The extraordinary life of musical genius Joseph Boulogne | BBC Ideas – YouTube Dictation Transcript & Vocabulary
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Interactive Transcript & Highlights for Dictation
1.Joseph Boulogne also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges is perhaps the most famous musician and composer you've never heard of
2.A soldier, athlete, musical genius and revolutionary
3.He was the crème de la crème of 18th Century French society
4.Boulogne was born in 1745 on the Carribean island of then part of a large French empire in the Americas
5.His mother was an enslaved Senegalese woman called Nanon - his father was George Boulogne, a white plantation owner
💡 Tap the highlighted words to see definitions and examples
Key Vocabulary (CEFR B2)
instrument
B2A device used to produce music.
Example:
"His main instrument was the violin"
guadeloupe
A2A A2-level word commonly used in this context.
Example:
"on the Carribean island of Guadeloupe"
unusually
A2In an unusual manner.
Example:
"Unusually for an illegitimate, mixed-heritage child"
education
B1The process of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment.
Example:
"George Boulogne was keen for his son to receive a good education"
charismatic
B1A member of the Charismatic Movement.
Example:
"Boulogne was intelligent and charismatic"
concertante
B1A concert for two or more principal instruments, with orchestral accompaniment.
Example:
"called Symphonie Concertante"
antoinette
A2A A2-level word commonly used in this context.
Example:
"Some of the opera's leading women petitioned Queen Marie Antoinette"
playwright
A2A writer and creator of theatrical plays.
Example:
"he fell into favour with the influential playwright"
montesson
A2A A2-level word commonly used in this context.
Example:
"Madame de Montesson"
transgender
B1A transgender person.
Example:
"who was probably transgender"
| Word | CEFR | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| instrument | B2 | A device used to produce music. |
| guadeloupe | A2 | A A2-level word commonly used in this context. |
| unusually | A2 | In an unusual manner. |
| education | B1 | The process of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment. |
| charismatic | B1 | A member of the Charismatic Movement. |
| concertante | B1 | A concert for two or more principal instruments, with orchestral accompaniment. |
| antoinette | A2 | A A2-level word commonly used in this context. |
| playwright | A2 | A writer and creator of theatrical plays. |
| montesson | A2 | A A2-level word commonly used in this context. |
| transgender | B1 | A transgender person. |
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