“I am your father”, “Your lack of faith appalls me”, “Apology accepted, Captain Needa”, “Your thoughts betray you” or even “May the Force be with you”… All these lines from Darth Vader are pronouncedin the first Star Wars trilogy, by James Earl Jones, whose death has just been announced. At least in the original version…
In French, it was Georges Aminel who dubbed the most famous villain in the galaxy. The lines have also become cult in French among French fans who mostly discovered the films in cinemas, which, at the time, did not show mainstream films in their original version.
Yet learning movie lines in the original version is a proven method of language learning. Wall Street English thus advocates for learning by watching scenes from cult films and series. 20 Minutes asked Véronique Julien, English teacher and movie fan, which cult lines from Darth Vader help you learn English.
“May the Force be with you” = May the Force be with you
“First, there is the interesting use of “may” in its form of expression of wish. Then, this formula allows us to work on the place of the verb in the sentence, not always as obvious as it seems. And finally, it allows us to work on the principle of sentences such as “May God be with you”: May the Lord be with you.”
“No, I’m your father” = No, I am your father
“Already, working on the English text allows us to recall that this line begins with a negation. Darth Vader tells his son that he did not kill his father but that he is his father. We can then introduce the Shakespeare chapter… Furthermore, it is interesting to work on the construction of the name Darth Vader, the original name of the character, which can be perceived as a mixture of Dark And Death on the one hand, and an Anglo-Saxon form of Father. »
“Apology accepted, Captain Needa” = Apologies accepted, captain Needa
“This line allows you to work on the tone of irony. The strength of film lines compared to, for example, learning languages with songs, is the perception of intention in the tone. If we have in our ear the way of pronouncing the sentence in a context that we understand and that we feel – and this is the power of great popular films – we will be more inclined to remember the formula and to know how to use it ourselves. Perhaps in a less dark context…”
“Your lack of faith is disturbing” = Your lack of faith dismays me
“I like this sentence because it allows for work on the use of the genitive in “‘s” as opposed to “of”. It is also quite difficult to pronounce for beginners, and therefore a good exercise. And then we can also explore the polysemy of Disturbing which is really interesting, with several possible translations.”
“You shall not pass!” = You shall not pass!
Yes, because it’s not just with Star Wars and Darth Vader that we can work on English. The great fantasy franchises adapted to the cinema, like Gandalf here in The Lord of the Ringsallow you to review your conjugations, grammar and vocabulary. “These films have replaced Beatles songs in English classes,” explains Véronique Julien. Learning to use Shall goes down better with a Balrog… I also like “A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.” : “A wizard is never late, nor is he early for that matter, Frodo Baggins. He arrives precisely when he means to.” The use of nor not preceded by neither but of another negation, here neveris difficult to explain without a hobbit…”
More info on the Star Wars saga here
Finally, the English teacher explains that she systematically concludes the year of her 6th grade classes with the “I’ll be back” of Terminator and those of 3rd with a quote from Blade Runner : “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is, to be a slave.”