I'm fascinated by Jodie Foster's childhood. Her mother wanted her to speak a second language so she went to a bilingual school. Back then obviously we had no internet or textbooks like we have today. I have huge respect to those who learned foreign languages.
"Back then", text books were quite common in the US. Maybe where you were raised they weren't. I took German in high school in the 1960s we learned languages with text books, class work and audio tapes.
She was speaking French since she was a child and also lived in France for years. She not just someone who took a couple French lessons in high school.
@@Street_French The school she went to (that I went to also when I was younger) is Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles. It wasn't just a high school-- you started there with kinder or first grade and it went all the way through high school (I think now they divide it up over different campuses in the L.A. area depending on your grade). You definitely come out (after 12 years) completely bilingual. By the way, there are schools of this type all over the world-- my mom went to Le Lycée Français Louis Pasteur in Bogotá, Colombia, where all students learned both French and English (so, they were all trilingual). And, in fact, when I was a student at the Lyçée in Los Angeles, she was my math teacher, and taught us in French. :)
@Luillier Stephane @StreetFrench.org Yes it’s true. I think the only movie she doesn’t have dubbed herself was the “nanard” by Dennis Hopper called “Catchfire” because she was definitely unhappy with the final cutting... ^^ When she doesn’t have been in France for a long time she tends to make some gender agreements mistakes but otherwise she is almost bilingual. I remember when she was promoting the movie “Nell” in France. She explained how she had worked with a speech therapist specialized in the language recovery of people who have suffered brain stroke (AVC) and how she learned a lot because language damage doesn’t work the same way in English and French. They even have created a little dictionary to help her dubbing the movie a better way.
Ahhhh... No wonder why i found her voice in french versions sound so much like her! loll. Yes her french is very good, il est très français aussi! ( I am french canadian btw :0 ) In fact i am quite sure she is the amercian actress speaking the best french of all.
I had a French professor who it took me about 3 hours to realize was not a native English speaker. This is more incredible because she did not have the early access to English as Jodie had to French.
I don't know if anyone has noticed but the way you do your reaction videos is actually very educational! It really helps a lot that you write down and explain the things Jodie says really fast. As a beginner in French, I find most French conversations really incomprehensible but after your talk about it, I pick it up the second time around. Merci beaucoup!
You speak already french : noticed, reaction, videos, actually, educational, really, explain, conversations, incomprehensible, second...all pure french words or directly derived from french language.
Je suis d'accord. Also the same as colloquially saying "Ya what." The "what" is stated as a confirmation or in agreement. By the way, regional English speakers also use "Pour quoi?" literally, as in "For what?" instead of the actual "Pourquoi?" (no space) for "Why?". "For what?" is almost a demand to an unusual or incredulous notion/proposition and at times challenging the other person. The stress is on the "what" and an up-down tonal inflection is required for emphasis. Désolé pas désolé, et je ne sais pour qoui 😁
As a frenchman, I can confirm that Jodie's french is 99% flawless, 99% nearly perfect (apart from tiny mistakes like "du même façon" or "des acteurs normals", mostly due to the fact that she speaks very quickly, even french people make this kind of mistakes), she speaks french without any american accent at all, and her voice is so warm, sensual...lol, not to mention her beauty of course...;) PS : you could have picked a more recent TV interview, this one is easily 25 or 30 years of age. lol
@@goawaytubetwat3179 Hi. She should have said "de LA même façon", and "des acteurs NORMAUX" ("acteurs" being here masculine & plural). If she was talking about female actresses, then she should say "des actrices normales" (feminine form+plural). Hope it helps ☺.
In Quebec, "quoi" at the end of a sentence is a dead giveaway that the speaker is from France. We say "tu sais" (you know), contracted as "tsé". You will also hear "au fait".
D'Ther Étrange, puisque les québécois ont tellement d'ancêtres de ces régions, on croirait que cette expression aurait survécu, ce qui n'est pas le cas.
This kind of video is SUPER helpful, thank you SO much!! By the way, my husband is French and he was completely blown away when he heard Jodie Foster's french.
PS Thanks for being so super encouraging ... I remember the 1st time I heard Jodie Foster speaking french part of me felt discouraged, knowing I'd never speak that well ... but that was before I realized she'd started learning french as a child.
Yes I confirm you, it is very impressing to hear her speaking french. She speaks like a Parisian woman without accent. It seems her sister is also settled in France close to the city of Albi. Her family is very francophile.
She speaks French because her mother sent her to a very expensive private school! Unfortunately, she would not speak at this level had she gone to public school in the US. As a child actor, she worked and earned her own tuition to go to private schools. She also attended an Ivy League School because the private school she went to prepared her and she had connections through her work (I hope and pray she got these through hard work and not bribes). I do admire Jodie's body of work, but her money has bought her many privileges most normal people wouldn't have. I am not hating on Jodie, just explaining how she was able to get to such a high level of French. Most families can't afford to pay $40,000 a year for high school or college, which she did.
I took French lessons in high school, and nothing against my wonderful teacher there, but you sound like the perfect French teacher for students who are already self-conscious about their speaking. Very encouraging, nice, and calm :)
Wow! I had no idea she spoke French. Like looking at a different person; I’ve always loved her but hearing her speak French...heavenly. Thank you for finding this.
😂😂c'est drôle, la même chose m'est arrivé, je suis espagnol et j'ai été émerveillé d'entendre Viggo Mortensen parler ma langue parfaitement avec un accent argentin
My God, heard that she is one of the best French speakers on the list, and is so fluent that she has starred in a number of French films and dubs her own films for French audiences! 😎🤷♂️
The French “quoi” at the end of a sentence seems like the “you know?” or “right?” that we put at the end of sentences in English, or like “oder” in German.
It's a bit "heavier" than "you know?" or "right?" because there's no "?" in fact, You kind of double the impact of your words with the "quoi" ending.....if it makes sense, ....in addition of finishing the sentence, "dropping the mic" as she said.
Nabi Do you mean “live”instead of “lived”? She visited France several times- you don’t have to “live” there. Also, she’s extremely intelligent and dedicated!
