Gwyneth Paltrow: I Don't Let My Kids Watch English-Language TV

[leesaleesa]

Her kids are spared her astonishingly boring (IMO) acting career.

When I realized that her head was in the box in Seven, I yelled in the theater "Gynneth Paltrow's head is in the box! Hooray!" The whole theater cheered rather than shushed.

There may be plenty of crap on English language TV, but networks like Telemundo and Univision have plenty of unmitigated crap, too.

[brina]

Spanish is a language people living in California should definitely learn. I should learn it so I could save time on translators when I see patients. It's on my bucket list.

Spanish is useful for many reasons, but at our facility, they explicitly do not allow for health professionals to speak to patients in non-English languages. They insist that trained medical interpreters be used.

[overedge]

When I realized that her head was in the box in Seven, I yelled in the theater "Gynneth Paltrow's head is in the box! Hooray!" The whole theater cheered rather than shushed.

I [heart] you. You might also enjoy Contagion, in which I understand she is the first victim of the killer virus and dies a messy death within the first few minutes - which should make the rest of the movie far more watchable.

[overedge]

I have NO CLUE how the Oscar happened, but it wasn't based on talent.

To quote Rex, "You know I don't gossip" but the word about town was that she had a her "close personal relationship" with Harvey Weinstein at the time - which is why she kept getting acting jobs in his movies - and he conducted a massive publicity and campaign to get her the Oscar votes.

[oleada]

I feel like my English is much better because I used to watch tv shows like Friends, Ally McBeal, Buffy, Dawson's Creek etc in my tween/teen years so much. So I think there is some validity to that.

At the facility I work at, those that are hired in bilingual positions (doctors, nurses, techs, etc) do speak to patients in Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi and so on.

That said, Gwyneth is pretentious and insufferable.

[cholla]

I find Americans nicer and friendlier than the french...

So do I . But don't worry, French aren't in any way nicer to other foreigners or even to their compatriots. I'd take several buses of American tourists in my area over 4 French in a minivan...

When I was in France, we had the TV on, and we watched the Smurfs, dubbed in French. Bebe Smurf was an easy one to figure out

Bébé Schtroumpf ! A French Smurf is a Schtroumpf. (Well, actually it's the other way round since the Schtroumpfs were created by Belgian comics author Peyo who was a French native speaker.)

My French coworker said he'd never heard of Mister Rogers and it made me so very

France has no shortage of children TV series, don't worry.

I feel like my English is much better because I used to watch tv shows like Friends, Ally McBeal, Buffy, Dawson's Creek etc in my tween/teen years so much. So I think there is some validity to that.

There is, indeed. The French my son spoke was 60/70% learnt from watching TV when we spent time in France. In the same vein, when I was visiting Nordic countries regularly in the 80s and 90s, I had noticed that people, especially in Sweden in Denmark were speaking a much better English than their South Europe counterparts. I was told that it was partly because in countries like France, Spain and Italy, for instance, English and American movies and series were dubbed into the local language as opposed to only using undertitles (the other reason being they were starting English at school at a younger age). In France, there are a few channels where you can chose to watch movies/series in their original language, but not so many. It's a pity because it would really help. (And sometimes, some interesting and even key stuff is lost in the process). Add to that it can be really strange to hear actors talking in a voice you know are not theirs !

[suep1963]

Bébé Schtroumpf ! A French Smurf is a Schtroumpf. (Well, actually it's the other way round since the Schtroumpfs were created by Belgian comics author Peyo who was a French native speaker.)

Is that what they were saying? It was sort of hard to tell after a couple glasses of wine. And that episode seemed to be the "Baby Smurf in Peril" one.

[aliceanne]

Watching a lot of English language Cartoon Network is how I learned to speak fluent English when I was like 7 or 8.

Well as long as you don't sound like Tweetie Pie I guess that is OK.

[aliceanne]

I think the author of the article had already made up his mind to portray her as pretentious. It's hard to tell what the statement was made in reference to since the interviewer's question/comment is missing. I've seen her on talk shows, she's not THAT humorless.

[Eden]

I have learned my English mostly from Brittish period dramas (The Palissers; Poldark; The Onedin Line; Upstairs, Downstairs; I, Claudius and more).
Watching TV is not necessarily a bad thing for developing a language.
I guess Paltrow's problem is that her statement sounded kinda snobbish...

[Southpaw]

Well as long as you don't sound like Tweetie Pie I guess that is OK.

Nope, not Tweety Bird. Foghorn Leghorn. The Ziglet speaks English JUST like Foghorn Leghorn.

[suep1963]

I say....(that's a joke son)

[allezfred]

Yes, because Americans being rude tourists are obviously not generalizations...

Did I ever say it wasn't?

[Coco]

To quote Rex, "You know I don't gossip" but the word about town was that she had a her "close personal relationship" with Harvey Weinstein at the time - which is why she kept getting acting jobs in his movies - and he conducted a massive publicity and campaign to get her the Oscar votes.

LOL, I can't believe that only because she's too ... just, no.

A - I don't believe she'd ever work that hard at anything, and I've seen Harvey Weinstein.

B - it sounds exactly like the kind of rumor someone would make up about an actress like Gwynnie just to get some modicum of revenge.

Maybe I'm cynical, but it seems like with the loosening of morals, sleeping to the top just ain't what it used to be. What I mean is that compared to the '50s, it's really easy for any guy with enough means to pay for cover charge, a car and his own place to get laid whenever he wants. So an actress who wants to trade sexual favors for jobs would have to be offering something so far beyond the norm that it would really standout against what all the drunken "liberated" young ladies are willing to offer. I don't see her as offering that, in any way.

[kosjenka]

she is so full of herself...

I remember once reading here on FSU someone making a comment about her, how, had she not been daughter of famous and Hollywood influential parents, she would be working at GAP.

[DAngel]

Did I ever say it wasn't?

You didn't, my bad

[BittyBug]

I remember once reading here on FSU someone making a comment about her, how, had she not been daughter of famous and Hollywood influential parents, she would be working at GAP.

Except she'd probably only be willing to work at Zara.

[overedge]

LOL, I can't believe that only because she's too ... just, no.

A - I don't believe she'd ever work that hard at anything, and I've seen Harvey Weinstein.

B - it sounds exactly like the kind of rumor someone would make up about an actress like Gwynnie just to get some modicum of revenge.

The campaign part is pretty well documented (e.g. see the third paragraph of this story):
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/enter...mpaigns/45570/

The "close personal relationship" part - I guess it depends where you get your gossip from.....

[allezfred]

Except she'd probably only be willing to work at Zara.

Well, the clothes are nicer in Zara.

[my little pony]

she is so full of herself...

I remember once reading here on FSU someone making a comment about her, how, had she not been daughter of famous and Hollywood influential parents, she would be working at GAP.

eys, i believe i said she'd be folding long and leans at the gap with jennifer aniston