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".}
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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!
