Learn how to look for a place
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: Hello and welcome back to FrenchPod101.com Newbie Series, Lesson 19: Gosh! I'm lost. Hello, Christophe. |
| Christophe: Hello, Sam. |
| Sam: Hello, Céline. |
| Céline: Bonjour, Sam. |
| Sam: So how do you guys feel today? |
| Céline: I feel good. |
| Sam: Great! |
| Christophe: I feel tired. |
| Céline: Ah bon? |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Sam: Really? Why? |
| Céline: Pourquoi? |
| Christophe: Je sais pas. C’est comme ça. |
| Sam: Ok. But I'm sure you'll be feeling better after a few minutes. |
| Céline: J’en suis sûre. |
| Christophe: Yeah, maybe. After the lesson? |
| Sam: Yeah, yeah. Today we've got an interesting lesson. Somebody's lost and they need to ask for directions. Have you guys ever been lost? |
| Céline: Of course. |
| Christophe: A lot of times. |
| Céline: Of course, yeah. Many times. |
| Sam: Ok. Well, let's see how this situation's handled today. We've got two speakers in today's lesson, a man and Pretty Julie. The man is lost and he's asking Pretty Julie for some directions sometime in the afternoon. Shall we start? |
| Céline: Allez. |
| Christophe: C’est parti. |
| Sam: Let's go! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sylvain: Mince, je suis perdu. Vous pouvez m’aider? |
| Céline: Bien sûr. |
| Sylvain: Je cherche le musée du Louvre. |
| Céline: Continuez tout droit. Prenez à gauche et traversez le boulevard. Vous serez en face du musée. |
| Sam: One more time, slowly. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, lentement. |
| Sylvain: Mince, je suis perdu. Vous pouvez m’aider? |
| Céline: Bien sûr. |
| Sylvain: Je cherche le musée du Louvre. |
| Céline: Continuez tout droit. Prenez à gauche et traversez le boulevard. Vous serez en face du musée. |
| Sam: One more time with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Sylvain: Mince, je suis perdu. Vous pouvez m’aider? |
| Sam: Gosh, I’m lost. Can you help me? |
| Céline: Bien sûr. |
| Sam: Of course. |
| Sylvain: Je cherche le musée du Louvre. |
| Sam: I’m looking for the Louvre Museum. |
| Céline: Continuez tout droit. Prenez à gauche et traversez le boulevard. Vous serez en face du musée. |
| Sam: Go straight ahead. Turn left and cross the street. It will be in front of you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: Hey guys, I remember one time I was lost in Paris and I was asking for directions, but some of the people didn't seem too friendly. |
| Christophe: C’est vrai? |
| Céline: Oh, that's not the first time I hear this story. Were you speaking English or French? |
| Sam: French. |
| Christophe: Oh really? |
| Céline: Really? |
| Sam: Yeah. |
| Céline: Are you sure? |
| Sam: I'm positive. |
| Christophe: Maybe it was raining. |
| Céline: Yes. If you speak French, it's ok, but you should just-- the first word, like "Excuse me," you should say it in French. I mean, show that you make an effort. I mean, don't expect French people to speak English the first time. So maybe they can make an effort and after that, but you should say "excusez-moi." |
| Sam: Pardon? Oui? |
| Céline: Pardon, Excusez-moi. You know if you go to Russia, you would speak Russian. Why do you have to speak English in France? That's the question. |
| Sam: One time I helped some tourist from Paris in English in America. No, I helped him in French, actually. |
| Céline: No, no. I mean, I agree, but in Paris, sometimes people are really mean. |
| Sam: Oh. |
| Céline: No, no, but you should come to the south. People are so friendly. |
| Sam: Toulouse? |
| Christophe: hop hop hop hop là, je ne suis pas d’accord. |
| Céline: No, in Toulouse, people are really friendly, and even if they cannot speak English very well, they will always help you. |
| Christophe: Not always. |
| Céline: Almost always! |
| Christophe: Almost, yeah. But not always. |
| Céline: But in Paris is almost never. |
| Christophe: No! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Céline: Ok! Let's get to the vocab! |
| Christophe: Ok. |
| Sam: N’importe quoi… Now the vocabulary. The first item is... |
| Christophe: Mince. |
| Sam: Gosh! |
| Christophe: Mince. Mince. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Être perdu. |
| Sam: To be lost. |
| Céline: Être perdu. Être perdu. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Pouvez. |
| Sam: The "vous" form of "pouvoir". |
| Christophe: Pouvez. Pouvez. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Aider. |
| Sam: To help. |
| Céline: Aider. Aider. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Bien sûr. |
| Sam: Of course. |
| Christophe: Bien sûr. Bien sûr. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Chercher. |
| Sam: To look for. |
| Céline: Chercher. Chercher. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Continuez. |
| Sam: The "vous" form of "continuer," go on. |
| Christophe: Continuez. Continuez. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Prenez. |
| Sam: The "vous" form of the verb "prendre," to take. |
| Céline: Prenez. Prenez. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Traversez. |
| Sam: The "vous" form of "traverser," to cross. |
| Christophe: Traversez. Traversez. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Boulevard. |
