From around the web: liens divers

A collection of links from around the web qui pourrait vous intéresser. Mostly in French but certain links are double ups in English.

Vidéos - Videos

Le Monde Vidéo
- Pourquoi les Japonais pêchent encore des baleines
>Why the Japanese still hunt whales

Hugo Décrypte
- 5 Solutions contre la pollution plastique
>5 Solutions to combat plastic pollution

Video from a young French Youtuber who decrypts the news.

Français facile (Easy French)
- Dialogue No 115 (a cat or a dog?)

Video containing a short French dialogue with script.

 Orelsan 

- Tout va bien
>All's well

Fun music video touching on shielding children from the world.

Océanie - Oceania

 Le Petit Journal
- Controverse quand une écolière proteste contre l'hymne national 
>Controversy when a school girl protests the national anthem (BBC - en)

Le Courrier Australien 
- Malgré la crise, les fraises australiennes reprennent des couleurs (fr)
>Australia strawberry crisis now tastes a little sweeter for farmers (en)

 

La politique française - #Frenchpol

France 24
- Un an de présidence Macron : du "et en même temps" au "premier de cordée" (fr)
>One year on, Macron governs as a right-wing French president (en)

A recent article in French and English considering the political position of President Macron in France.

Contrast: Les Echos
- Les trois actes de la recomposition politique
>Three acts of political recomposition

Article circa 2017 considering the future direction of the government.

Le Tech - Tech

Le Monde
- Jubilatoire, astucieux et élégant, « The Messenger » revisite l’histoire du jeu vidéo
>Exhilarating, shrewd and elegent, "The Messenger" revisits the history of video games.
Quote: "Jeu de 2018 qui ressemble à un titre de 1988, il se doit de répondre à une angoissante question : qu’est-ce qui fait que le jeu vidéo, plutôt que comme un bon vin, un bon disque ou un bon bouquin, se mue quasi invariablement, avec les années, en infâme piquette ?"

French Club will be back next week after the break!

5 Rocking French Podcasts

Tu veux écouter des podcasts en français? The wild and varied world of French podcasting is out there for you to discover. Whatever your interest, whatever your skill level there is a podcast waiting for you.

i. Le journal en français facile

Rfi’s journal en français facile (or the news in easy French) is a daily program with a transcript availiable on line. Targeted at French language learners you’ll find the speakers read at an average pace and speak clearly without an accent. Use the transcript as you will: read it before listening if you find the program difficult, read it as you listen to become familiar with new vocabulary and listen to it without having read it to push yourself further!

Level: beginner-intermediate (how you use the script gives flexibility)

Link: Web iTunes

ii. Studio 404

A monthly podcast on all thing digital (video games, social media and new technologies) and how they affect our lives. Episodes last for about 2 hours and cover the large world de la société numérique with a talk show-esque atmosphere. Recent topics include: listening at double speed, crowdfunding, le culture poop, PUBG, le hacking de l'attention and much more

 

Level: intermediate + 
Link: SoundCloud iTunes

iii. Aujourd’hui l’histoire

A Canadian podcast where Jacques Beauchamp reveals significant events and movements in history to his listeners. Discover Jacky Kennedy, the Korean war, the Jazz Wars in France and other interesting tales from around the globe.

From their website: "Comprendre notre passé, c'est comprendre ce que nous avons été pour mieux comprendre qui nous sommes aujourd'hui. Jacques Beauchamp aborde un fait, un événement ou une idée qui a marqué l'histoire, la nôtre ou celle des autres, en compagnie d'un ou de plusieurs invités. Les sujets peuvent être sérieux ou légers."

Level: intermediate +

Link: Web iTunes

iv. Affaires sensibles 

Another intriguing history podcast this time from France inter, French public broadcaster. Recent episodes includes ones on the sinking of the Titanic, Edward Snowden, De Gaulle & NATO, FEMEN (militant feminist group) and Wattstax. Episodes last around 55 minutes.

