Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Becky: How are you? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask how somebody is in French.
Body
Becky: Here's the informal way to ask 'How are you?' in French.
Yasmine: [Normal] Comment vas-tu?
Becky: First is a word meaning 'how'
Yasmine: [Normal] comment [Slow] comment
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'go'
Yasmine: [Normal] vas [Slow] vas
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'you'
Yasmine: [Normal] tu [Slow] tu
Becky: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'How are you?'
Yasmine: [Slow] Comment vas-tu? [Normal] Comment vas-tu?
Becky: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'How are you?'
Yasmine: [Normal] Comment allez-vous?
Becky: First is a word meaning 'how'
Yasmine: [Normal] comment [Slow] comment
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'go'
Yasmine: [Normal] allez [Slow] allez
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'you'
Yasmine: [Normal] vous [Slow] vous
Becky: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'How are you?'
Yasmine: [Slow] Comment allez-vous? [Normal] Comment allez-vous?
Becky: Here's a response meaning 'I'm fine. Thank you.'
Yasmine: [Normal] Je vais bien. Merci.
Becky: First is a word meaning 'I'
Yasmine: [Normal] je [Slow] je
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'go'
Yasmine: [Normal] vais [Slow] vais
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'good'
Yasmine: [Normal] bien [Slow] bien
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'thank you'
Yasmine: [Normal] merci [Slow] merci
Becky: Listen again to the response meaning 'I'm fine. Thank you.'
Yasmine: [Slow] Je vais bien. Merci. [Normal] Je vais bien. Merci.
Becky: Here's a response meaning, 'Not so well.'
Yasmine: [Normal] Pas très bien.
Becky: First is a word meaning 'not'
Yasmine: [Normal] pas [Slow] pas
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'very'
Yasmine: [Normal] très [Slow] très
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'good'
Yasmine: [Normal] bien [Slow] bien
Becky: Listen again to the response meaning 'Not so well.'
Yasmine: [Slow] Pas très bien. [Normal] Pas très bien.
Cultural Insight
Becky: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Yasmine: Asking someone how they are is just a formal greeting in French – it’s a sentence you say just to be polite after saying "hello"; it doesn't mean that you actually care about how the other person feels. Most people answer "good and you?" then you say "good", and move on with the conversation.

Outro

Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!

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