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Reminders of Corsica in Nice
I'm in Nice on vacation after spending 3 days in Barcelona, the land of the Hey Amigo. It's my first of 3 days here and already I'm seeing reminders of how close I am to the home of Alizee.
Unfortunately it doesn't look good for the store. It was closed up and this is (Saturday) with some kind of fair going on, including a parade with floats and tons of people all around, and everything else was open, but they were closed. I will check back with them in the next couple of days to see what they have to say about one of thier best exports. There were two young woman working at the hotel I'm staying at who look to be in their mid, maybe early 20s. I thought to ask them if they had ever heard of Alizee. They said no, which is kind of understandable considering their age. Then I thought to ask them if they had ever heard of Mylene Farmer and they said no. I was stunned. How could they have not heard of the most successful female singer in French history? One thing I've noticed over the years in my travel to France is, you can be asking someone in France about a multi sylable word and be one octave off in one sylable of your pronunciation, and it's like you're speaking gibberish to them. They can't relate the very close pronunciation to the exact pronunciation ( Sorry Bigdan and Corsaire, but that's the way it's always seemed to me.). So even though I have a very busy schedule for the next two days, I hope to show them a video of Alizee and one of Mylene and see if that rings a bell. |
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Oh, and thanks for the photos.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/lefty12357 |
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- They were italians... -More probably, they didn't get your prononciation. Let me say you something that could make you understand better : In Nice, you could experiment almost the same problem with some words if you were... Parisian ! The different prononciation between North and South can be a source of mistake. So imagine with a Bostonian accent ! Edit: Quote:
Stop chasing after young frenchs girls !!
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------------------------------------------------------- ------------------MISS ALIZEE ----------------- Last edited by Bigdan; 03-05-2011 at 02:30 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doubleposts |
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Robo-French for free
You lucky (Scruffy)dog!!!
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I used Google translate to translate AND PRONOUNCE in French the English phrase Are you familiar with the singer Alizée?which is Êtes-vous familier avec la chanteuse Alizée?I captured the audio with Scruffy's old friend, Audacity, and uploaded it as an MP3 file here. Google translate uses a high-end synthesizer for English, but, to date, cuts corners with the other languages it supports. (I wish Google made a simple change and supported speech synthesis at various word speeds, to help people learn a new language.) I wonder what Bigdan thinks about the job it does with French. Long ago, I have listened to both American English and British English synthesizers, so one might also develop engines for various French dialects. And you should know there are multiple firms working on speech-to-speech translation as well. I think you can find a YouTube video of a German guy at a Microsoft show in China doing such a demo. (But sadly, sometimes talking computers have a bit of trouble with their knowledge of geography, LOL!) I hope Scruffy can download and play the audio clip I created for his two young Provençals and let us know what they think! And remember, with a cellphone and Web access, one could create other phrases as needed! Last edited by FanDeAliFee; 03-05-2011 at 04:13 PM.. Reason: mend typo |
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hum... which means " are you a close friend of Alizée?" She will answer "no !" .
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Need to try again |
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Have a great vacation! Oh, and thanks for the pictures.
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" connaissez vous Alizée, la chanteuse? "
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Et quand je donne ma langue aux chats?!!!
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The (Google) translation of Connaissez vous Alizée, la chanteuse?to English is Do you know Alizée, the singer?But one definition (number 8) of the English verb to know is (transitive, archaic, Biblical) To have sexual relations with.If she understands English, the young woman of whom poor Scruffy asks the question you suggest might look at him with wide open eyes and mouth, screaming: You are in Nice. This is NOT Eden, Eden and you are not Mylène Farmer!and then slap him HARD in the face! Perhaps he could apologize by telling her he is not religious. I think it would be better not to give offense in the first place! But if you insist, the MP3 file you recommend is here. (Note that I took GREAT CARE not to spell it the WRONG way, so - Connaissez vous... la chateuse?) P.S. Even French people who don't understand English should be suspicious about a word like connaissez, which begins with con! Last edited by FanDeAliFee; 03-20-2011 at 07:15 AM.. Reason: Link to article citing Eden Eden Eden |
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Oh, Men, you are crazy You don't even have to translate it, in French it's the same possible meaning ("Avoir des relations sexuelles avec une personne."). But possibility of getting it by those gal in such context is quite similar to being striken by a thunderbolt, so... still possible Quote:
Nice wordplay |
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