In Episode 16 we discuss the texts to "Avant de quitter" and Marguerite's "Jewel Aria" from Gounod's Faust with French-Canadian coach Nathalie Doucet. We talk about some letter combinations that make the J-glide (or Jot), compare OE, O-slash and the schwa, and discuss why you should study the diction of your own native language and some of the differences between Canadian-French and French spoken in France.

For an online libretto to Faust click here. For Valentin's aria, "Avant de quitter", scroll down to No. 6-Scène et Récitatif, for Marguerite's "Jewel Aria" scroll down to No. 14-Air des bijoux, the recitative begins just above the aria.

If you wanted to check out Podcast Francais Facile, click here--at the top of the page in the main picture you will see links for the levels débutant, intermédiaire and avancé. For the listening/fill-in exercises click here. I did try a few of the exercises, and no matter what answers I gave, when I clicked "check" it told me I got everything wrong! But you can check your work by looking under "voir la correction" to the left under each box.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for me, please write to me at the Facebook page, leave a comment here, or contact me directly at ellen@ellenrissinger.com