"Courage" album - Official Topic

[minolli]

I do know what you mean though. I think Celine at times has her accent in her english recordings. Especially her latter ones rather than the 90's ones. Maybe it's the producers. I remember listening to TCOML album when I first got it and didn't know she was francophone. The only thing I noticed was when she pronounced the H in honest. Other than that I didn't have a clue.

For the next album I hope the producers try and get clear wording from her,great pronunciation that we know she can give.

 

Yes! On recordings from the '90s you can hardly tell she has an accent, but nowadays it's sounds so prominent to me. Maybe I sound like a jerk, but it sort of makes it seem like she's not even trying with her pronunciation in English, and it kind of drives me crazy. It would be one thing if she had always sung that way in English, but we know how good her pronunciation was on TCOML, FIY, etc. I know she's not a native English speaker, so I don't want to seem too harsh, but we know what she's capable of when producers are more strict about it. Maybe they're too intimidated to correct her.

[BartFCS]

Yes! On recordings from the '90s you can hardly tell she has an accent, but nowadays it's sounds so prominent to me. Maybe I sound like a jerk, but it sort of makes it seem like she's not even trying with her pronunciation in English, and it kind of drives me crazy. It would be one thing if she had always sung that way in English, but we know how good her pronunciation was on TCOML, FIY, etc. I know she's not a native English speaker, so I don't want to seem too harsh, but we know what she's capable of when producers are more strict about it. Maybe they're too intimidated to correct her.

Probably they are..., I wish there was someone who could stand up to her during the recording session. I think it's doable as long as it is done with respect and all...

[Taking Chances]

Lol its the same when brits try to do an American accent. Few can actually do it!

I do know what you mean though. I think Celine at times has her accent in her english recordings. Especially her latter ones rather than the 90's ones. Maybe it's the producers. I remember listening to TCOML album when I first got it and didn't know she was francophone. The only thing I noticed was when she pronounced the H in honest. Other than that I didn't have a clue.

For the next album I hope the producers try and get clear wording from her,great pronunciation that we know she can give.

 

I didn't know Celine was French Canadian before the release of My Heart Will Go On, up to that point I thought she was a native English speaker from Canada. Although I did know she had released French music and sang in French and won Eurovision, so maybe I was just stupid. The point is though, I couldn't tell by listening to her music, and I didn't really know much about her private life. The only thing I cared about was the music.

 

It's different in interviews too, she spoke better in the 90's. Or should I say pronounced some words better, her accent wasn't as thick back then. I don't really care about that in interviews or when she speaks, but I do care about it in her music. Take When I Need You. When she says:

 

"When I need you, when I need love, I just close my eyes and I'm with you. You're only a heartbeat away."

 

That sounds great, maybe the reason I never knew was because it wasn't noticeable back then. This is all about the production, and what the production team is satisfied with.

 

Yes! On recordings from the '90s you can hardly tell she has an accent, but nowadays it's sounds so prominent to me. Maybe I sound like a jerk, but it sort of makes it seem like she's not even trying with her pronunciation in English, and it kind of drives me crazy. It would be one thing if she had always sung that way in English, but we know how good her pronunciation was on TCOML, FIY, etc. I know she's not a native English speaker, so I don't want to seem too harsh, but we know what she's capable of when producers are more strict about it. Maybe they're too intimidated to correct her.

 

This. I feel like a jerk for saying this too, but I only say it because I want her to make the best music possible with her talent. She's so amazing, and there is a reason why Falling Into You won grammy for album of the year, and that it sold like crazy. Good production. It's all about the little things as well.

 

I don't think her English pronunciation is that noticeable in her newer English albums, it's more her live performances of her "new'er" songs. She still (usually) nails the old ones.

 

You're also probably right, maybe some people are intimidated because of her talent. But their talent is the production and they should exploit it fully when they are working with Celine.

Edited March 1, 2017 at 12:09 AM by Taking Chances

[I Drove All Night!]

It is interesting though when you think about how much of a perfectionist she is, you would think she would worry about her pronunciation.

 

I have also noticed how her accent has become a lot thicker in the last decade. I think a lot of it has to do with the decrease in promotion and changes in her lifestyle (aka became a mother). Celine was everywhere in the 90s, she did tons of interviews and appearances that forced her to speak English regularly. Everything changed after Vegas, less promotion, less exposure, her shows were 100% scripted and she didn't take days off from speaking like she did in the 90s which means she speaks French regularly at home. Not to mention speaking to her kids in French just means more speaking in general.

 

 

I've actually thought about this a lot in recent months. I don't mind it except when it is very apparent when she sings. I love her accent, I find it cute and I think it makes her even more endearing and human.

