Watch to the end to find out my score for Helen. What's yours out of 20? Get my workbook for more consistent French progress and speaking confidence: bit.ly/3qMPU7L
@abdelhakimelamin3073
2 жыл бұрын
#French in Plain Sight : merci beaucoup monsieur le youtuber pour hôster Helen Mirren, more d'elle please, because i admire her very much(^_^)
@abdelhakimelamin3073
2 жыл бұрын
Hajimé monsieur le youtuber Thanks pour assurer her comfort(^_^)
@abdelhakimelamin3073
2 жыл бұрын
21/20 pour la louvine intellegente (^_^)
@marirreid8588
2 жыл бұрын
It's hard for a English native speaker to learn french but I won't give up as I am Scottish
@oliverqueen5883
2 жыл бұрын
20, if only that was my moyenne générale too 🤣🤣
@jbqu3142
2 жыл бұрын
On la comprend à 100% et son accent est savoureux. Elle n'a pas à être parfaite. J'adore Helen Mirren. Love from Montréal.
@ares6953
2 жыл бұрын
she makes mistakes but it is very charming for us french people , i actually find it charming and i must add it doesn´t matter if one makes some mistakes while speaking french what matters is trying ! her french is good
@heronimousbrapson863
2 жыл бұрын
That's OK. Many francophone politicians here in Canada make mistakes when speaking English as well.
@ares6953
2 жыл бұрын
@@heronimousbrapson863 yes that´s right . we all do and that´s fine !
@Clelia16
2 жыл бұрын
I totally agree
@davidasoule4361
2 жыл бұрын
I rate her a 12. I sense she is translating in her head before speaking.
@ares6953
2 жыл бұрын
@@davidasoule4361 Yes you are probably right ! 12 is a good score but i will give her an above average score like a 15 or 16 for trying and not being intimidated by a french interviewer
@tonyjones2308
2 жыл бұрын
This gives me so much hope! It’s nice to see someone who seems so confident. The one thing about learning French that I have struggled with is the cringe when I get something wrong. Sometimes you are your own worst critic. Also, the bloody French “R” is my nemesis!
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
We are **most often** our own worst critic Tony. It's both what helps us to keep going and what brings us down!
@isabellenicaud3725
2 жыл бұрын
The bloody french R 😂😂 as a french I struggle with the double spanish R
@gloipsdegalerf2104
2 жыл бұрын
A tip to pronounce the french R: - the english R is pronounced deep in the throat - the french R is prononced closer to the mouth
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
@@gloipsdegalerf2104 other way around :)
@gloipsdegalerf2104
2 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight Wow ! When I test it myself, I do feel that the english R is very deep in the throat, and the french one is almost in the mouth... Weird.
@jujube8179
2 жыл бұрын
La classe des acteurs anglais est inégalable !! Bravo Mme Mirren👏🖐️
@paulortiz2035
2 жыл бұрын
When I moved to Paris to go to French school my only 'friend"(?) there told me to "NEVER SPEAK FRENCH TO ME!!!" Guess my accent was quite horrible or something. Not that his English was so hot but c'est la vie! The more I thought about it the more angry I became. Some 'friend'!
@gamingspeeddating2673
2 жыл бұрын
I litteraly have no idea why your video came to my suggestions, as a french person who never watched any language video in my life. But it was really pleasant to hear you speaking french so well. In my opinion, Helen Mirren speaks amazingly well. Despite the minor mistakes here and there that you point with empathy and pedagogy, Helen Mirren expresses herself with fluidity. She manages to make every of her idea really clear. That would be an 18 for me.
@jacquelinedemelide
2 жыл бұрын
Mistake or no mistake..... with charm you can make yourself understood ! That's the way to learn a language. With the time progres will come by listening. Who needs perfection when it comes from the Heart? ♥️
@mascaret3845
2 жыл бұрын
Celà mérite un bon 17 ! Puisque votre chaîne est dédiée aux Anglophones désirant apprendre où se perfectionner en Français, autant leur donner un peu de lecture 😄😄. Sa voix est très douce et "euphonique", c'est à dire agréable à l'oreille, la douceur des mots et du phrasé est un élément essentiel en Français. De plus elle n'exagère pas sur les liaisons entre les mots, c'est souvent le cas chez les Anglais. Il est évident qu'elle a dépassé depuis longtemps le stade où l'on recherche les mots dans sa tête avant de les prononcer. Durant l'apprentissage d'une langue il y a toujours un moment où l'on se dit "Tiens les mots sont venus sans que j'y pense avant !" c'est une très belle récompense pour tout le travail fourni durant l'étude. Bon courage à tous 👍
@francoisevassy6614
2 жыл бұрын
Budget comes from the French word of the middle age « Bougette » which meant a little purse which was tied to the belt and was always moving (to move = bouger). I do not know when it came back to France with its new meaning ! Many other words travelled the same way : a game « tenez » came back to France as « tennis » …
@lunarmodule6419
2 жыл бұрын
Guys! Guys! Don't sweat the gender. We understand you very well don't worry. Just talk french! Merci !
@paulortiz2035
2 жыл бұрын
From my experience of living in Paris ( et Bordeaux), if you have won a Noble Prize, a Pulitzer, and had won a World Series in the 9th inning of the 7th game---- with a Grand Slam home run! AND had found a cure for Covid--- if you do not speak grammatically correct French with a proper accent for the region you are in, you are most certainly in uneducated idiot! And not to be suffered, esp not a second time! But that is only my impression. My friend in Parid told me to never speak to him in French, it was just too horrible for his tender ears! Not that his English was so easy on mine, but I would have never said such a thing, to anyone, even him!!! (But I might reconsider making an exception for Marc!)
