Sample : the first two tracks of an Interview with a French beekeeper

Sample : the first two tracks of an Interview
with a French beekeeper.
Slow Echoing
www.fluentfrench.com
Interview with a French beekeeper.
Interview conducted by Anne-Sophie Martin.
CONTENTS
Introduction in English : MP3 track # 1
Echoing will teach you the oral gymnastics of the
language; and you can do it in your car. Here’s how.
Original interview with Magali : MP3 tracks # 2 - 10
Magali has always had a passion for bees, and now she
makes her own honey from wild flora in the Vercors
mountain range. You’ll love her pretty voice and precise
pronunciation.
“Slow-echoing” re-reading : MP3 tracks # 11 - 19
This sample will help you get started with the
beekeeper interview. If you like it and want
to continue with Tracks 3 through 10, you
can order the full interview at
www.fluentfrench.com
Re-reading by native French speakers. With these
recordings, even beginners can start echoing right away.
These recordings are miracle-workers for those looking
to improve their accent!
Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. If you are a teacher and
need group pricing, please contact us.
David Tolman, Publisher
Toll free (USA) 1-888-259-9601
[email protected]
Interview with a French beekeeper
1
2
w w w . f l u e n t f r e n c h . c o m – Echoing Recordings since 2001
On1 est ici dans votre miellerie.
We are here in
your honey house.
MP3 track 1
Introduction to tell you how to use the recordings. If you
are a beginner, start with the original interviews (the recordings
on tracks 2 through 10) and learn to understand all of the
words, which should take about a month. If you want to improve
your accent, use the slow-echoing recordings (tracks 11 through
19). We are sure that echoing will quickly become your favorite
way of improving your French.
Ça sent bon la cire et le miel,2 c’est ça ?3
It smells good, the wax and the honey, is that it?
Oui, c’est l’odeur de la miellerie !
Yes, that is the smell of the honey house!
Alors, je voulais savoir, vous habitez dans
So,
I wanted to know, you
live
in
le massif du Vercors, on est ici en montagne
the Vercors mountain range, we are here in the mountains
à quatre cents mètres d’altitude et vous amenez
at four hundred meters of altitude and you
take
vos ruches jusqu'à mille deux cents mètres.
your hives
up to
1,200 meters (of altitude.)
Qu’est-ce qui vous a décidé à4 vivre ici ?
What is
it that
persuaded you
to live here?
Ben,5 nous avons repris6 avec mon mari7 la suite8
Well,
we took over
my husband and I the continuation
MP3 track 2
(Slow echoing version is track 11)
Alors, bonjour Magali ! Vous êtes apicultrice.1
So,
hello
Magali ! You are (a) beekeeper.
1
2
3
Merci de m’accueillir2 chez vous.3
Thank you for welcoming me to your place.
4
5
1
2
3
Notice the “(a)” in the English translation. In French, the article
is not given when stating a person’s profession. Examples: Il
est coiffeur. (He is a barber.) Elle est comptable. (She is an
accountant.) Je suis entraineur de foot. (I am a soccer
coach.)
Merci de m’accueillir… from accueillir quelqu’un = to
welcome someone; to receive someone.
chez vous = to your home, to your place. See other examples
using chez on pages 25, 28, and 30.
6
7
8
On. Depending upon the situation, the French use on to mean
“one”, “we”, “they”, “people”, etc.
This is a combination of Ça sent bon (that smells good) and Ça
sent la cire et le miel (It smells like wax and honey.)
c’est ça ? = that's it?; that's right?
décider quelqu'un à faire quelque chose = to persuade
someone to do something. Literally, to decide someone to do
something.
ben, an informal, spoken version of bien.
reprendre = to take back up. reprendre une entreprise =
to take over a business after the departure of the previous
owner.
nous... avec mon mari = we... with my husband. This
construction is common in spoken French : first the speaker
says nous (we) and then realizes that she needs to tell us who
nous is (she and her husband.)
la suite. Comes from suivre (to follow.) See an example of par
la suite (afterwards, subsequently) on page 30.
Interview with a French beekeeper
3
4
w w w . f l u e n t f r e n c h . c o m – Echoing Recordings since 2001
d’une exploitation1 agricole. Ici, nous sommes
of a farming operation.
Here we
are
pendant pratiquement un an. Et comme ça,
for
practically
a year. And like that,
dans le pays de la noix2, c’est la noix de Grenoble, et
in
“walnut country,”
it’s the Grenoble walnut,
and
nous avons pu1 nous installer2 : c’était en
we were able to set ourselves up. That was in
l’exploitation à laquelle nous avons succédé3
the farming operation
which we took over
mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-six.
1986.
est située à Saint-Jean en Royans. Mais c’est une petite
is located in Saint-Jean en Royans.
But it is a
small
MP3 track 3
(Slow echoing version is track 12)
exploitation et qui n’était pas suffisamment grande
farm
and which was not
large enough
Alors, vous pouvez nous rappeler3 un petit peu
So,
you
are able to recall for us
a little bit
pour faire vivre4 une famille. Donc, il fallait5 développer une
to support
a
family. So, it was necessary to develop an
comment ces abeilles font ce miel,
how
these bees
make this honey,
activité complémentaire. Et moi, j’ai toujours eu
additional activity.
And me, I have always had
depuis très longtemps la passion des abeilles6 et
for a very long time
a passion for bees
and
tout naturellement, j’ai décidé de monter7 un petit
quite naturally,
I decided
to set up a little
1
fait
une école d’apiculture
atelier d’apiculture. J’ai donc
beekeeping shop.
I therefore (took a course at) a beekeeping school
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
une exploitation: a term often used in relation to a small
farming, mining, or forestry operation.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that “noix” refers to an
indeterminate nut. The different nuts have their own names.
Noix = walnut. Noisette = hazelnut. Noix de cajou = cashew
nut. Cacahuète = peanut.
à laquelle nous avons succédé: literally, to which we
succeeded.
faire vivre: literally, to make live.
il fallait = it was necessary. From falloir (to be necessary). il
faut = it is necessary.
la passion des abeilles: literally, the passion of bees (the “bee
bug”).
monter = 1) to go up; 2) to set up; to start; to put up.
2
3
nous avons pu: literally, we have been able. From pouvoir (to
be able). Compare nous pouvons (we are able) to nous
pouvions (we were able) and nous avons pu (we have been
able; we were able). Because pouvoir is used so often and in
so many ways in French, you need to be able to recognize the
different forms and understand their meaning. See these pages
for different uses of pouvoir: 10, 12, 13, 14, 21, and 28.
s’installer = to settle; to establish oneself; to set oneself up.
Literally, to install oneself. To help you understand the
construction used by the speaker, compare it to Il a pu
s’installer (He was able to set himself up) or the present-tense
version Nous pouvons nous installer (We are able to set
ourselves up.) See another example on page 29.
vous pouvez nous rappeler…: literally, you are able to recall
for us… From vous (you) + pouvez (are able to, a form of
pouvoir (to be able)) + nous (to us) + rappeler (to recall).
Compare rappeler quelque chose à quelqu’un (to remind
someone of something, literally, to recall something to
someone) to the more-often seen se rappeler quelque chose
(to remember something, literally, to recall something to
oneself).
Interview with a French beekeeper
5
6
w w w . f l u e n t f r e n c h . c o m – Echoing Recordings since 2001
le B.A.-BA1 de la fabrication du miel ?
the basics
of the production
of honey?
travaillent,1 et qu’elles transforment en miel. En fait,
refine
and that they transform
into honey. In fact,
Alors, c’est vrai que souvent, on croit que les abeilles
So,
it is true that often, people think that
bees
on ne sait pas, l’homme ne sait pas
fabriquer… fabriquer
we do not know,
man does not know (how) to produce… to produce
font le miel à partir du2 pollen. Le miel et le pollen,
make honey
from
pollen.
Honey and pollen,
le miel, c’est encore un mystère que gardent les abeilles.
honey, that is still
a mystery
that the bees keep.
c’est deux choses différentes.3 Les abeilles récoltent4 du pollen
those are two different things.
Bees
gather
pollen
Ça veut dire2 que vous devez domestiquer,
That means
that you have to domesticate,
pour nourrir5 les jeunes abeilles, c’est
in order to feed the young bees,
it is
apprivoiser les abeilles, c’est ça ?
to tame
the bees,
is that it?
un aliment6 de croissance, mais ça n’a rien à voir avec7
a
food for growth,
but
it has nothing to do with
Ben oui, quelque part,3 hein ? En fait, les abeilles que
Well, yes,
in a way,
you know? In fact, the bees
that
le miel, ce n’est pas du tout un produit sucré.8 Par contre,
honey, (pollen) is not at all
a sweet substance. On the other hand,
nous avons sont des abeilles bien sûr4 domestiques.
we have are
domesticated bees, of course
les abeilles récoltent dans les fleurs du nectar qui est
bees
gather
from
flowers
nectar, which is
Mais en fait, c’est plus nous qui essayons de nous adapter à
But in fact, it is more we who are trying
to adapt ourselves to
un liquide un peu sucré et qu’elles élaborent, et qu’elles
a liquid (that is) a bit sweet and that they develop,
and that they
leur mode de vie, de leur reconstruire leurs conditions de vie
their mode of life, to reconstruct for them their
living conditions
à l’état sauvage. Et en fait, même si c’est nous qui
in the wild state.
