Learn how to express your opinion and agree and disagree
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: I Disagree. So, hello, Alex. |
| Alex: Bonjour. Ça va? |
| Sam: Ça va. Et toi? |
| Alex: Très bien. Bonjour, Céline. |
| Céline: Bonjour, Alex. Bonjour, Sam. |
| Sam: Ça va? |
| Céline: Ça va bien. |
| Sam: Great! Let's get into today's conversation. But first, what's the backdrop for today's conversation? |
| Céline: Ok. This conversation is really difficult, so you really have to pay attention, right? Caro is talking about nanotechnology. So do you know what nanotechnology is? |
| Alex: Well, I just checked it yesterday before I came here to the studio this morning, so... |
| Céline: Oh. |
| Alex: Now, I know a little bit better, but... |
| Céline: Ok. Et toi, Sam? Tu sais ce que c’est la nanotechnologie? |
| Sam: I actually studied it in university. |
| Céline: Oh, d'accord. |
| Sam: No, I'm joking. I'll learn more about it during this lesson. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: As will all of us. C'est parti? |
| Céline: C'est parti. |
| Sam: Let's go! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Céline: Tu connais la nanotechnologie? |
| Alex: Heu non. Mais je sais que je préfère être une patate sur mon canapé à regarder la télé. |
| Céline: Ce sont les études et les procédés de fabrication au niveau atomique. |
| Alex: Ben, je pense que ça ne sert à rien pour moi. |
| Céline: Au contraire, je trouve que cette nouvelle technologie va être avantageuse. Les applications actuelles sont l’électronique et la médecine par exemple. |
| Alex: Ah oui, en tout cas moi, je crois que ce ne sera pas dans ma vie. |
| Sam: One more time, with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois avec l’anglais. |
| Céline: Tu connais la nanotechnologie? |
| Sam: Do you know about nanotechnology? |
| Alex: Heu non. Mais je sais que je préfère être une patate sur mon canapé à regarder la télé. |
| Sam: Huh no. But I know that I prefer to be a couch potato watching TV. |
| Céline: Ce sont les études et les procédés de fabrication au niveau atomique. |
| Sam: It’s the study and process of fabrication on the atomic level. |
| Alex: Bah, je pense que ça ne sert à rien pour moi. |
| Sam: Huh, I think that it’s not worth it for me. |
| Céline: Au contraire, je trouve que cette nouvelle technologie va être avantageuse. Les applications actuelles sont l’électronique et la médecine par exemple. |
| Sam: On the contrary, I think that this new technology is going to be advantageous. The applications are electronics and medicine. |
| Alex: Ah oui, en tout cas moi, je crois que ce ne sera pas dans ma vie. |
| Sam: Ah yeah, in any case I think that it’s not going to be in my lifetime. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So, this lesson talks about nanotechnology. Do you guys have a favorite science field? |
| Céline: En fait moi j’étais abonnée pendant très longtemps à “Science et Vie Junior”. |
| Alex: Oh là là! |
| Céline: Tu connais “Science et Vie Junior”? |
| Alex: Non. |
| Céline: C’est un magazine. |
| Sam: Ah. Science Vision. |
| Céline: Science… et vie… |
| Sam: Life Science Magazine? |
| Céline: Life and Science. |
| Sam: Life and Science? |
| Céline: For... |
| Alex: Juniors. |
| Céline: Juniors. |
| Sam: Oh! |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: Kind of like, I want to say National Geographic, but that's a little bit different. That's more ecology. |
| Céline: No, it's different. It's about science and life and questions about many things. |
| Alex: And I think it's written in a simple language. |
| Sam: How about chemistry? Did you guys enjoy chemistry during your student days? |
| Céline: Yes, but I forgot. |
| Alex: Moi aussi. |
| Sam: You don't remember the titration lab with the eye dropper? Drop, drop, until it gets a very specific color? |
| Céline: It's not that I'm old, but I forgot. |
| Sam: Or maybe you skipped that class. |
| Céline: No, I didn't. I never skipped classes. |
| Alex: I did when I go to the bar. You know, drop, drop, drop. |
