My favorite way to improve my French comprehension and vocabulary is to actually see and hear something simultaneously. For instance, if I watch a French film, to also have subtitles in French is absolutely perfect and extremely beneficial.
A couple of months ago, I was reading Molière’s Les Femmes Savantes and thought that I’d love to read along with an audio recording. Enter the magical world of iTunes! Yep, they have it – and a fantastic recording at that! It’s actually in album form; so to get the entire play, just purchase the album. What’s a little disappointing is that there is no information as to the theatrical company, aside from naming the primary performers as Michel Bouquet, Pierre Vaneck and Rosy Varte.
Since then, I’ve also downloaded Le Médecin Malgré Lui and, just recently, a recording of La Comédie Française’s 1953 production of Le Misanthrope which is, oddly, marked “EXPLICIT” on iTunes. Whatever – I’m not offended.
I can’t imagine what Molière would think of the fact that his works continue to entertain people in the digital age. While I sometimes find it amazing to think that any of my French ancestors (the Dupuy family on my dad’s side and the Chastains on my mother’s) may have seen him perform in person with his troupe, I think that he might find it just as wild to know that a woman who grew up in a really small town in Georgia rides the New York City subway listening his works on her iPod while reading along!
By Jackie Sanders
