The Corsican Accent

[user472884]

I've been studying French for about three months now, and while my French tongue is still soft I'd like to learn to speak with a Corsican accent.

What are some characteristics of a Corsican accent that I should adopt?

[Fall]

I've been studying French for about three months now, and while my French tongue is still soft I'd like to learn to speak with a Corsican accent.

What are some characteristics of a Corsican accent that I should adopt?

Its the same with me, i only discovered Alizée in January this year, and i started learning the language ever since but only seriously for three or four months. Luckily, i speak spanish as well, so that helps a little. The audio podcasts i have help with the pronunciation, but its probably using the Parisian accent not the Corsican one, and i'd like to be able to choose which one im most comfortabe with. I havent thoroughly checked out the Learn French thread yet :o, but i will, and any help is greatly appreciated! :)

[user472884]

what have you been using to learn besides podcasts?

I got my hands on a copy of all three levels of Rosetta Stone and I've been watching every French movie I can get my hands on

[Vista]

@Jalen
Here is a link to various Corsican language sites
http://www.corsica-isula.com/language.htm#Corsican%20Language%20Websites

[user472884]

@jalen
here is a link to various corsican language sites
http://www.corsica-isula.com/language.htm#corsican%20language%20websites

cool!!!!! Thank you!!!!

[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!


Me, I learned French starting in elementary school, 3rd grade, and continued with it through high school. That was ten years of lessons! Straight As! After which, I could actually talk with French people, in France (albeit very slowly).

After that, about thirty years went by, during which I never needed to speak or use any French at all. It's just not a sought-after job skill or the most valuable thing to know, not here in America. Then I discovered our Alizée. Bought some of her CD's. Started playing 'em. Now get this - this is the weird part....

For the first couple days with her music on my stereo, I could understand some of it. Just a bit. But not that much. Then on the third day, yikes! Suddenly, it all sounded Chinese! What had happened???!

Then my brain started really throbbing for a day or two! It was like some old, buried stuff was working its way to the surface. It wouldn't even let me sleep. So I started really studying some French again - first Lilly's lyrics, then some learning CDs & books, then some websites... Then the brain pain slowly subsided and a few days later - DOUBLE YIKES! - the next time I listened to Alizee, it was like it was totally amplified! I could hear every word, even sing along a bit. (btw, the wife & kids were NOT impressed - I don't sing so good in English, either.)

Sure, a lot of words I still have to look up. And the way French runs words together, and the way so many words sound the same - (whew) - as a non-French speaker, I'll probably always need to have some printed lyrics to look at, just to sort it all out.



So I guess what I'm saying is WOW. Good for you! But it's going to be challenging. And careerwise, you'd be better off with learning Spanish, or Chinese or Japanese, you do realize. S'il faut apprendre le français, il faut l'apprendre pour l'amour!


(sniff) Thirty years since high school! (I wonder if I got a invitation to the reunion?) It's kinda flown by. But you know what? France and French have lately been creeping back into my life. Now, I've got a nice neighbor who's a French Prof at the U, and get this ---> 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! :D

Salut! Félicitations! Sacré bleu! ;) 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
(p.p.s. - no, the french prof or most of the new family down the street hadn't heard of Alizée yet. But I bet their older brother, Stefan, will know...)

[Fall]

Chuck
that's a pretty cool story chuck, I'm graduating June next year! Sen10rs! :D lol the 10 for the class of '10, get it? lol, im jealous of you, i should have taken French during school too :(. I only have one year left and i cant take a beginner language class now.

Vista
Thanks for the link vista, hopefully i'll be able to be a little fluent by this time next year with all this help.

Jalen
Awesome new sig man, i love it and the lovely pics you used. Ok, i had to get that out lol. I just use the podcast (CoffeeBreak French) and whatever help i can get from this website. I also have a small game program that's a lot like "Who wants to be a millionaire" except the questions are French vocabulary. I wish i had the Rosetta stone thing as well but i hear that it don't help with grammar. Well whatever works right? And besides that, im taking AP Spanish next year, and one of the AP Spanish teachers is also a French teacher. So im praying that i get her so she can also give me a lesson or two after school.

[wasabi622]

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!


Me, I learned French starting in elementary school, 3rd grade, and continued with it through high school. That was ten years of lessons! Straight As! After which, I could actually talk with French people, in France (albeit very slowly).

After that, about thirty years went by, during which I never needed to speak or use any French at all. It's just not a sought-after job skill or the most valuable thing to know, not here in America. Then I discovered our Alizée. Bought some of her CD's. Started playing 'em. Now get this - this is the weird part....

For the first couple days with her music on my stereo, I could understand some of it. Just a bit. But not that much. Then on the third day, yikes! Suddenly, it all sounded Chinese! What had happened???!

Then my brain started really throbbing for a day or two! It was like some old, buried stuff was working its way to the surface. It wouldn't even let me sleep. So I started really studying some French again - first Lilly's lyrics, then some learning CDs & books, then some websites... Then the brain pain slowly subsided and a few days later - DOUBLE YIKES! - the next time I listened to Alizee, it was like it was totally amplified! I could hear every word, even sing along a bit. (btw, the wife & kids were NOT impressed - I don't sing so good in English, either.)

Sure, a lot of words I still have to look up. And the way French runs words together, and the way so many words sound the same - (whew) - as a non-French speaker, I'll probably always need to have some printed lyrics to look at, just to sort it all out.



So I guess what I'm saying is WOW. Good for you! But it's going to be challenging. And careerwise, you'd be better off with learning Spanish, or Chinese or Japanese, you do realize. S'il faut apprendre le français, il faut l'apprendre pour l'amour!


