Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Greg: Hello everyone, I’m Greg. Which Way To The French Theater?
Mailys: Bonjour tout le monde. This is Mailys. In this lesson, we will learn how to ask for directions.
Greg: Mireille and Jacques are out for a walk and have to ask someone for directions.
Mailys: They will use informal French together, but formal French to ask the stranger for directions.
Greg: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Mireille: La ville est vraiment belle après la pluie !
Jacques: Oui et tout est si propre! Alors, où est-ce que tu aimerais aller ?
Mireille: Euh… j’aimerais bien aller au cinéma !
Jacques: Excellente idée ! Mais je ne sais pas où c’est.
Mireille: Moi non plus. Tu peux peut-être demander à quelqu’un. Ce monsieur a l’air gentil.
Jacques: D’accord. Pardon monsieur, est-ce que vous savez où est le cinéma ?
Monsieur: Le cinéma ? Attendez un instant… Ah oui ! Continuez tout droit, puis au marché, tournez à gauche. Ensuite, au premier coin de rue, tournez à droite. Le cinéma est à cent mètres devant vous.
Jacques et Mireille: Merci beaucoup, Monsieur !
Monsieur: De rien.
Greg: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Mireille: La ville est vraiment belle après la pluie !
Jacques: Oui et tout est si propre! Alors, où est-ce que tu aimerais aller ?
Mireille: Euh… j’aimerais bien aller au cinéma !
Jacques: Excellente idée ! Mais je ne sais pas où c’est.
Mireille: Moi non plus. Tu peux peut-être demander à quelqu’un. Ce monsieur a l’air gentil.
Jacques: D’accord. Pardon monsieur, est-ce que vous savez où est le cinéma ?
Monsieur: Le cinéma ? Attendez un instant… Ah oui ! Continuez tout droit, puis au marché, tournez à gauche. Ensuite, au premier coin de rue, tournez à droite. Le cinéma est à cent mètres devant vous.
Jacques et Mireille: Merci beaucoup, Monsieur !
Monsieur: De rien.
Greg: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Mireille: La ville est vraiment belle après la pluie !
Mireille: The city is really beautiful after the rain!
Jacques: Oui et tout est si propre! Alors, où est-ce que tu aimerais aller ?
Jacques: Yes and everything is so clean! So, where would you like to go?
Mireille: Euh… j’aimerais bien aller au cinéma !
Mireille: Hmmm… I wouldn’t mind going to the movies!
Jacques: Excellente idée ! Mais je ne sais pas où c’est.
Jacques: Excellent idea! But I don’t know where it is.
Mireille: Moi non plus. Tu peux peut-être demander à quelqu’un. Ce monsieur a l’air gentil.
Mireille: Me neither. Maybe you can ask someone. That gentleman seems nice.
Jacques: D’accord. Pardon monsieur, est-ce que vous savez où est le cinéma ?
Jacques: Ok. Excuse me Sir, do you know where the movie theater is?
Monsieur: Le cinéma ? Attendez un instant… Ah oui ! Continuez tout droit, puis au marché, tournez à gauche. Ensuite, au premier coin de rue, tournez à droite. Le cinéma est à cent mètres devant vous.
Monsieur: The movie theater? Wait a minute… Ah, yes! Go straight ahead, then at the market, turn left. Then, at the first street corner, turn right. The theater is 100 metres in front of you.
Jacques et Mireille: Merci beaucoup, Monsieur !
Jacques and Mireille: Thank you very much, Sir!
Monsieur: De rien.
Monsieur: You’re welcome.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Greg: So Mailys, to get around in Paris, you can take the bus, a cab or the subway, called ‘le métro’, and of course, you can also enjoy the city by foot.
Mailys: Yes, and another cool way to see Paris is by bike. Since 2007, Paris has had a complete network of thousands of rental bikes called ‘Vélib'.
Greg: Bikes are available at hundreds of service points across the city. If you pay a deposit, you can buy a day ticket or a one-week ticket that allows you to ride for 30-minutes at a time, as often as you'd like. You can also buy long-term passes, if you want.
Mailys: You can pick up a bike at any Vélib' station and return it at any other station in the city.
Greg: So if you are planning a visit to Paris, why not try a really original, practical and healthy way to visit the city -- use ‘Vélib’' and see it by bike!
Mailys: I think it’s a great idea!
Greg: Now let’s go to the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Greg: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word we shall see is:
Mailys: pluie [natural native speed]
Greg: rain
Mailys: pluie [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: pluie [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: non plus [natural native speed]
Greg: neither
Mailys: non plus [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: non plus [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: peut-être [natural native speed]
Greg: maybe
Mailys: peut-être [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: peut-être [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: demander [natural native speed]
Greg: to ask for
Mailys: demander [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: demander [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: quelqu’un [natural native speed]
Greg: someone
Mailys: quelqu’un [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: quelqu’un [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: tout droit [natural native speed]
Greg: straight ahead
Mailys: tout droit [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: tout droit [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: puis [natural native speed]
Greg: then
Mailys: puis [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: puis [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: gauche [natural native speed]
Greg: left
Mailys: gauche [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: gauche [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: coin de rue [natural native speed]
Greg: street corner
Mailys: coin de rue [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: coin de rue [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: droite [natural native speed]
Greg: right
Mailys: droite [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: droite [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Greg: Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Greg: ‘Non plus’ means “neither” and is the negative equivalent of ‘aussi’, which means “too”. Listen to these sentences and replies.
Mailys: Je travaille demain. I work tomorrow.
Greg: Ah, moi aussi. Ah, me too.
Mailys: Je ne travaille pas demain. I don't work tomorrow.
Greg: Moi non plus. Me neither.
Mailys: Elle ne veut pas aller à Paris et elle ne veut pas aller à Lyon non plus.
Greg: She doesn't want to go to Paris and she doesn't want to go to Lyon either.
Greg: Next we have Quelqu'un, which means someone.
Mailys: Il y a quelqu'un à la porte!
Greg: Someone's at the door!
Mailys: Je vois quelqu'un derrière la maison; j'ai peur!
Greg: I see someone behind the house; I'm scared!
Greg: In a negative sentence, ‘quelqu'un’ becomes ‘personne’, meaning “no one” or “not... anyone.” ‘Pas’ is left out.
Mailys: Elle ne connaît personne dans cette ville.
Greg: She doesn't know anyone in this city.
Mailys: Vous n'avez pas besoin de téléphone parce que vous ne téléphonez à personne!
Greg: You don't need a phone because you don't phone anyone!
Greg: And lastly, ‘Peut-être’ means “maybe.” However, the way it's used differs from English a bit. Two main constructions exist. First, ‘peut-être’ is added after a verb-
Mailys: Le concierge est peut-être malade aujourd'hui.
Greg: Maybe the janitor is sick today.
Mailys: Elle aimerait peut-être aller au parc.
Greg: Maybe she'd like to go to the park.
Mailys: C'est peut-être lui.
Greg: It may be him.
Greg: Secondly, ‘peut-être’ can begin the sentence, but it needs to be followed by ‘que’
Mailys: Peut-être que le concierge est malade aujourd'hui.
Greg: Maybe the janitor is sick today.
Mailys: Peut-être qu'elle aimerait aller au parc.
Greg: Maybe she'd like to go to the park. Ok, now let’s go to the grammar.

