She is almost at native level. I can barely detect an accent. Her flow is fast and natural. You can see she really thinks in French.

@delilah9988

2 жыл бұрын

Oh come on ! You can’t be french....

@brunojsaisplus9352

2 жыл бұрын

@@delilah9988 I'm French and i agree with sebastiaan. Her french and accent are crazy good. She puts some english words exactly like Jean-Claude Van Damme, a native french speaker (Belgium).

@ailishbethd4033

2 жыл бұрын

I heard s hint of an English acceni in 'enfin j'espère que c'était pas'

@alant367

2 жыл бұрын

She has a strong accent to me.

@JustBeingAwesome

2 жыл бұрын

Her accent is still very pronounced. But she is fluent indeed. (Trilingual Dutch-French-English from Belgium here ;))

I speak 3 languages. 2 fluent. Not counting French. My speech can be strange too. I totally agree. I am no longer thinking in a language sometimes. I just have a concept in my mind . Sometimes I struggle to formulate the word. My mother tongue is so rusty now as I have barely use it much since 17. I use English at work, watch only English media. So if you don’t use it, even your mother tongue can get rusty when you try to formulate a proper thought

@olgakent8343

2 жыл бұрын

Same happened to me, my mother tongue was russian, and at the age of about 9 I stopped talking in russian. And at age 15 I regretted not speaking it anymore...but it was too rusty and too forgotten at that point, still I ma trying to pick it up again at age 20😂 I can still understand it but have sometimes a hard time talking and expressing myself, which was your mother tongue? :)

@Mika88Kenichi

2 жыл бұрын

I can relate to this. I speak 3 languages of my country and English fluently. I spend most of my time speaking my 3rd language and use in English at work and when watching KZread videos. I only speak my native language when talking to my parents or relatives (which is just about 3 times a month) and with my sister and cousins I speak my 3rd language. I sometimes forget some words in my native language and have to use another language to fill in the missing vocabulary. As for my 2nd language my accent is now rusty as I rarely speak it unless I have to call the customer support hotlines of companies in our country.

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

That's integration. i know native english speakers who can't speak as well as celebrities, despite 20 years plus working in France, and can't speak english either on command. Lost in translation. That's common. After just one year abroad, I spoke english to another french native on the train; neither of us were ready to be back.i explained to my mother this sauce I wanted. i explained mayonnaise. totally forgaotten it was a french word...Typical of stuffs I coudn't translate.

@HarvestMoon2049

2 жыл бұрын

That would happen to my Mom at times. She would say she was away from home so long, she was forgetting her Spanish.

I saw her playing a French in a French film once and I was mesmerised with her. She’s soooo good.

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Mesmerising is a great word to describe it!

@PHlophe

2 жыл бұрын

​@@FrenchinPlainSight could you please analyze Jeane Manson who is our resident Frenchie American and then next jane Birquin.

@gnarbeljo8980

2 жыл бұрын

One of my favorite actors!

@phungteha8407

2 жыл бұрын

There was a time I thought she’s French…

@PHlophe

2 жыл бұрын

@@phungteha8407 come on !

I am French and have been living in the USA for many years. I find your analysis of the French spoken by non native French famous people very interesting and quite instructing for those who want to learn the French "de tous les jours" (everyday's French). Well done!

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Merci Al!

@stephanieincarnato1964

2 жыл бұрын

Excellent explanation indeed. I am also french and find your vidéo very interesting. You really understand the sense of the world. Very weldone to you ! 👏

@curiousobserver97

2 жыл бұрын

@@stephanieincarnato1964 Hi Stéphanie, not trying to be mean here, but you made a small mistake. I think most people will understand what you are saying. "Very well done," not "very weldone to you." Please don't take offense, I am just trying to help. You write in English and that's awesome 👍

@stephanieincarnato1964

2 жыл бұрын

@@curiousobserver97 oups yes you are right. What a stupid mistake. Thank you for pointed that 😊

@curiousobserver97

2 жыл бұрын

@@stephanieincarnato1964 I wish I had someone to fix my french mistakes. 🤭

About the use of 'si': when foreign speakers respond to a negative statement with 'oui' instead of 'si', a native French speaker is really puzzled and may actually not understand the response. It may not look like much from the outside, but from the inside it's huge and really gets in the way of mutual understanding.

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

like the questions in either/ or the foreigners can't understand and answer with oui in doubt. (i can't understand, but I don't want to disappoint) Let us rephrase. And learn this assertive "SI". not every language has it.

@lautoka63

2 жыл бұрын

"Si"; we loved that when we lived in Toulouse for a year. We had French au pairs for the first 18 months after returning to New Zealand and "si" was often used.

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

@@lautoka63 Good for you. French are notoriously opinionated au-pairs. not appreciated. Which means you're good people. Glad you exchanged. My family in Scotland will always be in my heart. The english one, terrible experience.The heir firstbone english DNA; then 2 Ethopians he could play with as slaves, then another natural child raised by the elder to treat them as scum; the little lord raised his hand on me when I came to defend his brother. That was the end. I called the agency, explained to his father I could not stay. He was 14. To Me, not a child, not in my neck of the woods. I explained that. Should I ever see him lay a hand on someone, we'll fight, he'lose. I pushed the agency to move me or fire me, right away

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

@@lautoka63 Au pair, dans une bonne famille, c'est pas un mauvais échange. Et, les liens qu'on tisse avec les enfants, 24/24 avec, plus que les parents. Objectif atteint : on est la grande soeur. Pour des gens qui travaillent beaucoup, on est plus que des employés à l'heure, on forme n lien avec les gosses, moi on m'a copieusement engueulée. Ma petite crevette était attaquée à l'école. Bon, vieille méthode, je lui ai appris à se défendre. 3 Mn après c'est lui qui terrifiait la cour de récré. J'ai été convoquée chez la directrice...Le Gnome (plus c'est petit, plus ça fait de bruit, il faisait sans blague une tête de moins que les autres, d'ailleurs il a poussé sous mes yeux). Mais en revanche je lui ai appris à respecter les adutes, à 3 ans déjà il tapait sa mère tout le temps et copieusement, bleus pour le prouver. Elle disait rien, "t'es pas gentil"; Je l'ai un peu mis au carré, mais heureusement que le beau-père est pur Scot, sinon, j'aurais pas fait 2 semaines. La discipline, c'était inacceptable pour la mère, ça fait des enfants malheureux. Euh, fallait sortir du châtiment corporel avant; et à l'époque les gens payaient cher pour le privé et les chatiments corporels (comme ma première famille). J'ai pas été très drôle mais la seule en dehors du beau-père à inculquer des bases. Une grande soeur plus agée.