(sniff) Thirty years since high school! (I wonder if I got a invitation to the reunion?) It's kinda flown by. But you know what? France and French have lately been creeping back into my life. Now, I've got a nice neighbor who's a French Prof at the U, and get this ---> 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! :D

Salut! Félicitations! Sacré bleu! ;) 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
(p.p.s. - no, the french prof or most of the new family down the street hadn't heard of Alizée yet. But I bet their older brother, Stefan, will know...)

10 years?! aww man.. so how long till im barely proficient at french? :(

another reason im trying to learn French is that a buddy of mine and I are planning a backpacking trip through Europe, and we figured we should know a few languages. He knows German, and I know Spanish, French and Korean, though im not sure how useful korean would be! :p

[Criss_pl]

He knows German, and I know Spanish, French and Korean, though im not sure how useful korean would be! :p
Your Korean will be just useful as my Polish in Korea:) But English, German and Spanish is great mix for Western, Southern and Northern Europe, German should be also quite useful in Central and Eastern Europe.
And French only in France I think xP. And of course our european english xD

[Ben]

I've been studying French for about three months now, and while my French tongue is still soft I'd like to learn to speak with a Corsican accent.

What are some characteristics of a Corsican accent that I should adopt?
I've been told by a number of French speakers that there really isn't such thing as a "Corsican" accent when speaking French anymore. They sound like anyone else from southern France.

[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]

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! :D

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

[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!:eek:

[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 :p

[user472884]

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

I should probably learn basic French first

[lovingalizée]

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.


...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! :eek:

[Forrplay]

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! :eek:

The job I want is being her bodyguard, that would be the best job ever:wub:

[TheBarrett]

The job I want is being her bodyguard, that would be the best job ever:wub:

Ol' Jung's retiring that post. You can go ahead and take over. ;)

[user472884]

i'll be a substitute bodyguard if the real one gets sick.

[wasabi622]

Ol' Jung's retiring that post. You can go ahead and take over. ;)

i feel a bit safe when i say that i find myself to be quite eligible for that position. :p

i've got the hand to hand taken care of, as well as with firearms. :p
though, i doubt my firearms ability could even measure up against Jungs!

[VVVACCPLPNLY]

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!:eek:

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]

...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! :D

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! ;)

[Melle A.]

There is a Corsican accent? I don't have idea, but maybe it's because Italy is near Corse, and some things from Corse are from Italian too they're like connected... there's an interview about it when she went to Italy.

[user472884]

There is a Corsican accent? I don't have idea, but maybe it's because Italy is near Corse, and some things from Corse are from Italian too they're like connected... there's an interview about it when she went to Italy.

Yea there is. She apparently has one (which I never picked up on), and she's been called out on it several times

[SDB]

There is a Corsican accent? I don't have idea, but maybe it's because Italy is near Corse, and some things from Corse are from Italian too they're like connected... there's an interview about it when she went to Italy.

Not only an accent, but a language aswell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_language

[nudeeyes7]

no doubts abt it that french is a sweet language i have learnt it too but its was not that much easy as i expected it to be but still i learnt it after 6 months Yay!!!! lol

[Bigdan]

(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]

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.:thumb:

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.

[Un-rêve]

Alizée has the sweetest voice and I've always liked the way she says Oui.. well sometimes because of her accent it sounds like she's saying Wish!


She says it here too as she's talking to the show host at around the 5:26 and 5:30 minute mark. ;)

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Dz7dvjtRavs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[User22]

Agreed, it sounds like she's saying "Weesh!" haha. Its so awesome :wub:

[Bigdan]

Let's hear it....


<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://flv-player.net/medias/player_flv_multi.swf" width="400" height="300">
<param name="movie" value="http://flv-player.net/medias/player_flv_multi.swf" />
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" />
<param name="FlashVars" value="flv=http%3A//danbousq.perso.sfr.fr/movies/aliz-weesh.mp4&amp;width=400&amp;height=300" />
</object>

[Un-rêve]

Let's hear it....

Nice one! :thumb:

Well one more time please. :D

[OGRE]

That's like a bird that flies overhead, and inspires rats on the ground to try to build wings!


A rat with wings is a bat. It's called a Murcielago. And if you have enough money, you can get one:

http://www.sportcarwallpaper.us/wp-content/gallery/lamborghini-murcielago/lamborghini-murcielago-5.jpg

And if you want to hear one, the money "sound" shot is time tag 0:40 in the following;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEaSZMYV498

[comjoz]

At Google Translate https://translate.google.com/
if you have a google account you must be logged in, and you can click on the Help improve Google Translate link below (the link will not appear if you are not logged in),
they have


Corsican*


on the list, and it says below


*Language not yet supported by Google Translate. ;)


which means that it will be supported in the future?! :)

[Ray4AJ]

At Google Translate https://translate.google.com/
if you have a google account you must be logged in, and you can click on the Help improve Google Translate link below (the link will not appear if you are not logged in),
they have


Corsican*


on the list, and it says below


*Language not yet supported by Google Translate. ;)


which means that it will be supported in the future?! :)

I don't know about that ^^^^ :(

But I've used this before to translate a few words. It's not always very helpful for me though. http://www.lexilogos.com/corse_dictionnaire.htm

There is some info here also about the language. http://www.corsica-isula.com/language.htm#Corsican%20Language%20Websites

[comjoz]

I don't know about that ^^^^ :(

But I've used this before to translate a few words. It's not always very helpful for me though. http://www.lexilogos.com/corse_dictionnaire.htm

There is some info here also about the language. http://www.corsica-isula.com/language.htm#Corsican%20Language%20Websites


Parlemu Corsu ... ...
http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7760

We know that Lili sings in Corsican but does she speaks Corsican?

[Alex Rien]

Such an interesting theme!