On screen: Franco-German Friendship:

Among the many initiatives aimed at building strong cultural relations between European people, one of the most famous is the French-German TV channel Arte. It broadcasts programs designed for both French and German audiences. Available in every German and French-speaking country of the EU, it features mainly cultural and documentary programming.

The language issue is addressed in many ways. Some programs may have the audio-track in one language and sub-titles in another. Sometimes, there are two TV hosts conversing in two different languages. Another well-used practice is to let the viewer chose between two separate audio tracks.

One of the channel’s great successes is called Karambolage. This 12-minute weekly program focuses on the linguistic and cultural common points and differences between Germany and France. The light and comical tone has made it popular entertainment for a very heterogeneous audience. Particularly appreciated is the riddle that ends each show: the viewer is shown a 30-second clip of a street scene and has to guess in which country it was filmed. Harder than it seems!

You can watch Karambolage on the channel’s website.

Just a reminder that at LingoStar we provide French and German voiceovers for corporate videos, documentaries, presentations, and more. You choose the accent, we source the voice-over talent! We cover both Quebecois | Canadian and European French voice-overs and different varieties of German for voiceovers aimed at Austria, Switzerland and Germany.