A Contre Courant - Live

[brad]

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

BTW, are my transcriptions of the original French useful for some people here? (even if it's only one of you, I'll keep on doing it anyway because I prefer to translate from the original written down).
I ask because I'm sure that if you follow them while playing the video in the background, I'm sure it will help a lot those of you who want to improve their pronunciation of the French language. Better than any book lessons (although they're useful too of course!)

it is a huge help having the original French. I don't know about everyone else, but when I hear French, the words never end up being anything close to how I imagine them being spelled. And they all seem to run together for me when I am listening to it. Being able to read along helps a lot.

[zpa]

It does help a lot. I think its prolly the fastest way to learn to recognize spoken words and proper pronounciation. Good job!

[CFHollister]

Originally Posted by brad

it is a huge help having the original French. I don't know about everyone else, but when I hear French, the words never end up being anything close to how I imagine them being spelled. And they all seem to run together for me when I am listening to it. Being able to read along helps a lot.

Exactly! A lot of the time when I listen to Alizée songs I try to follow along with the French just so I can learn to sing along.

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

BTW, are my transcriptions of the original French useful for some people here? (even if it's only one of you, I'll keep on doing it anyway because I prefer to translate from the original written down).
I ask because I'm sure that if you follow them while playing the video in the background, I'm sure it will help a lot those of you who want to improve their pronunciation of the French language. Better than any book lessons (although they're useful too of course!)

Yes Yes Yes! The transcriptions in French are hugely valuable!

Being able to follow along in the French text as it is spoken helps me hear the word breaks and lets me know what I'm listening for in the future, so I can hear it without transciption later. Also, it helps me learn expressions and phrases that I wouldn't otherwise know, which don't translate literally. If I hear a set of words I don't recognize and see them translated a certain way, I'll assume it was literal and that I just mis-heard. If I see what's written, I can piece together idiomatic and figurative expressions much more effectively.

Actually, if you get a chance, there is one very brief bit of transcription I was wondering if you could do for me; at the beginning of the Moi... Lolita music video, I can not hear what the "mother" is saying to Alizée well enough to try to understand it. I'm happy to do my own translation, but I can't even hear the French! Any chance of getting a written version of those couple lines the mom says?

[aFrenchie]

Originally Posted by Cooney

Actually, if you get a chance, there is one very brief bit of transcription I was wondering if you could do for me; at the beginning of the Moi... Lolita music video, I can not hear what the "mother" is saying to Alizée well enough to try to understand it. I'm happy to do my own translation, but I can't even hear the French! Any chance of getting a written version of those couple lines the mom says?

French:
Ah, t'es là, toi.
(inaudible as she's touching her cheek)
T'es vraiment qu'une sale petite trainée... T'es vraiment fagotée comme une poufiasse. T'étais où ?! Dégage, dégage ! J'veux plus te voir ! Dégage !

English:
Ah, so here you are.
(inaudible as she's touching her cheek)
You really are a dirty little whore. You're really decked out like a slut. Where were you?! Clear off, clear off! I don't want to see you anymore! Clear off!

You can improve my English version. The original is full of (vulgar) slang so you should translate better than me!
(note, I'm not absolutely sure of the last "Dégage !". Quite sure because of the context but the word isn't very clear)

EDIT: used Cooney's suggestions in the English part.

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

French:
Ah, t'es là, toi.
(inaudible as she's touching her cheek)
T'es vraiment qu'une sale petite trainée... T'es vraiment fagotée comme une poufiasse. T'étais où ?! Dégage, dégage ! J'veux plus te voir ! Dégage !

English:
Ah, so here you are.
(inaudible as she's touching her cheek)
You really are a little dirty whore. You really are dressed like a prostitute. Where were you?! Clear off, clear off! I don't want to see you anymore! Clear off!

You can improve my English version. The original is full of (vulgar) slang so you should translate better than me!
(note, I'm not absolutely sure of the last "Dégage !". Quite sure because of the context but the word isn't very clear)

Thanks a bunch! I knew it was hostile, but I hadn't realized quite how horribly demeaning and vicious the mother was. Ironically, the one part I thought I could hear, "T'étais où ?!" I misheard as "Taissez-vous !" Of course, had I been thinking about it, I would have remembered that the mother would never use "vous," it couldn't have been that.

The only change I would make to make your translation completely valid in English is I would make it "dirty little whore" instead of "little dirty whore." Both are technically correct, but "dirty little" is a very classic American usage, typically followed by any number of insults.

The rest fits as is, though obviously it can be made slangier and more vulgar sounding. Checking on the literal translations, I'm guessing the intent of the second sentence would come out as something similar to "You're really decked out like a slut," which means the exact same thing, but sounds a hell of a lot more insulting.

[aFrenchie]

Originally Posted by Cooney

I misheard as "Taissez-vous !" Of course, had I been thinking about it, I would have remembered that the mother would never use "vous," it couldn't have been that.

You mean "Taisez-vous" ("shut up")?
And yes, no way the mother uses "vous"

"dirty little" is a very classic American usage, typically followed by any number of insults.

Like "sale petite ..." in French. I inverted the order because adjectives are often placed the other way around in English. It must be an exception here

Checking on the literal translations, I'm guessing the intent of the second sentence would come out as something similar to "You're really decked out like a slut," which means the exact same thing, but sounds a hell of a lot more insulting.

I've edited my post to use your two suggestions...

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

You mean "Taisez-vous" ("shut up")?
And yes, no way the mother uses "vous"

Errr, yes! One "s" :-P

Like "sale petite ..." in French. I inverted the order because adjectives are often placed the other way around in English. It must be an exception here

I saw that. Every time we think we have a good rule, we find something that breaks it!

I've edited my post to use your two suggestions...

I'm honored, it usually happens the other way around!

Even with the bass turned off, the treble cranked up, and the words in front of me, I'm still not able to follow most of what she says! I guess I'd better not piss off any French women while I've got background noise around me... I'll never understand what they're calling me ::grins::

Really, with the "mother" going off like that, it doesn't surprise me the little girl that was playing the sister was having trouble shooting the scene. She's very young, and it must be hard being hollered at like that when you don't understand what is happening.

[aFrenchie]

Originally Posted by Cooney

Even with the bass turned off, the treble cranked up

Don't worry, I had to do the same, and even had to use my headphones to get everything because the music is way too loud.

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

Don't worry, I had to do the same, and even had to use my headphones to get everything because the music is way too loud.

I figured out a way to clear it up a little - well enough at least that I can make out words.

I don't know if you have equalizer software (égaliseur, en français ?) on your computer, but if so, it helps. I knocked out all my low ranges, and then most importantly, I took out my 4k range. That seems to be the closest to Alizée's voice, so it really dropped out the vocal a lot. I turned up the 2k to max (which picked up the mother's voice), and the 8k about half way (too high and it becomes static).

I was also able to take out my bass even more with my mixer software - I forgot for a minute that I had both software and hardware controls on my sound.