@mcyavel1
2 жыл бұрын
I love Helen !! elle parle un français presque parfait. J'aime qu'il lui reste ce petit accent britanique qui fait toute la dlffèrence, et donne du charme à son discours.
@wb1385
2 жыл бұрын
Helen Mirren is a great woman She speaks also a very good Italian
@thedavidguy01
3 жыл бұрын
I would give her a 14 / 20, just minor mistakes none of which interfere with communication, but there were enough of them that I marked down for that. I'm grading like a French prof, so that's a good grade. She obviously had no problem understanding the questions, so her comprehension is excellent, which is very important.
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
Fair, fair. Also, she's probably most familiar with the vocabulary from the context of film and TV which made her seem even better. I like that you explain your working. Workings? Been a while since I saw that on an exam paper.
@shauncummings2361
3 жыл бұрын
I would perhaps lean towards a 12 . I feel she had prepared for a long time regarding this interview, and still tripped many times . I would have done better, j’ai croire
@Dlo_Chess1_1
2 жыл бұрын
@@shauncummings2361 😂😂😂
@iparipaitegianiparipaitegi4643
2 жыл бұрын
14/20 in french exams gives the the mention ‘well’. With 16/20 you get ‘very well’.
@kathyg8510
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you Alex. I really like these bits where you discuss the french skills of various celebrities.
@stephanevilboux1706
3 жыл бұрын
Bonjour. Je donne la note de 17. Oui, ce n'est pas parfait mais elle parle sans efforts, les mots et expressions lui viennent aisément et sont justes. Les quelques erreurs lui coûtent 3 points. J'aimerais parler Anglais comme elle parle Français. Cordialement.
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
Ça commence par des petites actions régulières Stéphane, par exemple laisser les commentaires KZitem dans ta langue cible... ;). Chaque fois est une occasion. Ok, c'est pas à l'oral mais tout contribue et aide à être plus à l'aise quand l'on se retrouve face à une conversation.
@cyphicle
2 жыл бұрын
Trop drôle. You got it. Yes, to speak French is "un art du négligé" in which you can say the most trivial non-sensical non logically combined sequences of words but with the good spirit of cordiality and "salon".
@JoshuaTanzer
2 жыл бұрын
She has a very light British accent but sounds quite good. She is a little bit imprecise ("pour possible[ment!] la seule fois"), and I think she hits the limits of her vocabulary sometimes and resorts to simpler words than a fluent speaker would. However, she speaks quite lovely French overall. It was really nice to hear. I think all of your points are quite right.
@sylvieguerra7773
2 жыл бұрын
I love this actress❤️ She's so full of talent... and she also speaks French! 😮 One of the films in which I've seen her is The Tempest. In this film, she performed the female version of Prosper and Ben Whishaw performed Ariel. I'm also a great fan of Ben Whishaw. It'd be wonderful to see him in an interview speaking French❤️ When by chance I hear him saying some French words in one of his films, I'm always fascinated by his very good pronunciation 🙂👍 On peut toujours rêver 😊😉
@dominiquebeaulieu
2 жыл бұрын
Well … in English you have phrasal verbs. A small particule changes completely the sens of the verb. Give vs give up. However, same in German. Geben vs Aufgeben.
@karimkalonji1519
2 жыл бұрын
I like her French. She's able to make herself very understandable to a French audience. But I'm pretty sure that she meant city, une ville, and not une cité, cause it sounds really weird to even have a cinema in a cité. I would like to see more French actors being able to hold a conversation in English. The gender is not much of an issue, it's just funny to French, but cute as well. Jodie Foster sounds really amazing in comparison. But like you said: speak with no shame, just be confident. Making yourself understandable is the most important. The accent is not that of an issue, cause there's a lot of different French accents as well. So you might sounds more French some people from certain places. Your French sounds really nice, I can tell you had a lot of practice. But I will not give a grade to Madame Mirren. it's the first time I hear her speaking in my native tongue and I appreciate, because I know it is such a complicated language. Well…written anyways. You got my props. Karim
@kathrynhowell3596
2 жыл бұрын
Yes you are soo right , good for you for giving the gift of confidence 👍 Make mistakes it ok go for it
@J0HN_D03
2 жыл бұрын
*6:10** The origin is French!* *"Ce mot signifie de nos jours les prévisions de recettes et de dépenses. Mais le terme « budget » provient de l’ancien français « BOUGETTE » qui faisait référence, au Moyen-Age, à une bourse en cuir contenant la monnaie pour les dépenses quotidiennes. Lors de la guerre de Cent ans les français et les anglais ont aussi échangé des mots. Les anglais ont adopté le terme « bougette », transformé en « budget », avec la même signification et par extension il nommait aussi les finances du roi. Ce terme est revenu en France au XVIIIᶱ siècle pour désigner les finances anglaises avant d’avoir le sens qu’on lui connait aujourd’hui."* *"This word means nowadays revenue and expenditure forecasts. But the term "budget" comes from the old French "BOUGETTE" which referred, in the Middle Ages, to a leather purse containing the currency for the daily expenses. During the Hundred Years War the French and the English also exchanged words. The English adopted the term “bougette”, transformed into “budget”, with the same meaning and by extension it also named the finances of the king. This term returned to France in the 18th century to designate English finances before having the meaning we know today."*
@user-uh2wm8du6n
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks John!:)
@J0HN_D03
2 жыл бұрын
@@user-uh2wm8du6n you're welcome 😇
@bolojean-luc2337
2 жыл бұрын
She spoke perfectly french in my opinion, even much better than some french native people...
