Dialogue

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Virginie: Bonjour à tous! Hello!
Eric: Bonjour à tous! Eric here. Take Charge of The Situation Using Your French.
Virginie: Hi, this is Virginie here. I am with Eric.
Eric: And I am with Virginie. Happy to be here with her. How are you?
Virginie: I am good. How are you?
Eric: So, in this lesson, what are we going to be looking at?
Virginie: We are going to be looking at giving directions.
Eric: And then we are going to be using a little bit of the imperative tense.
Virginie: Yes and there will be also a little bit of left, a little bit of right. In this dialogue, Joe is on the train and he is going to visit the Eiffel Tower.
Eric: Okay great. Let’s have a listen.
Dialogue
Annonce : Prochain arrêt, Cambronne.
Joe: Excusez-moi, quel est cet arrêt ?
Passager : C'est Cambronne.
Joe : Quel est le prochain arrêt ?
Passager : Bir Hakeim, la Tour Eiffel.
Joe : Merci.
Passager : De rien.
Annonce : Bir Hakeim.
(La porte du train se ferme et le train part)
(Dans la rue)
Joe : Excusez-moi, où est la Tour Eiffel ?
Piéton : Allez tout droit, puis tournez à gauche au prochain feu. Ensuite, allez tout droit et tournez à droite à la prochaine intersection. Elle est sur la droite.
Joe : Merci.
Piéton : Je vous en prie.
Eric: One more time, a little more slowly.
Virginie: Encore une fois, plus lentement.
Annonce : Prochain arrêt, Cambronne.
Joe: Excusez-moi, quel est cet arrêt ?
Passager : C'est Cambronne.
Joe : Quel est le prochain arrêt ?
Passager : Bir Hakeim, la Tour Eiffel.
Joe : Merci.
Passager : De rien.
Annonce : Bir Hakeim.
Joe : Excusez-moi, où est la Tour Eiffel ?
Piéton : Allez tout droit, puis tournez à gauche au prochain feu. Ensuite, allez tout droit et tournez à droite à la prochaine intersection. Elle est sur la droite.
Joe : Merci.
Piéton : Je vous en prie.
Eric: One more time, with the translation.
Virginie: Encore une fois, avec la traduction.
Annonce : Prochain arrêt, Cambronne.
Eric: Next stop, Cambronne.
Joe: Excusez-moi, quel est cet arrêt ?
Eric: Excuse me, what stop is this?
Passager : C'est Cambronne.
Eric: This is Cambronne.
Joe : Quel est le prochain arrêt ?
Eric: What's the next stop?
Passager : Bir Hakeim, la Tour Eiffel.
Eric: Bir Hakeim.
Joe : Merci.
Eric: Thank you.
Passager : De rien.
Eric: You're welcome.
Annonce : Bir Hakeim.
Eric: Bir Hakeim.
Joe : Excusez-moi, où est la Tour Eiffel ?
Eric: Excuse me, where is the Eiffel Tower?
Piéton : Allez tout droit, puis tournez à gauche au prochain feu. Ensuite, allez tout droit et tournez à droite à la prochaine intersection. Elle est sur la droite.
Eric: Go straight, and turn left at the first light. Then go straight and turn right at the next intersection. It's on the right.
Joe : Merci.
Eric: Thank you.
Piéton : Je vous en prie.
Eric: You're welcome.
Post Conversation Banter
Eric: Wow, so, Joe is going to the Eiffel Tower.
Virginie: Yes, exciting.
Eric: So have you ever gone?
Virginie: Actually I did but it was during a special event.
Eric: What was the event?
Virginie: It’s called Nuit Blanche, literally, up all night.
Eric: All-nighter?
Virginie: Yeah all-nighter, yeah.
Eric: What is that?
Virginie: It’s a cultural and artistic event in Paris that lasts a whole night.
Eric: What do you do?
Virginie: Well, there are free exhibitions and performances all over the city and they take place in unusual places. That’s what’s interesting about it.
Eric: Like, for example, besides the Eiffel Tower.
Virginie: From public pools to factories to the city hall, there are exhibits all over.
Eric: Wow, that’s great. I've never heard of this. This sounds amazing.
Virginie: Yeah.
Eric: What happens on the Eiffel Tower?
Virginie: Oh, it was great. There was that French artist. Her name is Sophie Calle.
Eric: Sophie Calle.
Virginie: Sophie Calle, yes, and what she did is, she installed a reconstitution of her bedroom on the third floor of the Eiffel tower in a little cabin, you know.
Eric: Okay, that’s great.
Virginie: Yeah, and so she was lying in bed and she had people come in and tell her about one event of their life.
Eric: Wow, okay, did you get to go in?
Virginie: No, it was too crowded but I could see her from the outside.
Eric: Wow, okay but you could only go in one person at a time.
Virginie: Yeah, exactly.
Eric: Wow, okay. It’s interesting. What was like the idea besides her work?
Virginie: Well, I think she recorded all the stories and then she released them in a book or on a CD, as part of her artistic work about everyday life and people.
Eric: Okay, great. Well, worth checking out I guess. Sophie Calle.
Virginie: Right. Sophie Calle.
Eric: Okay. So let’s have a listen to some of the vocabulary.
Vocab List
Virginie: prochain(e) [natural native speed]
Eric: next
Virginie: prochain(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: prochain(e) [natural native speed]
Virginie: un arrêt [natural native speed]
Eric: a stop
Virginie: un arrêt [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: un arrêt [natural native speed]
Virginie: où [natural native speed]
Eric: where
Virginie: où [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: où [natural native speed]
Virginie: tout droit [natural native speed]
Eric: straight ahead
Virginie: tout droit [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: tout droit [natural native speed]
Virginie: tourner [natural native speed]
Eric: to turn
Virginie: tourner [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: tourner [natural native speed]
Virginie: à gauche [natural native speed]
Eric: left, on the left, to the left
Virginie: à gauche [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: à gauche [natural native speed]
Virginie: le feu [natural native speed]
Eric: the traffic light
Virginie: le feu [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: le feu [natural native speed]
Virginie: premier/première [natural native speed]
Eric: first
Virginie: premier/première [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: premier/première [natural native speed]
Virginie: deuxième [natural native speed]
Eric: second
Virginie: deuxième [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: deuxième [natural native speed]
Virginie: une intersection [natural native speed]
Eric: an intersection
Virginie: une intersection [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: une intersection [natural native speed]
Virginie: ce/cet [natural native speed]
Eric: this, that
Virginie: ce/cet [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: ce/cet [natural native speed]
Virginie: sur [natural native speed]
Eric: on, by, about, over
Virginie: sur [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: sur [natural native speed]
Virginie: Je vous en prie. [natural native speed]
Eric: You are welcome, please
Virginie: Je vous en prie. [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: Je vous en prie. [natural native speed]
Virginie: de rien [natural native speed]
Eric: you're welcome
Virginie: de rien [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: de rien [natural native speed]
Virginie: à droite [natural native speed]
Eric: right, on the right, to the right
Virginie: à droite [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Virginie: à droite [natural native speed]
Vocab and Phrase Usage
Virginie: Ok, so what are we gonna look at first?
Eric: OK, let's get started on the directions.
Virginie: Yes. First, we have "tout droit"
Eric: And that's straight on, or straight ahead.
Virginie: For example, je vais tout droit.
Eric: I go straight ahead.
Eric: then we have "à gauche"
Virginie: and that's left, to the left, or on the left.
Eric: For example, "je tourne a gauche"
Virginie: I turn left.Eric just used the verb "tourner", to turn.
Eric: And now right, to the right , or on the right is à droite
Virginie: Je tourne à droite
Eric: I turn right.
Virginie: Let's practice this vocab a little bit.
Eric: OK. Virginie, what do you do to go from your place to your local movie theatre?
Virginie: Alors, je vais tout droit
Eric: OK...you go straight
Virginie: Je tourne à gauche
Eric: And you turn left
Virginie: Je tourne à droite
Eric: You turn right
Virginie: Et voila!
Eric: Your local movie theatre is very close to your place. OK now that we know some basic directions, let's see some traffic vocabulary.
Virginie: Yes it can be useful when you're given directions to know how to say a traffic light, etc
Eric: Ok, a traffic light, that's in our dialogue, isn't it?
Virginie: Yes it is. The pedestrian tells Joe to turn left at the next traffic light.
Eric: Le feu.
Virginie: that's easy. Le feu in French is the traffic light.
Eric: It can also mean fire.
Virginie: That's true.
Eric: Now what about the other word that is very similar to English, intersection?
virginie: Its une intersection.
Eric: Oh it ends with ION, which I believe means it's feminine
Virginie: good point. good review.
Eric: Is there another word for crossroad?
Virginie: Yes, there is also un carrefour.
Eric: Like the French grocery store?
Virginie: Absolutely. Carrefour.
Eric: OK. So if I get directions in France and someone tells me to go to the next carrefour should I look for the store?
Virginie: Actually that's a good point. It can be confusing.
Eric: I'll just expect one or the other.
Virginie: good idea. OK let's talk about our grammar point.

