Watching soaps

[letrangere]

Never watch them in English but the thought crossed my mind the other morning whilst channel surfing that watching French soaps on TV is a wonderful way of reinforcing the language.  The dialogue is usually pretty mundane and easy to follow and you pick up a wealth of useful everyday expressions.  M

[Miki]

[quote]Never watch them in English but the thought crossed my mind the other morning whilst channel surfing that watching French soaps on TV is a wonderful way of reinforcing the language. The dialogue is u...[/quote]

Margaret,

That was what we were told we should do and we did ! and that was by a lady who had lived extensively in France, Spain and Portugal and had fairly good vocabulary and spoke well in all three. Not sure about the Portuguese, as Eusebio and one or two other words are my total learning !

While the kids were also having private lessons (not dear and done by a daughter of one of the teachers at their new to be, school) all through the summer in readiness for school, we were catching up with soaps on French TV. We came armed with many years of French holidays, many French friends, me also having worked in France as a young chap and then...............once we starting working with the French in business, something strange happened. We were speaking French OK but the locals were speaking in a local accent, some even a patois and everything went out of the window ! We knew we were also in need of one to one lessons and along with the soaps and news, we slowly but surely got up to where we thought we were, a year before !

I remember one called Riviera or something, by heck it was awful but pretty simple to follow, we also watched local news every lunch and dinner time. Never ever used tapes, just couldn't bring myself to buy something that never talked back, which as everyone knows is the worst part. You can go armed to the teeth with what you want to say, then the person answers back completely differently to your expectation, rather like a tape then !! Although I guess some people will find them useful.

Absolutely nothing, is better than completely immersing yourself purely with French speaking persons. Anyone with kids will see just how quickly they will get to a pretty good spoken stage, whilst many parents, however long they stay in France, will simply not get to the 6 month stage of their children, due solely to the point that they personally are seeking English speakers as a comfort zone, fair enough but it will hold one back terribly if you really want to speak French to a fairly reasonable standard and for us, there lies the true benefit of being able to live and work in France and grasp quite well what France and it's people are about.

I don't say I have it all fathomed out but I know enough to know I most certainly haven't

 

 

[Teamedup]

Ah how true, there was no chance of Uk tv when we got here, but I'm so glad we didn't even have any possibility of having it. 

I was baby sitting a couple of nights ago and watched french tv all night and I was thinking exactly the same things as have been posted here. It is the best thing we did when we got here. Doesn't really matter what one watches, even the rubbuish, I use the term rubbish generously, most of it was really awful, however there was the occassional gem amoungst the rubbish too, thankgoodness. There isn't anyone to answer back  to and one just gets the music of the language and picks up new words.

I still prefer some of the soaps in french. And I could never have watched MacGyver in english, his real voice isn't very nice compared to his french one. I can even watch Buffy in french, I have done, somehow better really in french and I don't know why.

.

[Tresco]

Watch Buffy in French, understand it, and think it is better somehow.....now that's something to aim for - I love Buffy still.

Soaps, I catch the last half of one that seems to be set in Cannes? Early evening. Gorgeous lcations, designer homes, easy to follow - no sub titles either.

No English telly here, a deliberate (painful and heart rending) choice, and I would strongly advise others to do the same.

[Janey]

We didn,t go for English telly either, still haven,t got it and I,m glad. As Margaret said you learn loads of usefull everyday expressions from soaps etc. In fact I,ve learnt loads of French from TV and still continue to.

Janey

[SaligoBay]

Inspecteur Derrick at 13.55 weekdays is particularly exciting.   The state-of-the-art graphics and the eye-catching fashions of 1980s Germany will leave you breathless.  The music is in a class of its own.    Excellent dramatic acting all round, with a very fine performance on Tuesday by a passing ladder.

http://www.goethe.de/kug/mui/rut/thm/en74619.htm

   

 

[Alexis]

Oy you!  Leave Stefan (sp) and Harry alone.  I really love the way they can age thirty years in four days and then on the Friday, are young again!!  I think I have seen them all now.  Sadly

Then there is Le Renard and then the court one, and then des chiffres et des lettres then that bloke I can't stand and then that awful 'funny' programme with the presenters de merde and then Ruquier.....

Don't watch a lot of telly me.  Radio on at the moment.

[SaligoBay]

<<Oy you!  Leave Stefan (sp) and Harry alone.  I really love the way they can age thirty years in four days and then on the Friday, are young again!!  I think I have seen them all now.  Sadly<<

Oh Alexis, can I have your autograph?   I love Inspecteur Derrick, I was hooked from the first moments of the intro.    How will he work it out this time, will he be wearing his big spectacles, how long does it take him to undo the knot on his raincoat belt.   I haven't seen many episodes at all, so obviously there is much joy ahead of me.  Thank you. 

[letrangere]

OK all you soap experts, can someone tell me what it was I was watching the other morning?  It was on either TF1 or 2, around 9.30 in the morning, Wednesday, I think.  An American show I would imagine, dubbed. 

Dark haired hunk with chiselled features staring morosely at fireplace bemoaning recent loss of his wife.  Next scene, there's a feisty young woman with thick blonde hair rallying a group of people to come to this chap's emotional rescue.  She called him something I couldn't catch, which sounded like "Fridge" or "Bridge" (surely not?).  Next scene, 60+ blonde woman with moon shaped face that had been lifted so many times it would crack if she smiled, clearly Fridge/Bridge's mother, addressing the feisty blonde as "vous" despite spitting, "I know you better than you know yourself, young lady". 

