The Secret Life of Josephine Baker - Josephine, la danseuse
Duolingo French Podcast

The Secret Life of Josephine Baker - Josephine, la danseuse

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 11, 202324 min
  • Documentary

19-year-old Josephine Baker leaves her life in the U.S. behind and arrives in Paris to try her luck onstage. She falls in love with the city, but what will she have to do in order to succeed there? With Ariana DeBose. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/46I6I3s.

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Paris was dizzy from the Roaring Twenties, or Les Anéfoles, drawing the world's greatest

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People like Pablo Picasso,

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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 40%A2 43%B1 14%B2 3%C1 0%
  • 97% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 93 words a minute: slow, clear speech.
  • 60 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

It was autumn in Paris, France. The year was 1929. The Great Depression would soon sweep across the world. But in the City of Light, the party was still in full swing.

0:18

Paris was dizzy from the Roaring Twenties, or Les Anéfoles, drawing the world's greatest artists with its glamorous parties, modern art, and sizzling jazz. People like Pablo Picasso, and Frida Kahlo.

0:40

But one star shown brighter than them all. Her name was Josephine Baker. She was a black American dancer, and she had become one of the most famous women in France. That night, she strutted into the glamorous Art Deco restaurant, La Coupeau, draped in

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