Hi everybody, BigBong here and today
I have the pleasure to be with Dupont et les accents
A YouTuber that I was eager to invite on my channel
A polyglot, impersonator of accents, very talented
To set the context
he is half Congolese, half Canadian, Quebecois
experts in French accents from Africa and the Caribbean
And so it's the perfect occasion
because I wanted you to teach me accents
I have a hard time imitating
So today, I was thinking about
the Congolese, Moroccan and Haitian accents
I don't know how I'll do but I trust you
To be honest with you, I trust you more than I trust myself
I'll emphasize more on the pronunciation
So I'll give you a few examples
For example, for the letter [ə]
Often with the Congolese accent, it's going to be pronounced [e]
Like when I say [ʒe ve]
[ʒə və] becomes [ʒe ve]
I want to be a millionaire
And then, you can also apply it with verbs
For example, we'll often verbs
like iron, return, restart
that will become [ʀepɑse, ʀetuʀne, ʀekɔmɑ̃se]
[Repɑse / ʀetuʀne / ʀekɔmɑ̃se]
Exactly!
Again with the [ə] the [lə] will become [le]
I found work over there
[Də] will become [de]
I come from Lubumbashi
The, you have the [œʀ] like in "collaborator" or "investigator"
that will become [ɛʀ]
So [kɔ(l)labɔʀatɛʀ / ɑ̃kɛtɛʀ]
[Kɔ(l)labɔʀatɛʀ / ɑ̃kɛtɛʀ]
The [y] will become [i]
So "you will become a millionaire..."
"because you are so intelligent"
Which brings me to my next point
The "ai" in "vraiment", for example
or "ay" in "crayon"
can become [ø]
So "you are very intelligent"
Oh ok, very interesting
"Can you please give me a pencil?"
But this is a little touch
you shouldn't use too much
And then, for the little filler words
little interjections, it's going to be in the expression
For example, when there is a big surprise
you'll say "ah ah"
Ah ah really
So the surprise
Or if I think you did the Congolese accent well
after you did it, I'll say "mmh hmm"
You did it well
Or if you didn't succeed
I'll say "mmh hmm"
You have to re-work on it
You have to re-work
Finally, native words
So the Congolese accent I describe
is the Kinois one
so the one from Kinshasa, the capital city
And so, it's going to be the lingala that'll be mixed up
So words like "omoni"
which means "you see"
Or "mama nangai"
which is the Congolese "mamma mia"
Ah cool, awesome!
Let's try the Moroccan accent
Yes
In the Moroccan accent I do
it's mainly one we call "bledard"
Ah ok!
So the [ə] will be replaced by an [i]
For example, "I'll give you"
"I'll give you something"
Right
Or "he is nice"
"He is nice"
There is a trilled R
which also shows the age of the speaker
Then, there are words like we said
filler words
like "za3ma"
What does it mean?
It means "kinda"
Then there is "eh" which simply means "yes"
"Eh no worries"
"It's all good eh"
Then two more things also
The [ɑ̃] will become [ɔ̃]
Right
So for example "the kids"
And the [u] will become [o]
So to complete the sentence "I have many kids"
You see when I say that, I put myself
in the shoes of a Moroccan baba
"Yes, I have many kids"
Let's try the Haitian accent
which I believe will be the most complicated one for me
In the French Caribbeans, the absence of R
The trap is that the R is not a W
So for example, if I say "reparation"
With the Haitian accent
I'm not going to say [wepawasjɔ̃]
It'll be an R but without the trill
So a "reparation"
Exactly!
It's tough!
Then we have to adapt the speed
It's spoken way slower
I'll take the time...
to pronounce...
the words I say
At the end of certain sentences, certain words
we'll put a stress for example
on "elle" or on "an"
When I was in kindergarten, I was always sitting in front
There is a stress at the end of sentences
especially on "el/an"
And just like lingala
the "you know, omoni"
Ah yes
In Creole, it'll be "ucone"
"Ucone" it means "you know"
Ah cool
So thank you very much for all these explanations
extremely rich
I thought we could try them on a sentences
so that I can practice
all these accents
So the first sentence, very simple
Hello, my name is Bong, I'm 29
I make videos on YouTube
about languages and cultures
How would you say that with a Congolese accent?
