote......

I've seen Hollande described as "peevish" by Jonathan Meades.   I'd add petulant and petty to that characteristic.   

But really the whole process is utterly depressing.......

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[quote user="Christine Animal"]

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquennat_(politique)  ?

[/quote]

Thats it!

I understood the meaning and promptly forgot the word, i think had i seen it written I would have worked it out.

To Cooperlola, whilst i said that the president was at the top of his game I did think he looked tired and battle worn (I sound like my mother!) but like an athlete he can give 95% of his-self without breaking into a sweat.

François Hollande was in my opinion playing above his game but up for the challenge.

What impresses me most of top politicians and Sarkozy in particular is their instant recall of multitude facts figures and statistics, even when they make them up on the fly they sound convincing.

both of them challenged the figures of the other but Hollande did not sound as convincing as Sarkozy but does that mean that he is more confident of the veracity of what he says or just good at pulling the wool over peoples eyes?

 

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I had the debate running on my iPad whilst keeping an eye on BBC2.

I found the almost-constant interruptions really irritating and off-putting (this must be a sign that I am now too English for French-style "debates", where they thrive on speaking louder and louder over the other parties in order to make their point.)

I also got annoyed by the fake look of injury they took turn in sporting, whenever accused of lying or falsifying figures.

I was not impressed by the repetitive and mind-boggling reciting of figures and percentages, picked out of wherever to prove whatever (I read it as a showy demonstration of cleverness.)

I wanted to ask them when was the last time either of them set foot in a shop to do the weekly for an average family.

I would like them to tell me if they know how to survive on the SMIC when you have to pay rent, utilities, diesel, and feed and clothe a family of 2 or 3 children and cannot work more than 35-40 hours a week.

But I didn't hear any of that.

All I hear was a lot of yapping, growling and flapping.

I tuned out way before the end.

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I watched the whole lot. The content was for me competely irrelevant. The behaviour of the participants primordial. The "little man" with his rather pathetic "Gonna throw my toys out of the pram if hollande does not do THREE DEBATES", obviously with his customary self -esteem regards himself as a talented debater. A curious opinion as after 16 years in france I have NEVER witnessed even a modestly average debate; frankly after a regimented dont think BAC +7 education the french brain is so addled that a mere flicker of ingenious originality is an illusion.

At the end of the debate I realised that Hollande had won the context, so I was able to put a new mark on my "I hate sarko belt".

It would appear that I am not alone.

http://fr.reuters.com/article/topNews/idFRPAE84209M20120503

P.S I note that the BBC inform that Sarko thinks the result is too close to call; I wonder if he also thinks he will get 58% of the vote, reflecting the opinion and advice of certain analysts.[:P]

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I remember  septennat  changing to quinquennat and looking it up at the time. 

Would that I could remember some of the words I look up, I hear or read, I look up and then they slip away into the dark recesses of my brain as I never seem to need to say them. Then in the right context I hear or read the word again and 'remember', Trouble is sometimes I just end up looking them up again and realise that I had already done it before. I'm a bit three steps forward and a couple back sometimes.[:)] 

 

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I would say that after 5 years of concerted effort and isolation from British television my aural (or is it oral?) comprehension of French is pretty top, to watch a political discussion for two and a half hours and only hear 2 unknown words and in each case knew exactly the meaning they were conveying I am very pleased about and would say that I am pretty much there, quite amazing considering that I live and work in pretty much complete isolation and have not had one single lesson during that period.

If only I could find 10% of the words that I understand when I am speaking though [:(], I suspect that when the brain is more relaxed about grammar and conjugation they will come a lot easier

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I have watched a bit now and I do agree, Clair, the whole style of the thing winds me up.  All in all, I prefer a mature interviewer on the lines of, say, our Jon Snow - who will ask questions and give the respondant time to reply lengthily and without interuption.  It's the same reason that I prefer the "broadsheet" media as they have the space and time to do these things properly.  I've never been a fan of confrontational debate as a means of finding out whether I like/trust/agree with the candidates or not.

However, sadly, this is the nature of parliament and th us personality and delivery in the face of opposition does matter.  But I don't reckon the style of debate did either participant all that many favours.

My problem, ultimately, is that I'm not a socialist at heart, I'm one everywhere and nothing, but nothing would allow me to support a party which promotes or  encourages bigotry so M Sarkozy would never get my vote, even if he were the most charming, truthful and erudite politician on the planet.  And as for that evil woman well....  But that's moot as my choice, for the moment, is between Cameron and Miliband.[:-))]

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Blatant lies?

The article confirms he spoke the truth about the i-pads and I thought he was making it up, except for you couldnt make up anything that ridiculous could you?

The very first exposuure of a lie was a dsitortion of what he said, he didnt say there were no riots during his tenure, he said there were no violent anti-government manifestations, no-one was hurt in an anti-government manifestation, they didnt turn into riots. The article spoke of riots after the death of two youths during a police chase. I dont dispute that the president is capable of blatant lies Norman, its seems to be a pre-requisite of the job.

I could equally have been put off by the interruption, aggression and ill manners of either candidate had I allowed myself to take sides, I guess its like watching sport, when you support one team the slightest bump from the opposition is a foul yet an attck by your team is seen as justified retaliation.

There was a debate screened a few days before with several politicians which was absolutley disgusting, all of them trying to shout down the others simultaneously, the women being by far the worse culprits,I could not understand a word, the presenters weilded as much authority as a pansy. By comparison to that I was actually heartened by the restraint shown during the presidential debate.

 

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[quote user="NormanH"]I think the French agree on the toothlessness of the interviewers[/quote]

They didn't just lose their "teeth", they also lost their voice... [Www]

Puppets, muppets, crumpet (her?), carpet (his head gear?)...[:P]

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