>You don't have to be French to understand French. There are other countries where French is the main language, and you can speak French as your second (or third, ..) language.

Obviously. I still don't understand why this is on frontpage.

Using the novel technology of the time (gramophone) to record hyper-local accents and witness someone discovering his own accent, probably one of the first ever to do so.

It's an interesting turning point in the history of modern technology, a bit like the first time someone saw himself in a picture or in a movie.

1912, the content would fit the term antique. It denotes, with proof, how accents evolve. The proof is relatively unique for its age. Hence, it is historic, it is history. Relevant history, even, given the uniqueness.

For me, personally (YMMV), I am going to link it to my mother (born 1951, my father passed away) who has been to Paris in the 70s with my father, as well as with me about 10 years ago. She's also far better in French than I am. I'm curious on her take. Same with my mother-in-law; she loves the French language.

Here's another example which shows how society changes. A Trip Down Market Street [1], San Francisco a couple of days or weeks before the 1906 earthquake. You can take from it what you want, what I found interesting I commented on in that item [2].

If people upvoted, it was deemed interesting. Regardless, you don't have to enjoy it. I know this is primarily a native English speaking website, but does that mean interesting history from outside of native English speaking regions is forbidden?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15944621

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16034871

Anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity is on-topic here