Learn about how to ask for and how to offer an opinion
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| Introduction |
| Virginie: Hi everyone, Bonjour tout le monde! This is Virginie. |
| Eric: Bonjour! This is Eric. Welcome to Gengo Lesson 16. Fitting in and Making Friends. Several sure-fire phrases to help your social life. |
| Virginie: What are we going to learn in this lesson? |
| Eric: In this lesson, we are going to learn how to say what you think. |
| Virginie: Yes and that’s very important if you want to impose yourself in France. |
| Eric: So we are still at the restaurant? |
| Virginie: Yeah, with Joe and Frank and everyone else and dinner is served. |
| Eric: It’s time for Joe’s big food tasting. Good luck with that. |
| Virginie: Well Eric, you like tartar steak, don’t you? |
| Eric: I do, I do. |
| Virginie: Okay. Let’s see if Joe likes tartar steak. |
| Eric: Let’s have a listen to the conversation. |
| Dialogue |
| Serveuse : Tenez ... le foie gras, les escargots, l'entrecôte de boeuf, les bouchées à la reine, et le steak tartare. |
| Franck : Santé ! |
| Joe : Santé ! |
| Directrice : Bon appétit. |
| Franck : Joe, essayez ça. |
| Joe : D'accord. Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Directrice : Un steak tartare. |
| (Joe le goûte) |
| Franck : Alors, qu'est-ce que vous en pensez ? |
| Joe : C'est très bon. Délicieux. |
| Franck : Il aime ! Essayez ça. |
| Joe : Hmmm...c'est pas mauvais. |
| Directrice : Ahah, il n'aime pas ! |
| Franck : Tu es libre demain ? On se dit "tu", d'accord ? |
| Joe : D'accord. Oui, je suis libre demain. |
| Directrice : On va jouer aux courses. Tu veux venir ? |
| Joe: D'accord. |
| Franck : On a rendez-vous à 11h Place de l'Etoile. Tiens, mon numéro de téléphone. |
| Joe : Très bien ! Merci. |
| Eric: One more time, a little more slowly. |
| Serveuse : Tenez ... le foie gras, les escargots, l'entrecôte de boeuf, les bouchées à la reine, et le steak tartare. |
| Franck : Santé ! |
| Joe : Santé ! |
| Directrice : Bon appétit. |
| Franck : Joe, essayez ça. |
| Joe : D'accord. Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Directrice : Un steak tartare. |
| (Joe le goûte) |
| Franck : Alors, qu'est-ce que vous en pensez ? |
| Joe : C'est très bon. Délicieux. |
| Franck : Il aime ! Essayez ça. |
| Joe : Hmmm...c'est pas mauvais. |
| Directrice : Ahah, il n'aime pas ! |
| Franck : Tu es libre demain ? On se dit "tu", d'accord ? |
| Joe : D'accord. Oui, je suis libre demain. |
| Directrice : On va jouer aux courses. Tu veux venir ? |
| Joe: D'accord. |
| Franck : On a rendez-vous à 11h Place de l'Etoile. Tiens, mon numéro de téléphone. |
| Joe : Très bien ! Merci. |
| Eric: One more time, with the translation. |
| Serveuse : Tenez ... le foie gras, les escargots, l'entrecôte de boeuf, les bouchées à la reine, et le steak tartare. |
| Waitress: Here...goose liver, snails, ribeye steak, queen's bites, and steak tartare. |
| Franck : Santé ! |
| Frank: Cheers! |
| Joe : Santé ! |
| Joe: Cheers! |
| Directrice : Bon appétit. |
| Manager: Enjoy your food! |
| Franck : Joe, essayez ça. |
| Frank: Joe, try this! |
| Joe : D'accord. Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Joe: Okay. What is this? |
| Directrice : Un steak tartare. |
| Manager: Steak tartare. |
| (Joe le goûte) |
| (Joe tries it) |
| Franck : Alors, qu'est-ce que vous en pensez ? |
| Frank: Well, what do you think? |
| Joe : C'est très bon. Délicieux. |
| Joe: It's very good. It's delicious. |
| Franck : Il aime ! Essayez ça. |
| Frank: He likes it! Try this one. |
| Joe : Hmmm...c'est pas mauvais. |
| Joe: Hmmm...it's not bad. |
| Directrice : Ahah, il n'aime pas ! |
| Manager: Ah ah, he doesn't like it! |
| Franck : Tu es libre demain ? On se dit "tu", d'accord ? |
| Frank: Are you free tomorrow? We can say "tu" to each other, okay? |
| Joe : D'accord. Oui, je suis libre demain. |
| Joe: Okay. Yes, I'm free tomorrow. |
| Directrice : On va jouer aux courses. Tu veux venir ? |
| Manager: We're going to a horse race. Do you want to come? |
| Joe: D'accord. |
| Joe: Okay. |
| Franck : On a rendez-vous à 11h Place de l'Etoile. Tiens, mon numéro de téléphone. |
| Frank: We'll meet at the Place de L'Etoile at eleven o'clock in the morning. Here is my phone number. |
| Joe : Très bien ! Merci. |
| Joe: Very good! |
| Post Conversation Banter |
| Virginie: So it seems that Joe doesn’t really like snails, right? |
| Eric: He doesn’t seem too fond of them but how often are these really eaten in France? |
| Virginie: Not really often, that’s right, yeah. It’s just once a year basically for New Year’s Eve and Christmas. |
| Eric: Really? |
| Virginie: That’s about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Eric: Interesting, okay. So is there some sort of tradition with escargots in Christmas? |