Terrific stuff, what was it?

M

 

[Janey]

Margaret, what were you doing watching soaps instead of working hard?

That little gem is..(might not be in the right order)..Gloire,Amour et Beaute.....awful as the acting is you em sort of get hooked on it!

Talking of learning usefull phrases from soaps, I learnt one this morning from that Marseille soap, can,t remember the name...Ne compte pas la dessus......Don,t count on it!

Janey

[letrangere]

Janey, how did you guess I really should have been in boring meeting instead of watching TV in bed???  This must be the show, the acting was dire but it was nonethless entertaining.  Is chiselled featured hunk really called Fridge?  M

[Janey]

No Margaret, it,s Bridge..or is it Ridge? You,ve got me confused now

I,ll have to watch it tomorrow to be sure

Janey

[Tresco]

No, Janey, you have to stop the madness now!!

Unless you learn any interesting new words that is.

tresco

 

[Janey]

Can,t help it Tresco, it,s on at that time when I,m having a cup of tea to escape the dog while he,s waiting to go for a walk. It sort of beckons me...anyway it,s definitely Ridge.

Good news is I did learn another phrase, nothing wonderful but just something I,ve never used or thought of....

J,aimerai aller droit au point...I,d like to get straight to the point.

Janey

[passiflora]

Hi

I think that watching soaps is really good for improving the lingo too.  Especially - wait for it - the old re-runs of Dallas.  Sad!!

 

[letrangere]

Carole, I don't think it's sad at all.  I didn't see that many episodes of Dallas when it was first broadcast but enjoyed what I did catch enormously. Strong characterisation, good ensemble acting, fast moving plots, it was certainly in a different league to this Ridge thing I refer to earlier.  And to think somone once had the nerve to post that I was a cultural snob!  M

[Andrewjspencer]

A good way of knowing what programmes are on if you can't be bothered to buy one of those listings magazines is to go to www.tvmag.com .

You can also subscribe to an email service and receive a listing of programmes on the channels of your choice at the time of your choice by email every day - "Votre grille des programmes par TVMag". The email has hyperlinks to take you to their website for cast and plot details.

You need never miss "sous le Soleil" or "Inspecteur Derrick" ever again! France 5/Arte is usually much better quality than the average fare and France 3 is good for micro issues and local based programmes.

I agree that watching french TV really helps with learning the language. We have had it via an old analogue satellite box for the past 5 or 6 years here in Essex and it has made a great difference to my skills and in particular picking up useful expressionss and idioms.

[Tresco]

Thanks Andy for that tip.

I've stopped watching any dubbed American shows now. I just find I learn more from watching the French ones somehow.

I still think I learn more from a five minute mangled (on my part) conversation with my neighbout though.

tresco

[Alexis]

Who watches Inspector Barnaby on a Sunday lunchtime then?  Is it called Midsummer Murders in the UK?

We watch it.

Sometimes, well, two years running, they showed Inspector Morse every afternoon for a couple of weeks.  I, sadly, didn't notice it in the telly guideso missed a few.

I loved the way they showed the last series of Friend's over three days!  Used to watch Urgences every tea time too but then they changed it and I didn't see any more

Now, what about that bloke in Jag?  He can leave his shoes under my bed ANYTIME

[opas]

 I watched Bergerac a while ago , is the one you`ve been watching,caught it one sunday weeks ago, didn`t realise it was a weekly thing , the main actor in that programe was also the main charactor in Midsummer murders .....what time and channel is it on?  Mrs O

[Lesbatees]

We don't have a telly at home, so I was introduced to French TV during a recent hospital stay.

Watching Dallas, Little House on the Prarie, Stargate SG-1 and Alias dubbed in French has to rank as one of the most surreal experiences of my life so far.

Found French soaps incomprehensible, but I suppose you have to know what has been happening before any of it makes sense. Do they have an Archers equivalent?

Val

[Alexis]

Mrs. O, it is on France 3 at about 1.15.  Lunchtime.

[Plato comes homePlato]

I simply reject people as lulus who say they learned french 'watching TV' It is completely illogical and absurd.It can reinforce other knowledge however...but not to great lengths.  I speak French quite well and often too fast for the french to understand, my accent inhibiting. I find TV and cinema almost incomprehensible and felt both stupid and guilty about iut. Recently a French national highly educated and very involved in french culture said  to me" I fid the cinema and a lot of TV almost impossible to understand" ..now we may BOTH have Industrial deafness (I do) but I think there is a lot in this..tuning into sounds which are 'clipped and modified" is not the way to learn a language and as the guru said immersion is essential (no escape!!)Every time I return home and 'forget' speaking french my French improves..ergo..the stress of learning the language is self defeating. 

Create your own French conversations in your head and try to think in French..try to identify items and situaions in French before you get tothem when walking around...and have a good dictionary at home and read it like you would a novel....refuse to speak English....work at it and one day assimilation happens...

Cheers

[SaligoBay]

Each to their own.   I'm learning German, and don't have immediate access to full immersion.

Short-term solution?   Put son's Stargate DVDs on, change the language to German, et voilà!  I get the sound of the language and get to watch Jack and Teal'c in action at the same time.

Ess Gay Eins ist toll!