Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Greg: Hello everyone, I’m Greg. At a French Job Interview.
Mailys: Bonjour tout le monde. This is Mailys. In this lesson, we will review the plural and plural constructions with ‘de’.
Greg: Jacques is interviewing for a manager position.
Mailys: During the interview, informal French is used.
Greg: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Homme: Pour terminer, pourquoi pensez-vous être la personne parfaite pour ce poste de gérant ?
Jacques: Je suis responsable, j'aime travailler, j'aime les gens et je cherche toujours de nouveaux défis.
Femme: Très bien, merci. Veuillez attendre quelques minutes, s'il-vous-plaît.
Homme: Qu'est-ce que vous pensez de Jacques ?
Femme: J'adore ses réponses originales à nos questions difficiles; il semble être la bonne personne, surtout pour notre magasin du centre-ville.
Homme: Je suis d'accord avec vous. Alors, on le prend ?
Femme: Oui. Demandez-lui s'il peut commencer demain.
Homme: Jacques, nous avons de bonnes nouvelles pour vous, vous avez l'emploi ! Vous pouvez commencer demain à 8 heures pile ?
Jacques: Si je peux commencer demain ?! Bien sûr ! Je vais être à l'heure, évidemment. Merci et à demain !
Greg: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Homme: Pour terminer, pourquoi pensez-vous être la personne parfaite pour ce poste de gérant ?
Jacques: Je suis responsable, j'aime travailler, j'aime les gens et je cherche toujours de nouveaux défis.
Femme: Très bien, merci. Veuillez attendre quelques minutes, s'il-vous-plaît.
Homme: Qu'est-ce que vous pensez de Jacques ?
Femme: J'adore ses réponses originales à nos questions difficiles; il semble être la bonne personne, surtout pour notre magasin du centre-ville.
Homme: Je suis d'accord avec vous. Alors, on le prend ?
Femme: Oui. Demandez-lui s'il peut commencer demain.
Homme: Jacques, nous avons de bonnes nouvelles pour vous, vous avez l'emploi ! Vous pouvez commencer demain à 8 heures pile ?
Jacques: Si je peux commencer demain ?! Bien sûr ! Je vais être à l'heure, évidemment. Merci et à demain !
Greg: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Homme: Pour terminer, pourquoi pensez-vous être la personne parfaite pour ce poste de gérant ?
Man: In closing, why do you think you are the perfect person for this manager position?
Jacques: Je suis responsable, j'aime travailler, j'aime les gens et je cherche toujours de nouveaux défis.
Jacques: I'm responsible, I like to work, I like people, and I'm always looking for new challenges.
Femme: Très bien, merci. Veuillez attendre quelques minutes, s'il-vous-plaît.
Woman: Very well, thanks. Please wait a few minutes.
Homme: Qu'est-ce que vous pensez de Jacques ?
Man: What do you think about Jacques?
Femme: J'adore ses réponses originales à nos questions difficiles; il semble être la bonne personne, surtout pour notre magasin du centre-ville.
Woman: I love his original answers to our difficult questions; he seems to be the right person, especially for our downtown store.
Homme: Je suis d'accord avec vous. Alors, on le prend ?
Man: I agree with you. So, we're taking him?
Femme: Oui. Demandez-lui s'il peut commencer demain.
Woman: Yes. Ask him if he can start tomorrow.
Homme: Jacques, nous avons de bonnes nouvelles pour vous, vous avez l'emploi ! Vous pouvez commencer demain à 8 heures pile ?
Man: Jacques, we have good news for you; you got the job! Can you start tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp?
Jacques: Si je peux commencer demain ?! Bien sûr ! Je vais être à l'heure, évidemment. Merci et à demain !
Jacques: If I can start tomorrow? Of course! I'll be on time, obviously. Thank you and see you tomorrow!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Greg: So Mailys, preparing for an interview can be a scary task, and not everyone can be as cool as Jacques.
Mailys: Yeah, I think preparing for a fake French interview can be a great way to practice your language skills and to use what you’ve learned so far.
Greg: Let’s go over some questions you’re likely to hear in a French interview.
Mailys: Pourquoi cherchez-vous un emploi?
Greg: Why are you looking for a job?
Mailys: Pourquoi voulez-vous travailler chez nous?
Greg: Why do you want to work with us?
Mailys: Quelles sont vos qualités les plus importantes pour ce poste?
Greg: What are your most important qualities for this position?
Mailys: I’d say they’re more or less the same kinds of questions you’d hear in an English interview.
Greg: Yes, I think so!
Mailys: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Greg: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word we shall see is:
Mailys: terminer [natural native speed]
Greg: to end
Mailys: terminer [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: terminer [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: poste [natural native speed]
Greg: position
Mailys: poste [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: poste [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: gérant [natural native speed]
Greg: manager
Mailys: gérant [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: gérant [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: défi [natural native speed]
Greg: challenge
Mailys: défi [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: défi [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: veuillez + infinitive verb [natural native speed]
Greg: please... + verb
Mailys: veuillez + infinitive verb [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: veuillez + infinitive verb [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: surtout [natural native speed]
Greg: especially
Mailys: surtout [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: surtout [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: nouvelles [natural native speed]
Greg: news
Mailys: nouvelles [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: nouvelles [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: commencer [natural native speed]
Greg: to start, to begin
Mailys: commencer [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: commencer [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: à l’heure [natural native speed]
Greg: on time
Mailys: à l’heure [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: à l’heure [natural native speed]
Next:
Mailys: évidemment [natural native speed]
Greg: obviously
Mailys: évidemment [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mailys: évidemment [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Greg: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson..
Greg: ‘Veuillez’ is the imperative form of the verb ‘vouloir’ which means “to want”.
Mailys: It's used when making a polite request and is roughly equivalent to "please do something".
Mailys: Veuillez placer les livres sur la tablette.
Greg: Please place the books on the shelf.
Mailys: En cas d'urgence, veuillez téléphoner à ce numéro.
Greg: In case of an emergency, please call this number.
Greg: Next we have ‘Surtout’, which means “especially” or “mostly”. It usually comes after the verb.
Mailys: Nous aimons bien visiter la Tour Eiffel, mais moi, j'aime surtout les restaurants de Paris.
Greg: We like to visit the Eiffel Tower, but I especially like Paris' restaurants.
Mailys: Il travaille surtout le soir.
Greg: He works mostly in the evening.
Greg: ‘Surtout’ can also have a few other similar meanings.
Mailys: Ne regarde surtout pas!
Greg: Don't look, no matter what!
Mailys: Surtout, n'oublie pas ton parapluie!
Greg: Most of all, don't forget your umbrella!
Greg: Next is À l'heure, which means on time.
Mailys: Here are some examples. Le nouvel employé arrive toujours à l'heure.
Greg: The new employee always arrives on time.
Mailys: Mais où il est, lui?! Il est jamais à l'heure!
Greg: Where is he?! He's never on time!
Greg: Note that if something is done before a deadline, we use ‘à temps’ instead.
Mailys: Vous devez remettre vos devoirs à temps.
Greg: You must hand in your homework on time.
Mailys: Le train part dans 2 minutes? Ouf! Je suis à temps!
Greg: The train leaves in 2 minutes? Phew! I'm on time.
Greg: Ok, and with that, now let’s move on to the grammar.