Another excellent video. A really interesting niche subject you’ve found here. Very entertaining! It makes me want to move back to France. Although it’s been years since I’ve spoken French on a daily basis, I find it is like riding a bicycle. You may lose a bit of vocabulary, but it all comes right back once you start listening and reading again. Thanks again for being such a great resource for those of us that love the French language . . . and people!
Thank you for this explanation. For so long I would hear my wife and friends say "quoi" at the end of a sentence and everytime I asked them why, they couldn't give me an answer. For years it would confuse me because I would think the sentence all of a sudden turned into a question without me knowing and it would wreck me in conversation
ah so happy my somewhat of an explanation helped you! it's not really easy to explain you have to hear it a lot, and try to use it to get the feel of when it's right to use it. i'm sure there's going to be some trial and error but that's ok ^^
Hahaha. And it's a typical French people thing. We native French speakers from Francophone Africa do not use that 'quoi'. Except when we are mimicking a French accent and that 'quoi' comes in.
This was by far the best and most inspiring video for learning French I've seen that you've done, so far! It's very inspiring to see a beloved actor like Jodie Foster speaking French so fluently! It's a lot easier to speak with a very good French accent, and run words together the proper way, than it is to also understand everything a French person asks you who's running their words together the French way, and its lovely that she seems to do both quite well! (Jody Foster is quite beloved, especially because of her splendid, moving roles in "Silence of the Lambs" with a very nice southern accent in that one, along with her role in "Contact", two of the best and most enjoyable movies ever made, right up there with the top, all-time favorite classic movies! I really love with a passion, the slalom skaters "Chloe et Igor, Catch me if you can" as well as the French Freerun Family, both on TH-cam, along with taking modern, modern jazz and ballet classes all of which really excell in Paris, and they're my favorite sports. I would love to be able to visit and speak and understand French with them (and skate and Freerun and do dance classes with them.) I met a beautiful dancer/model visiting from Paris at one of my favorite dance schools in New York. It would be very inspiring if you could visit a favorite dance school if they would give you permission to video a bit in the school and in your favorite class you see there! There could easily be some American star taking a class there and speaking and understanding the instructor in French. That's a cultural encouragement to learn and enjoy speaking French! 😀 I had 2 years of French in High school and 1 year of Japanese in college. You have really inspired me now! More like this please! Merci beaucoup! 😀
The very first time I saw that clip I choked on my sip of coffee as soon as she spoke. I was not expecting her French to be almost perfect and flawless. In fact, in the beginning of the video, I started wondering if she actually was French until I heard a slight mistake that is very common for English speakers. That's when I realized that she really wasn't a native, which made it even more impressive. It's hands down the best French I've ever heard from a native English speaker. Absolutely stunning. Well done Jodi :)
I believe she went to the Lycee (forgive the lack of accent marks as I have US keyboard) in Los Angeles. We have equivalent in NYC and you can hear the kids after school speaking to each other only in French. It's a great way to learn because you start so young and have each other to speak to so you really learn.
She speaks great French, not perfect. Perfect means with nothing to improve. Her French is not perfect by any means, please leave that word for the cases where it fits.
@@rafadydkiemmacha7543 ok sorry I'm french, so my english is obviously not perfect, neither is my french according to your definition, neither is anyone's french, as there is always room for improvement (when my french is perfect I may apply to the Académie Française). Anyway, let me rephrase «I'm impressed ! Her french is super fluent, and natural and beautiful. It is nearly perfect wich to me is the very definition of perfection.»
Ms.Foster is indistinguishable from a true french speaker. She is a real francophone not just a Francophile. She must have learnt very young. Bravo Jodie c'est dans le mille!
You can see her in a French movie, "A Very Long Engagement" / "Un long dimanche de fiançailles." She really speaks like a native, which is amazing. I heard a little mistake in this video though! At 1:43 she says "du même façon," which should be "de la même façon." I can't believe she even made one mistake because she's so good.
I studied French for three or four years as a student, but I have not spoken much since then. This is the first video of this kind I've ever watched. I will now continue my journey, thanks to your charm and real desire to help non native speakers improve our French.
@@Street_French I've sung much French opera and chanson over the years so French has always had a HUGE place in my heart, but conversational French sputtered. Thanks so much!
upon scrutiny you can tell her native language is English, but her accent, body language and confidence are so convincing that you almost don't notice it. goes to show that mastering a language is not just about correctly using the right words, but also about non verbal communication and cultural knowledge
hahaha always dumb comments like these. no, you could never tell her native language was french if you randomly spoke to her in France. she speaks better french than 99% of french speakers.
@@michelbeauregard7326 Oui, l'erreur sur le genre d'un mot courant est souvent le dernier trait qui trahit le statut d'un non-natif. Mais son niveau général est bien supérieur à celui de millions de Français. Elle me rappelle un ami anglophone qui a fréquenté un lycée français en Amérique du Nord.
This is how I felt when I heard Jun from TH-cam Jun's Kitchen speaking English. He's native Japanese, yet his phrases and accent are so close to American! I would probably think he was an American who moved to Japan and got a slight accent. And I don't think he's ever even lived in the US. Some people have great skill indeed!
ah yeah true, he's a great example :) I don't know if people really get to loose they native accents though. That's interesting, I'll keep that in mind though and investigate^^
Please, react to Timothée Chalamet next. He went on Quotidien twice. You can find it easily on TH-cam. The second time he spoke just in french, if I'm not mistaken.
@@christophepena2212 I don't think he does. Jodie Foster's French is excellent and achieving that level for a foreigner is very difficult without immersion.
Thank you so much for this, I like the fact that you pointed out the natural way to speak French with words such as ``quoi`` or ``ouais``. I'm really enjoying your videos. Greetings from Spain
as a bilingual, to me "quoi" at the end of a sentence is like summing up what you've said. in english it would be a longer translation, but i think it's like "basically" / "that's basically what i'm saying" / "to sum it up" / "all in all". in french you could also replace it with "en somme", "en fin de compte", "en gros", "en fait" and it would have a similar meaning (but people wouldn't really say those much). ex. -c'etait bien le film? -ouais c'etait pas mal. enfin, c'etait pas le meilleur film que j'ai jamais vu, mais bon, c'etait sympa, quoi. (-was the movie good?) (-yeah it wasn't bad. i mean, it wasn't the best movie i've ever seen, but it was pretty nice, basically.)