Lesson focus

Mailys: The focus of this lesson is asking for and giving directions.
Greg: Let's see how you can ask for directions if you are looking for a place or a building.
Mailys: Make sure you use the polite ‘vous’ form to ask for directions from a stranger.
Greg: To get people's attention, you can start by saying ‘pardon monsieur’, “excuse me Sir”, or ‘pardon madame’, “excuse me Ma’am”.
Mailys: You can also say ‘excusez-moi’, meaning “excuse me” or “I'm sorry”.
Greg: To ask where something is, you can say ‘où est .(something)..?’ or ‘où se trouve (something)...?’ ‘Se trouver’ is a reflexive verb meaning “to be found”.
Mailys: Pardon monsieur, où se trouve la bibliothèque?
Greg: Pardon me Sir, where is the library?
Mailys: Excusez-moi madame, où est le cinéma?
Greg: Excuse me Madam, where is the movie theatre?
Greg: You can also use ‘je cherche...’, “I'm looking for”, or ‘savez-vous où est...?’, “Do you know where X is?
Mailys: Excusez-moi, je cherche le marché.
Greg: Excuse me, I'm looking for the market.
Mailys: Pardon, est-ce que vous savez où se trouve le cinéma?
Greg: Pardon me, do you know where the movie theatre is?
Greg: Let's now see how you can answer when someone is looking for directions and asks you those questions.
Mailys: To say “continue straight”, you say ‘continuez tout droit’. "Until" or "up to" is ‘jusqu'à’.
Mailys: Continuez tout droit jusqu'au marché.
Greg: Keep going straight until the market.
Mailys: To tell the person to turn left or right, say ‘tournez à gauche’ or ‘tournez à droite’.
Mailys: Au marché, tournez à gauche.
Greg: At the market, turn left.
Mailys: Au parc, tournez à droite.
Greg: At the park, turn right.
Greg: You can then use various words to express where they are in relation to the place or building they are looking for.
Greg: ‘devant’ means “in front of” and ‘en face de’ means “across the street from”.
Mailys: Le café est devant le marché.
Greg: The coffee shop is in front of the market.
Mailys: Le parc est en face du restaurant.
Greg: The park is across the street from the restaurant.
Greg: Près de means near.
Mailys: Est-ce que vous connaissez la place du marché? Le café est près de la place.
Greg: Do you know the Market Place? The coffee shop is near the Place.

Outro

Greg: And that’s it for this lesson! Join us for lesson 19 to find out what Mireille and Jacques do next time!
Mailys: Thanks for listening everyone! À bientôt!
Greg: See you soon!

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