One of the things that fascinated me most when I started learning French
was the wide variety of accents that exist
in French-speaking parts of the world. French is spoken in many
countries besides France, like Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, the Congo,
Senegal and lots of other countries in Africa.
Today's video is special because we're going to listen to
different accents – different French from around the world – and try and pick out
the main differences between them. And I figured that it would be appropriate
to shoot this video myself, since I have an Italian French accent.
There are many, many regional accents in France alone.
Someone from Perpignan doesn't sound the same as a Parisian,
someone from Marseilles, or someone from the north, like Lille for example.
Let's listen to a clip of a fairly neutral accent:
"Dans cet atelier de la ville de Tsubame, (In this workshop in Tsubame,)
c'est le cuivre qui est patiemment modelé à la main, (they carefully shape copper by hand,)
en respectant des techniques ancestrales. (using ancient techniques.)
Ces pièces représentatives de l'art local de la dinanderie (These pieces, typical of local copper art,)
s'appellent des "tsuiki", (are called "tsuiki,")
un nom qui signifie "façonner le métal par martelage". (which means "shaping metal with hammers.")
Dans la ville voisine de Sanjo, la coutellerie (The nearby town of Sanjo)
atteint là encore, un niveau d'excellence. (excels in the cutlery industry.)
Et grâce aux conseils de ses artisans expérimentés, (And with the help of skillful artisans)
le visiteur peut même réaliser son propre couteau." (visitors can even make their own knives.)
Now let's head across the Atlantic to listen to the Quebecois accent.
"L'impression d'avancer, d'avancer, d'avancer, (The feeling that you're going, going, going,)
mais de jamais atteindre le but (but you never reach the goal)
qui paraît si proche, mais en réalité (which seems to be so close, but in reality)
qui est si loin, parce qu'il y a pas (is so far away, because there is no)
de référence d'une part, de distance (point of reference, first of all, for distance)
et que l'air est si pur. J'adore cette scène-là." (and because the air is so pure. I love this scene.)
Notice how they pronounce their vowels differently
and how their intonation is a bit different from what you'd hear in France.
There are also differences in vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, but in
this video we're only focused on accents.
Let's go back to Europe now, to Belgium, where there are even more different accents.
Here's a clip for you to listen to.
Si t'es dans le Nord, du côté de la mer, t'es en Flandre. (If you're in the north, on the coast, you're in Flanders.)
Le Flamand, ça parle comme ça, c'est quelque chose comme ça... (Flemish is spoken something like this,)
Il va te dire : "Je vais sortir le parapluie, parce (They'll say: "I'm going to get out the umbrella,)
que je sens que vient la drache". Répète! (because I feel like it's going to pour." Repeat!)
"Je vais sortir mon parapluie, il va y avoir de la drache". (I'm going to get out my umbrella, it's going to pour.)
Ouais. Après, tu vas un peu plus au Sud, (Yeah. Then, you go a little farther south,)
et là t'arrives à Bruxelles, hein ?! (and you arrive in Brussels, okay?)
Alors tu parles comme tous les Français qui (So you speak like all the French people who)
essaient d'imiter les Belges sauf qu'ils y arrivent jamais. (try to imitate Belgians except they can never do it well.)
Le Bruxellois, il parle comme ça, (People from Brussels talk like this,)
comme toi et moi, enfin, surtout moi, quoi. (just like you and me, well, mostly me.)
Voilà, il dira "Dieu dit! Le zinneke (chien) du voisin (They'll say, "God! The neighbor's dog)
a encore pissé sur les plantes". (pissed on the plants again.")
Quoi? (What?)
"Dieu dit! Le zinneke du voisin ("God! The neighbor's dog)
a encore pissé sur les plantes". (pissed on the plants again.")
"Dieu dit! Le zinneke du voisin ("God! The neighbor's dog)
a encore pissé sur les plantes." (pissed on the plants again.")
We don't have to go far for a quick trip around Switzerland
where there are quite a few different accents, depending on the
city and canton. Here's a clip.
"Alors, Stéphane Décotterd, expliquez-nous (So, Stéphane Décotterd, explain)
ce que vous allez nous préparer là. (what you're going to make for us.)
Alors, un rösti tout simple. Alors, la seule petite astuce (A very easy rösti. A little tip)
que moi j'utilise, c'est de mettre un tiers de pommes de terre crue (is to put a third of the raw potatoes)
dans la pomme de terre cuite en robe, (into the baked potato)
pour avoir plus de croustillant (for more crunch)
puis qu'il se tienne un petit peu mieux (and so that it holds together better)
quand on va le retourner, notamment. (when we flip it over.)
C'est une recette très Vaudoise, avec le compromis. (It's a typical recipe from the Vaud region, with a twist.)
C'est ni cru ni cuit. (It's neither raw nor cooked.)
J'ai commencé par éplucher (I started by peeling)
les pommes de terre qui ont été cuites en robe. (the baked potatoes.)
Alors, le mieux, c'est de les cuire la veille. (It's best to cook them the night before.)
Yumm, that looks good! Now let's go to
Senegal, to listen to a French accent that you might hear
in Dakar, for example.
"Nous avons élaboré une cartographie des zones à risques, (We've developed a map of at-risk areas)
des zones sensibles à surveiller et c'est en fonction de ça (delicate areas we need to keep an eye on, and)
que les 150 observateurs ont été déployés sur le terrain. (that's how we deployed the 150 people on site.)
Nous sommes en contact permanent avec la (We are in constant contact with the)
commission électorale nationale autonome, (Autonomous National Electoral Committee,)
avec les autorités du ministère de l'intérieur..." (with officials from the Ministry of the Interior...)
I love all of these accents.
You'll notice that the farther away from France you get, the more the accents change.
In Senegal, like in many African countries,
the R sound is pronounced differently, as are
some vowels, and the intonation is usually different, too. Alright, let's head back to France
to listen to a typical accent from Marseilles.
"Marseilles, son vieux port, (Marseilles: the Old Port,)
sa basilique et son accent emblématique. (the basilica, and the iconic accent.)
Dans ce bar de quartier, le parler local (In this local bar, the regional dialect)
n'a rien perdu de sa superbe. (hasn't lost it's glory.)
C'est un accent un peu chantant. (It's a sort of melodious accent.)
C'est pas vrai ? C'est tellement beau... (Isn't it? It's so pretty...)
Quand on est à mobylette, on dit : (When you're on your moped you say:)
'Tu montes ou j'te chale ?' 'Chaler' ("Getting on or should I throw you on back?" "Chaler")
c'est... jamais vous le trouverez dans le dictionnaire. (means... you won't find that in a dictionary.)
'Fada', ça c'est constamment, c'est dans le langage. ("Fada" means... it's part of our language.)
"Non, je ne rougis pas de mon si bel accent." (No, I am not ashamed of my beautiful accent.)
Isn't it great? It would be a real shame to lose all of these accents.
I don't know about you, but when I hear them,
I fall in love with French all over again.
We've come to the end of our little trip around the world.
I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, like and share this video,
subscribe to our channel and check out all of our other videos
about the language, and if you want to learn French fast,
why not try one of our courses? Thanks for watching
and see you again soon!