Lesson focus

Mailys: The focus of this lesson is to review the plural.
Greg: We will review what we've introduced about the plural in the course of the previous lessons.
Mailys: We will also explain some irregularities, especially with the preposition ‘de’.
Greg: Most nouns simply take an ‘-s’ in the plural. This includes all nouns ending in a vowel or in a consonant, except for ‘s’, ‘x’ or ‘z’. This final ‘-s’ is always silent.
Mailys: Examples of words that take an ‘s’ in the plural are - ‘fille’, ‘garçon’, ‘biscuit’ and ‘café’.
Greg: If the noun ends in ‘s’, ‘x’ or ‘z’, then no ‘s’ is added and the noun stays the same.
Mailys: For instance - ‘fois’, ‘héros’ and ‘amoureux’.
Greg: Some nouns have an irregular, but predictable plural form.
Mailys: For instance, words ending in ‘-al’, a-l, or ‘-ail’, a-i-l, become ‘-aux,’ a-u-x, in the plural. For example-
Mailys: journal...
Greg: “newspaper” becomes
Mailys: journaux.
Mailys: travail
Greg: “work” becomes...
Mailys: travaux
Greg: A small number of nouns have a completely irregular plural.
Mailys: For instance, ‘œil’ becomes ‘yeux’, meaning “eyes”.
Greg: Adjectives also takes an ‘-s’ in the plural. The exceptions are roughly the same as with nouns - adjectives ending in ‘s’ or ‘x’ do not change.
Mailys: For instance, the following words don't change - ‘délicieux’, ‘heureux’, ‘vieux’ and ‘gros’.
Greg: Adjectives ending in ‘-al’, a-l, change to ‘-aux’, a-u-x, and those in ‘-eau’, e-a-u, take an ‘x’.
Mailys: so “original” becomes ‘originaux’ and ‘nouveau’ takes an ‘x’.
Greg: Note that this only applies to the masculine forms.
Mailys: If the feminine form ends in ‘-e’, then it just takes an ‘-s’.
Greg: An article, a noun and an adjective always agree in number and gender.
Mailys: This means they will all be singular or plural, or masculine or feminine, depending on the noun. In ‘Les biscuits délicieux’...
Greg: The delicious cookies
Mailys: The article, the noun and the adjective are all masculine plural. In ‘La grande fille’...
A.The tall girl
Mailys: All words are feminine singular.
Greg: The plural of the indefinite article ‘un’ is ‘des’
Mailys: un enfant, des enfants
Greg: but when ‘des’ is followed by an adjective, it becomes ‘de’.
Mailys: Un grand enfant
Greg: A tall child becomes
Mailys: De grands enfants
Greg: Tall children
Mailys: Une petite maison
Greg: A small house becomes
Mailys: De petites maisons
Greg: Small houses

Outro

Greg: Okay, and that’s it for this lesson! Join us for lesson 25 for the grand finale of our series of dialogues between Jacques and Mireille!
Mailys: I want to know how it ends! Au revoir et à bientôt!
Greg: See you soon!

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