Improve your French listening comprehension with this clip from the Inner French podcast! It’s 39 words in 18 seconds. How many can you hear and understand?
This clip is from the Inner French podcast Episode 001. 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 the Inner French podcast episode 001. We do not own the content. Listen to the entire episode here.
And to begin
It’s a new day. We are changing gears a bit.
This podcast, from Hugo at Inner French, really spoke to me. His whole philosophy for starting his podcast (years ago!) was that his students couldn’t understand videos on Youtube even though they could pick up Le Monde and read an article. I’m not at the level where I can pick up a newspaper and read articles, but I do get lost in even simple Youtube French videos. So this is right up my alley.
Why change gears? Well, it seemed like a great fit and a podcast that is similar to Balades, while still different from our Swiss friend. We get a teacher & male voice. Like Balades, it’s all in French (no English, no grammar rules). and still geared towards learners of French. Episodes like this one are a bit slower paced. The quizzes in this episode will generally be longer than what I made for Balades. I hope that will help build the challenge so we can all keep progressing.
Ultimately, I do want to get to the level of working through Transfert and Manger episodes, but for now, this seems more my speed.
What do you think of this podcast choice? 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?
Et pour commencer, je vais vous présenter l’idée de ce podcast. Alors, le Cottongue podcast, qu’est-ce que c’est ? C’est tout simplement pour les gens qui apprennent le français et qui ne trouvent pas de choses intéressantes à écouter.
And to start, I’ll introduce you to the idea of this podcast. So, what is the Cottongue [now Inner French] podcast? It’s simply for people who are learning French and who can’t find anything interesting to listen to.
The above translation from Deepl. Source
What does “et pour commencer” mean?
“Et pour commencer” translates to “and to start” or “and to begin” in English. It is used as a conjunctive phrase, and it is used to indicate that something is about to start, or that something is the first thing to be done or said in a sequence of events or actions. It is often used in conversation and in written texts, for example in a speech, a podcast, a video, a meeting, etc. The phrase is used to introduce the first point, the first step, or the first topic of the sequence.
Examples :
- Et pour commencer, je vais vous présenter les résultats de l’année dernière (And to start, I will present you the results of last year)
- Et pour commencer, je vais vous expliquer comment utiliser cette machine ( And to begin, I will explain to you how to use this machine)
What does “pas de choses” mean?
“Pas de choses” in French means “nothing” or “not any things” in English. It is used to indicate that there is an absence of something, or that something is not present or available. The phrase is often used in the negative form to indicate that something does not exist, or that something is not happening.
Example :
- Je n’ai pas de choses à te dire ( I have nothing to tell you)
- Il n’y a pas de choses à manger ici ( There is nothing to eat here)
What did you love about this?
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J’aime autant cette série que les Balades. La vitesse est bonne pour moi. Je peux écouter les snippets et remplir les blancs dans l’option 100%. Merci d’avoir trouver ce matériel pour nous.
Debra