Level: intermediate +

Link: Web iTunes

 

 

 

v. SBS French

From the SBS, this podcast provides news in French covering world news, Australian news, the Australian economy and also French events in Australia. It's a really good way to discover what French events and businesses are operating in Melbourne and elsewhere in Australia, as well as what new movies are on SBS on demand. The podcast episodes are fairly short, around ten minutes, and have clear titles on their content.

Level: Intermdiate +

Link: Web iTunes

If none of the above podcasts thrill you, t’inquiète pas! A simple search for ‘french podcast, 'learn french' or ‘podcast français’ on google or in a podcast app can bring you a long way. En plus, the websites of ‘France Culture’ and ‘France Inter’ contain a huge number of podcasts that could tempt you! There are a incredible number of French podcasters out there for beginners as well.

French Down Under: Australian News

If you’ve ever wanted some help finding Australian news in French, this is the post for you. The La Trobe French Club has a short list of francophone outlets operating in Australia below.

SBS French

"Vous écoutez au programme de SBS French"

SBS logo

The SBS broadcasts the news in French with a mix of in-house and rebroadcasted content. They cover the most important international and local news as well as noting local French events all across Australia. 

Difficulty: perhaps a little difficult for beginners and even early intermediate students, SBS’s news broadcast is in a quick but clear French without a transcription.

Link to SBS French portal (audio available for streaming). Link to SBS French Facebook page. Or consider using their app SBS radio. Also available through any good podcast app near you!

France 2

(Old) Logo of France 2

France 2 is a French national public broadcaster rebroadcast on SBS HD from 8:40AM to 9:30 AM.  The 20 heures (8 pm) news program covers French national news, important international events and generally finishes with several cultural items.

Difficulty: Intermediate. France 2, while fairly fast, provides many visual cues as to the topic. Additionally French subtitles are available when watching on the France TV Info website: look under the JT tab for the 20 heures program to find it.

Link to SBS on Demand. Link to FranceTV Info website. 

Le petit journal

Logo of Le Petit Journal

Le petit journal is an international & online newspaper aimed at French expatriates in Australia as well as other francophones. Covers local news, national news and links to international news by from other Le petit journal editions.

Difficulty: Intermediate. There is no English version available but as you can read at your own pace and consulate dictionaries if need be it is not too difficult.

Link to Le Petit Journal Melbourne. Link to Le Petit Journal Sydney.

Le courier Australien 

Front page of the Courier Australien from 1892.

Description: An outlet publishing in both French and English,  le Courier Australien is a long lasting newspaper that become online only several years. Covers a wide range of content.

Difficulty: Intermediate but as content is available in English and French, a good place to start reading French news.

Link to Courier Australien (en). Link to Courier Australien (fr).

This very short list is of course in no way a complete list of French news sources available in Australia but it does cover four news sources that are very accessible in terms of having local content or being available across the nation.

Présidentielle 2012: Eva Joly & “Le Petit Journal”

Joly’s latest campaign poster,
launched yesterday

For a very funny recap of the very latest in the French presidential campaign, check out the latest episode of Le Petit Journal! Embedded below and featuring Europe Écologie Les Verts candidate Eva Joly, the quick show parodies and pokes all sorts of fun at both Joly and her concurrents.

Little explanation: for those of you who haven’t pored over Hollande’s wikipedia articles, the reason his presence on stage with Parti Socialiste comrade Ségolene Royal is so newsworthy is because they used to be together, had four children, then split in 2007.

Want more? Flick through the archives of Le Petit Journal to find the Hollande episode and the one with the président of Jeunes avec Marine Le Pen, Julien Rochedy – à voir!

Présidentielle 2012: Radio Hollande, Jean-Luc Melanchon “En Marche” and Sarkozy fever in La Réunion

François Hollande supporters in Marseille (Source: Hollande’s Facebook)

As the French presidential election draws ever nearer, the candidates and their legions of fans are producing endless online campaign goodies!

