Train your ear to the sound of Quebec French with this video. In it, Stage Lacroix uses humour to tell his fans how to be sure to get a copy of his holiday album. He speaks at an informal level of French, at normal speed. You may find this clip challenging, but I’ve included a transcription of what he says below.
Some informal features in the clip include: il and ils pronounced as y; il y a pronounced as ya; il y en a pronounced as y en a (yen na); bien pronounced as ben; and puis pronounced as pis. I’ve put in bold some other items that you may not be familiar with; their definitions follow the transcription.
If you can’t see the video above, watch it here on YouTube.
Bonjour, ici Stage Lacroix. Cette année, pour le temps des Fêtes, je sors un album du temps des Fêtes qui s’appelle… Fêtes. C’est un concept, là. Ce qui arrive c’est que… ya [il y a] beaucoup d’albums du temps des Fêtes cette année qui sortent — d’ailleurs c’est une des années records au Québec ; y en a [il y en a] plus d’une quarantaine qui sortent en même temps — donc, dans les magasins de disques, y [ils] tiendront pas beaucoup de copies de chacun des disques parce qu’y [ils] ont pas assez de place sur les tablettes. Faque [fait que] ce que je vous conseille, si ça vous tente de vous procurer mon album, c’est d’aller tout de suite au magasin de disques le plus près de chez vous pour en réserver un, en commander un, laisser vos coordonnées afin de vous assurer qu’ils vous appellent, pis [puis] « oui, on l’a, votre disque ». Un p’tit conseil que je vous donne de même, je fais ça avec ma famille pis [puis] euh… sont ben [bien] contents. Merci… et Joyeuses Fêtes! À l’avance… évidemment. ‘Scusez [excusez].
le temps des Fêtes, the holiday season
sur les tablettes, on the shelves
fait que*, alors in French; “so” in English
si ça vous tente de…, if you want to…
de même, like that
* fait que, which you’ll also hear pronounced as faque, is an informal, spoken usage; it rarely appears in writing, except perhaps in texts written in a deliberately informal style
Thanks to Diane for suggesting this video.
I was talking to a teacher who works in a French language literacy centre here in Quebec. They do “alphabétisation” and “francisation”.
They are looking for good videos with a Quebec French accent and transcripts. I recommended your site.
Here is the problem : the teachers are having trouble finding video and audio clips that do not include people speaking French with non-Quebec French accents.
Just in case : Nothing racist about it, of course. They want their students to learn the Quebec accent before they challenge them with other accents. I think that just about every language student would agree that this is a didactically sound approach to language instruction!
Info-Alpha (1 800 361-9142) can help people in Quebec find free French language classes. They are the central reference point for “everybody” in the field.
Perhaps you could contact Info-Alpha and let them know about your new videos+transcripts blogging. I would suggest that your site would be a big help to their students and teachers.
One last note : the literacy centres take really long vacations! Your videos would allow students to review and improve their French language skills during these long breaks in their study.
all the best
Namke
Thanks for the info, Namke — thanks too for recommending this blog.
Hi! I love your blog.
For this lesson, can you give some insight into these two lines?
“C’est un concept, là.”
“‘Scusez.”
That would be great! Thanks.
Hi Sadie — With “c’est un concept” he’s saying something like “now there’s an idea.” He says this because the holiday album is simply called “Holidays” (“Fêtes” in French): he’s being sarcastic about how the title may seem like an obvious choice (or maybe an unoriginal choice).
“Scusez” is an informal pronunciation of “excusez.” He’s apologising for wishing happy holidays so early (the video was released a few months before Christmas). He’s just acting silly.
Thanks! I like the insight into the dialect.