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Post by taz on Jun 19, 2011 8:35:54 GMT -5
Articles like this one are all over the German press at the moment, no new information though only the things that Myadia has already posted. Even small regional newspapers write something about Monaco and the wedding. I guess they don't have anything else to do... But this article has a tiny bit of information which is very interesting IMO. Monaco in wedding feverThen state guests of all levels, family and friends will honor the couple at the ball in the hall of the opera at the Casino. Here one normally consumes champagne from Perrier-Jouet, but on this day a pink beer awaits wedding guests and acclaimed subjects who celebrate before the palace and the harbor which was created for this occasion from the "Brasserie de Monaco". The color was achieved by brew master François Pichon by using cranberries. "The color stands for love and for the Monegasque flag," he says as he mixes the berry syrup for the 2,000 liters of beer. He needed a month to create the recipe. "How nice that the royal couple appreciates beer!" Princess School More or less as long as Charlene has refined her French. The future princess took intensive language classes at the prestigious "Institut de Français" in Villefranche. Before her Queen Sonja of Norway and Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates refined their French at the school with a sea view. Teacher Patrice Eustache: "Charlene was a very apt pupil. She arrived without speaking a word of French, and went with a solid basic knowledge. She and her assistant came with their own car. Charlene did not want any special treatment. "AdminNote: Changed title of thread to be more inclusive of various topics for opinions
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Post by paca on Jun 19, 2011 9:17:15 GMT -5
So she learned French for a month....that's what she did how many years ago? and since then nothing? I like the tone of the article. It is actually not a very nice article about Monaco, but I bet the palace will file this under positive press
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Post by taz on Jun 19, 2011 9:21:29 GMT -5
I have studied English and French in school for years and you can tell from my weird translations/posts that I'm far from being a native speaker. I had Norwegian classes for a month some years ago and in the end I knew how to pronounce things and some grammar. I can read Norwegian papers and understand what they are writing about but I can hardly understand anything when people talk to me and speaking Norwegian myself? Apart from a couple of sentences - forget it!
So there are three possibilities: 1. I'm extremely dumb! (Could be...) 2. Charlene is a genius for learning a language in about a month. (I really underestimated this woman!) 3. Charlene does hardly speak any French.
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Post by suite583 on Jun 19, 2011 9:22:13 GMT -5
Taz this was a few years back, when the media started talking about her French lessons. Very sugary.
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Post by suite583 on Jun 19, 2011 9:25:23 GMT -5
Taz, number three is the true answer,
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Post by countess on Jun 19, 2011 9:43:08 GMT -5
SHE doesn't know french this is a PR article advertising the "Institut de Français" in Villefranche. there is absolutely NO evidence she speaks, reads or understands french, otherwise why would all these pathetic, desperate interviews be in english with questions submitted beforehand? PR FAIL if she does speak any french, surely she would have thrown it in there, a simple hello, please, thank you, adieu would have been charming and shut up the critics but the bimbo couldn't even accomplish that, of course with her nasty personality i doubt she'll ever get the hang of please or thank you. YUCK she makes me sick JMO all these desperate attempts for attention are not doing them any favors
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Post by taz on Jun 19, 2011 9:47:45 GMT -5
Taz this was a few years back, when the media started talking about her French lessons. Very sugary. Yes, I know but as far as I remember back then they didn't mention how long she took classes. Although we don't know if they tell the truth in this article I think it's true as we've never heard her speak French properly.
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Post by paca on Jun 19, 2011 9:53:04 GMT -5
she said in her own words that she doesn't speak it. and that in recent interviews. Plus she has let us know that she has no intention of doing so, like all the other trashy anglophones that suck up to her. I'm sorry to say, but the majority of English speaking natives in MC do not speak French even after decades here, some of them are even married with children to French people.
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Post by refia on Jun 19, 2011 9:58:42 GMT -5
Applause to Her Ignorant Highness Charlene
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Post by MyAdia on Jun 19, 2011 11:22:50 GMT -5
Taz this was a few years back, when the media started talking about her French lessons. Very sugary. Yes, I know but as far as I remember back then they didn't mention how long she took classes. Although we don't know if they tell the truth in this article I think it's true as we've never heard her speak French properly. The original article about Charlene studying French at the Institut de Francais was written in 2007 by TIME magazine and then republished in 2008. However, Charlene was bragging on the message boards since 2007 about taking French classes and kept making excuses that it takes time to learn a language. Charlene was using the lessons to let everyone know that this is an indicator that Albert was soon going to marry her. For Conlene, the lessons were NEVER about actually learning that language but only A SIGNAL to clearly Sucker Albert that she was trying. IN another attempt to show off and let everyone know that she was soon going to be Princess Charlene, Charlene upped the ante and bragged in her Italian magazine "A" interview (photo shoot done with Roberto Armani) on May 21, 2009 that she has a private tutor to teach her French. Charlene doesn't give a crap about learning French now or even sending signals. She has stated that the things like Ireland trip has kept her from learning French, so she already laid the ground work for her NEVER learning French even after the wedding - she will be too busy! In the dumb-as-a-rock Con Artist Charlene's mind she's a style icon now - this will benefit Monaco way more - so why does she have to waste her time learning French. The Institute even has an excerpt of the TIME article on their website - so they see Charlene's attendance as publicity for their school. But, the fact that four years later after attending their school, Trashlene cannot speak a lick of rench, she doesn't seem very influential to them.