@@Street_French Perhaps another way of looking at 'quoi' in conversational English is the way we say "y, know' (or sometimes 'y, know?' with a rising intonation) when we get to the end of a sentence - we're not really making a statement about whether you do know or not (and we are not really asking a question to find out either). It's more like a kind of verbal punctuation. I've always thought of 'quoi' in that light.
@@philroberts7238 to me, sentence-final "quoi" is semantically distinct from "y'know?", which would be better translated as "hein?. I wouldn't use "y'know" in all the same places as i would use "quoi", so i think "basically" is a better translation and way to think about it ☺
Good tip to recommend hearing lotsa of good intervjues to get learn a fluid language melody. Is so in most languages! Observe, the radio programs when they de facto are reading texts, arent unreliable and even "dangerous": because reading aloud you do have another melody than when talking... Not even to mention, most tend to write differently than when talking... Not least in Swedish it becomes very clear what is a read text: So for example, to signal the text is nearing its end, they go down in intensity... And if any important word is at the end - we may easily dont hear it... While a natural speaker would make sure to pronounce clearly any important word or conclussion....
One day, I heard Jodie Foster in French, speaking at the radio upon releasing of one's movie, she told when she spoke in French, she felt that she had not the same personality. She thought differently. It is very weird.
Merci beaucoup pour votre video, vous nous aidons apprender le language française! (Sorry I am still learning but thank you so much you are helping so many people!). Jody Foster is indeed outstanding in many areas, she is rumoured to be very intelligent too so it doesn't surprise me that she also excels at speaking French.
There are several well known French Lycées in large US cities. Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc. Where all the teachers are native speakers and all classes are in French. I believe she attended the Los Angeles Lycée.
Yes, there is the Lycée Français in Los Angeles. Jodie Foster and several other young actors like Molly Ringwald went there. Lucky kids, I wish I had gone there!
I wonder if 'quoi' is a lot like when Americans say 'You know?' at the end of sentences? Example: 'She's so smart and popular. She's going to go far in life, you know?'
I hear "Quoi" being used at the end of a sentence as a way of emphasizing what you've just said. So, in your ex. "quoi" at the end would be more like saying, "that one" ("She's so smart and popular. She's going to go far in life, that one.)
@@MalaWaldron I have a friend who says «tu vois ce que je veux dire» at the end of nearly every sentence, that can be annoying (if you know what i mean :)
Vanessa R ”…toher” ? No period at the end of the sentence... Fix what for me? lol. FYI, I used French word ‘actrices’ on purpose. Polish your English first, then learn to have a sense of humor. 😂
@@bobcoughlan929 as my other comment states (sorry it was stated in french), I was wrong with Contact. She didn't dub that movie. In the link provided is the list of movies she dubbed herself.
The "quoi" at the end is like a "you know". It's not dropped fully randomly, it's meant to mark a summary or the fact that you stopped yourself because you think you have managed to convey your idea even though there is more to say or you may not have been very precise. There are more feminine/masculine errors that those reported in the video like 4:15 : une partie, celui du réalisateur --> une partie, celle du réalisateur. She obviously know that partie is feminine since she used "une" so it's probably actually a grammatical error, she aligned "celui/celle" on the owner ("réalisateur", masculine) instead of the owned ("partie" feminine). I believe that in a discussion you would wonder if she is foreign or not because her few errors are not really typical of native speakers errors. But she has clearly spoken French with native speakers over a long period of time. 5:53 Oui enfin, c'est un différenT mythe . The 'T' is silent. That's a word she must have learned by reading or inferring from English, no native speaker would pronounce the final 't'.
thanks for reporting and correcting all the mistakes :) I cut out all the little errors because the video as going to be too long :) I tried to find little mistakes that would make for a mini lesson point^^
I don’t know a whole lot about the French language as I am a beginner, but I found this to be informative. Some things you don’t learn when your teacher is an American who is teaching you their second language. I hope that makes sense.
Foster was a gifted child who learned to read at age three.[9][13] She attended the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, a French-language prep school.[13] Her fluency in French has enabled her to act in French films, and she also dubs herself in French-language versions of most of her English-language films.[9][17] At her graduation in 1980, she delivered the valedictorian address for the school's French division.[13] She then attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut[14][18] where she majored in African-American literature, wrote her thesis on Toni Morrison
I am a beginner in French growing up in Liguria (north west of Italy, an extension of cot d’azur so to speak), but born from a Polish mather and a German father while spent a few years in London, hence nothing to do with Latin culture and language and was always behind in school with my Italian counterparts in French language, though I am not that behind as of now being an adult, just forget about the grammar and throw yourself blindly into the language no matter the mistates you make and you’re gonna make it, wish me luck ;) Motivation and curiosity is key, hope I gonna make it to a decent level in French
What I find interesting is that I did French at (UK) school to A-level and can read it OK, then I got some refresher French lessons later on and used to do rough first translations of French documents at work close enough so that colleagues could start work on them. But I can't understand French police dramas on TV, barely a word. Whereas I can understand more of spoken Italian, a language I've never studied at all (only French and Spanish). It's very odd.
Diane accent is increadible but a tad down of Jodie's. But it would be interesting to have an impro battle between Jodie and Diane using French 👍 Monica is lovelly but keep an Italian accent. A funy case in the French speaker world is Mika 😉
At 5:35 the phrase “Enfin voila quoi” reminded me of a British teacher’s analysis of Kristen Scott-Thomas’s excellent French. He showed a few examples where she adds “enfin” quite often while she’s thinking or clarifying her train of thought. I think the English equivalent might be “sort of”.
This video was super fun! Moi aussi, je cherches toujours des videos des gens non-francophones parlant francais, alors, cette video m'a beaucoup interesse.
Her French 🇫🇷⚜️🇨🇦is incredible, even me, who am half French, and who have French learnt since childhood, I might don’t have her French accent. I’d like you to react Jonhy Depp French next 😁.
Not interesting at all. English and french do not have the same sounds. It’s all about the linguistics of language. The mouth needs to be held a certain way. That goes for any language. People who are truly fluent do this. Someone just taking a few casual classes would not.