@monQsurlaKomod
2 жыл бұрын
delicious accent, we understand her. that's the point
@dominicymarie7036
2 жыл бұрын
Personnellement, je n'ai pas compris tout de suite ce qu'elle voulait dire par "une film". J'entendais, "une file" ?, "une foule" sans en comprendre le sens... En conclusion le genre est absolument important pour la compréhension. Merci pour cette très bonne vidéo.
@JoseByronGonzalez
2 жыл бұрын
Of course She does!
@FrancoisTessierQuebecCanada
2 жыл бұрын
Bravo... La langue française au Canada est différente de celle de la France Vous devriez faire un vidéo sur ce sujet, ce serait intéressant.
@gaelle4328
2 жыл бұрын
Check out her gestures which is btw mirrored by the host.
@david.e.miller
2 жыл бұрын
Words like "crime" and "pétale," which are masculine in French, tend to confuse beginners trying to get a handle on gender.
@lefranglais1155
2 жыл бұрын
Yes, one of the 'stumbling blocks' for anglophones learning French is the gender thing. Words are masculine or feminine, and it's almost impossible to guess which ones are boys and which ones are girls... ;)
@ericlemaire8524
2 жыл бұрын
"C'est des petits films" scorch my ears as a Frenchman. Even if it's employed, it's not correct. It's really popular level language. I do not recommend using it. Ms Mirren makes some tiny mistakes, but she is fluid when speaking and it's the most important.
@jomejean4165
2 жыл бұрын
do you know that the English word " budget" actually comes from a French word " bougette", which in ancient French was a small leather bag ? Thank you for this very interesting video!
@catherinemoore9534
2 жыл бұрын
Le symbole de l'Occitanie sur l'étagère !! 😄
@GrotrianSeiler
2 жыл бұрын
This is a great channel. Very helpful, very clear. Just subscribed!
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
Welcome aboard!
@igboamaka6142
2 жыл бұрын
I feel anyone who can have a conversation in a foreign language is intelligent, but I feel that people become super critical when native English speakers speak in another language.... as if non-native English speakers don't make several mistakes when speaking English.
@liketheleaf
2 жыл бұрын
Pas d'accord; c'est plutôt le contraire. La plupart du temps par exemple quand un acteur anglophone bafouille quelques mots de français on a tendance à s'en extasier. Par contre j'ai remarqué que les anglophones étaient souvent super critiques envers les étrangers parlant leur langue.
@belisaire33
2 жыл бұрын
Have you ever tried to tell us about Dame Felicity Lott speaking (and singing) French.
@charlesschlotter757
2 жыл бұрын
I don't want to grade Helen Mirren except that as an actress and a human being, I'd rate her a 20 out of 20. Now let's talk about French. Je dois expliquer que ma langue maternelle est l'anglais mais j'ai commencé à apprendre le français à un très, très jeune âge. Ainsi, ma prononciation est presque parfaite et je peux passer pour français jusqu'au moment où... Ouais, c'est ça. Je fais des erreurs de genre. Parfois, si je fais la même erreur plusieurs fois, je dois juste la frapper de force dans ma tête. Le téléphone. La télévision. Le téléphone. La télévision. Le téléphone. La télévision. J'ai répété ça dans ma tête pendant une semaine entière pour éviter de le refaire et ça a marché. De même, la photo, la vidéo. Même le mot "erreur" est féminin (et pas féminine, car le mot "mot" est masculin.) Je ne suis pas un éthousiaste de la mémorisation par cœur mais parfois c'est nécessaire. Mon autre faiblesse est une question de vocabulaire. Bien que je puisse aborder presque n'importe quel sujet avec confiance, je ne connais pas autant de mots qu'un vrai Français en connaîtrait facilement. Les noms des fleurs, le vocabulaire des automobiles, les mots pour les conditions médicales, sans parler de l'argot en constante évolution. Aie! J'ai besoin d'un livre de phrases. Pour en revenir à Helen Mirren, bien qu'elle fasse quelques erreurs ici et là, elle a le rythme de la langue bien mieux que la grande majorité des anglophones. C'est fluide. C'est naturel. Les accents tombent presque toujours là où ils se trouvent en français, pas en anglais Alors, brava, Dame Helen. Ou plutôt bravo, car en français ils ne suivent pas la distinction de genre de l'italien et c'est bravo pour tous, homme ou femme.
@davidkasquare
2 жыл бұрын
That’s interesting with the on peut + infinitive mistakes. I’m a Swedish language teacher, and I’ve noticed that so many of my native English speaking students, as well as students with a strong English, tend to do that same mistake when learning Swedish. Ie, they combine an auxiliary verb (conjugated in tense) with a verb conjugated in the present tense, instead of the infinitive. I’ve thought about it and come to the conclusion that it has to have to do with the fact that the infinitive and present tense in English usually look the same, which leads to that many speakers don’t really learn to distinguish between these two forms. To me, this is just what Helen did here in this clip as well.
@ericlind6581
2 жыл бұрын
Det är konstigt därför reglarna är samma på engelska. Man konjugerar inte aldrig två verb kopplade tillsammans på engelska heller.
@reubenmusyoka3192
2 жыл бұрын
I've spoken and taught french and in french for 22 and 15 respectively. Quite a tough language I will say especially for an Anglo-Saxon. First impression to a French for the non-speakers: 😂😂. Just excuse your french and then speak it.
@lesterburhnam7272
2 жыл бұрын
Jody Foster speaks a better French but Helen's one is very correct (better than my English lol)
@francoisevassy6614
2 жыл бұрын
Ciao comes from Italian « il vostro schiavo », I’m your servant (slave). A very gallant way for a man to say goodbye to a lady !