 

 

Edit: I think it's also worth noting that she probably doesn't feel she has to prove herself in the English world anymore. In the 90s she was still working to cement her legend status... after MHWGO the deal was done. She didn't need to work so hard, I don't mean to say that she became lazy, but her priorities changed.

Edited March 1, 2017 at 02:40 AM by I Drove All Night!

[scielle]

I actually love that her accent is shining through. It makes her more original, idiosyncratic. I don't want her to sound American.

Yes, it's more noticeable, but it's not overbearing to the point of being distracting or awkward. IMHO she sings a lot of lyrics in English that are far more cringey than her accent!

[québecflower]

i think that when she sounds different , it is because she wants it that way. It is the same in french, she has a personnal way with words in english or french.

 

now someone can like it or not. When she does interviews in english , even me can notice an accent, but i don't think it is that bad when she sings, and plenty of singer who have english as their first language, sounds much worst than her. In French we plenty of different accent, and it is not bothering , to me at least..

[Brandon]

i think that when she sounds different , it is because she wants it that way. It is the same in french, she has a personnal way with words in english or french.

 

now someone can like it or not. When she does interviews in english , even me can notice an accent, but i don't think it is that bad when she sings, and plenty of singer who have english as their first language, sounds much worst than her. In French we plenty of different accent, and it is not bothering , to me at least..

Haha no. It's nothing about "she wants it that way" Sure you can try to glamorize it I gotta keep it real. She speaks that way because of her accent, plain and simple. When she speaks /sings in French she pronounces certain words in a parisian accent and some in a Quebecois accent. You can hear the influences from Jean Jacques Goldman when hes with her in the studio, On the record she may pronounce a word one way and singing live it adapts a different intonation or inflexion.

[québecflower]

Haha no. It's nothing about "she wants it that way" Sure you can try to glamorize it I gotta keep it real. She speaks that way because of her accent, plain and simple. When she speaks /sings in French she pronounces certain words in a parisian accent and some in a Quebecois accent. You can hear the influences from Jean Jacques Goldman when he's with her in the studio, On the record she may pronounce a word one way and singing live it adapts a different intonation or inflexion.

i won't take french accent lesson from you....she could sing in Québécois but she doesn't . When she talks it is something else, she didn't sold her identity like many of our fellow Québécois, she makes an effort but she doesn't sound like someone from France either, she just want people over there to understand what she has to say. And i would love for people to give Celine some merits, all she does good doesn't come from someone else, We hear the french accent from a young age here in Québec because of cinéma etc.. , no need to have JJ Goldman , he is not the only french guy she met, the first was probably Eddie Marnay. So for the french side of thing , i know. She does thing differnet but that's her. So maybe in english it is something else, but deal with it, i don't see the problem. As i said it is not that bad.

[Celine Fan 77]

i think that when she sounds different , it is because she wants it that way. It is the same in french, she has a personnal way with words in english or french.

 

now someone can like it or not. When she does interviews in english , even me can notice an accent, but i don't think it is that bad when she sings, and plenty of singer who have english as their first language, sounds much worst than her. In French we plenty of different accent, and it is not bothering , to me at least..

 

I don't know if you and the rest of fans have also noticed this or if it's just my impression. Every time she goes to the UK, don't you think she automatically speaks with a bit of a Brittish accent? I might be wrong, but just to give you an example:

 

 

 

Don't know if it's actually the accent or the attitude what changes... I might be so obsessed that I'm wrong

[jpatdeleon09]

 

 

I don't know if you and the rest of fans have also noticed this or if it's just my impression. Every time she goes to the UK, don't you think she automatically speaks with a bit of a Brittish accent? I might be wrong, but just to give you an example:

 

 

 

Don't know if it's actually the accent or the attitude what changes... I might be so obsessed that I'm wrong

 

Why didn't i know this interview? Anyway, she's so funny here... "You look kind of different... Do you want to ellaborate on that?" Hahaha yeah sometimes it automatically switches to british accent.. Like in her TTEOTW interview where she was asked about " What it's like to be Céline Dion". She sounded british there

Edited March 1, 2017 at 10:41 AM by jpatdeleon09

[Peppercorn1991]

 

 

I don't know if you and the rest of fans have also noticed this or if it's just my impression. Every time she goes to the UK, don't you think she automatically speaks with a bit of a Brittish accent? I might be wrong, but just to give you an example:

 

 

 

Don't know if it's actually the accent or the attitude what changes... I might be so obsessed that I'm wrong

 

I love this interview!!!

