SERIES:  COLLOQUIAL (SPOKEN) FRENCH – HARD-CORE LEARNING EXERCISE (6 POSTS)

• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 1 of 6 (#323) – Difficulty level 1
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 2 of 6 (#324) – Difficulty level 2
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 3 of 6 (#325) – Difficulty level 3
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 4 of 6 (#327) – Difficulty level 4
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 5 of 6 (#328) – Difficulty level 5
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 6 of 6 (#329) – Difficulty level 6

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I ranked this next colloquial dialogue as a very difficult “5” on the scale of one to six.  This is the shortest of the six audio examples of colloquial speech, yet it is one of the most difficult.

There are three main reasons:

1. The accent is strong, which is somewhat made fuzzier by the phone line – but people regularly hear such conversations over the phone)
2. The speed is quick (which makes for some heavy contractions and improper use of tenses)
3. The punchline
   1. comes very fast (it begins at 18 seconds and ends at 23 seconds),
   2. is heavily contracted and accented, and
   3. would be extremely difficult for anyone to understand, unless they were a native speaker, or at the very minimum, unless their verbal French was at the most advanced levels.
   4. If you were to miss the five seconds of the punchline, the entire story would not make sense.

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Because colloquial French is so different from standard French, you might wonder where can you practice listening to colloquial French if you are not exposed to it on a regular basis?

I chose these excerpts from Radio-X (CHOI FM) for a specific reason.  Radio-X’s website (and APP) allows you to download their radio shows.   You can load them into your phone or MP3 player, and listen to them anywhere and anytime (in your car, as you’re going to bed, as you’re doing your chores, or at the office).

I’m familiar with French-language radio stations across Canada, and I can pretty much guarantee you that the informal nature of Radio-X’s programs makes their speech the most colloquial French you will hear on any of Canada’s or Québec’s radio stations (and much more colloquial than what you will hear on television, or TV sitcoms).

What’s more, the radio programs are interesting.  Although the station is based in Québec city, the shows feature well-known radio hosts and columnists who love to discuss Canadian Federal politics and society inside-and-out.  They regularly talk about topics which are equally pertinent to someone living in Kamloops (BC), Steinbach (Manitoba), or Fredericton (New Brunswick).

Starting on August 15, 2015, they will have a new program line-up featuring some of the most well-known columnist names in Québec (Dominic Maurais, Richard Martineau, André Arthur, Denis Landry, etc.).

Radio-X is one of the most listened-to radio stations in Québec and Canada (they regularly top the Eastern-Québec listener rankings).  They recently dropped somewhat in the ranking numbers owing to stiff competition (from 93.5FM and NRJ Québec City).  But their revamped scheduling slated for August 15^th is their way of fighting back.

Check them out at http://quebec.radiox.com/accueil

Now for the next audio tract (don’t forget to turn on the closed captions).   The colloquial English translation will follow in the transcript below.

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Caller

• 0:00 – Yes, c’est à mon tour?
• Yes, It’s my turn?

Host

• 0:01 – Oui, vas-y. T’es en ondes.
• Yes, go for it. You’re on the air.

Caller

• 0:03 – C’est dans le fond, moi j’étais plus jeune, j’allais à la pêche dans le fleuve avec mon père.  (Il) y avait de la grosse barbotte sale.  Pis (puis), on s’est fait poigné par la marée.  Fait-que là, on s’est avancée à la marée basse. 
• Bottom line, when I was younger, I went fishing on the river with my dad.  We were after big, dirty burbot (bullhead).  But we were caught by the tide.  So we went to where it was lower. 

• 0:15 – C’est du bord du fleuve sur des grosses roches. Pis ç’allait ben (bien), ç’allait ben.  On pêchait. 
• It was on the edge of the river where there were a lot of big rocks. It’s was all going hunky-dory, just fine.  We were fishing.

• 0:18 – Mon hors (moteur hors-bord) ça revire, et on a dû (avoir) douze pied d’eau en avant de nous autres qui nous séparait de la rive. Mettons qu’on n’a pas trop trippé. 
• My outboard (motor) came unhitched / fell off, and there must have been 12 feet of water in front, separating us from the banks. Let’s just say we were less than happy.

