Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In today's lesson, we'll cover a phrase that will prove invaluable for those of you with allergies. Letting other people know about your allergies is vital to a fun and healthy trip. In today's lesson, we'll go over how to say "I'm allergic to (something)" in French.

Lesson focus

To start, we'll need something that we're allergic to. In some cases, allergies to peanuts can be extremely dangerous, so let's start there.
In French, "I am allergic to peanuts" is Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes.
Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes.
Let’s break it down by syllable: Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes.
Now let's hear it one more time: Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes.
The first word, je, means "I" as we know.
This is followed by suis, which in English means "am," as we also know.
To recap here, we have je suis. Literally, this means "I am."
Let’s take a look at the next word, allergique, means "allergic."
Allergique
And, allergique
It is followed by aux, which in French is the contraction of two words, “to,” au, and les, “the” in plural.
Aux
And, aux
Lastly, we have cacahuètes, which is "peanuts."
Cacahuètes
Cacahuètes
So all together, we have Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes. Literally, this means "I am allergic to peanuts."
Now let's go over some other common allergies. Let's try shrimp. In French, "I am allergic to shrimp" is Je suis allergique aux crevettes.
Je suis allergique aux crevettes.
Let’s break it down by syllable: Je suis allergique aux crevettes.
One mroe time: Je suis allergique aux crevettes.
Notice the only thing that changes here is crevettes, and the rest of the sentence is the same.
Crevettes
And, crevettes
See the PDF for other common allergies.
In French, "I am having an allergic reaction" is J'ai une réaction allergique la.
J'ai une réaction allergique la.
Let’s break it down by syllable: J'ai une réaction allergique la.
Now let's hear it once again: J'ai une réaction allergique la.
The first words, J'ai is the contraction of je and ai, which means "I have."
Let's break down this word and hear it again: J'ai
J'ai
This is followed by une, which in French is "a" in feminine, as we know.
To recap, we have J'ai une, literally, this means "I have a."
Let’s take a look at the next word, réaction, means "reaction."
Réaction
And, réaction
This is followed by allergique, which in French is "allergic," as we just learned.
This is followed by la, which in French is something like “now.”
La
And, la.
So all together, we have J'ai une réaction allergique la. Literally, this means "I have an allergic reaction now."
Cultural Insight
Going to a foreign country can wake up allergies you never knew you had. For instance, Paris has a lot more mold than my home back in the States; after moving here, I discovered I have an allergy to mold. Of course, I don't say this to frighten you out of leaving your house.

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. Ok, here we go!
“I am allergic to peanuts.” - Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes.
Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes.
Je suis allergique aux cacahuètes.
“I am having an allergic reaction.” - J'ai une réaction allergique la.
J'ai une réaction allergique la.
J'ai une réaction allergique la.
This is the end of today’s lesson. See you soon! À bientôt!

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