Improve your ear for French with this clip from the Géopolitique podcast. It’s 61 words in 20 seconds, how many can you hear and understand? Improve your listening comprehension with us.
Learn French with a podcast snippet! This clip is from Géopolitique Episode from 20 April 2015: “Le drame des réfugiés et les questions à nous poser”. Listen and fill in what you hear below. Read more and find a translation below. Find the full podcast here.
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The above audio sample and transcription is from Géopolitique Episode from 20 April 2015. We do not own the content. The opinions expressed in this podcast snippet are the speaker’s own. We do not own this content, it is for learning purposes only. Listen to the entire episode here.
They have no other choice
Switching gears a little bit now, I’ve had this episode sitting on my to do list for a while. It’s a tough one, I’m not going to lie. Here’s why I’m finding it tough, and also why I wanted to dive in:
One – it’s a phone call. Always a bit more challenging with the distortion of words and phrases through VoIP or the phone line. It makes the liaisons a bit more difficult and the whole speech a bit more problematic. What do you think?
That said, if we’re speaking every day in France, we must be confident to take on any phone call, and understand what’s said. So might as well dive into recordings from callers!
Two – it’s an op-ed (not our opinions) from Bernard Guetta from April of 2015. Yes, 7 years ago, and op-eds for professional audiences have a bit different tone than casual speaking with friends. It is an essay, a prepared thesis with major points, that makes it easy and difficult. His structure is perfect for DELF learners, but the topic and the word choices are often a bit more esoteric, making it tricky!
Yet, it’s tricky enough to draw me in. I want to be able to understand EVERYTHING in French. The French often joke their national pastime is “talk”. So we should be able to keep up, maybe we’re not joining in, but at least following along with talk shows, radio shows, and of course conversations over a bottle of wine that dip their toe into politics.
This is older news, as I said. I can remember the images of boats with immigrants from years back. Have they stopped or has the news cycle just moved on? I’m not sure. The opinions expressed in this voice essay are not mine, I just want to use it for learning purposes.
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The clip in English
Find a translation of this audio snippet here, how much of this did you hear?
On ne peut, bien sûr, qu’être bouleversé, indigné, révolté par ces morts en Méditerranée, par ces centaines d’hommes, de femmes et d’enfants qui périssent en mer parce qu’ils n’ont plus d’autre choix que de fuir des guerres toujours plus atroces.. Il faut s’en indigner mais, avant d’en accuser l’Union Européenne ou ses gouvernements, chacun de nous devrait se poser trois questions.
Of course, one can only be upset, indignant and revolted by these deaths in the Mediterranean, by these hundreds of men, women and children who perish at sea because they have no other choice but to flee wars that are becoming more and more atrocious. We must be indignant, but before blaming the European Union or its governments, each of us should ask ourselves three questions.
The above French text translated with Deepl.
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bouleversé
centaines
fuir
vraiment
périssent (périr)
chacun de nous
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