Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Sam: I'm Sam and I'm joined here by...
Céline: Céline.
Alex: Et Alexandre.
Céline: Tout à fait, Sam. Alors aujourd’hui quelle est la conversation?
Sam: Alex, what do you think? What's today's conversation about?
Alex: The focus of this lesson is making an invitation. This conversation takes place in a business meeting where the CEO announces the company anniversary party.
Sam: So I think this will be an informal conversation. Wouldn't you say, Alex?
Alex: I think it will be formal because the boss is speaking, is using formal French.
Céline: Yes, but when the colleagues, they talk together, they're using informal French, so actually both.
Alex: You're right, actually.
Sam: Ok. This conversation takes place between several colleagues. They're talking about work, more specifically, the tenth anniversary of the company next month.
Céline: Oh! In today's conversation we have so many people. First, Mr. CEO played by Christophe. Henri played by you, Sam. Robert played by Alex. And I'll be Happy Patti. Let's go!
Sam: Ok.
DIALOGUE
Christophe: Mes chers associés, collègues et assistants, je voudrais vous inviter à la célébration du dixième anniversaire de notre société le mois prochain.
Sam: Malheureusement, le 15, je ne peux pas. Et toi Robert?
Alex: Moi non plus, je dois m’occuper de mes vieux parents.
Céline: Quelle surprise! Moi si, j’accepte avec plaisir! Nous pouvons l’organiser pour le 25.
Christophe: Excellente idée! Comme d’habitude, Happy Patty est de la partie!
Céline: One more time, with the English.
Christophe: Mes chers associés, collègues et assistants, je voudrais vous inviter à la célébration du dixième anniversaire de notre société le mois prochain.
Sam: Dear associates, colleagues and assistants; I’d like to invite you to the 10th anniversary celebration of our company next month.
Sam: Malheureusement, le 15, je ne peux pas. Et toi Robert?
Sam: Unfortunately, on the 15th, I can’t. And you Robert?
Alex: Moi non plus, je dois m’occuper de mes vieux parents.
Sam: Me neither, I have to take care of my elderly mother and father.
Céline: Quelle surprise! Moi si, j’accepte avec plaisir! Nous pouvons l’organiser pour le 25.
Sam: What a surprise! But hey, I can make it! We can organize it for the 25th.
Christophe: Excellente idée! Comme d’habitude, Happy Patty est de la partie!
Sam: Excellent idea! As usual, Patty has the answers!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Sam: So guys, I have a question. What are company parties or dinner parties like back home for you guys? Can you drink or shall you just be social? What's it like?
Céline: Yeah, you should be social, but you shouldn't drink that much with your boss and with your colleagues.
Sam: Oh really?
Céline: Yes, it's not appropriate at all. Even if you want to drink, you can't. You shouldn't.
Sam: Oh, no.
Céline: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Alex: I think that it's because the boss is observing you. Is that right?
Céline: Yes, exactement. Et aussi les collègues sont toujours en train de vous observer. Faites attention.
Sam: So your colleagues are always observing you. And your boss. It's like a test.
Céline: Oui un petit peu. Tu sais en France, même dans les repas d’affaires, il faut toujours se tenir.
Alex: Il ne faut pas se lâcher quoi.
Céline: Non.
Sam: So you have to be careful at these parties.
Céline: Oui, tout à fait.
Alex: Voilà.
Céline: Que diriez-vous de regarder le vocabulaire?
Sam: Now let's look at some vocabulary from the lesson.
Alex: On y va!
VOCAB LIST
Sam: The first item is?
Céline: Vieux.
Sam: Old.
Céline: Vieux. Vieux.
Sam: Next?
Alex: Malheureusement.
Sam: Unfortunately.
Alex: Malheureusement. Malheureusement.
Sam: Next?
Céline: Associés.
Sam: Associates.
Céline: Associés. Associés.
Sam: Next?
Alex: Cher.
Sam: Dear.
Alex: Cher. Cher.
Sam: Next?
Céline: Collègue.
Sam: Colleague or coworker.
Céline: Collègue. Collègue.
Sam: Next?
Alex: Prochain.
Sam: Next.
Alex: Prochain. Prochain.
Sam: Next?
Céline: S’occuper.
Sam: To take care of.
Céline: S’occuper. S’occuper.
Sam: Next?
Alex: Etre de la partie.
Sam: To be part of.
Alex: Etre de la partie. Etre de la partie.
Sam: Next?
Céline: Anniversaire.
Sam: Anniversary or birthday.
Céline: Anniversaire. Anniversaire.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Sam: Great guys. Now let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words. The first word we'll look at is 'cher'. Can you give us an example sentence?
Alex: Oui, bien sûr. Par exemple: Cher Paul.
Céline: 'Dear Paul'. 'Cher' is commonly used in writing and openings of formal letters or speeches followed by a title.
Alex: Or in a friendly message to someone close to you in informal writing.
Sam: The next word we're going to look at is “malheureusement”. How about an example with this word?
Céline: Malheureusement je ne peux pas venir. Unfortunately, I can't come.
Alex: This adverb often expresses a regret or a deception.
Céline: Le mot suivant est “vieux”.
Alex: A common expression is “vieux comme le monde”.
Sam: As old as the world.
Céline: Oui. As our planet is far from young, the adjective “vieux” describes the old age of something or someone.
Alex: And it is an irregular adjective as you can encounter it as “vieille”, spelled V-I-E-I-L-L-E for feminine nouns, or without the last “le” (which is -le in English), as “vieil” for masculine nouns as in “le vieil arbre”.
Sam: The old tree. Hey guys, this is a pretty simple point, but it might be easier to see, so look at the PDF at FrenchPod101.com, where we go more in detail. Ok?
Céline: Oui.
Alex: Bien sûr!
Céline: Très bon idée! Une autre expression. “Le vieux de la vieille.” Literally 'the old man of the old woman', meaning a person with experience or being involved for a long time into whatever is talked about.
Sam: Finally, there's “anniversaire”.
Alex: It is used for birthday celebrations and anniversaries. Everybody likes it, right?
Sam: Yeah. There isn't any specific word in French for anniversary then?
Céline: Non. Both definitions call for the masculine noun “anniversaire”.