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Post by MyAdia on Jun 19, 2011 11:35:06 GMT -5
she said in her own words that she doesn't speak it. and that in recent interviews. Plus she has let us know that she has no intention of doing so, like all the other trashy anglophones that suck up to her. I'm sorry to say, but the majority of English speaking natives in MC do not speak French even after decades here, some of them are even married with children to French people. Paca, I just responded and basically said the same thing - Charlene has already laid the groundwork with her excuses in an interview (I cannot remember which one off hand) that she has no intention of ever learning French. This woman doesn't care about anything nor anyone but herself and she is now busy making herself a style icon - in her own deluded mind. Conlene thinks that everyone else in the world is as stupid as her Sucker Prince Albert of Monaco - meaning that she can just use her flattery words and you will forget about the substance. From the Madame Figaro interview and in this post: Stephane Bern: You live for several years in Monaco. How a South African athlete as you did it successfully acclimatized in the principality of old Europe? The fact that the Rock is at the seaside he seduced you?Have you learned French?
Charlene: I spent most of my life as an athlete in Durban, where there is little difference in climate between seasons and I learned to adapt to a new lifestyle. The prince helped me understand the history and realities of Monaco, and the population has shown great kindness and benevolence towards me. As for the French language, it is probably one of the most beautiful in the world, I speak a little bit and I can follow conversations, but I think it will take time to improve myself.
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Post by MyAdia on Jun 19, 2011 11:47:19 GMT -5
Here's the full TIME article. Charlene wanted everyone to know that she was taking French classes. Notice the cost for just one month class - that was a complete waste on Charlene. I must say though, the instructor was rather finesse in his manner of saying that Charlene is as dumb-as-a-rock who will never learn to speak the language (my interpretation of course).
French Lessons
By Dana Kennedy Monday, Apr. 07, 2008
(VILLEFRANCHE-SUR-MER, France) — More than half a century ago, Grace Kelly began the arduous process of learning French after she married Prince Rainier and settled into life in the palace in Monaco at age 26. Today, the woman reportedly set to become the next Princess of Monaco, the South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock, 30, is taking the opposite tack.
Wittstock is already ensconced in an apartment at the Palace in Monaco near Prince Albert, 50, and has been studying at the most exclusive — and intensive — French language school in the world, the Institut de Francais in Villefranche-sur-Mer — eight miles west of Monte Carlo on the French Riviera. Wittstock is the latest in a steady stream of diplomats, world financial powerbrokers, actresses (Kathy Bates, Kate Capshaw and Britain's Honor Blackman), athletes and royalty (Queen Sonja of Norway was a recent student) to attend the Institut hoping its unusual methods will help them perfect French.
Housed in a hillside villa overlooking the Mediterranean, the school was founded in 1969 by Jean Colbert, a former French aerospace scientist and Columbia professor and his wife Madeleine. The Colberts based their teaching principles on a scientific survey of the 1500 words used most often by French people in cafes, buses and subways. "We're interested in getting students to open their mouths and speak French," says Frédéric Latty, one of the school's administrators. "We don't spend a lot of time on vocabulary that you'll never use."
Most students, who range in age from 21 to 75, live in school-run apartments scattered on the hillside and walk to the Institute every morning. After being tested on the first day, they are assigned to beginner, intermediate, or advanced classes. Between 75 and 80 students enroll in each month-long session. The course costs 2500 Euros ($3165) during the off-peak season and 3100 Euros ($3920) during high season. Although students come from all over the world, including America, England, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia, they all have one thing in common: They're Francophiles.
Rick Posner, 56, a court reporter from San Francisco who attended the Institute recently, said he fell in love with the French language when he was a 16-year-old high school student. "I even thought I'd eventually become a French teacher," he said. "But then life took over and my French went on the back burner. I lost a lot of it. I always regretted it." When he came to the Institute recently, Posner said he was realizing a lifelong dream. "I felt I was finally living out my high school fantasy," he said. "And when I left the school, I was really speaking French." No one is exempt from classes that begin every day at 9 a.m. and do not end until 4:45 p.m., five days a week for a month. Students are fined one euro if the teachers them speaking any language other than French. Even beginners have to deliver an oral report in French.