• 0:25 – Moi j’avais à peu près onze ans. Mon père il trippait pas pantoute.  J’savais nager, mais j’étais pas le meilleur nageur contre le courant, mettons à onze ans. 
• Me, I was about 11 years old. My dad was not happy, not at all.  I knew how to swim, but let’s say that at 11 years old, I was not the best swimmer against the current.

• 0:33 – Fait-qu’on s’est mouillé pas mal jusqu’au cou. Lui encore plus.  Lui, il avait encore une petite rame en arrière. 
• So we got drenched we right up to the neck. Him a bit more.  He still had a little paddle in the back.

• 0:37 – Il nageait pis il m’a tiré en même temps, pis on a réussi à sortir sur la rive. Mettons que c’est une petite course qu’on a eu là.
• He swam and he pulled me at the same time, and we succeeded in getting out onto the banks. Let’s just say que it was quite an adventure which we had there.

Host

• 0:45 – C’était pas votre meilleur.
• It wasn’t your best (moment).

Caller

• 0:47 – Non, malheureusement.
• No, unfortunately.

Host

• 0:49 – Ok, ben content que ç’a bien tourné quand-même.
• Ok, I’m still really happy that it turned out nonetheless.

Caller

• 0:51 – Yes

Host

• 0:52 – Hey, merci d’avoir appelé, bye-bye.
• Hey, thanks for having called.

Caller

• 0:53 – Salut
• Bye.

—————————————————————–

SERIES:  COLLOQUIAL (SPOKEN) FRENCH – HARD-CORE LEARNING EXERCISE (6 POSTS)

• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 1 of 6 (#323) – Difficulty level 1
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 2 of 6 (#324) – Difficulty level 2
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 3 of 6 (#325) – Difficulty level 3
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 4 of 6 (#327) – Difficulty level 4
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 5 of 6 (#328) – Difficulty level 5
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 6 of 6 (#329) – Difficulty level 6

SERIES:  COLLOQUIAL (SPOKEN) FRENCH – HARD-CORE LEARNING EXERCISE (6 POSTS)

• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 1 of 6 (#323) – Difficulty level 1
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 2 of 6 (#324) – Difficulty level 2
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 3 of 6 (#325) – Difficulty level 3
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 4 of 6 (#327) – Difficulty level 4
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 5 of 6 (#328) – Difficulty level 5
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 6 of 6 (#329) – Difficulty level 6

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The last few posts which combined some language learning exercises garnered some pretty high traffic.

I guess that means that a good chunk of people found them interesting or useful to study spoken French.

Those could be considered rather straight forward in the sense that post #321’s conversation was rather short (even if it was colloquial / verbal), or in a controlled interview, such as in the case of post #322.

Regardless, such exercises give you a perspective and an opportunity to learn French as it is spoken in every day speech.

Textbook French only gets you so far.   The true key is if you can put yourself in a situation where you have to use your French, you understand what is going on around you, and you can follow it enough to respond.

In the next few posts, I’m going to give you the opportunity to practice your listening skills, to learn some colloquial (oral) French vocabulary as it is spoken in everyday situations, and to challenge yourself a little.

I’m going to provide you with six texts, each with a different level of difficulty.   I’ll rank them for you on a scale of one to six.

Because there is quite a bit of work involved in putting these together, I won’t be able to do them every day.  But I will do my best to put one together every couple of days.

Also, I UNDERLINED some very colloquial words and expressions which might be of particular interest.

SCENARIO:  This past long weekend I spent some down-time doing some camping, and some friends went fishing.  on the way home, I was listening to Radio-X in the car (a very well known talk radio station).  The coincidentally were talking about fishing stories.

I obtained clips from the show, edited them, added subtitles, and am presenting them to you with translated texts.   I feel they provide you with the real-deal on how people speak to each other in French using relaxed, everyday colloquial French — at least on this side of the Atlantic, in Québec, and across Canada.

This first clip introduces what’s about to come with the real fishing stories (the subjects of the next few posts).

Lets dive into it.

Colloquial Difficulty Level:  1

Host A :

• 0:00 – Ça fait toujours réagir quand on parle de chasse et pêche ici sur nos ondes. Beaucoup de chasseurs sont à l’écoute, et beaucoup de pêcheurs.
• It always gets a reaction when we talk on air about hunting and fishing. Many hunters are listening, as are many fishermen/women

Host B :

• 0:07 – Oui. C’est la saison. 
• It’s the season.

