Thoughts on Listening to What My Daughter is Listening To

Thoughts on Listening to What My Daughter is Listening To - Speaking as someone who has had to get along in a foreign language, I have to admire Avril Lavigne, the Canadian pop-punk teen idol.

In the hands of a native english speaker, her lyrics and delivery might be considered comically stilted.

But as a young francophone singing in a new language, I think she delivers lines like:

He was a punk, she did ballet, what more can I say?

with the sort of goofy aplomb that made ABBA famous - her French patterns of pronunciation making for a lot of good-natured unintended comedy.

While it may not be my cup of musical tea, I have to tip my hat to a young foreigner who can sing even while wrestling so publicly with English, a very difficult language. Congrats, Avil Lavigne!

UPDATE: I'm informed that Ms. Lavigne is actually a native speaker of English.

Posted by Mitch at February 9, 2004 07:13 AM