@alexsamckenzie5742

2 жыл бұрын

While this observation may be true for some foreign speakers, I do not think that this is universally true, including in the case of native speakers - at least from an oral standpoint. The use of French varies from region to region. For example, French Canada doesn’t explicitly make that distinction, although native speakers do understand the difference in meaning. Rather, the use of 'si' is relatively uncommon among native speakers. - Francophone who has lived in both French Canada and France.

I really love your channel (as a French native speaker), because paradoxically (or not), it helps me improve my English! I love languages, and do a lot of translating (mainly from English to French) and your insights feed my own thinking about languages and their relations. I also love Kristin Scott Thomas, her impeccable career, and her spectacular mastery of French language! So, just a few specks on her immaculate French dress... - Although you're right in stating that dropping the "ne" or "n'" is perfectly acceptable, and widely used, it is true in oral language only. Except with someone very close (or maybe if looking for some peculiar literary effect) you should not write "c'était pas" in a formal text, You are also certainly right about Mrs Scott Thomas's "Je ne fais plus ça". She is somehow insisting with subtle, elegant and discreet humor on the fact that she is actually a very talented actress, offering us finally this absolutely lovely smile of hers! Tht's why she improves slightly the level of her language.... - On the other hand, I think that "J'étais pour devenir professeur de théâtre" is actually an anglicism. She should have said either "mon projet était de devenir..." or "Je voulais seulement devenir...." But "j'étais pour devenir" is incorrect (or maybe regional, but in the sense of "j'étais sur le point de..." - I was about to... in Normandy rural parlance). - But with all due courtesy, you missed a more serious mistake (which looks to me as another anglicism); "Je n'osais pas M'admettre" is definitely incorrect. She should have said either simply "Je n'osais pas admettre", personal pronoun "me" not being necessary, since we perfectly understand that she did not "admit to herself", or alternatively (and probably better) "Je n'osais pas m'avouer". Encore bravo pour votre chaîne ! Désolé pour les fautes d'anglais ! Keep up the good job!

@funambuline19

Жыл бұрын

je suis tout à fait d'accord. J'ai atteri ici un peu par hasard et je suis contente de comprendre tout ce qui est dit.

Thank you for videos like this. It's great for non-native speakers who are still learning.

I am a french native speaker, living in the uk for over 7 and 1/2 year, and I noticed my french pronuncuiation got worst over the years, and when I get back for holidays , I have a strong English twang on my French. However, I didn`t really achieved completely yet a complete transformation of my acccent in English to speak exactly like a native English speaker yet....

Fascinating! That bit about her English work affecting her French accent, and your explanation of how it’s like a muscle resonates with an experience I once had. I never thought I’d lose my Spanish pronunciation from my childhood, but turns out you can! I recently realized I hadn’t used it in so long that I was tongue-tied and cumbersome in pronunciation of Spanish words as an adult lol. So far French pronunciations are completely out of reach for me, but I’m determined to get it enough to be understood. Also, I’d love to see a video like this of Freddie Highmore speaking French. Another French KZreadr recently did it and I’d love hear your take as well!

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment. I've been meaning to reply to your previous one! So happy it resonated for you. Is Spanish your mother tongue? How long have you been learning French? Sorry if you've already told me. I think I know the other channel that reviewed Freddie. Thank you. I'll add him to my list!

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

you may have forgotten but Spanish is way more useful to learn french. helps you to be more flexible, plus of course a bit more latin roots (although english has plenty). As a french native, I appreciate Southern Americans; your spanish is waaay slower than the infernal blabla talked in Spain. I guess Canadians bless Parisians too, not our suburbs, because quebeckers can be a bit tricky at first even if you speak french.

So glad I found this channel. Thank you.

I find your videos so interesting. I studied French at university and these videos are wonderful. Thank you

I'm French and she speaks French perfectly. 20 years ago, we could hear a little accent, but not today. She's perfect. I love her. 🇫🇷😍

@thomasharter8161

2 жыл бұрын

Tu n'as rien compris toi. Toujours ces compliments exagérés des Français...

@isabelledrevet5913

2 жыл бұрын

@@thomasharter8161 heu... On se connaît, "HATER "? Le vouvoiement, ça vous parle ? L'agressivité en guise d'arguments... Facile derrière un écran !

@thomasharter8161

2 жыл бұрын

@@isabelledrevet5913 Si tu ne veux pas de commentaires '' Duvet '' désactive ou taie toi. Ton copier/coller que la majorité des Français aliénés sortent à chaque fois on connait donc c'est une agression...

@isabelledrevet5913

2 жыл бұрын

@@thomasharter8161 prenez des cours de français et allez consulter. Je suis libre de m'exprimer et votre agressivité est révélatrice d'une frustration que seul un spécialiste peut soigner. Je n'ai attaqué personne, allez vous défouler sur quelqu'un d'autre.

@thomasharter8161

2 жыл бұрын

@@isabelledrevet5913 C'est toi qui devrais prendre des cours d'anglais! mon français est très bon. La preuve ton commentaire indique clairement que ton anglais est déficient. Et je parle plusieurs langues ce qui n'est certainement pas ton cas. Les gens sans arguments comme toi psychiatrisent rapidement puisqu'ils font de la projection.

I love this video! Finally someone addressing this very important topic, which is present in regards to any language we learn. I've noticed this strongly with italian, how different people tend to phrase things in other languages.

