Learn French with a podcast. This clip from Balades is 6 seconds long and has 19 words. How many can you hear and transcribe? Try a transcription quiz today
Learn French with a podcast snippet! This clip is from Balades Episode 1. Listen and fill in what you hear below. Read more and find a translation below. Find the full podcast here.
The above audio sample and transcription is from Balades ep. 1. We do not own the content. Listen to the entire episode here.
Sparkled in the sun
Let’s continue with lesson 34.
Another shorter clip, this one moves quickly too. As Isabelle says these words, the “au” all but disappears to my ears in “brillaient au soleil”. I can barely hear it.
Also was interesting to learn the word “pierres” as flagstones. I did not know that, and not sure when a student would typically learn that. Seems like a word that most people might learn using it, if you have to remodel a property in France or something. Or you’re looking at real estate. Otherwise, I can’t see how that might come up. But now it has.
Also, I was kicking myself when I looked up “dorées”, this is a word I ought to remember. El Dorado in Spanish, I mean, come on. I still dream of finding El Dorado someday, but then again I’m hardly looking. I know I’ve looked up this word in the past in French, but it slipped my mind.
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There’s absolutely no way that I could get through an entire podcast in French without melting my brain, that’s why I broke it up into snippets like this. Join me for the next snippet.
The snippet in English
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Il y avait des pierres dans différents tons de bleu et aussi quelques pierres dorées qui brillaient au soleil.
There were stones in different shades of blue and also some golden stones that glistened in the sun.
The above text courtesy of Google Translate. Source
What does “brillaient au soleil” mean?
“Brillaient au soleil” is a French phrase that can be translated to “shone in the sun” in English.
It is an idiomatic expression that is used to describe something that is radiant or sparkling in the sun. The verb “briller” means “to shine” or “to sparkle” and the phrase “au soleil” means “in the sun”. Together, the phrase describes the action of something shining or sparkling in the sun, it is often used to describe the sun shining on something, like a shiny object, a diamond, a mirror among others.
For example:
- “Les feuilles des arbres brillaient au soleil” which means “The leaves of the trees shone in the sun.”
- “Les vitres de la maison brillaient au soleil” which means “The windows of the house shone in the sun.”
It is used to describe something that is radiant or sparkling in the sun, it can be used to talk about many things that reflect light, it’s used to describe something that is shiny, sparkling or radiant in the sun.
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pierres
dorées
brillaient
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