"We get many people who are used to being leaders in their field," says Jean Segarra, the school's principal teacher who has been there for more than 25 years. "Then suddenly they are in a situation where they are not in control and are in the same boat as everyone else. It can be a humbling experience."
Students spend 45 minutes a day in a language laboratory or "chambre de torture." But the tougher sessions are made more palatable by afternoon "séance pratiques" during which, for example, students learn the history of various French cheeses and wine or how to make chocolate crepes — and partake of what they've just learned at the end. For many, the school is so addictive (and the perfection of French so tantalizingly out of reach) — that they return over and over again. The record is held by a San Antonio couple, Margie and Charles Kilpatrick, who have taken the Institute's course 11 times. A number of wealthier American alumni have even bought homes in Villefranche. As for Wittstock, whose engagement to Prince Albert is said to be imminent, she is making rapid progress.
"She has the ear," Latty said simply. "It's just a matter of time." Nadia Lacoste, who served as the spokeswoman for Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier for almost 50 years, said the princess, in contrast, struggled with her second language.
"She was not truly comfortable speaking French for many years," said Lacoste, who now lives in Paris. "When they started getting older, Albert and Caroline would correct her all the time. She never lost her American accent but many people found it charming."
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Post by suite583 on Jun 19, 2011 11:55:02 GMT -5
French Lessons
By Dana Kennedy Monday, Apr. 07, 2008
As for Wittstock, whose engagement to Prince Albert is said to be imminent, she is making rapid progress.
Whose engagement to PA.... imminent? lol. From April 2008 to June 2010 was not imminent. What a lie!
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Post by viviane on Jun 20, 2011 4:12:20 GMT -5
Monday, Apr. 07, 2008(...) has been studying at the most exclusive — and intensive — French language school in the world,lol ! Funny ! On May 22, 2011, to receive journalists from Nice-matin she spoke to them in English. I translate and quote "She seems to have taken the measure of the place, and her role. "Mademoiselle", as she is called to the palace, improvised hostess: "Would you like Something to drink?". Charlene Wittstock speaks English. Not afraid to speak in French because it improves steadily, but because she wants to be accurate." (accurate to say "Voulez-vous boire quelque chose" ? lol! ;D Very simple sentence.) If she actually learns the French why not she said sentences of welcome in French, easy to learn by heart ? And if she does not speack the French very well, I can understand that she speaks in English, with some words in French, to be more precise. They take us for idiots !? source: www.nicematin.com/article/cote-dazur/interview-de-charlene-wittstock-le-vrai-risque-serait-de-ne-pas-etre-moi-meme
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Post by paca on Jun 20, 2011 4:41:54 GMT -5
yes they do. That's why they are promoting her and that's why people, but especially women, ought to feel insulted. It shows what a low opinion they have of the rest of the world, if they think they can sell a no brainer with a plastic face and body as an example to be followed. Sorry, but I am always torn between whom to blame more: scheming trashy who is after a lifetime of free meals, or those who are supporting her. They are catapulting women back to the times when women didn't have any value and their only means of survival was to marry a wealthy man.
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Post by margarita on Jun 20, 2011 4:45:09 GMT -5
Well said - Paca!!!
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Post by mrszinck on Jun 20, 2011 9:01:29 GMT -5
Lol, Paca. She annoys me, but she doesn’t usually insult my intelligence until she tries speaking. Then I want to throw things at her head. Don’t understand how Albert can stand it… and she has the whole alien look to. Ugh.
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Post by paca on Jun 20, 2011 10:22:36 GMT -5
I just came across sth that Mark Twain said: you need 3 days to learn English, 30 days to learn French and 30 years to learn German....we know that in 33 years trashy has not learned decent English, so up to you to do the math for when she will be able to speak French....
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Post by suite583 on Jun 20, 2011 10:25:28 GMT -5
yes they do. That's why they are promoting her and that's why people, but especially women, ought to feel insulted. It shows what a low opinion they have of the rest of the world, if they think they can sell a no brainer with a plastic face and body as an example to be followed. Sorry, but I am always torn between whom to blame more: scheming trashy who is after a lifetime of free meals, or those who are supporting her. They are catapulting women back to the times when women didn't have any value and their only means of survival was to marry a wealthy man. THE TRASHY HERSELF IS THE PRINCESS SCHEMER OF MONACO AND THE GRIMALDIS
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Post by mrszinck on Jun 20, 2011 10:51:53 GMT -5
Looking for something nice to say... She need to learn to keep her mouth shut and photo ops to a minimum because her 15 min are up and if she what’s to hold on to what little she has left and her husband-to-be she has to keep the famewhoring to a minimum.
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