I'm loving doing these breakdowns! Who should I do next? Speak French with Confidence with my 4-step methodology: bit.ly/3qMPU7L

@shweefranglais7900

3 жыл бұрын

How about Johnny Depp?

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

@@shweefranglais7900 Excellent. Je ne l'avais pas sur ma liste.

@knishkasood2089

3 жыл бұрын

Plz teach french grammer ,vocabulary,slang words,greetings for the festive season

@charlottevairet3453

2 жыл бұрын

Histoire de remonter dans le temps, pourquoi ne pas présenter Yul Brynner (qui pourrait bien surpasser Jodie Foster 😊 ! ), Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck...ou encore Erich von Stroheim* (extraits de films français d'avant-guerre* ) ? Je crois que Jane Fonda parle aussi très très bien français.

@Queen-of-Swords

2 жыл бұрын

Explainin how Justin Trudeau manages to sound so awful speaking French. Its a beautiful language! Also, I used to like him, befoer I heard his French. But then came the truckers.

I listen to you explaining this, the conjugation of the words, etc and I'm totally convinced that I might not have enough time left on earth, to learn this!! Wow! So confusing, but I still love listening to French, would just like to know what is being said more. Still listening to your videos, it's making me want to learn more. (from Sandi)

Her "enfin" shortcut could be translated by "I mean" here. About the disappearing "ne" you could see it as the same subtle difference between "no, I don't" and "no, I do not". Sometimes you want to be more precise in your negation, but it's often not needed.

@FrenchinPlainSight

2 жыл бұрын

That's a good comparison !

Love this Alex thank you😘😘

Fascinant Alex. J'ai vraiment apprécié cela!

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Super Heather :). Ça me fait plaisir

Excellent video, bravo !

Immersion is the best way! I arrived in France with Bonjour, Aurevoir, counting to 10 and Je Voudrais un kilo des pommes. I had zero idea what anyone was saying to me...and I still don't! 🤣 jokes aside, my French vastly improved and that's living there that helped.

Thank you for the videos, they are really helpful. I have just started the journey of learning French!

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Bon courage ! (You might learn Bonne chance but the French say bon courage more often for good luck :) )

@Clif87

3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight Merci!

The 'Enfin situation' is very good actually. And how she uses the 'y' in: Enfin, on oublie qu'à la fin il va y avoir un montage. It melts so good between va and avoir, that her flow sounds like a slam, just because she also could have said it like Enfin, à la fin on oublie qu'il y aura un montage. Which is also correct. She puts more importance in at the end = à la fin. It's poetic, it sounds like a rime in the middle of the sentence and then it flows very quickly to montage. You have: Enfin… montage. Enfin…personnage. The same with the first sentence: Parfois on oublie with: Enfin , on oublie. It's incredible and interesting for actors. When you're a professional actor mostly what you do is mastering language, you study how to put the words in a right rythmn. The letter y is very interesting for a liaison. To make it like a part of the next word.

Très bon travail et bravo à vous!

Brilliant!

Awesome! Thanks!

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

De rien Frank. Did you learn anything new?

Merci vous m'encourage beaucoup. Vous êtes vraiment un bon prof!

One day very soon, I'll have more time to sit down and learn the language! My tongue flows in it very well.

Si to respond to negatively phrased questions makes SO MUCH sense. I wish English had that. It's sort of like asking "Do you mind if I sit here?" (since this is a negatively phrased question), and people respond with - Yes... Yes - you mind? Or yes - I may sit here? Always puzzles me. I propose with "Nes" - No, but yes :)

I really enjoyed this. Thanks. It is hard to find material once one has reached a certain level.

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Yea, one has to start getting creative. Glad it helped Nigel

@deniaridley

2 жыл бұрын

Yes! Good point.

Interesting videos approach, Mr. Both your French and your English are perfect. Thanks for the idiom tips. Greetings from Madrid!

@FrenchinPlainSight

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure!

J'ai beaucoup aimé votre travail. Très sympa de déconstruire l'interview. Je vous suggère de laisser un lien de l'émission pour que les gens qui vous suivent puissent après votre analyse le réécouter librement. Mercès plan!

She speaks beautifully french. She does'nt have to be perfect. Félicitations Christine!!

@DrWhom

2 жыл бұрын

on peut dire qu'elle parle "french beautifully" ou bien qu'elle parle un "beautiful french". par contre "beautifully french" cela ne passe pas. bah c'est pas donné, la grammaire anglaise. doesn't, et non pas does'nt même si ca a un certain logique

@jeannettestuckelschwaiger5071

2 жыл бұрын

@@DrWhom I think you're dead right dear ! thank.

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

@@DrWhom Oui enfin clavier, internet, déjà. Beautifully french indeed. Mais fais la leçon à nos gosses, envoie-les en France apprendre le français, ça nous changera.

Thank you! Merci ! Interesting analysis, mot par mot, j'aime ça ! And - as English is a foreign language for me as well - I enjoy the British accent too, j'ai un double pleasure! 😁

@Rowlph8888

11 ай бұрын

The British accent Speaking in French or English?

@peterostertag8699

10 ай бұрын

@@Rowlph8888 well, the British English! 😀

Quel est belle Kristin!!

Ça m’à vraiment surprise !

Très bonne chaîne et très bon boulot, Alex ! Bravo !

Hello ! Thank you for this interesting video ; I like Kristin very much ; her accent is so sweet (très agréable à écouter ❤) ; she's a great actress.

It's very funny. I am following an English video about ..Kristin Scott Thomas speaking French. I enjoy it 💙💙💙💙

I suddenly want to take up French again, that I tried to learn over 30 years ago. 😁

@HarvestMoon2049

2 жыл бұрын

Me too!☺

For British..she does French hand movements too. I'm impressed

Trés utile pour moi.

Bonjour! The conversation around "si" reminds me of the Pink Panther cartoons from my childhood ( the bumbking policeman kept getting "si" and "oui" confused (Canadian here). I was fortunate enough to have an excellent high school French teacher, who taught us about "si" versus "oui." Bon travail et merci!