| Sam: Street or boulevard. |
| Céline: Boulevard. Boulevard. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Céline: So let's give some more details on some of the words with their usage. |
| Sam: Great. The first word is mince. |
| Christophe: It's means "gosh." You can use it when you make mistake, something like this. |
| Sam: Yeah. |
| Céline: Yes. In the conversation, the man, he's lost. He says, "Mince!" |
| Sam: Gosh! |
| Céline: You can also say “mercredi”. Like Wednesday. |
| Christophe: Wednesday. |
| Céline: Yeah, Wednesday, because you know we have a bad word in French. I mean, a curse. |
| Christophe: We can't say it. |
| Céline: But we cannot say it, so you start with “mer…credi” |
| Sam: Oh like “mer…credi”. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Céline: So what is next word, Christophe? |
| Christophe: "Pouvez," meaning "can." It is often used as an auxiliary verb. The infinitive is "pouvoir". |
| Céline: Ok, but for now, let's not get into complicated explanations. In the dialogue, the man has "Vous pouvez m'aider?" |
| Sam: Can you help me? That's very polite isn't it? |
| Céline: Oui, it's polite. The most polite would be "pourriez-vous m'aider”? |
| Sam: Would you be able to help me? |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sam: Great. And all of this comes from the phrase "être perdu," "to be lost." |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. It comes from "perdre" meaning "to lose". |
| Sam: Oh. I got it now "être perdu" is "to be lost." "Perdre is to lose." |
| Céline: Oui. Pretty much. You can use both. |
| Sam: Oh great. |
| Céline: They have different meanings. For example, with "perdre," “je perds la tête”. |
| Sam: I'm losing my head. |
| Céline: And for "être perdu?" An example? |
| Christophe: Je suis perdu dans le métro parisien. |
| Sam: I'm lost in the Paris subway. |
| Céline: voilà. |
| Sam: Ah, "lose" and "lost". |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Céline: voilà! Same as English. |
| Sam: Ah. Got you. |
| Céline: After we have "chercher." |
| Christophe: To look for. It has an interesting other usage. It can mean pick up someone or something. |
| Sam: Oh, interesting. Can you give us an example? |
| Céline: Je vais chercher Marie à la gare. |
| Christophe: I am going to pick up Marie at the train station. |
| Céline: Another example of "chercher." Elle cherche son permis de conduire. |
| Sam: She's looking for her license. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. |
| Sam: Because she got caught by the cops, maybe? |
| Céline: Peut-être. Anything is possible. What an imagination. Ok. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: Shall we move onto some grammar? |
| Céline: I think that's a fantastic idée. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Sam: Ok. Let's not get too crazy with this grammar. Last time, we really got into it, which is great, but-- What's today's grammar point? |
| Céline: Today is giving orders. |
| Sam: Oh, you're good at that! |
| Céline: Non pas du tout, n’importe quoi! So in the dialogue, Julie gives instructions on how to get to the Louvre Museum. That is one application of the imperative form. |
| Christophe: The imperative has only three forms, as you can give instructions or orders only to other people. They are the second person singular and plural and the first person plural. |
| Sam: Makes sense. How does it work? |
| Céline: How does it work? |
| Sam: All the verbs from all the verb groups have a simple conjugation pattern. They take the endings from the present tense. |
| Céline: Oui. le présent de l’indicatif. |
| Christophe: Except that for the verbs of the first verb group ending in -er. At the second person singular, the "s" is dropped from the verb form. |
| Sam: Ok. If I wanted you two to look at something, something especially beautiful. I would say "regardez!" |
| Céline: Oui! Regardez! |
| Christophe: Oui. C’est ça. |
| Sam: Oh. Great. |
| Céline: Ok and if there's only one person, “regarde!” |
| Sam: “Regarde!” |
| Céline: For example, “regarde la jolie fille!” |
| Sam: Look at the pretty girl. |
| Céline: Regardez la jolie fille! |
| Sam: Look at the pretty girl. |
| Céline: Regardons la jolie fille! |
| Christophe: Oui regardons! |
| Sam: Let's look at the pretty girl. |
| Céline: voilà! |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Céline: Good example, right? I'm so nice with you guys. |
| Sam: Sometimes. |
| Christophe: Oui, ça dépend, plus ou moins. Sam? |
| Sam: oui plus ou moins. |
| Céline: I know you love me. Je sais que vous m’aimez. Oh là là. Ok. That's the end of today's lesson. |
| Sam: Ok. |
Outro |
| Céline: For more information, please take a look at the grammar banks and the PDF. |
| Sam: Sounds like a good idea to me. Remember that's FrenchPod101.com. So until next time. |
| Céline: Eh ben oui, à bientôt! |
| Christophe: À bientôt! |
| Sam: A la prochaine! |
| Céline: Regarde la jolie fille là-bas! |
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2 Comments
HideGot lost? Where? When? Were you alone, on foot, in a car? Let us know!
Je ne suis jamais perdu! Actually, the only times I have been 'lost' are when bad directions have been given. I have an uncanny sense of direction. Perhaps even I could survive Paris!