| Céline: Ok. Let's get into the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Ok. The first item is? |
| Céline: Servir. |
| Sam: To contribute. |
| Céline: Servir. Servir. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Penser. |
| Sam: To think. |
| Alex: Penser. Penser. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Atomique. |
| Sam: Atomic. |
| Céline: Atomique. Atomique. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Niveau. |
| Sam: Level. |
| Alex: Niveau. Niveau. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Fabrication. |
| Sam: Manufacture. |
| Céline: Fabrication. fabrication. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Procédé. |
| Sam: Process. |
| Alex: Procédé. Procédé. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Etudes. |
| Sam: Studies. |
| Céline: Etudes. Etudes. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Canapé. |
| Sam: Couch. |
| Alex: Canapé. Canapé. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Patate. |
| Sam: Potato. |
| Céline: Patate. Patate. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Nanotechnologie. |
| Sam: Nanotechnology. |
| Alex: Nanotechnologie. Nanotechnologie. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Vie. |
| Sam: Life. |
| Céline: Vie. Vie. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Croire. |
| Sam: To believe. |
| Alex: Croire. Croire. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Cas. |
| Sam: Case. |
| Céline: Cas. Cas. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Médecine. |
| Sam: Medicine. |
| Alex: Médecine. Médecine. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Electronique. |
| Sam: Electronic. |
| Céline: Electronique. Electronique. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Actuel. |
| Sam: Current. |
| Alex: Actuel. Actuel. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Applications. |
| Sam: Applications. |
| Céline: Applications. Applications. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Avantageuse. |
| Sam: Advantageous. |
| Alex: Avantageuse. Avantageuse. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Nouvelle. |
| Sam: New. |
| Céline: Nouvelle. Nouvelle. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Trouver. |
| Sam: To find. |
| Alex: Trouver. Trouver. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Contraire. |
| Sam: Opposite. |
| Céline: Contraire. Contraire. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Céline: Il y a beaucoup de vocabulaire aujourd’hui hein Sam? |
| Sam: There's a lot of vocabulary today. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: But that will help enrich our listeners' learning process, I think. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. |
| Alex: N’est-ce pas. |
| Céline: Donc, pourquoi on ne regarderait pas de plus près certains mots du vocabulaire? |
| Alex: ah oui. Lesquels? |
| Céline: Ok. “Penser”, 'to think.' |
| Alex: Je pense, donc je suis. |
| Sam: I think, therefore, I am. |
| Céline: Yeah, In French we use a lot, “je pense que…” |
| Sam: I think that. |
| Céline: Yeah, so when we want to give our opinion: “moi je pense que c’est comme ça.” |
| Sam: Is that like a subjunctive tense? |
| Céline: Non. C’est le présent de l’indicatif. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Céline: Je pense que tu devrais arrêter de fumer. C’est l’indicatif. |
| Sam: I think I should stop smoking. |
| Céline: I think you should stop smoking. |
| Sam: Oh, ok. |
| Céline: So next word is “atomique”. |
| Sam: Atomic. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Alex: Par exemple: la bombe atomique. |
| Sam: An atomic bomb. |
| Céline: Yeah, but what are you talking about? A bomb or a woman? |
| Alex: I'm talking about a bomb. |
| Sam: Une bombe sexuelle? |
| Alex: Which means she's... |
| Céline: She's really hot. Ah! An interesting verb, “croire”, 'to believe'. |
| Alex: Par exemple: Je crois en Dieu. |
| Sam: I believe in God. |
| Céline: Oui, ou je crois en moi. |
| Alex: Aussi. Et moi je crois en toi. |
| Céline: Ok, I think we need to some translation here! |
| Alex: Par exemple? |
| Céline: Je crois en moi. |
| Sam: I believe in me. |