I'm fascinated by Jodie Foster's childhood. Her mother wanted her to speak a second language so she went to a bilingual school. Back then obviously we had no internet or textbooks like we have today. I have huge respect to those who learned foreign languages.
ah yeah :)
Jodie is also fluent in Italian. She actually speaks 5 languages.
Oh thank you ! 🤣 I speak 5 languages too, well, that's a lie I'm trying to speak fluently in my 5th language.
I speak just English and French (I’m French) and I’m trying to learn Japanese ;)
"Back then", text books were quite common in the US. Maybe where you were raised they weren't. I took German in high school in the 1960s we learned languages with text books, class work and audio tapes.
Not only she speaks French fluently but its one of the most intelligent woman in the biz.
:)
absolutely!
She’s one of the most intelligent humans on this planet.
likes the taco
oh que oui, c'est exactement ce que j'ai écris sous la vidéo de cette interwiew!!!
She was speaking French since she was a child and also lived in France for years. She not just someone who took a couple French lessons in high school.
ah cool :)
@@Street_French The school she went to (that I went to also when I was younger) is Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles. It wasn't just a high school-- you started there with kinder or first grade and it went all the way through high school (I think now they divide it up over different campuses in the L.A. area depending on your grade). You definitely come out (after 12 years) completely bilingual. By the way, there are schools of this type all over the world-- my mom went to Le Lycée Français Louis Pasteur in Bogotá, Colombia, where all students learned both French and English (so, they were all trilingual). And, in fact, when I was a student at the Lyçée in Los Angeles, she was my math teacher, and taught us in French. :)
What seems to be your point?
@@dcb8235 to is not too...et voilà...
@@carlnuernberg3273 the point is it's silly to analyse her french as if she is an amateur speaker.
She dubs herself for her french voice in french version movies.
ah cool :)
@Luillier Stephane @StreetFrench.org
Yes it’s true. I think the only movie she doesn’t have dubbed herself was the “nanard” by Dennis Hopper called “Catchfire” because she was definitely unhappy with the final cutting... ^^
When she doesn’t have been in France for a long time she tends to make some gender agreements mistakes but otherwise she is almost bilingual.
I remember when she was promoting the movie “Nell” in France. She explained how she had worked with a speech therapist specialized in the language recovery of people who have suffered brain stroke (AVC) and how she learned a lot because language damage doesn’t work the same way in English and French.
They even have created a little dictionary to help her dubbing the movie a better way.
Ahhhh... No wonder why i found her voice in french versions sound so much like her! loll. Yes her french is very good, il est très français aussi! ( I am french canadian btw :0 )
In fact i am quite sure she is the amercian actress speaking the best french of all.
😱❤️
Because of her ego.
She has zero American accent when she speaks. Incroyable!
:)
I had a French professor who it took me about 3 hours to realize was not a native English speaker. This is more incredible because she did not have the early access to English as Jodie had to French.
Breakthrough Moment parfait
Sam Powell 👍
@@lorimav Jodie has an accent ,slight, very slight but still she has an accent
This is the best french spoken from a american I’ve ever heard.
Chapeau 🎩
definitely!
I don't know if anyone has noticed but the way you do your reaction videos is actually very educational! It really helps a lot that you write down and explain the things Jodie says really fast. As a beginner in French, I find most French conversations really incomprehensible but after your talk about it, I pick it up the second time around. Merci beaucoup!
ah cool that's really nice to hear that ! That was the goal of this video! :)
You speak already french : noticed, reaction, videos, actually, educational, really, explain, conversations, incomprehensible, second...all pure french words or directly derived from french language.
I'd say the english equivalent of ending sentences with "quoi" would be ending them with "you know".
ah yeah that's good too :)
Je suis d'accord. Also the same as colloquially saying "Ya what." The "what" is stated as a confirmation or in agreement.
By the way, regional English speakers also use "Pour quoi?" literally, as in "For what?" instead of the actual "Pourquoi?" (no space) for "Why?". "For what?" is almost a demand to an unusual or incredulous notion/proposition and at times challenging the other person. The stress is on the "what" and an up-down tonal inflection is required for emphasis.
Désolé pas désolé, et je ne sais pour qoui 😁
It's more like "whatnot".
For me, I say “ou quoi”.... as in the English equivalent of “or whatever”... as a way of being modest in your opinion. But the ou is literally silent.
French 'quoi' sounds a lot like Chilean 'po' at the end of phrases to me. Any fellow French-learning/-speaking Chilean to confirm? lol
As a frenchman, I can confirm that Jodie's french is 99% flawless, 99% nearly perfect (apart from tiny mistakes like "du même façon" or "des acteurs normals", mostly due to the fact that she speaks very quickly, even french people make this kind of mistakes), she speaks french without any american accent at all, and her voice is so warm, sensual...lol, not to mention her beauty of course...;) PS : you could have picked a more recent TV interview, this one is easily 25 or 30 years of age. lol
ah yeah true! haha yeah I guess it's a bit old lol
Should it be "de meme facon" (i don't have the accents on my keyboard) and "des acteurs normale"? What were the little mistakes?
@@goawaytubetwat3179 Hi. She should have said "de LA même façon", and "des acteurs NORMAUX" ("acteurs" being here masculine & plural). If she was talking about female actresses, then she should say "des actrices normales" (feminine form+plural). Hope it helps ☺.
@@jeremie2020 Yep, that helps a lot, thanks!
@@goawaytubetwat3179 Tant mieux, et de rien! (So much the better, and you're welcome!) ;D
Even her face look french when she speaks french !!
haha :)
Thats funny as hell😂
rofl oui jpensais la même chose
Her lips. She doesn’t purse her lips as much when she speaks English.
The things people say 😂😂😂
She even speaks with the French intonation, she sounds so French to me.
yeah true :)
In Quebec, "quoi" at the end of a sentence is a dead giveaway that the speaker is from France. We say "tu sais" (you know), contracted as "tsé". You will also hear "au fait".
or Belgium
ah cool so interesting :)
@@Street_French Le "quoi" a la fin est surtout present au nord de la france sur les regions Picarde et nordique.
D'Ther Étrange, puisque les québécois ont tellement d'ancêtres de ces régions, on croirait que cette expression aurait survécu, ce qui n'est pas le cas.
Est-ce que ça vien de l’anglais? Nous les ‘ricains disons aussi “you know?” apres casiment chaque frase.
