Learn how to ask for directions
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| 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! |
Comments
HideHi everyone!
Can you give directions using French now?
Bonjour Larissa,
C'est bien mais attention, ça s'écrit "musée" (museau = muzzle/snout 😅)
Belle journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101.com
Est-ce que vous savez oú se trouve le museau, s'il vous plaît?
Oui, tournez à gauche ici, et puis à droite, continuez tout droit jusqu'au marché et vous tournez droite et countinuez jusqu'au parc central et à corn de rue regardez le museau.
Bonjour Charlie,
Attention à l'ordre des mots : peut-être pas (et non pas peut-être).
Bonne journée
Marion
Team FrenchPod101.com
Il n'y a personne dans cette rue.
La fille n'aime pas peut-etre le fromage.
Bonjour Michael,
Attention à ton orthographe et ta grammaire. Le sens est correct mais tu peux améliorer certains éléments !
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Ou se trouve le marché? Je ne sais pas, mais je pense que est devant l'eglise. Tournez a droite et tou droit jusqu'a l'ecole. Tournez a gauche est l'eglise est peut-etre pres
Bonjour Andrey,
I understand, however learning about the culture is also part of learning the language!
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Bonjour Aishat,
Juste quelques petites choses à corriger : "tournez à droite au coin de la rue", "la grande "école".
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Oui, Tournez à coin de rue et allez tout droit puis tournez à droite. Ma maison est devant l'école grande.
Bonjour Crystal,
Attention, il faut dire "Allez à droite et tournez au coin de la rue". N'oublie pas de bien mettre l'accent sur le ù de "où" pour dire "where". Sans accent, "ou" veut dire "or". 👍
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Excusez-moi. Ou se trouve la bibliothèque ?
Allez à droite et tournez gauche à la Coin de rue. La bibliothèque est tout droit.
Merci, Madame.
Bonjour Anne,
You should decide which plan to buy based on what your needs are!
Also, please note that there are no free plans, and that the description page is accurate as to what features you can expect from each plan.
Let me know if you have any further questions! 😄
À bientôt,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101.com
Hello
I am going to buy a plan but not sure what level to buy. The level the free ones I have listened to don't correspond to the options on the payment page