We recently drilled holes into the outside of our home in order to mount the satellite dish for CanalSat. After months of me pleading my case to the Pirate, he finally gave in and went out to get the family the gift of slower brain waves, satellite cable. It took me some time, and I'm sure those days of tears didn't hurt, but my argument that my French would improve drastically with viewings of Télé Maison under my belt has finally resulted in the dish being strapped to the building, the beam of the life of so many channels entering our lives. As long as the wind doesn't come up too strong.
So far Télé Maison takes the top spot for my viewing, followed closely by planet, followed by Friends dubbed over in French, which I find hysterical. The voices are not quite the same as the original cast members, and well, something is lost in translation. Something is also gained. I imagine though the dubbing is supposed to be a direct translation of the lines, something happens that makes it just a little, well...French. I can't quite describe what that means but I won't apologize for saying it. It's language, you know? The tone, the intonation, the voice in French that I imagine would go with different body language than what I see it dubbed with. More like dub over acting than simply voice dub. With the French language, I don't imagine it's easy to simply say something. There is always feeling. Always insinuation. It's French.
Has my French improved, moving in direct correlation with number of hours of television? Maybe. It's fun to imitate people on the different shows. This is imitation with expression, which is realistic. When I imitate 'Hugo' from my French in three months kit, well, it's correct, yes, but it's also v.e.r.y.m.o.n.o.t.o.n.o.u.s. I wonder if Hugo auditioned to host a cable show and was denied the role hence launching his career as a French audio book voice......