| Virginie: Well, I mean it’s usually what you eat along with foie gras, and sometimes people eat a turkey too. It really depends on families. I know that my family, it’s snails because we love it better, yeah. |
| Eric: How do you prepare them? |
| Virginie: Umm you can prepare them with a little white wine and some herbs and garlic. |
| Eric: Wow! |
| Virginie: And it’s really good, yeah in the oven. |
| Eric: That sounds good. |
| Virginie: For snails. |
| Eric: What about foie gras, that’s a little bit expensive usually, right? |
| Virginie: It is very expensive, yeah. So it’s the same thing, people don’t eat foie gras every day in France. So obviously, so it’s once a year, twice a year for, you know, special occasion. |
| Eric: I see, okay and that’s produced in Southwestern France, right? |
| Virginie: Yes. Most of it’s produced in the Bellegarde, which is Southwest central, yeah. |
| Eric: I see. When you go to a restaurant in France, who pays the bill? |
| Virginie: It depends, really. If it’s a couple and they are dating, usually they will split in half, I think. Obviously before, the man used to pay the bill but now women are standing for their right to pay the bill. |
| Eric: That is an important thing. |
| Virginie: Yes. |
| Eric: It’s important, right? And I guess friends also usually will split the bill. |
| Virginie: Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Eric: Well, you know, I think it’s something interesting is people who work in France will sometimes get things called Ticket Restaurant, or restaurant tickets. |
| Virginie: Ah it’s correct. |
| Eric: Where their employer will actually split the bill with them. |
| Virginie: Yeah. So Ticket Restaurant is basically a voucher, and some of the vouchers are paid by the employee. It’s taken out of his paycheck and the employer pays for half. |
| Eric: That’s pretty great that your boss will – actually gets you a free lunch. |
| Virginie: Yeah. It’s true. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary. |
| Vocab List |
| Virginie: une entrecôte de boeuf [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a ribeye steak |
| Virginie: une entrecôte de boeuf [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: une entrecôte de boeuf [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: les bouchées à la reine [natural native speed] |
| Eric: regional dish with heavy cream and mushrooms |
| Virginie: les bouchées à la reine [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: les bouchées à la reine [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un steak tartare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: steak tartare |
| Virginie: un steak tartare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un steak tartare [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: essayer [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to try |
| Virginie: essayer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: essayer [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: ça [natural native speed] |
| Eric: it |
| Virginie: ça [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: ça [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: penser [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to think |
| Virginie: penser [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: penser [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: maintenant [natural native speed] |
| Eric: now |
| Virginie: maintenant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: maintenant [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: demain [natural native speed] |
| Eric: tomorrow |
| Virginie: demain [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: demain [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: on [natural native speed] |
| Eric: we |
| Virginie: on [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: on [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: se dire [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to say to each other |
| Virginie: se dire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: se dire [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: aller [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to go |
| Virginie: aller [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: aller [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: venir [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to come |
| Virginie: venir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: venir [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: jouer aux courses [natural native speed] |
| Eric: betting on the horses |
| Virginie: jouer aux courses [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: jouer aux courses [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: d'accord [natural native speed] |
| Eric: okay |