Host A :

• 0:09 – Mais pas de la chasse, par exemple. Il n’y a pas plus grande chose à chasser à ce temps de l’année.  Vous autres, les gars, vous n’avez jamais pêché?
• Well, not for hunting. There isn’t much to hunt at this time of the year.  You, you guys, you’ve never fished before?

Host B :

• 0:16 – J’étais supposé aller pêcher avec mon propriétaire, qui est le cousin à Véronique Bergeron, pis il avait dit…
• I was supposed to go fishing with my landlord.  I told you he’s Véronique Bergeron’s cousin.

Host A :

• 0:23 – “Je vous sors”, Véro c’est une pêcheuse aussi.
• “I’ll take you out”… Vero is also a fisherwoman.

Host B :

• Ben oui
• Of course

Host A :

• 0:26 – Parlant de filles qui font de la chasse et de la pêche, là…
• Speaking of women/girls who hunt and fish, well…

Host B :

• 0:29 – Je me demande, elle est supposée prendre son permis de port d’arme…
• I wonder, she is supposed to get her firearm holder’s permit…

Host A :

• Ouais
• Yup

Host B :

• 0:33 – … pour aller à la chasse. Mais c’est une grande pêcheuse, Véro.  Pis mon propriétaire m’avais dit « On va aller pêcher le soir.  On va se faire du fish ‘n chip.  On va cuisiner tout ça avec une bonne bouteille de vin.
• … to be able to hunt. But Vero, there’s a big fisherwoman.  And my landlord has always said to me “We’re going to go fishing tonight.  We’ll make some fish ‘n chips.  We’ll cook it all up with a good bottle of wine.”

Host A :

• 0:44 – T’étais prêt là.
• And you were like ready to do it.

Host B :

• 0:45 – J’étais prêt. J’étais cranké.  Et quand on était dans la voiture, on allait mettre du gaz dans le bateau.  Mais la température et des vagues de 3 pieds dur le fleuve, fait-que c’était vraiment pas idéale. 
• I was ready. I was all geared up / on my mark / cranked up.  And when we were in the car, we were all ready to put gas in the boat.   But those temperatures and the 3 foot waves on the river… it made it so that it really wasn’t ideal.

Host A :

• 0:55 – Les conditions intactes.
• The conditions lined up.

Host B :

• 0:56 – Les conditions étaient absentes. Non, non.  C’était vraiment sur le fleuve là.   Donc on a oublié le projet.  Mais il y avait quand-même du bon poison.  Fait-qu’on s’est fait pareille du fish ‘n chip, mais sans avoir été sur le fleuve.  La seule fois chu allé pêcher, dans un petit lac quand j’étais jeune, avec mes parents.  C’était à l’Île d’Orléans.  Pis moi, la seule fois que j’ai swingé la channe à pêche, c’était comme dans les cartoons. 
• The conditions were not there. No, no.  It was all that on the river.  So we simply forgot our project.  But we still had good fish, even without having gone on the river.   The only time I’ve gone fishing, it was in a little lake when I was young, with my parents.  It was on Orleans Island.  And me, the only time I swung a fishing rod, I ended up looking like a cartoon.

Host A :

• 1:17 – Tu l’as accroché par le col en arrière!
• You hooked / caught the back of your collar!

Host B :

• 1:19 – Pas loin! Ou c’était… j’ai vraiment swingé!
• Pretty close! Where it was sitting, I really was swinging!

Host A :

• 1:23 – À deux bras?
• With both arms?

Host B :

• 1:24 – Comme dans les cartoons!
• Like in the cartoons!

Host A :

• 1:25 – Ouais? C’est dangereux, là.   Ça, je sais panoute, mais il y avait du monde autour?
• Really? Like, that’s dangerous.  Ya know, I have no idea, but there was nobody around you?

Host B :

• 1:29 – Non, non! Mais c’était « Fuck! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! ».  Je veux pas ça de même.  Fait-que c’est la seule expérience que j’ai, de pêche, dans ma vie.  C’était une expérience qui a complètement tombé à l’eau.  Et l’autre expérience, que c’était pas super fameux.  J’étais trop jeune pour m’en souvenir là.
• No, No! But I was like « Shit!  Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”  I’m not hot on that.  So it’s the only experience I have, with fishing, in my whole life.  It was an experience which totally fell through.  And the other experience, it wasn’t so hot  I was like too young to remember it.

