MIKA - ELLE ME DIT (Language through song)

Thus begins a new chapter in language learning lessons from SAY WHAT?! - the opportunity to learn vocabulary and grammar via your favourite French songs using Memrise.

You can skip straight to the Memrise course by clicking HERE

....or you can start by viewing the music video below.  Feel free to suggest songs for future lessons in the comments.

Feel free also to ask any grammar questions in the comments section, or in the forum attached the the memrise lesson.

As a short course, my personal favourite vocabulary items are as follows:

une chanson - song
tout le monde - everyone
secoue-toi! - pull yourself together
secouer - to shake
danser - to dance
vas-y! - go on!
finir comme quelqu'un - to end up like someone (literally: to finish like someone)
tant pis! - never mind
s'en vouloir - to blame oneself
nul - hopeless; useless; rubbish.
sors de ta bulle! - get out of your bubble!gâcher - to wasteça va pas bien dans ta tête - you are not right in the head
un truc - a thing

Episode 2056: "Flucht" ("Escape") - German Soap Update

It's been a while since my first Alles Was Zählt post, and a lot's gone on since then.  But let's just focus on the very best storyline for now...

The Hostage Situation

From left to right:

Letizia, Vanessa, Maximilian

Now...greasy-haired half-hispanic Maximilian has now been dead for over a year...but has he?

His half-brother Rafael, former lover of his mother, and the fella responsible for Maximilian's demise now wants to...erm...find him!  To aid in his efforts he has kidnapped Maximilian's half-sister Vanessa and his illegitimate long-lost daughter Letizia.

Because Maximilian has not yet surfaced Rafael tells Letizia that she must be to him scheissegal (she must mean nothing to him) but nonetheless he will not let her go (freilassen).  They are both essentially done for; finished (fertig). Letizia urgently needs a strong Schmerzmittel(painkiller)on account of having been shot in the foot.  Did I mention that she was a dancer?  Oh the cruel irony!

Oh well..no point in sitting around crying/screaming in agony (heulen) when there's an escape hatch in the making!  Will they make it (schaffen)?

The short answer?  No.  Although they have no time (keine Zeit) left before Rafael's return the two girls decide to make a break for it anyway.  Letizia pleads to be left behind but Vanessa stands firm: "nicht ohne dich, Knackarsch!  Beeil dich!" ("Not without you, sexy ass!  Hurry up!")  Vanessa gets her clothing caught and is captured by Rafael whilst Letizia runs out into the road crying "Hilfe!"("Help!") at the first car she comes across.

Who is driving?  None other than Rafael! 

#FML

You can watch Alles Was Zählt here

Musical Interlude...

If there's one thing that I love in a song it's a story.

...Introducing "Guter Freund" by Ganz Schön Feist!  A lovely ditty about a guy who is hopelessly in love with his best friend and will do anything for her.

This is a great song to get you started in German for several reasons:

1. The language is relatively simple
   
2. Because it tells a story, it is very clearly and grammatically laid out, so you won't pick up many bad habits with this one, and you won't become the German-speaking equivalent of Vanilla Ice.
   
3. Because this is an A-capella style song the pronunciation is very clear, making the words easier to pick out

All that aside, this really is a catchy little ditty that should prove charming even to those who consider the A-capella style a little passé.

I won't ruin the punchline as there is so much more pleasure to be had in unlocking the meaning to a song, bit by bit, by yourself.  There is a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour to be found in "Guter Freund" though,  and the ending is refreshingly cynical.

Some useful vocabulary:

Ich bin immer für dich da = I am always there for you

brauchen = to need

ausgehen = to go out

ins Kino gehen = to go to the cinema

Ich fahre dich nach Hause = I'll drive you home

Ich liebe dich = I love you

Liebeskoma = heartache

guter Freund = good friend

nur = only

Milchkaffee = coffee with milk

in Gedanken = in my mind

ich wär = I wish that I were (literally "I would be")

gerne = gladly

Why Watch a Foreign Soap? (Alles Was Zählt episode synopsis)

Storyline #1: The love quadrilateral

left to right: Bea, Ben, Julia, Ingo

Bea is trying to get her almost-ex-husband Ben and her sister Julia (I know, ick!) back together in the most embarassing fashion imaginable.  Bea's boyfriend, Ben's former best friend Ingo (guess what happened there!), is trying to stop her from getting in the way and making things worse.  Ben has agreed to host Julia's modelling after-show party in his club so that she doesn't miss her dance exam.  Ingo manages to foil Bea's drunken match-making by pulling an acoustic guitar out of his ass and ad-libbing a serenade for Bea.  Vomits all round!  Bea finds it all rather sweet though (she is drunk) and Ben follows Ingo's lead and tells Julia that he loves her.  We'll have to wait until next week for her answer!

Key Vocabulary:

der Schicksal - fate

die Liebeserklärung - declaration of love

zusammen sein - to be together

die Liebe - love

eine Beziehung - a relationship

ich liebe dich - I love you

du fehlst mir - I miss you

retten - to save

Storyine #2: The love triangle

left to right: Melanie, Deniz, Letizia

Melanie is in trouble with Deniz for failing to inform a model about a change of location for a shoot.  Because she is totally in love with Deniz, Letizia takes the blame and suggests that Melanie fulfil her modelling dream by doing the shoot herself.  Incidentally these three are only recently reconciled.  Letizia having been cast out for having a one-night-stand with Deniz (reason: both were just...angry...with Mel).  But when Letizia became voluntarily homeless (her family is stinking rich) they decided to let bygones be bygones somehow and are now inseperable.  Melanies shoot is a resounding success and Letizia tries to take her mind of Deniz' pecs with a spot of weight-lifting.

Key Vocabulary:

eine Probeshooting - test shoot

eine Wiedergutmachung - compensation/amends

die Freundschaft - friendship

Storyline #3: A Dead Body in the Leisure Center

left to right: Jenny, Simone, Isabelle, Richard, Erik

Jenny, her mother Simone and Isabelle (a particularly vicious breed of blonde married to Richard, Simone's ex-husband and Jenny's father) come to work in the leisure center they own to find that the foundations of the center have been dug up following damages.  The reveal:  a dead body - Blackmailer extraordinaire Mr Rainer Velten.  All three are implicit in his murder.  Erik, Jenny's boyfriend, is the presiding police officer on the case and he is not happy.  Richard is also not happy as he is certain the three women in his life have been lying to him.  Isabelle is trying to convince Jenny to testify that it was all Simone so that the two of them can get off scott free.

Key Vocabulary

die Lösung - solution

das Alibi - alibi

der Imageschaden - damage to one's image

tragisch - tragic

die Presse - The Press

der Tod - death

jemanden Opfern - to sacrifice someone

etwas aufs Spiel setzen - to gamble something

verschweigen - to keep quiet

der Mord - murder

Tacky, dramatic and informative!  You can watch Alles Was Zählt here:

http://rtl-now.rtl.de/alles-was-zaehlt.php

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