@trishemerald2487

2 жыл бұрын

* bumbling

I am British living in France ( 42 years ) and my best friend is American also living in France ( 30 years ). I spoke French quite well before coming to France and was always told in the first months that I spoke too 'posh', like Giscard ! So I shut up for a while and mixed with other layers of society and then my speech went the other way but over the years it's a mix. I tend to speak using terms and words that are not commonly used 'inusité' as we say in France. I read French as I read English. I did study Latin for some time at school which does help with language. I had to learn Italian for work and then moved to Brazil where I had to learn Portuguese. It is much easier to learn a third and fourth language when you already speak two so that explains why people tend to keep on adding languages to their collection. Jeune I tried to learn Greek and then Serbo-Croate but they were both countries I couldn't then go to so stopped.

Hello :) At around the 15:11 mark, when you talking about when 'modern French' is translated directly into English, it can can sound like you 'come from a different class or gives off a different vibe', you say this is something you're interested in. I - on my long and painful journey of learning French - am consumed by the notion that 'Modern French', when translated directly into English, sounds like Victorian-era English. I started reading Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities' and could see how these old English sentence structures are so similar to Modern French sentence structure. Now, when I want to translate something, I just imagine how an old Victorian person might say it and it pretty much works every time. Is this just me??

@housesparrow9273

2 жыл бұрын

Funny, i had the same impression when i used to watch Indian movies (their English looks like french translation word by word, lot of which, whom, that ...). Couldn't have a confirmation of this impression, since then. So thank you.

@kahlilbt

2 жыл бұрын

I definitely use this tool!

@SpindriftConsulting

2 жыл бұрын

I imagine the English in a Shakespearean style then translate that sometimes - it works quite well. We’ve often joked about the ‘old English’ structure of French in my classes.

She is wonderful. Your English is very good!!!

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Merci. I am English :)

@nineteenfortyeight6762

2 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight take the win ;)

I need the equivalent to you on Spanish! Really enjoyed this though.

The only jokes i make in french are grammatical errors. Merci pour cette vidéo

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Ahaha. Brilliant. And looks, you made one without one. La grammaire n'est pas une blague par contre !

@antoinemozart243

3 жыл бұрын

Funny. You made a Bercow ! Order !

@isabelledrevet5913

2 жыл бұрын

Jay Jay, don't worry, most of French people don't understand French grammar too 😂

Great video Alex. The first interviewer was Jean- pierre Foucault who compered the french version of who wants to be a millionaire ( qui veut gagnes des millions). Lots of words, grammar and of course you can join in the game. Maybe something for a future video?

@FrenchinPlainSight

2 жыл бұрын

Ohhh. Good suggestion Stewart. Thanks!

Kristin Scott Thomas is perfectly bilingual and a amazing actress !

I love Kristin. I love this actress, thank you! On the "SI" at 07:54. I am French, and I had to wait until I was 30 to really understand how French operate ! In fact, it was while spending a few days with a Czech friend, a fan of the French language, who did not understand why YES and NO are the same in response to an interro-negative, and that you have to say "SI" to confirm / affirm ... This usage is so implicit for a native like me that at the beginning I was taken aback by his question !!! And there I realized this rule of French, so implicit that we never learn it at school !!!! PS: at 14:16, a small fault not noticed (voir ci dessous en texte français) J'adore Kristin. J'adore cette actrice, merci ! Sur le "SI" à 07:54 . Je suis français, et il m'aura fallu attendre l'age de 30 ans pour comprendre réellement comment marcher le français ! En fait, c'était en passant quelques jours avec un ami tchèque, fan de la langue française, qui ne comprenait pas pourquoi OUI et NON sont pareil en réponse à une interro-négative, et qu'il faut dire SI pour confirmer/affirmer... Cet usage est tellement implicite pour un natif comme moi qu'au début j'étais désarçonné par sa question !!! Et là je me suis rendu compte de cette règle du français, tellement implicite qu'on ne nous l'apprends jamais à l'école !!!! PS : à 14:16, une petite faute pas relevée = "je n'osais pas m'admettre" >> "je n'osais pas admettre" (on ne peut pas s'admettre soi-même !!)

@louisfrancisco2171

3 жыл бұрын

On peut tout à fais admettre quelque chose à quelqu'un, y-compris à soi-même.

@olivierferfache5346

2 жыл бұрын

@@louisfrancisco2171 Non, il a raison. On ne peut pas s'admettre soi-même. "Je n'osais pas admettre que je voulais être actrice pour de vrai."

@llaveranovantaquattro

2 жыл бұрын

« Je n’osais pas m’avouer » aurait été correct et plus fidèle au sens qu’elle voulait donner.

@vincTarbes

2 жыл бұрын

@@llaveranovantaquattro Oui, c'eût été mieux dit...

@brigittecialdini8921

2 жыл бұрын

Oui effectivement. Le verbe " admettre " n'est pas un verbe pronominal. On admet quelque chose / on admet que......mais on ne peut pas dire : je n'osais pas m'admettre. En revanche on peut dire : je n'osais pas m'avouer que ......

I came here after listening to Jodie Foster in a French interview. I am in awe. And yeah, KST's French is spectacular. I have been in the UK for over 25 years and I still haven't lost my accent. (Although less travelled people sometimes can't place me) I wish I had the time to iron out all my bad creases. Heeeelp!

@FrenchinPlainSight

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you've lost your accent a great deal if people can't place you. You just mean you haven't lost it completely, right?

@teebo_fr_en_it

2 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight No sadly not!

@FrenchinPlainSight

2 жыл бұрын

@@teebo_fr_en_it the longer you've been there and speaking English the harder it is to change. But it's possible if you give it special attention. Is it worth it? It is part of your identity after all

@teebo_fr_en_it

2 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight I'd like to be able to come into a room, start talking without people forming any sort of prejudice - negative or positive. Then again, this can happen with regional accents or RP... so, well....