This kind of video is SUPER helpful, thank you SO much!! By the way, my husband is French and he was completely blown away when he heard Jodie Foster's french.
PS Thanks for being so super encouraging ... I remember the 1st time I heard Jodie Foster speaking french part of me felt discouraged, knowing I'd never speak that well ... but that was before I realized she'd started learning french as a child.
ah cool we're glad you enjoyed it :) yeah did you see my face at the beginning ?? haha I was blown away by her french too haha
Yes I confirm you, it is very impressing to hear her speaking french. She speaks like a Parisian woman without accent. It seems her sister is also settled in France close to the city of Albi. Her family is very francophile.
Love how the teacher really encourages the students. Enjoyed the video.
ah thank you it means a lot :) :)
"It's not fair. She's bilingual." I love Jodie Foster, but her level of French is totally unfair!
Live with it! 🤷♀️
haha :)
Check out her Italian!
She speaks French because her mother sent her to a very expensive private school! Unfortunately, she would not speak at this level had she gone to public school in the US. As a child actor, she worked and earned her own tuition to go to private schools. She also attended an Ivy League School because the private school she went to prepared her and she had connections through her work (I hope and pray she got these through hard work and not bribes). I do admire Jodie's body of work, but her money has bought her many privileges most normal people wouldn't have. I am not hating on Jodie, just explaining how she was able to get to such a high level of French. Most families can't afford to pay $40,000 a year for high school or college, which she did.
@@fredrika27 of course it helps but her level is lots of dedication.
I took French lessons in high school, and nothing against my wonderful teacher there, but you sound like the perfect French teacher for students who are already self-conscious about their speaking. Very encouraging, nice, and calm :)
That's great! I'm glad I conveyed that vibe :)
Wow! I had no idea she spoke French. Like looking at a different person; I’ve always loved her but hearing her speak French...heavenly. Thank you for finding this.
ah cool :)
My ancestors were French from Quebec and arrived in Louisiana in 1740, Learning French is number one on my bucket list and to visit Quebec and France.
:):)
Charles Flowers : go for it 🇫🇷
Unfortunately, the french language is diying in Louisiana, 500k speakers in the 70s, just 100k today...
rebienvenue au quebec! bonne courage!
Take singer Zacharie Richard for a model,we love him up in Quebec
She speaks better french than me and I’m french....
hahaha^^
StreetFrench.org , mais c’est pourtant vrai! À ma défense, je viens de Montréal! LOL
😂😂c'est drôle, la même chose m'est arrivé, je suis espagnol et j'ai été émerveillé d'entendre Viggo Mortensen parler ma langue parfaitement avec un accent argentin
Libertario Ancap Albiazul , buenos dias, de plus Viggo parle français avec un léger accent québécois ! Buena continuación y hasta la próxima!
@@alexdayhay 👍👍👋👋
My God, heard that she is one of the best French speakers on the list, and is so fluent that she has starred in a number of French films and dubs her own films for French audiences! 😎🤷♂️
ow cool :)
Like in A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche de fiançailles). 😎
She dubs her own character in Panic Room as well.
Actually I made a mistake. In A Very Long Engagement, she SPEAKS French. No dubbing needed.
This was so nice. All the little tips about making French sounds more French. Thank you. Will try to use that words in the end.
aw cool glad you've enjoyed it :)
Use it as "... you know", it's the exact purpose of the word "quoi", even tho it doesnt mean that.
I’m glad to know how adept Ms. Foster is at speaking French. I respect her even more now.
:)
Another French speaker here. She speaks better than me.
Jodie Foster is incredible at everything. Bravo!
:):)
The French “quoi” at the end of a sentence seems like the “you know?” or “right?” that we put at the end of sentences in English, or like “oder” in German.
ah yeah kind of :)
It's a bit "heavier" than "you know?" or "right?" because there's no "?" in fact, You kind of double the impact of your words with the "quoi" ending.....if it makes sense, ....in addition of finishing the sentence, "dropping the mic" as she said.
it doesn't occur in a lot of dialects, but it reminds me of some people putting "see." at the end of their sentences
Meriadoc Wilson « see » « tu vois » in French... »quoi » is something else...lol
We try to translate a word that has no translation.....
@@guiguijol it's interesting nonetheless to draw comparisons
My girlfriends french and I showed her this interview months ago... she was really impressed and said she was perfect.
yeah definitely agree! :)
Jodie has always been a class act. She's brilliant.
:):)
Her French does sound very fluent to me...She speaks very quickly and seems very comfortable. I'm proud of her.
Why are you proud of someone you are not even related to?
Of course she speaks French perfectly - she attended a private el/ Hs , then majored in French at Princeton! She had decades of French lessons!
ah cool :)
She also went to Sarah Laurence
But she didn't lived in France, that's quite amazing how she s accurate in her intonation..
Nabi Do you mean “live”instead of “lived”? She visited France several times- you don’t have to “live” there. Also, she’s extremely intelligent and dedicated!
@@conniecrawford5231 she did live in France for a time. Google it
Another excellent video. A really interesting niche subject you’ve found here. Very entertaining! It makes me want to move back to France. Although it’s been years since I’ve spoken French on a daily basis, I find it is like riding a bicycle. You may lose a bit of vocabulary, but it all comes right back once you start listening and reading again. Thanks again for being such a great resource for those of us that love the French language . . . and people!
ah I'm glad you've enjoyed this video :) and yeah totally agree !
Jodie Foster, can she be any cooler? 🗼
haha yeah right?
No. She is already at max cool.
Well, she's super freaking smart which also just made me sound super freaking smart... but she graduated top of her class from Yale.
Thank you for this explanation. For so long I would hear my wife and friends say "quoi" at the end of a sentence and everytime I asked them why, they couldn't give me an answer. For years it would confuse me because I would think the sentence all of a sudden turned into a question without me knowing and it would wreck me in conversation
ah so happy my somewhat of an explanation helped you! it's not really easy to explain you have to hear it a lot, and try to use it to get the feel of when it's right to use it. i'm sure there's going to be some trial and error but that's ok ^^
Hahaha. And it's a typical French people thing. We native French speakers from Francophone Africa do not use that 'quoi'. Except when we are mimicking a French accent and that 'quoi' comes in.