Lesson focus
Virginie: So we'll still be talking about directions
Eric: Yes. Usually, when we give directions when we use the imperative mode.
Virginie: exactly. We sort of give orders. Turn left! Turn right!
Eric: Maybe nice, but it’s still kind of an order.
Virginie: Let's start with turn left. Tourne à gauche.
Eric: We already know that "à gauche" is left.
Virginie: Let's take a look at the verb.
Eric: the infinitive of to turn in French is Tourner.
Virginie: And the imperative singular, meaning you're talking to just one person, and this person is your friend or family, and the word for that is tourne.
Eric: Again, when you say turn left to a friend or someone you know well, you'll say "tourne à gauche"
Virginie: Turn left. Then, if you're talking to a stranger, which will happen a lot in this context, you will say tournez à gauche.
Eric: That's the formal version. Tournez is spelled TOURNEZ.
Virginie: And that's also if you're talking to several people, no matter whether you know them or not.
Eric: Again, tournez a gauche. And that's what we have in the dialogue.
Virginie: Yes the pedestrian tells Joe "tournez à gauche. She uses tournez because she doesn't know him.
Eric: Right. Now the last conjugation of the imperative is very rarely used in French.
Virginie: Yes. It's the equivalent of "let's turn left."
Eric: And it'd be tournons à gauche. Tournons is spelled TOURNONS. This is the same conjugation for nous.
virginie: But we almost never use this form. It sounds a little too fancy nowadays.
Eric: Another verb you'll need to know as far as directions is "aller", to go.
Virginie: As in "go straight", allez tout droit.
Eric: So we already know "tout droit" is straight.
Virginie: Let's see how to say go straight to a friend and then go straight to a stranger.
Eric: To a friend, you would say "va tout droit."
virginie: And then to a stranger, it will be "allez tout droit'. And allez here is ALLEZ.
Eric: To get more insight about how the conjugation works for the imperative, just take a look at our lesson notes.
Virginie: Yes it's a great way to reinforce what you hear.

Outro
Eric: I think we are done for this lesson.
Virginie: Yeah. Thanks for listening.
Eric: Thank you!
Virginie: Bye-bye! Au Revoir!

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