Kristin is a brilliant actress

In German there's also a way of saying "yes" to negate someone saying "no" and that word is "doch". I also speak Spanish (not perfectly by any stretch) and, as far as I'm aware, there's no word that corresponds to this phenomenon. I find the point about her accent changing due to speaking English a lot interesting. I had a similar level of immersion as a teen in German and Swiss German when I went to live with family in Switzerland when I had previously been living in the US. I left Switzerland for four years, primarily living in England and also found that my Swiss German and German were negatively affected during this period. I've been back in Switzerland since October and I'd say that it's now (more or less) back to where it was previously but I still struggle a bit every now and then to find certain words or pronounce everything 100% correctly. That part was very relatable.

This is an interesting way of approaching French language, keep up the good work. A couple of remarks, tho: The "pure" form is "ça m'a surprise", with a final 'e', because the "m'" is relative to her, feminine. If you emphasize on the conjugation details on "font", that one is even more important. In this case, "enfin" is not quite a filler word, although it's been eluded as such by the subtitles. As for its meaning of "in the end" (not only "finally"), it also strengthens the usage of "à la fin ("in the end"), but that's more in the rhythm of the sentence. There is a strong emphasis on "at the end of the movie" that is carried both by "à la fin" and the repetition of "enfin". Note that "m'enfin" is an interjection in the famous cartoon "Gaston Lagaffe",and , as such, it can be use as an objection: in "Enfin, réfléchis!", "Enfin" alone has the meaning of "you're doing it wrong, but you'll figure it in the end", with a hint of insult. In "Je ne fait plus ça", the "ne" frequently falls away, and some accents (fast western accents especially) even shorten to "j'fais plus ça", pronounced "ch'fais plus ça". Actually, only foreigners use the "ne" in fast speech (French is very slow in terms of amount_of_meaning over time_to_express, Spanish is worse). Cheers!

On the "rare conjugation mistake": I think she wanted to say "ce qui fait que..." She is amazing :-)

i am here for Kristen Scott Thomas~

First time on this channel. I'm finishing season 2 of Slow Horses. I LOVE Kristin Scott Thomas. I'm one of her gay male fans. I loved seeing her on stage in London. I'm French. I have lived for nine years in London. I currently live in San Francisco. I do some creative writing in English. I French, I'm a stickler for grammar, which infuriates everyone I know in France. For example, I went with friends to a restaurant called, "L'ours blanc" and everyone sounded it "L'ourseuh blanc" and I had to contain my rage every time. I pointed out (only once, which took great restraint on my part) that there is no "e" at the end of "ours" and one cannot sound an e that does not exist. Grrr. For, "qui fait que" (10:24), yes, literally it's wrong. (I would definitely call it wrong but I think I've clearly established that I'm nuts.) But it can be thought of as, "C'est CE qui fait que..." with the "c'est ce" implied. I'd call it iffy at best, but most people would be okay with it. As for pushing the relevant part of the sentence at the front, that is extremely French. Sometimes, when I read or I watch something in English, I wonder how I'd translate it in French. I am by no means a professional translator. That's how I started to notice that structure. It appears in Prévert a lot. I LOVE Prévert. He wrote my favorite movie, Les Enfants du Paradis. In it, you have many wonderful phrasings, like "Voilà seulement deux minutes que nous vivons ensemble et vous voulez déjà me quitter! Et pour quoi? Pour qui? Pour un autre naturellement. Et vous l'aimez, hein, cet autre." The structure "Vous l'aimez, cet autre" brings the object to the start of the sentence. There's the much more classical, "C'est... que," and "C'est... qui." Still Prévert, "C'est la meute des honnêtes gens qui fait la chasse à l'enfant." That's in one of his poems. In the very strange movie Merci la Vie!, Bertrand Blier constantly uses structures like, "Tu la sens l'histoire qui s'accélère?" In general, for people who are interested in finding use for their French, I think that learning French for conversation is not a very good start. Most of the people you'll meet know English better than you will know French and will often want to save time by switching to English. But French opens the door to some texts that cannot be effectively translated into any other language. Some is poetry, like Prévert, or plays, like Giraudoux, or Musset, or Feydeau, but these are all pretty dry and tough to start with. I do recommend the collection Demain dès l'Aube, assembled by, Jacques Charpentrau. It's a collection of a hundred poems chosen for young people (so not too difficult) chosen by contemporary poets, and not by educators. But, according to me, and I'm not professional, the real hidden treasure of the French language is comics. Astérix is more advanced than it seems. You end goals could be Achille Talon by Greg (pretty difficult) and Le Génie des Alpages by F'Murr (difficult references, often to classical French literature and experimental spelling), but within the easy series, there's lots. The easiest I can think of is Boule it Bill, by Roba. A slightly old sci-fi story for children (it's easier) is Le Scrameustache, by Gos. And of course the Smurfs, Les Schtroumpfs, by Peyo. (Peyo has another less well-known series called Benoît Brisefer. He himself only worked on the first six. I think they're wonderful.) Both Roba and Gos started at Peyo's workshop. You can them move on to things like XIII, which was adapted to a couple of English language TV shows (I don't like it, but a lot of people do). And the wonderful Soda by Tome and Gazotti, which is about a New York City police officer who has to live a double life for an unusual reason. These last two are serious dramas, not comedies. Some love Tintin. I don't. I think it's kind of dull. I'd say the same thing but better is Spirou. Spirou has had many authors, which is unusual for a French or Belgian comic, but the best was without a doubt Franquin. And his character Gaston is a gem that shines above most others.

Thanks! Cool Video. It is true that one needs to immerse oneself into the language not to loose the accent. I used to speak french ok, but then I moved to Sweden and learned swedish, and now my french has gone to a wierd level (somtimes good sometimes terrible) . I just realized this lately when watching a french film and my ability to understand sometimes, thus I think i need to start to listen to it at least from afar and force myself to start to think in french again. But I wonder what will that do to my swedish, hahaha. Anyway! thanks for the inspiration! cheers!

