Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
For today, we're going to need a word, as we're going to cover "How do you say (something) in French?" So let’s get started right away!

Lesson focus

The French are famous for their multiple cheeses, so let’s assume that you want to buy some, but you have no idea what to call it in French.
Let’s take "blue cheese," alright?
Now, in French, "How do you say 'blue cheese' in French?" is Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français ?
Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français ?
Let’s break it down by syllable: Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français ?
Now let's hear it once again: Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français ?
The first word, comment, means "how."
Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: comment
And, comment
It is followed by on dit, which is subject and verb for "one says."
Next, you have the word you say in your language, so in this case, "blue cheese"
Finally, you have en français, which means “in French.”
Let's break it down by syllable and hear it one more time: en français
en français
Altogether, we have: Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français ?
Literally, this means "How one says 'blue cheese' in French?"
Not to leave you hanging, “blue cheese” in French is le bleu.
Once again, it’s le bleu.
You can also use this expression without using any English. To accomplish this, you can use the expression "How do you say this in French?"
In French, "this" is ça.
Ça
Now let's hear it once again: ça
So in French, "How do you say this in French?" is Comment on dit ça en français?
Comment on dit ça en français?
Let’s break it down by syllable: Comment on dit ça en français?
Now let's hear it once again: Comment on dit ça en français?
The structure is the same as the previous sentence, except that in place of "blue cheese," we have the demonstrative adjective ça, "this."
All together, we have Comment on dit ça en français?
This is a phrase you can use while pointing at something.
But wait, it's your French friend's birthday and you want to wish him/her a "happy birthday" but you don't know how to say it.
Let’s try and ask "How do you translate 'Happy Birthday' in French?"
This will be - Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en Francais?
Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en Francais?
Let’s break it down by syllable: Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en Francais?
Now let's hear it once again: Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en Francais?
The first word is comment, it means "how," as you know.
Let's break it down by syllable just in case: Comment
Comment
Then you have tu, which is the informal "you" followed by traduis, which is the second person singular form of the verb "to translate."
Let’s break it down by syllable and hear it one more time: tu traduis
tu traduis
Finally, you have en francais, which you have previously seen, which means “in French,” along with the word or expression you wish someone to translate.
So all together, we have Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en francais?
And that’s it for today.

Outro

Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so bonne chance, that means “good luck” in French.
“How do you say 'blue cheese' in French?” - Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français?
Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français?
Comment on dit "blue cheese" en français?
“How do you say 'this' in French?” - Comment on dit ça en français?
Comment on dit ça en français?
Comment on dit ça en français?
“How do you translate 'Happy Birthday' into French?” - Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en français?
Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en français?
Comment tu traduis "Happy Birthday" en français?
Alright, that’s going to do it for today.

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