@MelliaBoomBot
2 жыл бұрын
Im still learning and live in France with my French partner (they are not that patient with teaching me!) but I really liked how Helen talked, I could just about understand her, I liked your interpretations..and the breakdown of certain elements. Ive noticed the QUE bit in the language but don;t always remember! Very good, have you rated Davina McCall? She speaks French...is half French I believe...Thanks a lot!
@johnsparegrave5996
2 жыл бұрын
To be honest, my parents have a friend who's been living in France for 50 years and she still makes gender mistakes. It really doesn't matter to our understanding. It even sounds cute to be honest.
@benoitgoury7458
2 жыл бұрын
As a french native speaker myself, i would never blame an english for making a gender mistake, because there is absolutely no sense for a car to be a "she" or a truck to be a "he"! Even if I don't understand, I ask to repeat and there's no mistake! I mean, I do ten time more mistake in english as you can read!
@mike12110
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your donation Mike!
@franckmartinez1474
2 жыл бұрын
Utiliser « ce sont » est important, c’est le genre de détail qui démontre votre niveau d’éducation. C’est un peu comme dire « le vélo à François » au lieu de dire « le vélo DE François » Beaucoup de français font l’erreur malheureusement.
@fabienh3943
2 жыл бұрын
Don't stress for French indeed. If there's one thing I've learned, I'd that the French themselves add so many euhs (la couleureuh et l'odeureuh....) at about any possible word, they their version of the language is not to be taken as a reference either 😉
@simonacohen9351
2 жыл бұрын
Deux verbes qui se suivent le deuxième est à l’infinitif 😜 Cela dit elle parle très bien car elle ne cherche pas ses mots.
@BReihle
Жыл бұрын
We have genders in German (three of them, like you in GB, but nor only as a pronoun but also three definite articles), but we also make mistakes. Sometimes, the french gender is different to the german, sometimes it is the same. There is no logic (or at least none that I can find). So we have to muddle through and hope the French find it as charming as we Germans do when they use the wrong article :)
@housesparrow9273
2 жыл бұрын
Devinette : Elle fait une petite erreur en oubliant l'article. En français oral on n'oublie jamais l'article.
@ellymeikle5906
Жыл бұрын
She sounds like a native speaker.
@bairsm2081
2 жыл бұрын
Of course Dame Helen Mirren, the personification of class. Just a little disagreement with “ce sont” et “c’est”: it’s a little mistake that can pass (no one will be offended by that), but using “c’est”+plural is totally incorrect. Maybe it depends on the people you are talking to, but no French people will make such mistake (i mean educated French people). Unfortunately language also reflects your education, social standing, etc.
@benphillips6662
2 жыл бұрын
wish this channel was entirely in french
@michaeldonohue167
2 жыл бұрын
Elle a l'air charmante dans n'importe quelle langue
@mimiwako4301
2 жыл бұрын
Moi je lui donne 18/20
@fastnbulbouss
2 жыл бұрын
The Queen speaks perfect french also...just saying...😎
@BFVK
2 жыл бұрын
J'aime tes yeux, ta barbe et ta coupe de cheveux... j'ai l'impression de me voir dans le miroir ^^
@xavierkreiss8394
2 жыл бұрын
She has an accent but her French is easy and fluent. I'd say7 out of 10.
@franciscoamayanaranjo2213
3 жыл бұрын
She speaks a very very good french. Excellent and magnificent french. 20/20. She is so beautiful, sexy, classy, talented and gorgeous. I love her.😍😍😍❤❤❤💋💋💋
@dancroitoru364
Жыл бұрын
And now for something completely different: "foreign parrots can parrot too"
@Nekoala
2 жыл бұрын
As a French native speaker I would rate her 17 (Jodie Foster being 20 or close). She makes a few errors here and there, and her accent is perfectible, but one can tell she acquired the language. As you pointed out, her pronounciation is quite great and the "liaisons" are respected (or deliberately let down sometimes, which tells even more about her ease at speaking french). As of the gendered nouns, it is rather a petty mistake since it regards an illogical trait of our crazy language and requires rote learning from a very young age to me mastered, really.
@manueladocef9781
2 жыл бұрын
Totally agree
@magic_hotel
2 жыл бұрын
Two more comparisons would be Charlotte Rampling and Kristin Scott Thomas. Both fluent, but I've no idea how they would rate.
@corystajduhar
2 жыл бұрын
17 and 20. What's the scale?
@ennediend2865
2 жыл бұрын
No "crazy language" at all ... 🙄
@Nekoala
2 жыл бұрын
@@corystajduhar Oh yeah my bad, we're used to it in France but not so much anywhere else I guess... the scale I had in mind is a 20.
@gregmcnair4272
2 жыл бұрын
The fact that she's made the effort to speak French gives her extra points.
@mistermort77
2 жыл бұрын
As a French native speaker, I must say that she’s very good. I would love to speak english as she speaks French.
@crissandra58
3 жыл бұрын
Hello. Le mot budget vient du Français "bougette", petite bourse où l'on mettait ses pièces. Ce terme a été ensuite emprunté par les Anglais, avec une prononciation "boudgette", qui devint "budget". Les Français le réimportèrent de nouveau avec la prononciation "budgÉ" (budget). Voilou 😊
@da96103
3 жыл бұрын
So like ping pong, back and forth.
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
Waouh. Qu'est-ce qui t'a amené à apprendre l'étymologie du mot budget ? Fascinant :)
@clairejonas6125
2 жыл бұрын
Oui, 70% du lexique anglais est d'origine française (coach, toast, management, bacon, caterpillar, entreprise, entrepreneur, etc.etc.etc. )
@crissandra58
2 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight ce sont des choses que je lis, et que je retiens. Ça me sert seulement quand je joue à des jeux de culture générale, ou sur KZitem apparemment 😄😄😄
@richardblackburn1576
2 жыл бұрын
merci, Sandra - merci d'avoir résolu ce mystère, j'étais très intéressé par l'origine de ce mot car il ne ressemble pas à un mot français (par son orthographe) mais il sonne comme un mot français!
