Improve your French listening comprehension with this clip from Balades. It’s 26 words in 12 seconds. How many can you hear and understand, take our quiz “sur le champ”!
This clip is from Balades Episode 3. Listen and fill in what you hear below. Read more and find a translation below. Find the full podcast here.
Press play and take the transcription quiz to practice your French listening comprehension.
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The above audio sample and transcription is from Balades ep. 3. We do not own the content. Listen to the entire episode here.
Immediately
I love this expression, sur le champ. It’s a great idiom, and it made me think of “Mars” the Roman god of war for some reason, given the word “champ”. I seem to think of it as a war field or war plane. That might be just in my head, but it seems that could be one of the origins of this expression, as I write below.
What are you doing immediately? I’d love to hear from you with any feedback sur le champ. We’re building something here and we want it to be a powerful tool to take your French listening comprehension to the next level. Let us know!
If you’re just joining us as a beginner, I recommend you start with the first dfepisode of Balades. Follow along daily for new clips.
How did you find today’s clip compared to yesterday’s clip? I tend to be most comfortable when the clip is around 150wpm. I love Balades for my current level, around A1 (hopefully progressing to A2). Hopefully you’re enjoying these clips, too. This story is fantastic and Even when there’s a fast clip, it’s still manageable. The right amount of challenge. What do you think? Join us for the next quiz.
How are you finding these shorter snippets? I’m open to any and all feedback, as always. Let me know.
The snippet in English
Find a translation of this snippet here, how much of this did you hear?
C’est alors qu’une magnifique jeune fille aux cheveux couleur de miel sort de la litière. Quand le prince la voit, il veut l’épouser sur le champ.
Then a beautiful young girl with honey-colored hair emerges from the litter. When the prince sees her, he wants to marry her right away.
The above translation from Deepl. Source
What does “sur le champ” mean in French?
“Sur le champ” is a French expression that means “immediately” or “right away” in English. It is used to indicate that something should be done without delay, promptly or without wasting any time. It can also be used to express that something is done without hesitation.
For example:
- Il a réagi sur le champ (He reacted immediately)
- Nous avons dû agir sur le champ (We had to act right away)
- Elle a accepté sur le champ (She accepted immediately)
It can also be used in a more idiomatic way, such as:
- Il a retiré sa démission sur le champ (He withdrew his resignation right away)
- Il a remis sa démission sur le champ (He submitted his resignation immediately)
The expression “sur le champ” comes from the French word “champ” which means “field” or “open ground”. In the past, military conflicts and battles took place on open fields, and commanders used to give orders to their troops to act immediately. The expression “sur le champ” is an idiomatic expression that comes from this military context where orders were given to act immediately in the field of battle. Over time, it became a common expression that is used in everyday language to indicate that something should be done immediately, without delay, and it’s not limited to the military context anymore.
Overall, “sur le champ” is an expression that is used to indicate that something should be done immediately or without delay, and can be used in both spoken and written French.
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i hated every second