8.3 A radio news bulletin — Epoché
What you will be able to hear A radio news bulletin in eight short items: politics, a demonstration, a fire, an accident, the economy, floods, sport and the weather. The fixed phrases of news French: selon les autorités , personne n'a été blessé , le taux de chômage . The passive and the perfect at speed, the two forms of reported events. The main point of each item at first hearing, and the details at the second. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Notre équipe doit inscrire encore un but pour gagner le match. [1] Our team needs to score one more goal to win the match. Quelle équipe a gagné le match ? [2] Which team won the match? Comment avez-vous fait pour aller au stade ? [3] How did you get to the stadium? Personne ne sait comment l'incendie a commencé. [4] Nobody knows how the fire started. Notre équipe a fini par perdre en finale. [5] In the end, our team lost in the final. Combien faut-il de temps pour aller au stade ? [6] How long does it take to get to the stadium? Il a fallu beaucoup de temps pour éteindre l'incendie. [7] It took a long time to put out the fire. Prerequisites : 5.22 — this lesson follows 5.22 Vocabulary , the last vocabulary lesson of this phase. It uses the words of politics, law and the economy from 5.15 Vocabulary , 5.16 Vocabulary and 5.17 Vocabulary , and the numbers on the phone from 8.2 Listening . Before you listen French radio news, on stations such as France Inter or France Info, is read fast, often faster than conversation, because the newsreader reads a prepared text without hesitating. The speed is a problem for learners, but the language of news has two features that help. It is predictable: the same verbs and phrases come back in every bulletin. And it is organised: each item begins with the main fact, in one sentence, and then adds details. The structure of an item. First comes the fact, usually in the perfect: la bourse a dégringolé , the stock market has tumbled. Then come the source, the details and the consequences. Listen hard to the first sentence of each item; if you understand it, you know what the rest will be about. The passive. News French uses the passive from 4.20 Grammar when the agent is unknown or unimportant: ils ont été arrêtés , la maison a été emportée par l'inondation . Listen for a été and ont été , followed by a past participle. Attribution. A journalist reports, and attributes: selon la police , selon les autorités , according to. In the press you will also meet the conditional of reported fact: le suspect aurait avoué , the suspect is said to have confessed. It means the journalist has not confirmed the fact. Negative reassurance. Reports of accidents often end with personne n'a été blessé or il n'y a pas eu de victimes . Catch the personne or the pas , or you will understand the opposite. Questions Listen to the bulletin without looking at the transcript. Each group of sentences is one news item. Sentences 1 to 3: what has begun, and what do the authorities promise? Sentences 4 to 6: what did the demonstrators do, and was anyone arrested? Sentences 7 to 9: what kind of fire was it, and were there injuries? Sentences 10 and 11: how many people were injured in the accident, and where were they taken? Sentences 12 to 14: what is happening to unemployment and to the stock market? Sentences 15 and 16: what did the floods destroy? Sentences 17 to 19: what sports news do you hear? Sentences 20 and 21: what weather is forecast for tonight and for tomorrow? Dictation. Listen again to sentences 3, 6, 9 and 14 and write them word for word. Transcript French English Les négociations ont commencé. [8] The negotiations have begun. Les négociations ont échoué. [9] The negotiations failed. Selon les autorités, ce problème sera bientôt résolu. [10] According to the authorities, that problem will soon have been solved. Les manifestants brandissaient leurs drapeaux. [11] The demonstrators waved their flags. La police a contenu les manifestants. [12] The police held back the protesters. Personne n'a été arrêté. [13] No one was arrested. L'incendie s'étend. [14] The fire is spreading. C'était un incendie criminel. [15] It was a fire by arson. Personne n'a été blessé. [16] No one was injured. Trois ont été blessés. [17] Three were injured. Après l'accident, les blessés ont été transportés à l'hôpital. [18] After the accident, the injured were taken to hospital. Le taux de chômage en France est au plus haut. [19] French unemployment is at a record high. Le taux de chômage augmente de plus en plus. [20] The unemployment rate is increasing more and more. La bourse a dégringolé. [21] The stock market tumbled. La maison a été emportée par l'inondation. [22] The house was carried away by the flood. L'inondation a ruiné les récoltes. [23] The flood ruined the crops. Cinq coureurs ont atteint la finale. [24] Five runners reached the finals. La finale a fait stade comble. [25] A sell-out crowd was there to watch the final. Notre équipe a gagné le match. [26] Our team won the game. Le présentateur météo a annoncé de la neige pour cette nuit. [27] The weatherman predicts snow for tonight. Selon la météo, le temps se rafraîchit demain. [28] The weather forecast says it will be cooler tomorrow. The sentences are separate corpus sentences, put in the order of a bulletin for this lesson; they do not come from a single broadcast. Sentences 1 and 2 report two stages of the same negotiations, the second later than the first. Three translations are loose: sentence 3, sera bientôt résolu , is will soon be solved ; sentence 8, C'était un incendie criminel , is simply It was arson ; and sentence 20, a annoncé , is has forecast . Go deeper — when you have time More videos for those who want them. You do not need to watch them to finish this lesson. Check the length and the note, and pick only what interests you. France: la rentrée scolaire pour 11 millions d'élèves | Journal • Fran