@jackrussell19a
2 жыл бұрын
I have lived in France for almost 20 years, since the age of 18.. I would honestly say I speak French to the same level as Helen Mirram.. I speak fluidly and make some mistakes in conjugaison and fem/masc but I honestly don't care.. I'm not an academic and have never had formal lessons, just learnt from speaking to people and friends and diving in.. But what I hear constantly from French people is that they don't want me to perfect my French.. They say they find it adorable when I slip up,.. So I guess it depends on whether you want to be a perfectionist or not..
@sananton2821
2 жыл бұрын
Helen who?
@BellaFirenze
2 жыл бұрын
@@sananton2821 Keller.
@heididewhirst
2 жыл бұрын
This is so true, I have had a similar experience. I want to perfect my French for my own satisfaction but I appreciate that my current level with all its 'Jane Birkin-esque' mistakes is perfectly acceptable :)
@paulortiz2035
2 жыл бұрын
"It depends on whether you want you be a perfectionist or not". But it also depends on with whom you are speaking! Academic or not, there are those who will not suffer through anything less than perfect grammar, diction or pronunciation! I lived in France for approx 4 years. I could never hear the regional accents to save my life. It all sounded the same to me! But I also do not like music---- after a few minutes it is just a bunch of noise! Mozart, Pucinni, jazz, whatever kind of music, it gets very irritating, very quickly!And I want to switch it off! I have to switch it off!!!!! I prefer silence! Had my hearing tested a few years ago and I hear outside of the normal range--- on both ends of the scale so it isn't that there is a auditory problem. Weird, I know! And I try very hard to speak French 'correctly', accent wise, but often miss by a mile on some words but not on others. Some of the letter combinations are just not easy for me to master. While the final constanent is usually dropped there is often the faintest hint of it still there--- as with the final r,n,t, etc, which is usually dropped but it is still there, slightly. Or the word "rote" with an accent grave. That 'r' sound is just not in English. And it is difficult for most English speakers to get it--- exactly right! And I, miss it by a mile! Or is it, I miss by a kilometer?!! Perhaps what I really need to do is get a tongue transplant!!! (Do they even do tongue transplants???) In my mind I speak French like Jodie Foster or Sen John Kerry, accent wise. In reality I might sound more like 'Topjaw' on KZitem! But with a really strong American accent rather than his guy's 'Scottish!' French one! Which is quite interesting to listen to! They did a '48 hours in Paris' video, if you want to hear what that accent combo sounds like! Very Interesting! And pleasant but I'm not sure how the French feel about it. But as i said, interesting!!! I suddenly wonder what a Dutch person speaking French would sound like!!???? What with the deep, throaty, gargling sounds they do when speaking Dutch. It would be very interesting to hear 10 or 20 different nationalities say the same exact sentence with their normal, basic native accent! I hope someone will do that as an illustration!!! I think it would be so be interesting to hear this. For example: a Laplander, an Inuit, a Massi, someone from Greenland, a Catalan, a person from Namibia, Nepal, Tibet, a First Nation Australian, a Korean, a Ukrainian, etc, etc. And then each person might say the same phrase in their language with everyone trying to repeat that set of sounds! Wouldn't that be fascinating? I think it would be!
@cameliap1146
2 жыл бұрын
@@paulortiz2035 tooo long.
@christineyee2117
3 жыл бұрын
J'adore Helen Mirren! Jaimerais parler le français aussi bien qu'elle. Merci...ces vidéos m'inspire.
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
C'est l'effet désiré! *ces vidéos m'inspirent
@Clelia16
2 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight ou bien : toutes ces vidéos, ça m'inspire. 😉
@andrewfletcher1341
Жыл бұрын
Are you british ?
@elliotbrault3972
2 жыл бұрын
My dad is English and he’s been speaking French for maybe 20-30 years and he still makes gender errors. So I don’t think it’s a big deal. If you can understand what she wants to say I think it’s fine.
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
I agree with you completely! Improve them if you wish, otherwise, communicating effectively is the main goal. Thanks for your comment Elliot!
@heronimousbrapson863
2 жыл бұрын
Considering that nouns in English don't have grammatical gender, that's understandable.
@professeurtournesol
2 жыл бұрын
On ne s'attend pas à ce que vous les sachiez tous! De plus, les mots récents (courriel, vidéo), il faut choisir leur genre !
@6thorb367
2 жыл бұрын
I'm french and I make gender errors ;-;
@josvelema2362
2 жыл бұрын
16/20 , mainly because she has the courage to freestyle , which is a big thing for the French. They really admire people , especially famous ones of course , that speak that level of French even though she makes subtle errors . I tend to cringe a bit when see pronounces letters that are not be pronounced but that is ok. The way she said budget was posh and really funny .
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
She is pretty posh!
@Antoine7654321
2 жыл бұрын
French native here and I can give her a solid 17/20. so little mistakes and the accent is great.
