Totton U3A French Language Group
27th May
Having seen the La Vie on Rose last week and finding the songs so powerful, Non Je Ne Regrette Rien and Milord we reviewed the words of the lyrics and did our best to translate into English. After a break we read the podcast script.
Sadio, moniteur d'auto-école
Bonjour et bienvenue à www.french-podcasts.com.
Parce que je suis très sédentaire : née à Paris, j'ai grandi à Paris, j'ai toujours vécu
Because I am very sedentary : born and raised in Paris, I have always lived
et travaillé à Paris, j'admire les gens qui ont eu le courage de s'expatrier et de
and worked in Paris, I admire people who have had the courage to emigrate and
refaire leur vie à l'étranger. Je suis curieuse de connaître leur parcours, de savoir
to start their life over in another country. I am curious to know their story, to know
comment ils ont réussi à s'intégrer à leur nouvel environnement. Et dernièrement,
how they managed to integrate themselves with their new environment. And lastly,
j'ai eu la chance de rencontrer Sadio qui nous raconte son arrivée en France et de
I was lucky to meet Sadio who tells us about his arrival in France and the manner
quelle façon il est devenu moniteur d'auto-école. Ecoutons-le...
in which he became a driving school instructor. Let's listen to him…
------
- Bonjour Sadio, merci d'avoir accepté cette interview.
- Hello, Sadio, thanks for agreeing to this interview.
- Merci beaucoup. Je suis très honoré.
- Thank you very much. I am very honoured.
- Déjà, tu vas nous dire d'où tu viens. Donc tu es originaire du...
- First, you are going to tell us where you come from. So, you're originally from
Oui, je suis originaire du Mali et je suis né à Bamako, la capitale, où j'ai grandi.
Yes, I am originally from Mali and I was born in Bamako, the capital, where I
grew up.
Donc j'ai fait ma prime enfance et début d'adolescence et je suis arrivé en France
So, I spent my early childhood and early teenage years (there) and I came to France
environ dans ma 18ème (dix-huitième) année. Et j'ai commencé le lycée ici. J'ai
around my 18th (eighteenth) birthday. And I began high school here. I finished
fini le lycée et puis j'ai passé1 le Bac2, que j'ai eu -le bac littéraire, série A4 à
highschool and then I passed the A level exam3, that I had, the litterary baccalaureate, option A4
l'époque. Après j'ai tenté de m'inscrire à l'université, en Droit, mais mes espoirs
at the time. Afterwards, I tried to enroll at university, at Droit, but my hopes
ont été déçus parce que je comptais sur les bourses que je n'ai pas pu obtenir. Et
were thwarted because I was relying on bursaries that I wasn't able to get. And
ensuite, donc, je me suis mis à travailler. Travailler et faire des études... je crois
so, subsequently, I started to work. To work and to study… I think
que j'avais présumé de mes forces et donc ça n'a pas pu marcher.
that I overestimated my abilities and so, that didn't work out.
Donc j'ai dû laisser tomber l'Université et continuer à travailler.
I had to give university up and continue working.
Sadio, moniteur d'auto-école
Bonjour et bienvenue à www.french-podcasts.com.
Parce que je suis très sédentaire : née à Paris, j'ai grandi à Paris, j'ai toujours vécu
Because I am very sedentary : born and raised in Paris, I have always lived
et travaillé à Paris, j'admire les gens qui ont eu le courage de s'expatrier et de
and worked in Paris, I admire people who have had the courage to emigrate and
refaire leur vie à l'étranger. Je suis curieuse de connaître leur parcours, de savoir
to start their life over in another country. I am curious to know their story, to know
comment ils ont réussi à s'intégrer à leur nouvel environnement. Et dernièrement,
how they managed to integrate themselves with their new environment. And lastly,
j'ai eu la chance de rencontrer Sadio qui nous raconte son arrivée en France et de
I was lucky to meet Sadio who tells us about his arrival in France and the manner
quelle façon il est devenu moniteur d'auto-école. Ecoutons-le...
in which he became a driving school instructor. Let's listen to him…
------
- Bonjour Sadio, merci d'avoir accepté cette interview.
- Hello, Sadio, thanks for agreeing to this interview.
- Merci beaucoup. Je suis très honoré.
- Thank you very much. I am very honoured.
- Déjà, tu vas nous dire d'où tu viens. Donc tu es originaire du...
- First, you are going to tell us where you come from. So, you're originally from
Oui, je suis originaire du Mali et je suis né à Bamako, la capitale, où j'ai grandi.
Yes, I am originally from Mali and I was born in Bamako, the capital, where I
grew up.