This was super fun yet again! ^^
ow cool :))
This was by far the best and most inspiring video for learning French I've seen that you've done, so far! It's very inspiring to see a beloved actor like Jodie Foster speaking French so fluently! It's a lot easier to speak with a very good French accent, and run words together the proper way, than it is to also understand everything a French person asks you who's running their words together the French way, and its lovely that she seems to do both quite well! (Jody Foster is quite beloved, especially because of her splendid, moving roles in "Silence of the Lambs" with a very nice southern accent in that one, along with her role in "Contact", two of the best and most enjoyable movies ever made, right up there with the top, all-time favorite classic movies!
I really love with a passion, the slalom skaters "Chloe et Igor, Catch me if you can" as well as the French Freerun Family, both on TH-cam, along with taking modern, modern jazz and ballet classes all of which really excell in Paris, and they're my favorite sports. I would love to be able to visit and speak and understand French with them (and skate and Freerun and do dance classes with them.) I met a beautiful dancer/model visiting from Paris at one of my favorite dance schools in New York. It would be very inspiring if you could visit a favorite dance school if they would give you permission to video a bit in the school and in your favorite class you see there! There could easily be some American star taking a class there and speaking and understanding the instructor in French. That's a cultural encouragement to learn and enjoy speaking French! 😀
I had 2 years of French in High school and 1 year of Japanese in college. You have really inspired me now! More like this please! Merci beaucoup! 😀
wow thank you for this comment! it means a lot :) and thanks for sharing all that ! :):)
StreetFrench.org Merci, I'm so glad you liked it! :)
She has been speaking French most of her life .
Jodie Foster speaks French really well. Thank you for this video.❤️🇺🇸❤️
de rien :)
I really admire smart and confident women. They help shape the better world for future generations.
ah yeah :):)
Keep them coming!
ow cool will do :)
Thank you for being such a phenomenal resource of encouragement and knowledge! 💚🙏🕊
de rien :)
Jeremy Irons speaks a perfect french too, just with a slight accent. You may also check for Viggo Mortensen and Ashley Judd.
aw cool thanks! :)
The very first time I saw that clip I choked on my sip of coffee as soon as she spoke. I was not expecting her French to be almost perfect and flawless. In fact, in the beginning of the video, I started wondering if she actually was French until I heard a slight mistake that is very common for English speakers. That's when I realized that she really wasn't a native, which made it even more impressive. It's hands down the best French I've ever heard from a native English speaker. Absolutely stunning. Well done Jodi :)
I believe she went to the Lycee (forgive the lack of accent marks as I have US keyboard) in Los Angeles. We have equivalent in NYC and you can hear the kids after school speaking to each other only in French. It's a great way to learn because you start so young and have each other to speak to so you really learn.
Love these videos. Very helpful and informative. Thanks!
ah merci :))
I'm impressed ! Jodie Foster speaks french perfectly !
yeah !
She speaks great French, not perfect. Perfect means with nothing to improve. Her French is not perfect by any means, please leave that word for the cases where it fits.
@@rafadydkiemmacha7543 ok sorry I'm french, so my english is obviously not perfect, neither is my french according to your definition, neither is anyone's french, as there is always room for improvement (when my french is perfect I may apply to the Académie Française). Anyway, let me rephrase «I'm impressed ! Her french is super fluent, and natural and beautiful. It is nearly perfect wich to me is the very definition of perfection.»
monpopotam a that's much better 😀 that being said, I wish my French was as good as her's.
@@rafadydkiemmacha7543 It's nearly perfect, honestly. She could pass for a French among French.
Ms.Foster is indistinguishable from a true french speaker. She is a real francophone not just a Francophile. She must have learnt very young. Bravo Jodie c'est dans le mille!
:):)
You can see her in a French movie, "A Very Long Engagement" / "Un long dimanche de fiançailles."
She really speaks like a native, which is amazing. I heard a little mistake in this video though! At 1:43 she says "du même façon," which should be "de la même façon." I can't believe she even made one mistake because she's so good.
I studied French for three or four years as a student, but I have not spoken much since then. This is the first video of this kind I've ever watched. I will now continue my journey, thanks to your charm and real desire to help non native speakers improve our French.
Glad it was helpful and motivating to start bringing some French back into your life :)
@@Street_French I've sung much French opera and chanson over the years so French has always had a HUGE place in my heart, but conversational French sputtered. Thanks so much!
So excited to discover your channel! I love French. It’s my dream to be fluent. Merci beaucoup. ✨
ow cool glad you enjoy our channel :)
upon scrutiny you can tell her native language is English, but her accent, body language and confidence are so convincing that you almost don't notice it. goes to show that mastering a language is not just about correctly using the right words, but also about non verbal communication and cultural knowledge
hahaha always dumb comments like these. no, you could never tell her native language was french if you randomly spoke to her in France. she speaks better french than 99% of french speakers.
Most French people don't even speak that well. Quite impressive!
haha ok:)
@@Street_FrenchElle a fait plusieurs erreurs entre le masculin et le féminin. Par contre, son accent est bien et son parler est très fluide.
@@michelbeauregard7326 Oui, l'erreur sur le genre d'un mot courant est souvent le dernier trait qui trahit le statut d'un non-natif. Mais son niveau général est bien supérieur à celui de millions de Français. Elle me rappelle un ami anglophone qui a fréquenté un lycée français en Amérique du Nord.
??? ha non? Retournez à l'école, et apprenez cette fois-ci.
Well, well, do I smell a bit of jealousy there.
Bas ouais! Je suis Américan et j’ai été étudiant d’echange en Belgique. Merci bcp pour ces vidéos et j’aimerais en voir plus. Gros biz!
:):)
This is how I felt when I heard Jun from TH-cam Jun's Kitchen speaking English. He's native Japanese, yet his phrases and accent are so close to American! I would probably think he was an American who moved to Japan and got a slight accent. And I don't think he's ever even lived in the US. Some people have great skill indeed!
ah yeah true, he's a great example :)
I don't know if people really get to loose they native accents though. That's interesting, I'll keep that in mind though and investigate^^
So well explained maia! Love this video
oh cool thanks! :):)
Please, react to Timothée Chalamet next. He went on Quotidien twice. You can find it easily on TH-cam. The second time he spoke just in french, if I'm not mistaken.
ow ok I will :))
Timothée Chalamet has a French father, hence his VERY French name and surname.