Host A :

• 1:48 – Là, t’as comme jamais pêché. T’es jamais allé à Costco.
• So like, you’ve never fished, and you’ve never been to Costco (Costco is a running joke between the hosts).

Host B :

• 1:52 – Je ne suis jamais allé à Costco.
• I’ve never been to Costco.

Host A :

• 1:54 – Mais t’as pas ta carte de membre.
• Well, you don’t have your member’s card.

Host B :

• 1:55 – Je n’ai pas ma carte de membre.
• I don’t have a member’s card.

Host A :

• 1:56 – D’ailleurs là, salutations à ton père, qui était à l’écoute, et qui t’a envoyé une preuve d’amour. Il t’aime quand-même.
• By the way, hi to your dad who was listening and who sent you a few words of love. He loves you regardless.

Host B :

• 2:01 – Il m’a texté, et je cite : « Ben oui, je t’aime mon garçon. »
• He sent a text, and I quote “Oh yes, I love you son”.

Host A :

• 2:06 – Ça me rassure.
• That makes me feel better (in the sense of being reassured).

Host B :

• 2:06 – Oui, ça me rassure, moi aussi.
• Yes, that makes me feel better too.

Host A :

• 2:07 – Ouais, de bon moments.
• Yup, beautiful moments.

Host B :

• 2:09 – Mais il n’y avait pas de lol, ni de bonhomme clin d’œil, fait-que je ne sais pas si c’était sarcastique.
• But there was no lol, no winking man, so I don’t know if it was sarcastic.

Host A :

• 2:13 – Ah, ok. Toi tu penses que ça pourrait pas être vrai. 
• Oh, ok. Tu think it wasn’t sincere.

Host B :

• 2:16 – Non, je ne pense pas que mon père est assez développé, technologie texto, pour faire des bonhommes sourire encore.
• Non, I don’t think my dad is with it enough, regarding texting technology, to be able to send smiling men.

Host A :

• 2:20 – Oh ya ya. Écoutes, un jour ça viendra.  Et quoi de mieux que d’aller au Costco avant un voyage de pêche.  Ça là, c’est comme, c’est comme Noël.
• Oh man. Listen, one day you get it.  And what’s better than going to Costco than a fishing trip.  And once there, it’s like, it’s like Christmas.

Host B :

• 2:29 – Tu sais, quand tu joins l’utile à l’agréable…
• Ya know, when you combine usefulness and likeable together…

Host A :

• 2:31 – La gang de boys qui débarque au Costco pour faire l’épicerie avant le voyage de pêche là, pis là tu sais que c’est le lendemain, il y a comme une effervescence… Toi Alex, toi non plus tu n’étais jamais aller pêcher?
• The group of guys who head off to to Costco to do their grocery shopping before, like, a fishing trip, and you know that the next day, it’s like riding on cloud nine…. You Alex, you neither have never been fishing?

Host C :

• 2:41 – La chasse, zéro fois, pis la pêche ça se compte su’les doigts de la main. J’aimais mes expériences, mais je ne sais pas pourquoi ç’a jamais vraiment donné que j’aille à la pêche et au camping, ou des choses comme ça.   Si ça se compte, c’était peut-être à trois ou quatre fois que je suis allé à la pêche de même.
• Hunting, not once, and fishing I can count the number of times on one hand. I liked the times I had done it, but I don’t know why, but it never quite fit me to go fishing or camping, or anything like that.  If I count, it was maybe three or four times that I’ve been fishing like that.

Host A :

• 2:54 – Je pense qu’on est dû, les gars, pour vous donner un peu d’expérience par procuration. D’après moi, on est dans un cas de spotted…
• I think it’s about time, guys, to let you live a little vicarious experience. In my opinion, we’re in a situation of having been caught with our pants down / being able to identify / bring to the fore / highlighting things…

Host B :

• 3:01 – Parce que des histoires de pêche, il y en a. Regarde, mon propriétaire, chaque fois que je le croise en partant de chez nous là, y a toujours une histoire de pêche à me conter.  Pis c’est minimum une demi-heure par histoire de pêche là. 
• Because when it comes to fishing stories, there certainly are those. Look, my landlord, each time I cross paths with him when I like leave our place, he always has a fishing story to tell me.  And it’s like a minimum half hour per story for fishing.