With a Congolese accent, I would say
[Dupont repeats the sentence with a Congolese accent]
[BigBong repeats the sentence with a Congolese accent]
So this time, let's try the same thing
but with a Moroccan accent
[Dupont says the sentence with a Moroccan accent]
Excellent, I love it!
[BigBong says the same sentence with a Moroccan accent]
Now with a Haitian accent
Perfect, now with a Haitian accent
[Dupont says the sentence with a Haitian accent]
[BigBong repeats the sentence with a Haitian accent]
You're really good and let's take the opportunity
to know a little more about you
Since I'm also a video maker, I'm always curious
to know how other YouTubers started
and what drives them to make videos
Well officially, my YouTube channel
started in 2017
So it's already been 3 years more or less
But before, I was on Instagram and Facebook
But before that
before posting
it was simply in parties with friends
It kinda became my party trick
In fact, I was going to a multicultural high school
Being myself from a multicultural family
So the Quebecois side, the Congolese side
So friends, famille and all
We could say the United Nations, at home
Ha ha it's true, it could be your nickname
That's it, so it came a little bit
with the idea of consolidating everything
by imitating colleagues, teachers
members of the family and all, with humour
Has anyone felt insulted because of your impressions?
Not that I know of
My goal is mainly to represent all the accents
we have in Quebec, Canada and all the Francophony
because we all speak French and we all have an accent
I'm curious, you know how to imitate all these accents
but can you speak all the languages of these accents
For example, you spoke in lingala
Do you speak it fluently?
So not the lingala, but I understand a little bit
Actually because I'm more from
the South East, the Katanga
and over there it's the Swahili
Oh right!
So that's the language of my mother
that I understand but that I don't speak fluently
And have you been to all these countries?
The countries of the accents you imitate?
I've been to Congo, so yes
I've been to Morocco
But I've never been to Haiti
The Haitian accent, it mostly came with
my best friends with Haitian origins
when I went to their place...
by listening to their parents
That's how I came to learn it
It's the entourage
Last question: what are you wearing?
It looks amazing!
It's rare to see so beautiful clothes!
Thank you, well it's just a simple shirt
made of African pagne and this one
was made by my mother
Oh wow!
So that's it, pretty traditional
with the little cut here
and the African design
It's really beautiful, your mom is really good
If she wants to make me one, I'll take it!
I'll let her know!
Back to the topic, those who follow my channel knwo it
but I started a series on how to seduce
and be romantic in different languages and accents
So let's see if I can do that
with the Congolese, Moroccan and Haitian accents
I'll give you a sentence as an example
Hello, I find you very charming and I'd like to know
if I could have the pleasure to grab a drink
in your company, some time
It might not feel very natural
But it's full of words, it's long, it's complicated
so I thought it could interesting to explore this
Flirting with the Congolese accent
will be more direct
Right!
So for example, if a lady meets a Congolese man
in the streets of Kinshasa, it might sound like this
Excuse-me
I couldn't continue walking
without asking a girl as kitoko as you
to grab a drink with me...
to discuss a little bit, omoni
Wow and that works?
Yeah, it should work
Ok, so you used words in lingala
Yeah so "kitoko"
"kitoko" means "cute" in lingala
So a girl "kitoko" like you
[BigBong repeats the sentence with a Congolese accent]
Cool, so now with a Moroccan accent
Hello Madam, mashalla I find you very beautiful
and I'd like to have the honour and the pleasure
za3ma to grab a drink with you
[BigBong repeats the sentence with a Moroccan accent]
Great, so now with a Haitian accent
Madam, I would just like to tell you
that you are incredibly beautiful
and I'd like to have the pleasure
to grab a drink in your magnificent company
Wow very charming!
I don't know if it's you or the accent
[BigBong repeats the sentence with the Haitian accent]
So thank you Dupont for these precious tips
and for all these explanations
So let me know if I pass or if I still have a long way to go
in the comment section
and feel free to check out
Dupont et les accents' channel
if you want to laugh because it's really a gold mine
for those who like accents, humour, languages and cultures
Go check it out, you'll see for yourself
and see you very soon for more videos, ciao!