@@jetaddicted but doesn't speak french as well as jodie Foster .
@@christophepena2212 I don't think he does. Jodie Foster's French is excellent and achieving that level for a foreigner is very difficult without immersion.
Fun to see such a familiar celebrity speaking another language so fluently. Good video. Merci!
ah yeah it's fun :)
Your English is so good. It is rare I run across a French person that nails the “th” sound 👍🏻👏🏻🙌🏻
ah thanks! yeah I know, we're not know to be good at English lol
Thank you so much for this, I like the fact that you pointed out the natural way to speak French with words such as ``quoi`` or ``ouais``. I'm really enjoying your videos. Greetings from Spain
ow thank you :) :)
Another indication that Jodie really speaks French well is how she says "pis" instead of "puis"!
ah yeah good one :)
Your comment doesn't make much sense to me : is saying "ya" instead of "you" a sign of superior English ?
as a bilingual, to me "quoi" at the end of a sentence is like summing up what you've said. in english it would be a longer translation, but i think it's like "basically" / "that's basically what i'm saying" / "to sum it up" / "all in all". in french you could also replace it with "en somme", "en fin de compte", "en gros", "en fait" and it would have a similar meaning (but people wouldn't really say those much).
ex.
-c'etait bien le film?
-ouais c'etait pas mal. enfin, c'etait pas le meilleur film que j'ai jamais vu, mais bon, c'etait sympa, quoi.
(-was the movie good?)
(-yeah it wasn't bad. i mean, it wasn't the best movie i've ever seen, but it was pretty nice, basically.)
ah yeah it could be something like that thanks for the feedback. ^^
Is it like na? Or oder? in german
@@Street_French Perhaps another way of looking at 'quoi' in conversational English is the way we say "y, know' (or sometimes 'y, know?' with a rising intonation) when we get to the end of a sentence - we're not really making a statement about whether you do know or not (and we are not really asking a question to find out either). It's more like a kind of verbal punctuation. I've always thought of 'quoi' in that light.
@@philroberts7238 to me, sentence-final "quoi" is semantically distinct from "y'know?", which would be better translated as "hein?. I wouldn't use "y'know" in all the same places as i would use "quoi", so i think "basically" is a better translation and way to think about it ☺
@@OAnIncurableHumanist I think a better translation for "y'know?" would be "tu vois ?". As for "quoi", I think Simulacreage put it perfectly.
Good tip to recommend hearing lotsa of good intervjues to get learn a fluid language melody. Is so in most languages! Observe, the radio programs when they de facto are reading texts, arent unreliable and even "dangerous": because reading aloud you do have another melody than when talking... Not even to mention, most tend to write differently than when talking... Not least in Swedish it becomes very clear what is a read text: So for example, to signal the text is nearing its end, they go down in intensity... And if any important word is at the end - we may easily dont hear it... While a natural speaker would make sure to pronounce clearly any important word or conclussion....
yeah totally agree with that :)
I love your videos. Please make more.
ow cool ok ! :)
I wonder how her French is now, since that interview is what, like 20 years old?
ah yeah should check that out :):)
Awesome, hope to see more of these!
One day, I heard Jodie Foster in French, speaking at the radio upon releasing of one's movie, she told when she spoke in French, she felt that she had not the same personality. She thought differently. It is very weird.
ah yeah I totally get what she means it's interesting :)
Yes, I think this happens to bilingual people. I can tell how I react and even think differently when I speak another language.
this was a great video! i watched the whole way through with a big smile on my face - subscribed :)
ow cool, your comment warms my heart :)) I'm really glad you've enjoyed it! and welcome to our channel haha^^
She is a natural, she speaks better than me who stayed almost a decade in Paris!
haha yeah she's great ☺
Merci beaucoup pour votre video, vous nous aidons apprender le language française! (Sorry I am still learning but thank you so much you are helping so many people!).
Jody Foster is indeed outstanding in many areas, she is rumoured to be very intelligent too so it doesn't surprise me that she also excels at speaking French.
There are several well known French Lycées in large US cities. Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc. Where all the teachers are native speakers and all classes are in French. I believe she attended the Los Angeles Lycée.
Yes, there is the Lycée Français in Los Angeles. Jodie Foster and several other young actors like Molly Ringwald went there. Lucky kids, I wish I had gone there!
ah cool :)
You give really helpful support and realistic advice.
ah cool thanks :)
The english equivalent of "quoi" is "you know" just to take your exemple: the movie was good, you know. Juste une expression verbale! ^^
Ouais! En plus d'être mon actrice préférée, elle parle français! Wow! I love her! Thanks for this video! Gros bisou du Québec!
:)
I was super amazed by Daniel Brühl speaking French as Frederik Zoller :) Please, analyze his French
ah yeah great idea I'll check it out :)
I wonder if 'quoi' is a lot like when Americans say 'You know?' at the end of sentences? Example: 'She's so smart and popular. She's going to go far in life, you know?'
What about saying 'Tu vois' instead?
@@rangv733 My husband (french) says "tu vois" all the time!
I hear "Quoi" being used at the end of a sentence as a way of emphasizing what you've just said. So, in your ex. "quoi" at the end would be more like saying, "that one" ("She's so smart and popular. She's going to go far in life, that one.)
@@MalaWaldron Thanks for confirming Mala! I was not really sure about it.
@@MalaWaldron I have a friend who says «tu vois ce que je veux dire» at the end of nearly every sentence, that can be annoying (if you know what i mean :)
She’s an extremely smart woman, different from other Hollywood actrices.
:)
Very. I know her IQ is super high, may even be Mensa.
from toher Hollywood actors in general ...fixed that for you
Vanessa R ”…toher” ? No period at the end of the sentence... Fix what for me? lol. FYI, I used French word ‘actrices’ on purpose. Polish your English first, then learn to have a sense of humor. 😂
@@xz9376 ok sexist pig
I think Serena Williams has picked up conversational French and lived in southern France. She’s done TV interviews in French as well.
ah cool thanks :):)
She used to have a French boyfriend, her ex-coach before she got married to Ohanian.