Donc j'ai fait ma prime enfance et début d'adolescence et je suis arrivé en France
So, I spent my early childhood and early teenage years (there) and I came to France
environ dans ma 18ème (dix-huitième) année. Et j'ai commencé le lycée ici. J'ai
around my 18th (eighteenth) birthday. And I began high school here. I finished
fini le lycée et puis j'ai passé1 le Bac2, que j'ai eu -le bac littéraire, série A4 à
highschool and then I passed the A level exam3, that I had, the litterary baccalaureate, option A4
l'époque. Après j'ai tenté de m'inscrire à l'université, en Droit, mais mes espoirs
at the time. Afterwards, I tried to enroll at university, at Droit, but my hopes
ont été déçus parce que je comptais sur les bourses que je n'ai pas pu obtenir. Et
were thwarted because I was relying on bursaries that I wasn't able to get. And
ensuite, donc, je me suis mis à travailler. Travailler et faire des études... je crois
so, subsequently, I started to work. To work and to study… I think
que j'avais présumé de mes forces et donc ça n'a pas pu marcher.
that I overestimated my abilities and so, that didn't work out.
Donc j'ai dû laisser tomber l'Université et continuer à travailler.
I had to give university up and continue working.
20th May
Instead of lessons today we treated ourselves to watching La vie en rose "The life in Pink?"
Bit of a roller coaster in emotions below is the critic's write-up of the film.
The singing was mimed.
Piaf's tumultuous life receives a superb framework in this excellent biopic. I've read some criticism of Dahan's editing style which switches often to various parts of her all-too-brief life, but with a woman of such roiling emotions and dramatic upheavals, how could it not be so? The two things I found missing here were her WWII Resistance activities and her final marriage to a man twenty years her junior. But then again the film might have approached the three- hour mark and at nearly two and a half, you walk away feeling as though you witnessed a train wreck in slow-mo. Please do not let this prevent you from seeing an astonishingly fine recreation of a life that is so fully lived you cannot believe it. Piaf's magnificent, emotional singing is fully complemented by Cotillards balls to the wall performance. Heart and soul are in total sync here and Cotillard manages to age astonishingly well. This is a terrible tale of a child grotesquely abandoned emotionally by her parents. Piaf's will to live is inspiring even in the face of self-destruction that makes Judy Garland's own battles with alcohol and drugs seem minor in comparison. The parallels to both women are hard to ignore. The rest of the cast is first-rate, and the film beautifully evokes the eras covered in her life. Best of all there is the great Piaf recorded legacy which is well-handled here. There's no sense that Cotillard is not singing and that's a testament to the skill that suffuses this fine film. Excellent.
Bit of a roller coaster in emotions below is the critic's write-up of the film.
The singing was mimed.
Piaf's tumultuous life receives a superb framework in this excellent biopic. I've read some criticism of Dahan's editing style which switches often to various parts of her all-too-brief life, but with a woman of such roiling emotions and dramatic upheavals, how could it not be so? The two things I found missing here were her WWII Resistance activities and her final marriage to a man twenty years her junior. But then again the film might have approached the three- hour mark and at nearly two and a half, you walk away feeling as though you witnessed a train wreck in slow-mo. Please do not let this prevent you from seeing an astonishingly fine recreation of a life that is so fully lived you cannot believe it. Piaf's magnificent, emotional singing is fully complemented by Cotillards balls to the wall performance. Heart and soul are in total sync here and Cotillard manages to age astonishingly well. This is a terrible tale of a child grotesquely abandoned emotionally by her parents. Piaf's will to live is inspiring even in the face of self-destruction that makes Judy Garland's own battles with alcohol and drugs seem minor in comparison. The parallels to both women are hard to ignore. The rest of the cast is first-rate, and the film beautifully evokes the eras covered in her life. Best of all there is the great Piaf recorded legacy which is well-handled here. There's no sense that Cotillard is not singing and that's a testament to the skill that suffuses this fine film. Excellent.
13th May
An amusing morning at Myra's we split into teams taking turns to pose question about the details of the room we were in for ten minutes before changing rooms. After tea we continued with the French blog page with its quaint English translation. The French made more sense than the English. Shows how we have improved.
Next week Chez Nous and we will look at La vie en Rose.
Next week Chez Nous and we will look at La vie en Rose.
6th May
It is always sunny when we go to Geoff's as it was again today. Only ten of us to read and translate the French farmyard exploits of a small child and little piglets.
We stopped for a choice of buttered jam scones and cheese scones very nice too.
This was followed by Bingo which we all seemed to have got rusty with French numbers.
We stopped for a choice of buttered jam scones and cheese scones very nice too.
This was followed by Bingo which we all seemed to have got rusty with French numbers.