@EmorettaRobinson
2 жыл бұрын
Helen Mirren is a treasure. Not just in the UK but the acting community and the world. She carries herself with such style, class, grace and dignity. She's also very intelligent, talented and charismatic. I've yet to see her being interested where I thought she didn't do well. This may be the 3rd video of yours that I've watched today. You have such a great amount of insight and give plenty of good advice
@elfeling7187
2 жыл бұрын
Cheers Alex for this video. Dame Helen Mirren definitely is a national treasure: she's talented, pretty, witty, sharp and her French is beautiful and the little errors she makes can definitely be forgiven. You are quite right about 'cité'. As for 'budget', I read somewhere that in the Middle Ages, people carried a small purse in which they placed their coins and, if I remember correctly, it was called a 'bougette'. William the Conqueror took the word across the Channel - along with many other things - where it took on a new pronunciation before it travelled back to France with a new meaning - though still relating to money. Loved that video with her (and your) charming accents (by the way, you definitely are an expert in French!). But why the spelling mistake at 10'23 (neighbourhood looks so much nicer)? And loved the Occitan flag on your wall! Best from another (French) Alex (who happens to be a certified ENFR translator).
@isabellenicaud3725
2 жыл бұрын
She speaks in a natural way, her british accent is adorable and the mistakes with "une petite film" are charming (we don't care because we understand perfectly what she's telling us) Bravo to HM 👍
@StillAliveAndKicking_
Жыл бұрын
She has a pleasant unpretentious way of speaking, and communicates really well and confidently.
@florentdelassiaz
2 жыл бұрын
You are totally right about the wird "cité". I am French and it's really great to see native English speakers enjoying speaking French. You are right: Helen Mirren speaks French very well and in a lovely manner.
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing, Florent!
@Wangbrothers2
Жыл бұрын
I learnt French for 4 years when I was in colleague which is 40 years ago. Today I still can remember some French words and more importantly, my love and my sentiment for French never faded. Now, I decided to pick up my French by following your program on regular basis and practice, speaking on daily basis. Thank you for your program which is very helpful and encouraged me to get started my French learning journey happily.
@pateris
2 жыл бұрын
She speaks very well, natural flow indeed, and her accent and even her tiny mistakes are adorable. It's Mrs Mirren, the epitome of British-ness the way we love it. (Yes, I'm French !)
@jeanrose1627
2 жыл бұрын
I'm french and i give her 15/20 as well. She does some mistakes but i think that is because she did not speak french for a while . But she's very fluid which means she has a lot of confidence. Very good PS: sorry for my english 😅
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
Never apologise for your English. Besides, what you wrote is really great. The only thing I'd change in order to be native-like is "does some mistakes" -> "makes some mistakes". Mais c'est tout !
@kkandsims4612
2 жыл бұрын
I mean idk Isabel Hubert is French and they sound pretty dam similar to me but hey I am legit an American from utah do my accent game is like below parrr unless it’s very very sharp I’ll generalize the area your from but I am not as stupid as people In Idaho to think Scottish and Irish sound the same
@ochrechap
2 жыл бұрын
I am South African, and speak English as a first language / mother tongue. You HAVE expressed that well! That was good! However, I would have written this sentence as follows: She does MAKE some mistakes, but that is probably because she HAS NOT SPOKEN French in a while. Or She MAKES some mistakes..... 😄
@judna1
2 жыл бұрын
Hi! I'm Catalan, and I don't speak French yet but I will eventually, for now I speak: Catalan (my mother tongue), Spanish, English, Italian and Portuguese. So, even if I don't speak the language, I can manage to understand it a bit. By the way, what you said about getting the gender of the words wrong, it doesn't just happen to English and other speakers that doesn't use it, but it also happens to other Romance languages's speakers, because the gender changes between languages. For instance, "milk" in Catalan is called "llet", in Spanish "leche" in Italian "late" and in Portuguese "leite". Both in Catalan and Spanish, "milk" is a feminine word and both in Italian and Portuguese is a masculine word. That's why it gets so confusing even for us. Nice video! Best regards from Barcelona!
@Ahmed-ob6ec
2 жыл бұрын
And milk in French is "lait" which is masculine, all the best with learning French!
@judna1
2 жыл бұрын
@@Ahmed-ob6ec Thanks😊👍🏽
@christophebouyssi2739
2 жыл бұрын
As a French teacher in academic context, I would say 20/20 to my colleague Alex from French in Plain Sight. It's exactely the way I do teaching French as a Foreign Language by picking up what right is, or well done, or even lovely accent, instead of focusing on mistake. That's a excellent way to give motivation to beginners or false beginners who are frustrated after the French learning at school.
@fredquinn3919
3 жыл бұрын
Wonderful choice for the lesson. I came here expecting Ms. Mirren would excel at speaking french (mostly because the English have so much more opportunity to use it regularly and her profession would lend itself to many opportunities). I think you were slightly ungenerous in your score which I would put at around 17 and because I've always loved her anyway, I'd probably bump it up to an 18 (and I realize how unprofessional that is...lol). Thanks as always for a wonderful and informative video.
@Phagocytosis
2 жыл бұрын
I also thought she deserved a bit more than 15/20, and I thought for example her French R wasn't that bad, really, it was certainly not the H-like sound that Alex was making when repeating her pronunciation. But my French is probably below Helen Mirren's (or at least my level of comfort with the language certainly is), so I admit that it's very possible I'm just missing on more subtle things that were lacking.
@chrispark4310
2 жыл бұрын
She is brilliant, never mind the few mistakes, she sounds natural and the sentences are flowing, she ain’t pausing or thinking too much, that’s already a great achievement. Toujours aussi charmante ! But the points you highlight are correct. Je lui donnerais un 16 cause she’s such a star 😀
@lenski8306
2 жыл бұрын
As a french native speaker, i think she has quite a good french and she has a better mastery of this language than many french . What is funny is that she has learned a Paris-like accent. It strikes me as a french living near the german frontier ^^ And it might be me but i've never heard anybody using the "holala" except in a exasperated groan. Even boomer barely use this expression. But seing that people give her grades, i'd give her a good 17.5/20 wich is good. Personnally, depending on to whom you speak, many french would be beetween 7 or 13 (mostly on a low socio economic level) or 15-18 ( high middle or high class citizen). 20 would be for language teacher on academic level.