| Alex: Et moi, je crois en toi Céline. |
| Sam: And me, I believe in you too, Céline. |
| Céline: Voilà! |
| Alex: Voilà! |
| Sam: That's really beautiful. |
| Céline: C’est magique. |
| Sam: It's very magical. |
| Céline: Ok. Next we have “canapé”. So in the conversation, Lazy Zachary says: Je préfère rester sur mon canapé. |
| Sam: I prefer to stay in my bed. |
| Céline: Oui. Comme une patate. |
| Sam: Like a potato. |
| Céline: Yeah, but actually, in France we don't say like a potato. You call it potato couch, right? |
| Sam: Couch potato. |
| Céline: Couch potato! Yeah, but in France, we don't say that. Right, Alex? |
| Alex: Oui, c’est rare, je pense que c’est rare. |
| Céline: No, no. We don't say. We don't use potato. |
| Sam: You don't have like a word for couch potato? Somebody that watches football all day on Saturday or Sunday? |
| Céline: But we don't have like couch potato. We have like... |
| Alex: … rester comme une plante devant la télé. |
| Céline: Ouais voilà. |
| Sam: So your translation is more like, "You stay planted in front of the TV." |
| Céline: Yeah, like a plant. |
| Sam: A potato's a plant! |
| Céline: It's a green plant. |
| Sam: But it's brown. |
| Céline: No, but we talk about green plant. Ok. Next we have “vie”, life. La vie est belle. |
| Sam: Life is beautiful, isn't it? |
| Alex: La vie est dure aussi. |
| Sam: Life is also difficult. |
| Céline: C’est pour cela qu’il faut la rendre plus belle. |
| Alex: Comment le faire Céline? Apprends-moi! |
| Céline: So I said that life is beautiful. |
| Sam: It is beautiful! |
| Céline: And Alex said life is hard. |
| Sam: Life is hard. So life is beautiful; life is hard. So that's why you have to make it beautiful. |
| Céline: Why don't we jump into the grammar and decide to study? |
| Sam: Ok. Let's go. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Time to go on and start the core of our lesson today, the grammar point. |
| Alex: The differences and similarities between the verbs “connaître” and “savoir”. |
| Sam: That is one of my dilemmas, you know? When to use these two verbs. |
| Céline: Yes. I encounter many people with the same problem. Let's look at these two verbs more in depth. |
| Alex: Ok. If you remember our dialogue, the verb “connaître” appears in the first line. |
| Céline: Tu connais la nanotechnologie? |
| Alex: In this context, “connaître” expresses 'to be familiar with'. |
| Sam: Interesting. |
| Céline: It is also employed when speaking of being familiar with a person. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Alex: Je connais ton voisin. C’est le collègue de mon cousin. |
| Sam: I know your neighbor. He's my cousin's colleague. Ok. |
| Céline: So the last use of “connaître”, which might be surprising, is meet for the first time. Par exemple: J’ai connu mon fiancé il y a 5 ans. |
| Alex: I met my fiancé five years ago. |
| Sam: Wow. A bit more complex than we would say it in English. |
| Céline: Eh oui c’est vrai. I think so. Some French people struggle to learn English, too. |
| Alex: Anyway, let's look at “savoir”. So “savoir” is used in three different ways. First, when talking about knowing a fact, as in the dialogue. Then, knowing something by heart, and finally knowing how to do something. |
| Céline: So let's illustrate the last two definitions. Je sais le discours par coeur. |
| Sam: I know the speech by heart. |
| Alex: Je sais parler 31 langues étrangères. |
| Céline: Quoi? 31 langues étrangères? |
| Alex: Bien sûr que c’est pas vrai mais bon… |
| Céline: Oh! "I can speak 31 foreign languages," he said. |
| Sam: Wow! |
| Alex: Elle est jalouse, c’est pour ça. |
| Céline: I'm not jealous. So, Sam, did you get the difference between “connaître” et “savoir”? |
| Sam: Yes. I think one good way to sum it up is to say that “savoir” means to know facts or things. “Connaître” is to know people or to be familiar with people. |
| Alex: Voilà. Tu as tout compris. |
Outro |
| Céline: Bravo, Sam. So this is the end. |
| Sam: See you! |
| Alex: Ok. Au revoir. |
| Céline: À bientôt! |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide