Oradour sur Gland (Listening practice)

Are you really a good listener?

Listening to French and being able to keep understanding as people speak is quite a challenge.  Many of you are telling me that listening practice is something you need.  As a friend recently visited this historical site, it came to my attention that you, too, could learn about this place in France. Many people still visit it as a museum that has stayed true to the events of the time, informing us and permitting us to feel history in context. 

Therefore, I present to you a video to permit you to tune in, to be present, to see how you can practise French and learn about some French culture at the same time. 

You can use this for listening practice, for dictation practice, for pronunciation practice … as you wish.

Here's what you will be focusing on in this mini-lesson:

• About Oradour sur Glane in France

• Some 2nd WW history

• How you can use listening to help you pronounce well in French.

Watch out for the liaisons in French!

The liaison or when you connect 2 words makes a specificity in French.

Make the liaison between the last consonant and the vowel sound of the next word. The common consonants requiring a liaison are: n, t, p, r, s, x, z.

Let's have some examples with each consonant:

• bon anniversaire (we connect the "n" with the "a") >>> happy birthday
• un petit enfant (we connect the "t" with the "e") >>> a small child

• trop épicé (we connect the "p" with the "e") >>> too spicy 

• premier arbre (we connect the "r" with the "a") >>> first tree
• les amis (we connect the "s" with the "a") >>> the friends
• dix ans (we connect the "x" with the "a") >>> ten years

The pronunciation varies if the word is on its own or if there's a word starting with a vowel or "h" where a liaison may be needed.

For instant with the numbers 6 and 10, without a liaison you'll say "siss" and "disss". However, with a liaison, the "x" becomes a "z".

Some liaisons are forbidden. 

Some liaisons are forbidden and the one you should remember is with the word "et". Never connect the "t" with any word starting with a vowel or "h".

How to say the dates in French.

In French, there are 2 options to say the dates. First, you can say each number and secondly, you can split it into 2.

Let me show you with examples:

• 1946: Mille neuf cent quarante-six >>> one thousand nine hundred forty-six
• 1946: Dix-neuf cent quarante-six. >>> nineteen hundred forty-six

Tips when a word is hard to pronounce.

What should you do when you can't pronounce a word?

When a word is difficult to pronounce, just don’t worry about it.  The primary aim is to be understood. Just slow down and try to articulate it as best you can. You can also record your own pronunciation to have a better and more honest idea about it.

Another tip is to split it into chunks. Indeed, if you say bit by bit, it becomes easier like these examples:

• merveilleusement >>> mer - vei - lleu - se - ment
• encerclent >>> en - cer - clent

Pay extra attention to words with the same spelling in both languages.

Since many French words were borrowed and exist in English, it is pretty common to spot the same words in both languages. Oui, it's the same spelling but non, it's not the same pronunciation. 

This is why, you should be extra careful and remind yourself of some "rules" regarding French pronunciation. 

Here are some examples:

• massacre (and not masaker)
• génération (with See-on, not SHUN, and with a nasal ending)
• architecture (ar-shee-tec- tuuuuuur)

Dont 'copy-paste' the intonation from one language to another.

Each language has its own musicality or intonation. If your pronunciation is perfect but not the intonation, you may see strange faces. Indeed, the intonation in French lands on the last part of the word. 

Read out loud to help you understand what you hear more as it resonates with sound patterns you have already articulated.

Guidelines to make the most of this listening exercise in French.

Watch the video, just listening first then again, trying to note everything you can. Repeat it as many times as you like. You can even slow it down and use it for pronunciation practice. DON’T watch the video at first or you will see the text. 

Don’t despair if you don’t recognise all the words! This is the best exercise you can do because the more you practise dictations, the easier it gets to understand French.

My goal this year is to help you with your listening comprehension and offer you various listening activities during the year.

If you struggle with your listening skills and are looking to have more fluid conversations with like minded people at your level of French, then check out how having a teacher support in small groups could make a massive difference to your spontaneous listening skills.

Here’s how joining Conversation Café can help you understand spontaneous spoken French more easily.

Click here to check out our conversation café sample.

Transcript and the Translation  Don't peep if you don't want to see it yet.

Oradour sur Glane, qui autrefois, était un bourg paisible et dynamique avec son tramway et ses nombreux commerces va connaître l’horreur le 10 juin 1944.

En début d’après-midi, vers 14h00, près de 200 soldats allemands de la division « Das Reich » encerclent le bourg et rassemblent la population sur le Champ de foire, prétendant à un simple contrôle d’identité.

Depuis 1946, les ruines du Village Martyr sont classées Monument Historique et le Centre de la Mémoire a été inauguré en 1999.

A la suite de ce massacre, l’Etat décide de reconstruire un nouveau bourg en conservant un plan similaire à l’ancien bourg avec une architecture inspirée de l’austérité des maisons limousines.

Le traumatisme causé par ce drame, la disparition d’une génération, la proximité des ruines, ont rendu difficile sa « renaissance », qui ne s’est amorcée qu’au début des années 1960 avec l’implantation de PME et d’ateliers.

Aujourd’hui, Oradour sur Glane est un bourg actif qui compte désormais 2500 habitants avec ses commerces, son activité industrielle et ses nombreuses associations.

And here’s the English . . .

Oradour sur Glane, which in the past was a peaceful and dynamic town with its tramway and numerous shops, was to experience the horror on June 10, 1944.

 At the beginning of the afternoon, around 2:00 pm, nearly 200 German soldiers of the "Das Reich" division encircled the town and gathered the population on the fairground, pretending to perform a simple identity check.

Since 1946, the ruins of the Martyr's Village have been classified as a historical monument and the Centre of Memory was inaugurated in 1999.

Following this massacre, the State decides to rebuild a new town with a plan similar to the old one and architecture inspired by the austerity of Limousin houses.

The trauma caused by this tragedy, the disappearance of a generation, the proximity of the ruins, made its "rebirth" difficult, which only began in the early 1960s with the establishment of SMEs and workshops.

Today, Oradour sur Glane is an active town that now has 2,500 inhabitants with its shops, its industrial activity and its many associations.

I hope you found this activity helpful and that you had fun in the process. Let me know about your experience. I'd love to hear it!