@johannesaid244
2 жыл бұрын
I think, when a person is making an effort in speaking a language, which is not their native language (mother tongue), as long that we understand each other, it is just perfect for me. My mother tongue is créole (I'm an islander from a past french and British colony), and I do speak both French and English. But have to admit, French is pretty much difficult, with all the grammar and the gender defining. But, hey, as long as we understand each other, for me, it doesn't matter😉
@towaritch
2 жыл бұрын
She speaks better French than most French young generations
@lordlucan7655
Жыл бұрын
Wesh …
@maryconnor6173
Жыл бұрын
😂
@xavierplatiau3574
2 жыл бұрын
I love your videos because it makes me reflect on my own language (French). It’s true I never use « Ce sont » which sounds very formal to my ears. And about « que », it made me remember how difficult it was to avoid putting « that » everywhere when I learned English.
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for confirming!
@triplea5293
3 жыл бұрын
after Helen referred to her city of origin as cité she then said that her city didn't have a lot of cinemas "qui avait pas beaucoup de cinémas", so I am inclined to believe that she is using cité correctly as in the 2nd definition and she lived in an impoverished city as a child. I love Helen's french and I can understand her completely.
@hcm5467
2 жыл бұрын
it's definitely a mistake, she meant to say "ville" and not city
@elviracorella7473
2 жыл бұрын
I agree
@susie2251
2 жыл бұрын
No, she grew up in a small, out of the way seaside village so that’s what she meant by no cinemas. I don’t think that would qualify as a cite.
@emmanuelidrac6163
2 жыл бұрын
As a french native i can tell that she is pretty good and we don't really care about these small mistakes right and left. Some French native speakers do worth than her :) I was also impressed by Yul Brynner who spoke a pretty classy French.
@sebastiaanvanwater
2 жыл бұрын
Her French is pretty good. Not native level obviously, but flows naturally.
@ludovicmasset292
2 жыл бұрын
17/20! Je suis français et je trouve qu'elle a un très bon accent. Elle utilise des expressions de la vie courante, très naturelles. Elle fait quelques erreurs mais qui n'empêchent absolument pas de la comprendre. I'm french and I think she has a good accent. She uses very natural everyday life expressions. She makes a few mistakes that don't disturb the understanding.
@Kassiusday
2 жыл бұрын
Boris Johnson speaks french .. specially when he drinks wine and some cheese , Fridays night …
@sann5146
2 жыл бұрын
Gosh, at first with the side view only, I thought that interviewer was Kate Winslet!
@dargaard93
2 жыл бұрын
Helen Mirren is such an extraordinary french speaking woman ! Her accent is brilliant and her french is wonderful.
@ponfed
2 жыл бұрын
That's a real thing you're saying. Les erreurs de grammaires ne sont pas super importantes dans les interactions. Quand c'est fluides et cohérent, on s'en fou. On peu travailler dessus si on veut. Mais quand c'est fluide...
@MoonSafari75
2 жыл бұрын
Si c'était une épreuve de langue étrangère au bac, elle aurait plus que 15. Aux alentours de 17 ou 18. Elle fait quelques erreurs, certes, mais elle gère parfaitement la conversation, ce qui est le but, à une épreuve orale du bac.
@blinnith
3 жыл бұрын
A propos de "cité": Le sens de cité (médiévale) est circonscris à un contexte médiéval, le sens de ville moderne peut parfois être utilisé dans un contexte formel: un maire peut dire: "bienvenu dans ma cité", mais pas les autres gens. Dans ce contexte, on parle aussi de "cité de la musique", de "cité des sciences", de la "cité de l'espace". On peut parle de cité aussi pour parler du quartier de la "vieille ville" (médiévale), dans ce cas c'est pratiquement devenu un nom propre: la "cité de Carcassone" (désigne non pas la ville de Carcassone, mais le quartier de la vieille ville). Par contre le sens moderne le plus courant est celui de "cité HLM" (quartier d'Habitations à Loyer Modérés), devenu cité tout court: la France des années 50 qui se reconstruit après la guerre. A l'époque ce sont de luxueux logements par rapport à l'environnement, avec l’électricité, l'eau courante, les toilettes à l'intérieur. Ils sont devenu des quartiers défavorisés au fil des décennies, ça équivaut le plus souvent a un endroit qu'on imagine pauvre et soumis à une certaine violence, et aussi à l'immigration, les immigrants ayant remplacés les français qui y vivaient avec la paupérisation des lieux, les dealers de drogue faisant la loi, selon l'imaginaire en tout cas. Donc il ne vaut mieux pas dire "cité" quand on veut parler de ville, sauf contexte ou ça ne prête pas à confusion. Ce qui n'est pas le cas ici et moi je comprends en tant que français qu'elle vient d'un quartier pauvre (donc pas de cinéma), ce qui est peut être ce qu'elle veut dire effectivement !
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
Waouh, merci beaucoup d'avoir pris le temps de nous apprendre cela. C'est fascinant. Sur ma chaîne je dois donner des conseils sur la langue qui sont simples et dont permettent aux apprenants de les mettre en œuvre sans se soucier des connotations trop subtiles, qui risquent de les freiner à l'oral. Cela dit, pour cette utilisation de "cité", je me suis dit que ça vallait le coup d'évoquer le fait que de nos jours, le sens qu'elle souhaitait exprimer était celui de "ville" et non pas "cité HLM". Je savais qu'étant donne que cité ressemble beaucoup au mot anglais "city" qui est du registre courant, on peut se dire que ce n'est qu'un synonyme alors que ce n'est pas le cas. Voilà, je pense que tu avais compris ça mais j'avais envie de l'expliquer. Ensemble avec le commentaire Bertrand, les abonnés vont pouvoir bien comprendre et utiliser cité et ville avec la connotation exacte.