And in fact, even if it is we who
les apprivoisons, c’est elles qui restent maîtresses5 de leurs
tame them,
it is they who remain
masters
of their
1
le B.A.-BA: the basics. This comes from one of the first lessons
in reading that French children learn : the ‘b’ sound plus the ‘a’
sound make the sound ‘ba.’
2
à partir de = starting from.
3
deux choses différentes: this is the French way of saying, “A
and B are two different things; don’t confuse the two.”
4
récolter = to harvest. La récolte = the harvest.
5
nourrir = to feed. se nourrir = to eat; to feed oneself. la
nourriture = food.
6
un aliment = a food; a foodstuff. la croissance = growth.
croître = to grow; to develop
7
ça n’a rien à voir avec... : literally, that has nothing to see
with. This is the French way of saying that the two things are
independent and have no tie or relationship between them.
8
Compare sucré (sweet; sweetened) to sucre (sugar).
1
2
3
4
5
travailler means “to work,” but you can also “travailler” a
substance or material to get it ready for the next step in
whatever you are making.
vouloir dire = to mean, literally, to want to say. vouloir = to
want. dire = to say. See other examples on pages 16 and 27.
quelque part, literally, somewhere. It is used here as “in a
way, somewhat.”
bien sûr = of course. sûr = sure. Tu es sûr ? = You are
sure? Bien sûr ! = Of course!
Note that une maîtresse is the feminine form of un maître.
Remember that worker bees are female.
Interview with a French beekeeper
7
8
w w w . f l u e n t f r e n c h . c o m – Echoing Recordings since 2001
destinées, et nous, on s’adapte. Il y a des années….
destinies, and we,
we adjust.
There are some years.…
Donc vous êtes très occupée, en ce moment ?
So
you are very busy
now?
Voilà, c’est ça. Ben c’est là1 que tout se joue, 2 un peu,
Yes, that’s right. Well, success depends on this period, in a way,
On ne comprend pas toujours le comportement des abeilles
We do not always understand
the behavior
of
bees
parce que…parce qu’elles ont gardé le dessus, 1 hein ?
because…
because they have kept the upper hand, you know?
hein ? Aujourd’hui, on n’a pas une météo3 très favorable,
you know?
Today,
we do not have
a very good forecast,
Je crois que c’est aussi un bien.2
I believe that that is also a good thing.
c’est vrai qu’on espère que ça [ne] va pas durer parce que
it is true that we hope that it is not going to last because
c’est vrai que c’est à cette époque-là que les abeilles…
it is true that it is
at this period-now that the bees…
récoltent les plus grosses quantités de miel, c’est là que
gather
the
largest
quantities of honey, it is now that
se joue ou non la récolte. Mais en fait, elle a été préparée
the harvest is made or not.
But in fact,
it has been prepared
déjà bien en amont.4 C’est ce qu’on fait au mois d’avril et
already well in advance.
It is what we do in the month of April and
au mois de mai, pour s’assurer d’avoir dans nos ruches
in the month of May, to assure ourselves of having in our hives
1
MP3 track 4
(Slow echoing version is track 13)
En ce moment, c’est une des périodes
Right now,
this is one of the periods (which is),
les plus intenses, c’est la récolte du miel, c’est ça ?
the most intense,
this is the harvest of the honey, is that right?
1
2
le dessus = the top. avoir le dessus = to have the upper
hand. garder le dessus = to keep control over the situation; to
keep the upper hand.
un bien: a good thing. un bien can also mean “a possession.”
J’ai vendu tous mes biens. = I sold all of my possessions.
2
3
4
It can be surprising for students, who learn that ici means
“here” and là means “there,” but the French often use là to
express “here” or “now.” See other examples of là used to
mean “now” on pages 8 and 17 and an example of là used to
mean “here” on page 30. See also the foot on là on page 26.
c’est là que tout se joue: It is right now that everything is
playing out, from, c’est là (it is now) + que (that) + tout
(everything) + se joue (is decided, literally, is played, is
wagered). jouer = to play; to gamble.
la météo : from La prévision météorologique (the weather
forecast.) Je n’ai pas vu la météo = I didn’t see the weather
forecast.
en amont = in advance, beforehand, literally, upstream.
Compare en amont (uphill, upstream; in advance) to en aval
(downhill, downstream.) To help you remember these, note
that amont is related to “mountain” and aval is related to
“valley.”