Lesson focus

Sam: Let's look at the grammar. What's today's grammar point?
Alex: We're going to look at how to reply in a short and efficient manner to a negative statement or question.
Sam: Ok. Is it in the dialogue?
Céline: Certainement. At the time of making an invitation to someone, you can either accept or refuse.
Alex: For example, after Mr. See Heeho announced the tenth anniversary of the company, Henri states “Je ne peux pas le 25”.
Sam: I can't on the 25th.
Céline: Yes, he replies with a negative statement. In order for the other people to answer, they will base their response according to the negative phrase from Henri.
Alex: Therefore, to accept the invitation formulated with either a negative statement or a question, 'moi si' can be said.
Céline: Let's see that in an example. Ok, so let's say Sam invited us to see a movie tonight. I would answer: Je suis désolée Alex, je ne peux pas venir au cinéma ce soir.
Sam: I'm sorry Alex, I can't come to the cinema tonight.
Alex: Moi si je peux!
Sam: But I can!
Alex: On the contrary, to refuse, the short answer could be 'moi non' or 'moi non plus'. Let's give an example.
Céline: Sam invited me again to see a movie, and I would say: Ah je suis désolée Sam, je ne peux pas venir au cinéma ce soir.
Sam: I'm sorry, Sam. I can't come to the cinema tonight.
Céline: Et toi, Alex?
Sam: And you, Alex?
Alex: Moi non plus.
Sam: Me neither. What's the difference between 'moi non' et 'moi non plus'?
Céline: 'Moi non' is simply to refuse an offer and 'moi non plus' is the negative of 'moi aussi'.
Sam: Sounds pretty easy to me. How about one more example?
Céline: Ok. Mais bien sûr Sam, un autre exemple. Tu ne voudrais pas aller voir ce film Alex?
Sam: You wouldn't like to see a film, Alex?
Alex: Moi non. Il n’a pas de bonnes critiques.
Sam: Me, no. It doesn't have good reviews.
Céline: Et toi, Sam?
Sam: Moi non plus, ça ne m’intéresse pas. C’est correct?
Céline: Yes! C’est parfait. Me neither. It doesn't interest me.
Alex: To sum up, we have 'moi si' to accept an invitation formulated with a negative question or statement.
Sam: 'Moi non' to simply refuse it.
Céline: Et 'moi non plus' to agree with someone else in refusing an offer or invitation.
Sam: That's a pretty easy explanation, I think, guys.
Céline: Oui.
Alex: Bien sûr c’est facile.
Sam: Of course. It's easy.
Céline: How about the sentence: “Je t’aime. Moi non plus.”?
Sam: I don't love you anymore?
Céline: No. Ok. If I said to Alex, "Je t'aime."
Sam: I love you.
Alex: Well, normally I would say, "Moi aussi."
Sam: Me too. Go ahead. Sorry, sorry.
Céline: Je t'aime.
Sam: I love you.
Alex: Moi non plus.
Sam: Me neither. It's a play on the words. Céline said, "I love you," and Alex said, "Me neither." It's kind of funny.
Céline: Oui.
Sam: Maybe.
Céline: Yes.
Sam: We hope so.

Outro

Sam: So that's the end of today's lovely lesson. I wish we had videocasts, because Céline's really cracking up about something here. So thank you guys for listening.
Céline: Merci, Sam. Merci, Alex. Et merci aux auditeurs.
Alex: Merci à vous tous. Au revoir!
Sam: Au revoir!

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