@blinnith
3 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight Il faut faire attention avec la définition du dictionnaire classique. www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/cit%C3%A9/16229 Officiellement "cité" est synonyme de "ville" , ca ne veut pas dire que tu vas l'employer à la place de ville n'importe ou. Si tu veux parler d'une ville, tu dis "ville", le temps de connaitre les rares fois ou tu pourras utiliser cité à la place :) D'autant que cité veut dire souvent autre chose que ville (voir les liens ci-dessous) notamment dans le langage soutenu. Le terme cité était d'ailleurs très utilisé dans l'urbanisme Français des années 50-60 et la reconstruction: cité dortoir, cité ouvrière, cité administrative, cité universitaire (abrégé en "Cité U" par les étudiants) dans un sens qui désigne une entité sociale ou administrative, plus qu'un lieu physique. On parle aussi de cité idéale ou de cité céleste, ou des "Sept cités d'or". Il vaut mieux utiliser un dictionnaire spécifique comme le wiktionary fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cit%C3%A9 qui contient aussi pas mal d'argot et langage de rue, et qui est a jour sur l'usage de la langue dans la rue. Ou le CNRTL (universitaires) cnrtl.fr/definition/cit%C3%A9 qui donne plus d'informations historiques et contextuelles.
@Dan-pv3ln
3 жыл бұрын
Ses française c'est très bien! Je pense qu'elle est une des meilleurs célébrités vous avez revu, elle est confiant et est naturel à parler. Merci Alex pour cette revoir!
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
Merci à toi Dan et je suis fier de toi pour continuer à écrire tes commentaires en français. Ça c'est une habitude très importante. J'ai compris tout ce que tu as dit, donc ça c'est le premier objectif ! Permets-moi de corriger les fautes ? Juste pour t'aider. *Son français, c'est très bien. "Je pense qu'elle est une des meilleurs célébrités vous avez revu" = Cette partie est quasiment (virtually) parfaite ! *Elle est confiante et naturelle. *Cette revue
@Dan-pv3ln
3 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight Merci à toi pour l'aide, tout est très utile!
@heleneg.2703
2 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight Sorry, but I can't help myself, I have to put "mon grain de sel". The second sentence should be: je pense qu'elle est une des meilleurEs (as she is a she) célébrités que vous ayez étudiées (or maybe "analysées"). "Revu" is a translation from review, we don't use it for a person). :-)
@auriabelmeliani965
2 жыл бұрын
@@heleneg.2703 Merci Helene pour la correction. J'allais le faire remarquer a Chris (la difference des genres)
@momo160769
2 жыл бұрын
Hey !, I love what you’re doing ,… I had no clue Helen Mirren was such a good french speaker . I’m a French speaker myself and I can tell you we just love a strong English accent especially the British one , even with some mistakes , it doesn’t matter, I think it’s quite charming 💕 . So she deserves a good 16/20 I just wanted to point out that: “ c’est” when used with a plural subject ( c’est +des fleurs) is still wrong … even if you can sometimes hear it, it’s still considered as a lower class French … the best way to say it will always be : “ce sont des fleurs” , so if you go to a job interview or an official meeting: you’d better use the correct grammar and vocabulary ( for French native speakers of course) … especially in France !!! ( I think they are more picky about language) …and I can say this because I’m belgian, and they make fun with all our typical Belgian words and expressions translated or influenced by dutch … that’s why everybody should come to Belgium to practice their French because we have so many different official languages here ( French, Dutch, German) that people are more lenient about languages ;) PS: Holalaaaa 😱 !!! is probably going to disappear in younger generations of French speaking countries and we’ll probably end up with “holala” being used in english speaking countries only and : “OMG !!! ” being used by french speakers 😂😂😂
@thierrymilan2039
2 жыл бұрын
Not a lower class French, just popular or usual French used by any class of French people. Fixed.
@davidyoya
2 жыл бұрын
C'est très bien, effectivement quelques erreurs mais elle peut tout à fait communiquer avec des français. Je suis parisien :-) super vidéo!
@cottelled
2 жыл бұрын
I didn’t know that she speaks French, but to me she speaks really well - Bravo Helen! I’d definitely give her 17 or even 18 - I know French “notes” are all much lower but isn’t this a channel for Brits? Thus UK marking standards. I think (that!!) the only reason “une” film jolted our sensibilities is because it’s her métier so actually she should really know it’s masculine… She’s a great example to learners of French!
@fv1291
3 жыл бұрын
I love her use if Frenchlish, and how the interviewer never cringes at Helen's mistakes.
@FrenchinPlainSight
3 жыл бұрын
Overall, she makes very mistakes. The interviewer seems happy. Frenchlish. Not head that one before! Franglais ou franglish. But hey, they're all made up words! Je parle frenchlish aussi !
@fv1291
3 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight Ah yes, right up there with Spanglish :)
@jeanrose1627
2 жыл бұрын
@@FrenchinPlainSight I think your french is very good. The biggest issue is probably your "english speaker" accent which is totally fine to me as a frenchman.
@FrenchinPlainSight
2 жыл бұрын
@@jeanrose1627 Merci ! I don't consider it a negative anymore. If I'm understood, and once it a while, someone thinks I'm French, I'm happy.
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