 

Kev x

[celine4evauk]

 

 

I love this interview!!!

 

Kev x

 

Me too. I never tire of this one. I think she won over a lot of people with this interview.

The only bit that annoys me is when Jonathan asks her a question but celine is still talking, but he doesn't repeat the question. Like when he asks her if there's any songs she's turned down. He just asks something else instead! No ask her again 😀

Really hoping for another interview on par with this one when she's back over here.

Edited March 1, 2017 at 11:13 AM by celine4evauk

[jpatdeleon09]

For me, the best interview of céline was in the 90's.. Rosie Show. They are both funny.. They look great together like they are best friends.

[québecflower]

I don't know if you and the rest of fans have also noticed this or if it's just my impression. Every time she goes to the UK, don't you think she automatically speaks with a bit of a Brittish accent? I might be wrong, but just to give you an example:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoJwufXRXUA

 

 

Don't know if it's actually the accent or the attitude what changes... I might be so obsessed that I'm wrong

, i don't know. But she seems so hearing her, i listen to a lot of british tv...

[Taking Chances]

I actually love that her accent is shining through. It makes her more original, idiosyncratic. I don't want her to sound American.

Yes, it's more noticeable, but it's not overbearing to the point of being distracting or awkward. IMHO she sings a lot of lyrics in English that are far more cringey than her accent!

 

I don't want her to sound "American" either, but I want her English pronunciation to be on point when she sings. It's more about quality than complaining. Sure, she has some cringey lyrics, but that sounds even worse with a French accent. She lives in the US and she talks to Americans all the time, so it's only natural that she would speak US English to some extent, I mean I don't expect her to sound British, lol.

 

When it comes to her English pronunciation, the bottom line for me is that I know she can do better. It would be one thing if she's always had an accent, but to suddenly "get" one later seems lazy more than anything. She's not a native English speaker so when she speaks I really don't care about her accent. I fint it charming when she speaks, just not when she sings. It's somehow less professional.

 

I'm a perfectionist, and I want all music that Celine makes to be just that. Perfect. I know that's impossible, and I love "everything" she does anyway, but I would feel the same way if I spoke another language. Like Spanish. She's recorded some songs in Spanish, and I feel like if you're going to record something in another language than your native language, you need to put in an extra effort to make the pronunciation flawless. That's the whole point. Regardless of the language.

[angelil78]

I think some people that do not have English accent adapt to the accents in the country they are in. I don't mean speaking fluently in the accent but they tend to say some of the words in the accent in that country.

 

For example my language is Icelandic and when I have a meeting with an English, Scottish or American, I tend to fall into their accent (still not loosing my very hard "Björk" Icelandic accent). I once had a meeting with a person from India who had a very strong Indian accent and some words I began pronouncing like him.

[Taking Chances]

I think some people that do not have English accent adapt to the accents in the country they are in. I don't mean speaking fluently in the accent but they tend to say some of the words in the accent in that country.

 

For example my language is Icelandic and when I have a meeting with an English, Scottish or American, I tend to fall into their accent (still not loosing my very hard "Björk" Icelandic accent). I once had a meeting with a person from India who had a very strong Indian accent and some words I began pronouncing like him.

 

Yeah, I think you're right. Maybe it's a lot of work for a second language English speaker to constantly have to keep up the effort. I don't know.

 

Because I'm American, I don't change the way I speak when I talk to someone from the UK for example. But I would imagine that is different when English is not you're first language. My English/British accent is terrible for instance, you can tell that I got an American accent straight away.

 

We all adapt to the places we live in and the people in our lives.

Edited March 1, 2017 at 04:53 PM by Taking Chances

[celinesounds]

The only cover that I still want to hear in Celine's voice is this one

 

 

POWER OF LOVE PART II

[Taking Chances]

The only cover that I still want to hear in Celine's voice is this one

 

POWER OF LOVE PART II

 

Nah, these lyrics are cringy.

 

Celine's vocals in 1995 would have killed this song, but I'm glad she moved on to Falling Into You instead.

[celinesounds]

Nah, these lyrics are cringy.

 

Celine's vocals in 1995 would have killed this song, but I'm glad she moved on to Falling Into You instead.

 

she can still do a nice job vocally

 

and the lyrics are so poetic, you can make it more positive side or to a dark side, all depends of the production, David would kill it

Edited March 3, 2017 at 12:12 AM by celinesounds

[flutefreak]

I had a dream last night that the reason we haven't heard anything about a theme/direction for the album was because it's a Christmas album, but for some reason it was released in January. People didn't care and it was huge!