Camp Hollande is producing an excellent podcast series, entitled simply “Radio Hollande”. One of the latest installments (embedded below) features interviews with everyday French men and women about the state of the nation.

Meanwhile, the team behind Front de Gauche candidate Jean-Luc Melanchon, who now appears poised to steal the left vote, coming in an impressively strong third in some of the latest polls, is broadcasting En Marche, an incredible documentary series about his campaign trail.

Below is the latest episode in which Melanchon, a stirring speaker, travels across the nation expressing his ecological ambitions for France.

Anyone following Sarkozy’s Facebook activity will have noticed his online content has had a very specific bent: the people. A massive number of his uploaded photos are portrait shots of Sarkozy fans, rather than Sarkozy himself (especially young, dynamic-looking types).

In this vein, Sarkozy’s people have just uploaded the video below to his La France Forte YouTube channel, in which citizens of La Réunion explain why they support the UMP candidate (and also just feverishly chant his name).

Finally, closer to home, SBS French is broadcasting a regular series entitled “Journal de Campagne Electorale en France”, which analyses all the latest presidential activity, left and right, and provides an excellent snapshot of this intriguing and fiery battle for power in France!

Série Française: Bref

Bref is an adorable 2 minute show from Canal+. Watch the latest enchanting installment featuring Guillaume Canet’s grandmother from the Audrey Tatou 2007 romantic comedy Ensemble, c’est tout.

Médias Français: L’Œil de Links

L’Œil de Links is a cool French émission from Canal+ that showcases the most interesting and curious clips on the web, along with interviews with their directors. The final clip featured in this edition is a stunning stop motion film by Emmanuel Bernardoux, a visual artist from La Rochelle and La Trobe French Club’s own podcast guest!

Médias Français: France 24

France 24 est la chaîne française d’information internationale 24h/24. Sa mission est de couvrir l’actualité avec un regard français et de véhiculer partout dans le monde les valeurs et les perspectives françaises.

Best of all, not only are the videos rich and wonderfully in-depth, but it’s all free and en ligne! Watch the panel discussion below, “2011, annus horribilis pour Nicolas Sarkozy?”, to get a taste.

L’Europe en difficulté, l’automne qui succède au printemps arabe, la crise libyenne ... 2011 semble bien être l’annus horribilis pour Nicolas Sarkozy. Dans sept mois les Francais vont désigner un président, que restera-t-il du quinquennat de Nicolas Sarkozy?

Oh, and did you know you can retrouver Nicholas Sarkozy sur Facebook? The man is actually a Facebook powerhouse, 11,000 people liked his latest satus update!

Médias Français: madmoiZelle

madmoiZelle is a fabulous and playful French teen girls’ magazine/webite, with massive amounts of highly entertaining (albeit quite feminine) content to enjoy over the winter break. Here is some of the best of its light-hearted fare:

Pour rire: 30 abominables raisons de faire des enfants
Cinéma: Des affiches de films et leurs (supposés) plagiats
Cinéma: Ce que Disney nous a vraiment appris
Moi, moi et moi: 20 réponses interdites à un Je t’aime

Like Elle.fr, madmoiZelle has its own video channel, with manifold French musical acts, such as Juliette Katz, who performs une belle version acoustique de sa chanson “L’antidote” (above).

Web Série: Lolicats on Elle.fr

A cute, funny French kind of web sitcom, Lolicats is hosted by Elle.fr, a wonderful and hugely extensive website — autrement dit, ideal exam procrastination!

The site is quite labrynthine, here are some of its finest offerings:

People: Marion Cotillard et Guillaume Canet: leur idylle en images
Société: Camille Strauss-Kahn: au nom du père
Recettes Faciles: Tarte Caramélisée aux Poires
Mode Vidéo: Leçon de mode: porter les imprimés avec Alix, créatrice de Thomsen
Livres: Spécial printemps: notre top ten livres
Cinéma: Coup de cœur film: Belleville Tokyo

Et n’oubliez pas, bien sûr, la rubrique Astrologie pour lire votre horoscope du jour en français!