10:48 about the grammatical error, using suddenly the singular form after the plural form, I think she may have dropped (in her mind, not conveyed to her mouth) 'ce' that would have given 'ce qui fait que' which is perfect French. EDIT: BUT, after a second thought, I think that because of the pause she makes, it sounds familiar in French ears, we imply the missing 'ce' in our understanding. 14:05 'je n'osais pas m'admettre' is incorrect, it should be 'je n'osais pas admettre' so without the reflexive m' before the verb admettre. Nor 'je n'osais pas de m'admettre' like you suggest. Apart this, thumbs up 👍for your work and efforts. I'm a French native, rather good in English (19 out of 20 in TOEIC comprehension and writing tests) and I try to learn some English tricks through your videos, would you have ever imagined someone doing that?

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

More and more French people are coming to my videos!

@BertrandNelson-Paris

3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight hi, I just updated my comment. About the 1st part. You should find it informative.

@BertrandNelson-Paris

3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight I'm currently watching the Jodie Foster video. I'm a big fan of this woman.

@risheenaru8514

2 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight Eh oui, cela nous permet de revoir des règles que nous avons apprises quand nous étions jeunes, ou d'en apprendre ! :p

Mujikocka, is absolutely right. If we don't use it or practice it, we'll look like idiots, BUT probably, not sure, she doesn't live in France. And if she doesn't, well, what the keck! She tried and was brave!!! Good for her!!!

you're right, "enfin" is used to say we are going to correct a litle what we just say, I mean, we are going to tell it again differently, that's why it's said very quickly more like the very quick "i mean" on my previous sentence we could say "je veux dire...", "plus exactement..." but it's too long "ENFIN" often pronounced very short " 'FIN " means "i'm going to correct again what i just said, hoping it will be the last, (the FINAL) version"

I think when learning a language it's helpful to look at the mouth position the native speakers tend to use. I feel like French speakers tend to use more the front of their mouth and their lips b/c they put more emphasis on vowels at the back of the throat and in the nose; whereas English speakers use more hard consonants so we tend to stretch the edges of our mouths back more often. To me, when I speak French with that in mind, it's easier to reach the sounds than if my mouth is too wide open.

@flavieflo848

7 ай бұрын

So true ! It's like the sound doesnt come from the same place in the throat in french and in english ; when I speak english my voice is even different ; you can hear it with Lily Rose depp, her voice is different in french and in english ; you can hear the sound coming from a different part of her throat.

Très pertinent ! Merci 🙏. « Pour DE vrai » je ne connaissais pas !

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

C'est une de ces choses que j'ai peut-être entendue une poignée de fois ces dernières années mais jamais utilisées. Quand je l'ai entendue le dire je l'ai compris tout de suite. La mémoire est fascinante.

@anitawaters4745

3 жыл бұрын

Et aujourd’hui je suis tombée sur cette expression « si ça te chante » = if you feel like it!

"les choses qui forment ..... qui fait que", instead of "qui font" the error can be explained : that's a contraction of "les formes qui forment .... 'CE' qui fait que ..." Orally we don't make very long sentences with the reference placed on the begining of the sentence, it will sound a little too literary. So, we used, "ce" or "ça" like a reminder of all what has been said before, of course she did'nt say 'ce' and so that's an error, it's not nice, but that is not heard like if she forgot to conjugate. Just as if she forgot 'ce'.

@philippawallace-dunlop5582

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, yes. I’m english, 27 years in France and it didn’t shock me at all. The slight conversational shortening would maybe be not adding the “Ce....”. But as it’s on the mind wether said or not no audible/vibrational error was spoken. It’s just friendly conversational French, on a chat show, so situationally it feels fine also. Needed saying I think, so thank you for doing that 🙏🏻.

je suis trop contente d'avoir trouvé ta chaine! Je suis américaine et j'adore les vidéos de Superholly où elle analyse l'espagnol (et l'anglais) des célébrités bilingues. Je trouve ce genre de video hyper interessant, et j'imagine que ça prends pas mal de temps alors je te remercie pour tes efforts :)

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Merci Olivia. J'adore les faire et je compte en tourner davantage en 2021 donc j'espère que tu reviendras pour celles-là !

@andrewfletcher1341

2 жыл бұрын

Hello from Paris France, salut ma ptite Olivia ,ton français a l écrit est très bon !

Great analysis on french language . It is in fact the way we speak . Personally I use "ne " in négative statements in formal french otherwise I might pass as an uneducated person . Elle a quand même un accent étranger en parlant français. And " y va avoir un montage " instead of " il va y avoir un montage . And " je ne voulais pas m’admettre " au lieu de : je ne voulais pas m’accepter comme ..... ( m’admettre est une erreur grammaticale) mais elle est top !!

@jez9999

2 жыл бұрын

Don't forget the "emphasizing ne", which doesn't actually negate anything. Like "Il faut partir avant qu'elle NE dise ça."

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

@@jez9999 hop hop , way different. c'est du subjonctif, du monde des possibles, a world of possibilities. The indicatif is in the world of realities. tu veux causer sérieux (talk shop), écrit WRITTEN, is precise and simple. AVANT que brings the subjonctive. (think subjective too, it's often for opinions).. world of possibilities . Might be could be. APRES que always brings an indicative. After the fact is real. the world of real is indicative. You follow the logic. Expressions with "que" may be followed by the subjonctive,usually are. never après que, obviously factual since it happened and a common mistake orally and you need to ask "is it factual"sometimes both are correct but not tthe same.The subjonctive is clearly presented as an opinion, while the indicative is a choice to look factual; neutral. not quite simple to sum up in a few words, but i'm right. some "dialects" don't even teach kids the difference;About 20% of native speakers apparently are clueless.(I'm not top-notch on the stats, but neither are the schools)

Don't ditch your accent, the gentlemen love it. 😆 Yeah, she's rabbiting on though eh! Formidable! You ought to have heard my Gran's attempts. She had a thick Devonshire accent. Par-lee-vuuuu Francis!

waouh , son français est parfait ; on dirait une française ! Je suis très impressionnée .

she speaks french very fast, I'm not a french speaker but she seems very comfortable as a native speaker.