Jodie Foster even dubbed some of her own movies in French. Afaicr Contact was one she dubbed.
ah cool :)
@@Street_French J'ai perdu, Contact ne fait pas parti des films qu'elle a doublés :-)
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodie_Foster#Voix_fran%C3%A7aises
My favourite movie. My favourite actress. Now Jodie will be my favourite French teacher. Time to rewatch Contact in French 😋
@@bobcoughlan929 as my other comment states (sorry it was stated in french), I was wrong with Contact. She didn't dub that movie. In the link provided is the list of movies she dubbed herself.
Ok then. I’m still going to re-watch Contact in French though 😋
Jodie Foster is also extremely brilliant, having gone to Yale and studied at a French university/college?
ah ok cool :)
Her face ralways reminds me of living in New Haven as a foreign student. Oh how much I Miss that town.
ow^^
We’re proud of her, glad you were able to listen to her. ☺️
:)
The "quoi" at the end is like a "you know". It's not dropped fully randomly, it's meant to mark a summary or the fact that you stopped yourself because you think you have managed to convey your idea even though there is more to say or you may not have been very precise.
There are more feminine/masculine errors that those reported in the video like 4:15 : une partie, celui du réalisateur --> une partie, celle du réalisateur.
She obviously know that partie is feminine since she used "une" so it's probably actually a grammatical error, she aligned "celui/celle" on the owner ("réalisateur", masculine) instead of the owned ("partie" feminine).
I believe that in a discussion you would wonder if she is foreign or not because her few errors are not really typical of native speakers errors. But she has clearly spoken French with native speakers over a long period of time.
5:53 Oui enfin, c'est un différenT mythe .
The 'T' is silent. That's a word she must have learned by reading or inferring from English, no native speaker would pronounce the final 't'.
thanks for reporting and correcting all the mistakes :)
I cut out all the little errors because the video as going to be too long :) I tried to find little mistakes that would make for a mini lesson point^^
The "quoi" at the end of a French sentence can be compared with the "So" at the start or end of an English sentence. It emphasizes the affirmation.
Jodie Foster attended the French Lycee in Los Angeles. Same with Lourdes, Madonna's daughter who speaks fluent French.
ah cool :):)
Jodie foster is a genius
I don’t know a whole lot about the French language as I am a beginner, but I found this to be informative. Some things you don’t learn when your teacher is an American who is teaching you their second language. I hope that makes sense.
ow I'm glad you enjoyed the video :)
Thank you! Im so happy you did this request! 😊
Hope u are still considering Kristen Scott Thomas too!
you're welcome :):)
Initially I was scared of the French R, but actually it’s the U I have issues with.
Foster was a gifted child who learned to read at age three.[9][13] She attended the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, a French-language prep school.[13] Her fluency in French has enabled her to act in French films, and she also dubs herself in French-language versions of most of her English-language films.[9][17] At her graduation in 1980, she delivered the valedictorian address for the school's French division.[13] She then attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut[14][18] where she majored in African-American literature, wrote her thesis on Toni Morrison
The Quoi at the end is a way to affirm her sentence , Americans , who speak French use this trick , often .
ah yeah that's a good explanation :)
I am a beginner in French growing up in Liguria (north west of Italy, an extension of cot d’azur so to speak), but born from a Polish mather and a German father while spent a few years in London, hence nothing to do with Latin culture and language and was always behind in school with my Italian counterparts in French language, though I am not that behind as of now being an adult, just forget about the grammar and throw yourself blindly into the language no matter the mistates you make and you’re gonna make it, wish me luck ;)
Motivation and curiosity is key, hope I gonna make it to a decent level in French
George Blagden is an english actor who plays Louis XIV in Versailles. I have seen interviews where he speaks french and sounded pretty fluent...
ah cool I'll look into that^^
Japandroid17 X-J17 fantastic actor as well!
What I find interesting is that I did French at (UK) school to A-level and can read it OK, then I got some refresher French lessons later on and used to do rough first translations of French documents at work close enough so that colleagues could start work on them. But I can't understand French police dramas on TV, barely a word. Whereas I can understand more of spoken Italian, a language I've never studied at all (only French and Spanish). It's very odd.
Suggestions:
Johnny Depp
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Cristoph Waltz
Diane Kruger
Monica Bellucci
Maria Callas
ah cool thanks! :)
Lissandra Freljord Vous ne pouvez pas comparer le niveau de français de Jodie Foster avec celui de Johnny Depp ou Joseph Gordon Levitt!!
Diane accent is increadible but a tad down of Jodie's. But it would be interesting to have an impro battle between Jodie and Diane using French 👍 Monica is lovelly but keep an Italian accent. A funy case in the French speaker world is Mika 😉
At 5:35 the phrase “Enfin voila quoi” reminded me of a British teacher’s analysis of Kristen Scott-Thomas’s excellent French. He showed a few examples where she adds “enfin” quite often while she’s thinking or clarifying her train of thought. I think the English equivalent might be “sort of”.
Son français est comme, parfait pour ma part! étant français du Québec....
ouai c'est clair! sont français est parfait :)
This video was super fun! Moi aussi, je cherches toujours des videos des gens non-francophones parlant francais, alors, cette video m'a beaucoup interesse.
ah cool :)
It would be interesting to hear about Jane Fonda. I understand she dubbed a few of her movies in French.
ow cool great idea :)
Her French 🇫🇷⚜️🇨🇦is incredible, even me, who am half French, and who have French learnt since childhood, I might don’t have her French accent. I’d like you to react Jonhy Depp French next 😁.
I notice that she holds her face in different position speaking French vs speaking English.
ah interesting, possible^^
Not interesting at all. English and french do not have the same sounds. It’s all about the linguistics of language. The mouth needs to be held a certain way. That goes for any language. People who are truly fluent do this. Someone just taking a few casual classes would not.
Jodie also speaks fluent Italian.
wow she's really amazing :)
Final French "quoi" is often equivalent to English "you know" or "if you know what I mean".
yeah something like that :)
Sergio Sanchez thank you for that clarification. I thought so, but it wasn’t said specifically here, and I can’t read the French comments!
Entertaining! I enjoyed your commentary :)
Glad you enjoyed! :)