| Virginie: d'accord [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: d'accord [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: avoir rendez-vous (avec quelqu'un) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to meet (someone) |
| Virginie: avoir rendez-vous (avec quelqu'un) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: avoir rendez-vous (avec quelqu'un) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: à [natural native speed] |
| Eric: at or to |
| Virginie: à [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: à [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: mon [natural native speed] |
| Eric: my, mine |
| Virginie: mon [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: mon [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un numéro de téléphone [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a phone number |
| Virginie: un numéro de téléphone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un numéro de téléphone [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: santé [natural native speed] |
| Eric: cheers |
| Virginie: santé [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: santé [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: bon appétit [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Enjoy your meal. |
| Virginie: bon appétit [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: bon appétit [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: bon [natural native speed] |
| Eric: good |
| Virginie: bon [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: bon [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: mauvais [natural native speed] |
| Eric: bad |
| Virginie: mauvais [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: mauvais [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: pas [natural native speed] |
| Eric: not |
| Virginie: pas [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: pas [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: libre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: free |
| Virginie: libre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: libre [natural native speed] |
| Vocab and Phrase Usage |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Virginie: The first word/phrase we’ll look at is.... |
| Eric: I would like to talk about the little word on |
| Virginie: Yes, both Frank and the Manager say "on" |
| Eric: On in French has several meanings. |
| Virginie: Here in the dialogue it means "we", nous. |
| Eric: And it's a less formal way to say "nous" |
| Virginie: Nowadays it is very common. Very few people say "nous" |
| Eric: Everybody says "on" |
| Virginie: For example, the manager here says "on va jouer aux courses" |
| Eric: We're going to a horse race. |
| Virginie: Now look at the verb. It's va. |
| Eric: On va. We are going, or we go. On uses the same conjugation as il or elle. |
| Virginie: Yes. Il va, he goes, elle va, she goes, and on va, we go. |
| Eric: So anytime you want to say "we" when in France, you can use "on" |
| Virginie: Another example to illustrate... |
| Eric: We speak french |
| Virginie: On parle francais. |
| Eric: We eat a tartare steak |
| Virginie: On mange un steak tartare. Instead of "nous mangeons un steak tartare. |
| Eric: Ok now frank says something that can only be found in French |
| Virginie: Yes he says "on se dit tu?" to joe |
| Eric: And that means "we can say "tu" to each other, right? |
| Virginie: Yes. In France when people meet for the first time, especially in a business context, they use vous to talk to each other |
| Eric: Vous is formal. |
| Virginie: Yes and when they fell more comfortable with each other, someone will offer, or ask to say "tu" to each other. |
| Eric: And tu is informal. More friendly. |
| Virginie: Yes, once you say "tu", there is somehow less distance between the people. |
| Eric: It makes the relationship more casual. |
| virginie: Let's hear it again "on se dit tu? |
| Eric: So literally it's "on" |
| Virgine: we |
| Eric: Se dit |
| Virginie: tell other other |
| Eric: Tu |
| Virginie: informal You. |
| Eric: We tell each other informal you is the literal translation. |
| Virginie: But what it really means is "we can tell each other you? |
| Eric: As for the little "se", for now just think about it as a word for "each other". OK, how about we switch to our grammar point? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: So as we told you earlier our focus is for you to say "what you think" |
| Virginie: That's the reason why our grammar focus in this lesson is the verb "penser" |
| Eric: To think. |
| Virginie: penser is an ER verb. |
| Eric: So what do we have in our dialoguee? |
| virginie: We have this question "qu'est-ce que vous en pensez? |
| Eric: Ok let's break it down. |
| Virginie: We already know qu'est ce que.... |
| Eric: Quick reminder- it's what |
| Virginie: Then we have "vous |
| Eric: You know that it is the formal "you" |
| Virginie: Then we have "en" |