I love your videos!! I could TOTALLY be translating this wrong, but could she be saying, for one of these "enfin" at 6:26 actually "in the end", meaning "we forget that at the end of the day there is going to be...." like "at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you landed the plane as long as everyone got safely on the ground." (can you tell what other videos I've been watching?) "Enfin, n'importe quoi comme vous..." Either way, at least one of the enfin was FOR SURE a filler word, and I never would've known that if you hadn't pointed it out!

En fait les Français ne disent plus le "ne" de la négation à l'oral, mais il apparaît toujours à l'écrit. C'est vraiment la preuve qu'elle parle comme une vraie française :) "enfin" ressemble ici à un tic de langage... Quelque chose que l'on dit sans réfléchir pour ponctuer ses phrases, mais je peux me tromper. Dommage pour l'erreur... Elle aurait dit "ce qui fait que" et ça n'en aurait plus été une :) En fait "je ne voulais pas m'admettre" est une autre erreur. Elle ne s'admet pas elle-même elle admet une chose extérieure à elle donc ça aurait été suffisant et plus juste de dire "je ne voulais pas admettre". Merci pour cette vidéo, elle est vraiment intéressante 😄 J'adore cette actrice !

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

minime erreur dans un discours improvisé qui se tient. j'attends de voir le jour où les Français seront parfaits chez Ruquier. c'est pas la reine d'angleterre, juste du samedi soir !

"Si" instead of "oui" is not only used, not only very useful, but irreplaceable to correct a negative proposition hidden in a negative question. I think it's a like "actually yes" in English. More, if i ask "tu n'es pas venu en voiture ?" It's impossible to answer just "oui", except if it's said with a special intonation. The good answers are, from the most to the less probable: Si si !(2 Times, never 3) Si ! En fait, si ! Figure toi que oui ! Eh bien oui ! ... Personally if the people answer me just "oui", i will ask my question again in a positive way to be sure ; "Ah tu es venu en voiture ?" And this time the answer will not contain "si" but simply "oui".

@vivianederhi

2 жыл бұрын

mon fils ne doit pas être tout à fait français alors parce qu'il n'a toujours pas compris qu'il fallait dire "si" dans la phrase négative, il me répond toujours "oui" du coup je ne sais pas ce qu'il veut dire !

@housesparrow9273

2 жыл бұрын

@@vivianederhi Exact, vous ne savez pas et vous êtes obligé de reposer la question en mode affirmatif. Il existe cependant bien une intonation spéciale qui permet de dire un "oui" détrompeur, mais je ne crois pas que l'on puisse le conseiller à des gens qui apprennent le français.

@babelbabel2419

2 жыл бұрын

"Actually yes" is indeed a pretty good equivalent of "si".

@vivianederhi

2 жыл бұрын

@@housesparrow9273 il est bien français pourtant, né en France avec des parents qui parlent français mais dans sa tête c'est un peu la confusion je pense !

@housesparrow9273

2 жыл бұрын

@@vivianederhi C'est un enfant ? Peut être qu'à moins de 8 ans, on ne décentre pas assez pour répondre au point de vue de notre interlocuteur.

It’s true that in everyday spoken french, the ‘ne’ of negative sentences is dropped. Nevertheless I still use it in formal situations ( business, at work, with important clients) and ALWAYS in written french. Otherwise people would judge you uneducated, low standard, low level. And I am a French.

@kenmorley2339

2 жыл бұрын

Very good but you are not a French . However you might well be French .

@bonnieantonini

2 жыл бұрын

I learnt French many years ago and was taught to always use the 'ne'. I understand it's not used now, but it's difficult to drop it since it's a habit for me. What do French people think when someone uses the 'ne' in common conversation? Do they laugh at us or think we're trying to be posh? I'm very curious.

@iparipaitegianiparipaitegi4643

2 жыл бұрын

@@bonnieantonini. It’s perfect. People will think you’re very well educated.

@bonnieantonini

2 жыл бұрын

@@iparipaitegianiparipaitegi4643 Thank you for your response.

@21berber

2 жыл бұрын

You missed the gender mistake « le film lui-même qui m’a surpris » instead of surprisE, but it’s not unusual, even for native speakers.

Wow. Dropping 'ne'. Donkey's years ago chatting with other students at a Paris hotel surprised someone when I corrected myself and added 'ne'. They had assumed I was local because I had picked up local ways. 😉🤭

What is the word for “useful tipis” consents or astuces? Merci

également interessant pour un “french native speaking”. 👍

Jusqu'à présent, je pensais que Jodie Foster était le personnage publique anglophone qui maîtrisait le mieux le français. Mais il y a toujours mieux, Kristin Scott-Thomas tient le haut du pavé, pour le moment !

@laken1804

2 жыл бұрын

Je crois que la personne qui m'a plus impressionée jusqu'a présent c'est Charlotte Rampling.

@21berber

2 жыл бұрын

Mais KST vit en France, a épousé un Français, ses enfants sont Français, contrairement à JF!

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

@@laken1804 pas une jeunette . c'était une James bond girls aussi ? J'aime beaucoup; mais si on chipote elle a de l'accent. Et sa fille a un nivau scolaire.

@yohanannatanson4199

2 жыл бұрын

Absolument... Et le peu d'accent qu'elle a possède tellement de charme !

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

@@yohanannatanson4199 entièrement d'accord. on ne devrait perdre notre accent que par acclimatation. Jamais parce qu'on nous y pousse. si on maitrise la langue, cela ne gêne en rien la compréhension. Il n'y guère que les anciens qu'il faut décoder et plus pour longtemps J'ai appris réellement l'anglais en Ecosse et à peine revenue les profs de fac m'ont conseillée de "perdre l'accent". C'est très mal considéré.

10:26 I noticed it too, but as a native french I can say that a lot of french people would have made this same mistake

"Enfin" is used to say "well", "though", "at least"

She’s using “(ce) qui fait que” here to mean “and as a result” or “which means that”, it’s not referring to “les choses” per se, so “fait” is correct.

Kristin Scott Thomas' French is good. You should analyze Charlotte Rampling, her French is excellent.

If you don't know Jody Foster you would think she's french her accent is on point and it's impressive.