[LukeD]

I think the discussion about her accent is very interesting... mostly due to the fact that it sounds the same to me. I know I'm wrong so reading comments is enlightening! Edited March 3, 2017 at 04:33 AM by LukeD

[angelil78]

I think the discussion about her accent is very interesting... mostly due to the fact that it sounds the same to me. I know I'm wrong so reading comments is enlightening!

 

Nah you aren't wrong if you don't hear accents. I think many non native English speaking people do not hear accents when it's not their language.

 

I say many, not all-so the people that can clearly hear accent yes you can. But some just can't.

[celine4evauk]

I don't mind hearing her accent when she's singing in English. Actually I love it, I want to hear it. But I do want to be able to understand every line. Like I used to in her earlier english albums. On occasion I can't. It's down to different reasons, but one of the reasons is her accent. I just want it toned down a bit and for her to nail her pronunciation.

[vincentbonvegna]

Haha no. It's nothing about "she wants it that way" Sure you can try to glamorize it I gotta keep it real. She speaks that way because of her accent, plain and simple. When she speaks /sings in French she pronounces certain words in a parisian accent and some in a Quebecois accent. You can hear the influences from Jean Jacques Goldman when hes with her in the studio, On the record she may pronounce a word one way and singing live it adapts a different intonation or inflexion.

 

A Parisian accent ?? What is it ? XD

I study linguistics for a long time and there is no Parisian accent.

There is a "classical French way to speak" decided a long time ago by the "académie des lettres". And most important Paris isn't France.

 

i won't take french accent lesson from you....she could sing in Québécois but she doesn't . When she talks it is something else, she didn't sold her identity like many of our fellow Québécois, she makes an effort but she doesn't sound like someone from France either, she just want people over there to understand what she has to say. And i would love for people to give Celine some merits, all she does good doesn't come from someone else, We hear the french accent from a young age here in Québec because of cinéma etc.. , no need to have JJ Goldman , he is not the only french guy she met, the first was probably Eddie Marnay. So for the french side of thing , i know. She does thing differnet but that's her. So maybe in english it is something else, but deal with it, i don't see the problem. As i said it is not that bad.

 

 

As a French guy ( from Normandie ) living in Paris, working with people from south of France and fan of "the little girl from Québec",

I agree with you

Even when Celine comes to France and speak to the French audience, she has an accent from Quebec. But she makes an effort and like you said, she didn't sold her identity.

When she is in Quebec, sometimes I can't understand a word of what she is saying, and it's worst when she is joking in québécois.

 

But IMO when she is singing, she has no accent, for me as a French speaker from France. Maybe on songs like "Ordinaire" or her first albums like "la voix du bon dieu" or "des mots qui sonnent" she has a weird way to prounonce the letter ''R'', a mix between Edith Piaf and Mireille Mathieu... JJ.Goldman just helped her to be softer with letters like ''R" or "N" or "P", and to be more modern. I don't think she had a québécois accent in her songs when she was younger, she just had an old-fashion way of singing, like Ginette Renaud, Piaf, Mireille Mathieu...

 

But that's interesting to see that Celine has so many attitudes and way of speaking English or French in different countries. That makes her even more unique. An icon.

 

They have queen b, we have Goddess C. Amen.

 

 

 

 

[angelil78]

 

They have queen b, we have Goddess C. Amen.

 

Yesssss

[vincentbonvegna]

 

Yesssss

 

If think that's gonna be my new signature on the forum.

 

 

They have Queen B. We have Goddess C.

[TiagoFragoso05]

About accent, im not a native English speaker but i do notice a difference hearing interviews from 90's and the last one, beauty and the beast red carpet... I don't really care about that at all but when it comes to music yes i wanna be able to hear it well, i mean understand.. I noticed like in MHWGO that she has a strong accent now comparing to 97/98 performances, it's a bit idk different.. Since im not a native speaker i can't tell if it has changed thaaaat much

 

 

Enviado do meu iPhone usando Tapatalk

Edited March 4, 2017 at 12:37 AM by TiagoFragoso05

[celinesounds]

I think the discussion about her accent is very interesting... mostly due to the fact that it sounds the same to me. I know I'm wrong so reading comments is enlightening!

 

just spending time, waiting for news

[LukeD]

I came to realize that this is the 4th decade of her career and the very first time she will not be releasing a studio album in the 7th year of it.

 

1987 Incognito

1997 Let's Talk About Love

2007 Taking Chances

2017 -

 

Do not get me wrong. I have a thing for dates and silly trivia! Plus, I'm on a lazy Sunday morning so this should be excused.

Edited March 5, 2017 at 08:03 AM by LukeD