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. 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. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, plus lentement. |
| 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. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, avec la traduction. |
| 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! |
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