I always drop the ‘’pas” since it’s at the end but ne I never forget but I heard you should never forget the pas

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

No you can't drop the pas. Unless you replace it with rien, jamais, etc.

@watersnake1462

2 жыл бұрын

If you wanna speak an old fashion french from an other century you could drop the "pas", but yeah in modern french you'll just sound weird xD

@nineteenfortyeight6762

2 жыл бұрын

The trend seems to be that 'ne' will disappear and 'pas' will stay; I wish it were the inverse.

Mais elle dit "ça m'a surpris" et c'est quand même une faute : elle aurait dû dire "ça m'a surprise" puisqu'elle est une femme ! géniale cette femme et géniale actrice aussi !

@jeanfrancoisvidal1030

2 жыл бұрын

Non c'est Kristin qui a raison on dit "ça m'a surpris" quelque soit le genre ( forme indirect). Par contre si on utilise l'auxiliaire être, on accorde le genre; par exemple,"j'ai été surprise"( forme directe).

@dadmalafrance4417

2 жыл бұрын

Michele Brun, non, elle a raison. On dit "ca m'a surpris.

Oh un joli drapeau de l'occitanie au fond 😍😍😍😍

Enfin = at least/or at least. We can sometimes uses "finally" in this way.

On the "fait/font" mistake : that one would also be done by many french native speakers. It could come from the commonly used sentence "les choses qui... , CE qui fait...", where "ce" sums everything up, and is just forgotten or omitted.

@danroro1722

2 жыл бұрын

I had also spotted the little mistake with "qui fait". However I did not attribute it to a wrong use of the singular form of faire, but rather to a missing subject before "fait". I expected to hear, and would have personally said, "ce qui fait", which is, more often than not, pronounced "c'qui fait".

@Bidouleroux

2 жыл бұрын

As you say, it's a way to sum up what was said before so it's not really a mistake. In Quebec French we go even further, dropping the "qui" for a "ça" -> "ça fait que", and then dropping the "ça" to give "faque". We use "faque" as a conjunctive adverb all the time in casual speech, regardless of what came before.

L'actrice qui parle le mieux le français est Jodie Foster. Elle double même ses propes films en français. Mais peut-être as-tu déjà fait une vidéo sur elle. Je viens de découvrir ta chaîne... et j'aime beaucoup en tant que française qui struggle for learning english...😇

@richardmcbride2466

10 ай бұрын

Kristin Scott-Thomas double également ses films en français !

4:12 why thank you. You just gave me a jigsaw puzzle piece. Was cracking my head over an audio La pièce même sans la salle d'eau, ça fait quelle surface ? Keep on thinking what is the même doing in the sentence. Now after I saw the lui-meme, it makes more sense now. It actually is "La pièce elle-même sans la salle d'eau, ça fait quelle surface ?" Now all the words in the sentence mean something. And when I listen back to the audio, indeed the person said elle before même which I did not catch it before.

@FrenchinPlainSight

3 жыл бұрын

Perfect. I'm so happy you had a "déclic" and figured that out. In your example it could mean "same", depending on the preceding sentences. "So the same unit/room/space without the bathroom is how big?" if it had just been mentioned. Either way, you know what it's referring to.

@louisfrancisco2171

3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight That would have been "la même pièce", not "la pièce même".

She is so gorgeous...totally Patrician!

She should say : Ça m'a vraiment surprisE even in familiar french because she's female and m = me is before avoir verb = auxiliaire... We cannot say je n'osais pas m'admettre but she should say je n'osais pas admettre que je voulais étre actrice = je n'osais pas m'autoriser à être actrice... Thank you for your wonderfull videos !!!

Is that an occitan flag I see in the background underneath the tricolour?

I'm a native french speaker, as you noticed, and I can say to people who are learning french, that we, french people have big faults, and big flaws, but, i think we have a very huge tolerance for foreign accents, particulary for english accent (i won't say which accent is an exception in my opinion). So, i think you can take advantage of this opportunity.

@2adamast

2 жыл бұрын

En effet, tout mais pas l'accent parisien! Enfin, je déconne, l'accent parisien mais pas du n'importe quoi.

@auntisthenes2754

2 жыл бұрын

@@2adamast je suis pure banlieusarde, de père pur Parisien;, je te comprends à demi-mot. je n'y suis pas restée. je me suis enfuie dès que possible mais c'est rarement un choix; et l'accent, moi je m'en fous il prend des tendances maghrébines. je ne délire pas le Français fait tomber tout en fin phrase ou de mots, le banlieusard plutôt au début.

@Rowlph8888

11 ай бұрын

Why do you have have more toleration for the English accent?

@housesparrow9273

10 ай бұрын

@@Rowlph8888 I am not sure, but, maybe it became a habit for us to hear english speakers, like actors, musicians ... i think it is an accent that we associate with people who have a high social status. I cannot say more; I am not saying it is good, but I believe it is so

She is just extraordinary as Clementine Churchill in Darkest Hour...

Je ne suis pas tout à fait d'accord avec vous à 10:30 sur la conjugaison "qui fait que", moi en tant que française, je l'interprète non pas comme "les choses qui font que " mais plutôt, surtout après une petite pause et en parlant rapidement, "ce qui fait que", là elle a simplement zappé le mot "ce"

What is the flag under the Tricolore?

Son accent anglais est magnifique. Il l'a rend encore plus sensuelle. L'accent de Jane Birkin, par exemple, est un peu moins "agréable" à écouter. Celui de Jane Fonda, américaine, est très différent mais plutôt beau aussi.

I think that when she says "qui fait que .." that it is more a (usual) omission of the word "ce" and would be "ce qui fait que ..." what makes it correct. The French use more often in spoken word "qui fait que" than "ce qui fait que".

She is very fluent.

There’s anEnglish guy, Darren Tullet who is the anchormam for Biein Sports football coverage. He was a presenter on Canal + for 10 years before taking up the job with Beiin Sports. His French is brilliant. You only know he’s not French when he says the name of a British club.

@FrenchinPlainSight

2 жыл бұрын

Yea I love his commentary. He pronounces names of English players with his English accent.