| Eric: Oh that's a new one. So. En is a pronoun. |
| Virginie: Yes and it stands for the tartare steak. Frank is asking Joe what he think about the steak tartare, and replaced it with the pronoun "en" |
| Eric: And finally we have "pensez", |
| Virginie: which is "think" |
| Eric: Now if there wasn't any pronoun "en" replacing the word "Steak tartare" the question would be different |
| Virginie: Yes, it would be "qu'est ce que vous pensez du steak tartare? |
| Eric: What do you think of the tartare steak. |
| Virginie: so in our question "en" replaces the group of words du steak tartare. |
| Eric: Are you still following? I hope we're not loosing our audience with those pronouns. |
| Virginie: Ahah. So recap- |
| Eric: OK the question without the pronoun is |
| Virginie: Qu'est ce aue vous pensez du steak tartare? |
| Eric: And the question with the pronoun "en" is |
| Virginie: Qu'est-ce que vous EN pensez? |
| Eric: OK now. Why is there a du after the verb pensez? |
| Virginie: It's the equivqlent for the English "about", or "of" after the verb to think |
| Eric: OK. what do you think of is qu'est ce que vous pensez du |
| Virginie: Yes. Now un steak tartare is masculine. That's why we use "du" |
| Eric: If it was a feminine noun, like "la ville", the city we would use "de la" after pensez |
| Virginie: Qu'est ce que vou spensez de la ville? |
| Eric: And if it was a plural noun... |
| Virginie: Like "les croisaants", croissants |
| Eric: Then we would use "des" after "pensez" |
| Virginie: Qu'est ce que vous pensez des croissants? |
| Eric: Now if you just want to say, what do you think about this? |
| Virginie: You will use the same question, qu'est ce que vous en pensez? |
| Eric: Woo. Be sure to listen to this lesson more than just once! |
| Virginie: OK, now even though it's not in our dialogue you need to know how to answer this question |
| Eric: To do so use, again, the verb penser. |
| Virginie: Je pense que c'est delicieux. |
| Eric: Virginie just said "I think that it's delicious." |
| Virginie: Je pense, is I think |
| Eric: And then you have "que" |
| Virginie: Which means that |
| Eric: And then "c'est delicieux" |
| Virginie: Which you saw in a previous lesson that it means "it's delicious." |
| Eric: Je pense que c'est delicieux. |
| Virginie: So once again, je pense que c'est delicieux. "I think that it's delicious." |
Outro |
| Eric: Thank you for listening, and if you have any question, take a look at our lesson note. |
| Virginie: Yes, ok, thank you for listening! Have a great day! |
| Eric: À bientôt! |
| Virginie: Au Revoir! |
11 Comments
HideBonjour Lisa,
Thank you for your comment! I'm glad this lesson helped you. 😄
Bonjour Wiaam,
No, "il n'aime pas" is correct here as the woman is referring to what the man just ate.
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
thanks for the lesson, mais j'ai une question.
"il n'aime pas !" shouldn't it be il n'en aime pas ! as she was referring to something else?
merci beaucoup .
I enjoyed this conversation; the translation is very good, listening to this makes me hungry! thank you. Merci.
Hi Gary,
Thank you for your comment !
"It" doesn't really exist in French. That's why you have to say "il aime !" or "Il n'aime pas".
You can also say "Il aime ça" (I likes this !) or "Il n'aime pas ça".
I hope it is clear !
Cheers,
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Salut Frenchpod101 !
Just a small question - I'm wondering why the following two lines from the dialogue don't contain the pronoun for 'it' ?
"Il aime !" - he likes 'it' (il l'aime !)
"il n'aime pas !" - he doesn't like "it" (il ne l'aime pas !)
Or is it implied ?
Merci beaucoup
Gary
Hello Michelle,
You're most welcome! Your feedback is important and will surely help us improve our lesson quality. Thank you once again:smile:
Cheers,
Neha
Team FrenchPod101.com
Thank you very much! :)
Hi Michelle,
I see now, I thought that maybe you were only referring to this lesson. Your feedback has been noted and we will keep in mind when constructing future lessons. Thank you again!
Jessi
Team FrenchPod101.com
Part of the reason for my comment was because it was not presented in a "neutral" way. Several of the lessons mention foie gras and the presenters say how delicious it is, such a delicacy, etc, while cigarettes are mentioned as part of French life, but mention is also made that they are bad for your health. No one mentions the issues around foie gras. I understand you can't change the lessons that are already made, I'm just asking that in future it not be advocated. Thank you for your response and understanding.
Hi Michelle,
Yes, as you said, it is a part of French life and culinary culture, which is why it was included in this lesson. We tried to present the information in a very matter-of-fact way, and maintain a neutral position. Thank you for your understanding :)
Jessi
Team FrenchPod101.com