Host A :

• 3:13 – Mais là, je veux des histoires de pêche, de chasse, avec un « H » majuscule. Pas des histoires de pêche « Aw, j’en ai poingé une grosse de même, pis… ». 
• But like, I want fishing stories, hunting stories with a capital « H » (for “H”ell). I don’t want to hear fishing stories which go like “Aw, I got such a big one and …”

Host B :

• 3:21 – Non, non, des vraies histoires. Parce qu’il y en a toujours des histoires, des bateaux qui partent à la dérive quand on est au chalet.  Une petite raconte « Ouais, j’ai oublié d’attacher le bateau ».  Pis le bateau s’en va, pis t’es obligé d’aller nager.
• No, no, give us real stories. Because there are always stories, like boats which go off on their own when we’re at the cabin.  Here’s a little story, “Yup, I forgot to tie up the boat…”.  And off the boat went, and you had to go swimming.

Host A :

• 3:33 – Mais t’arriverais à un moment donner. On allait dans un chalet, mais tu sais, spotted, chasse et pêche, chalet :  670-9098, 1-877-440-2464, et il y a toujours le « live » à Radiox.com.   Je sais qu’il y a ben de gens qui dans leur première semaine de vacances de la construction sont allés dans des chalets, sont allés pêcher, sont allés faire un peu de plein air, et plus souvent qu’autrement il y a des histoires d’alcool, de boisson. 
• Well, we’ll get to you at a certain point. You went to a cabin, and you know, caught with your pants down, hunting, fishing, and cabins:   670-9098, 1-877-440-2464, and there’s always “live” at Radiox.com.  I know there are many out there in their first week of construction vacations who went to cabins, fishing, who went to take in a bit of the great outdoors, and who more often than not have stories involving alcohol, of drinking. 

• 4:02 – Il ne faut pas que ça tombe mal, mettons. Il ne faut pas que ça tombe mal ces histoires-là.  Mais, mettons que des fois il y a des trucs quand-même assez cocasse qui se passe quand tu t’en vas à la pêche.  Pis souvent, ce n’est pas pour être sexiste, mais souvent t’sais, c’est les boys, y vont à la pêche pis il y a toujours un paquet d’histoires.  Moi j’avais déjà oublié d’attacher le pédalo au chalet.  Pis le chalet était devant la rivière.  Fait-que calcul-le comme tu veux. 
• It doesn’t have to end badly, let’s say. These stories doesn’t have to end badly.  But, let’s say that sometimes there are things which can yet be wacky enough which can happen when you go fishing.  And often, it’s not to be sexist, but often, ya know, it’s the guys, they go fishing and there are always a ton of stories.   Me, I even forgot to tie up the water-cycle to the cabin.  And the cabin was in front of the river.  I’ll leave it to you go guess what happened.

Host B :

• 4:26 – Bye-bye pédalo.
• Bye-bye water-cycle.

Host A :

• 4:28 – Il aurait fallu remorquer le pédalo. Il était rendu comme 500 pieds plus loin poigné dans des roches.  C’était pas ma meilleure celle-là.  OK, les lignes sont pleines.  Je pense que vous nous avez des histoires à nous raconter.   Spotted, chasse et pêche, plein air, ou appelez ça comme vous voulez.  Peut-être sauf une fois au chalet, aussi ça peut entrer dans cette catégorie-là.  On s’en va au téléphone.   Allô, Radio-X…
• We had to tow the water-cycle. It went 500 feet down and go caught on the rocks.  I wasn’t at my best with that one.  OK, the lines are lit up.  I think we’re going to have stories for you.  Caught with your pants down, hunting and fishing, great outdoors, or call us about whatever.  Except for that “one time” at the cabin, that can also enter into that category.  Ok, let’s get to the calls.  Hello, Radio-X…

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SERIES:  COLLOQUIAL (SPOKEN) FRENCH – HARD-CORE LEARNING EXERCISE (6 POSTS)

• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 1 of 6 (#323) – Difficulty level 1
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 2 of 6 (#324) – Difficulty level 2
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 3 of 6 (#325) – Difficulty level 3
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 4 of 6 (#327) – Difficulty level 4
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 5 of 6 (#328) – Difficulty level 5
• Fishing & Hard-Core French – Post 6 of 6 (#329) – Difficulty level 6