Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Becky: What are you doing? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask what someone is doing in French.
Body
Becky: Here's the informal way to ask 'What are you doing?' in French.
Yasmine: [Normal] Que fais-tu?
Becky: First is a word meaning 'what'
Yasmine: [Normal] que [Slow] que
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'do'
Yasmine: [Normal] fais [Slow] fais
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'you'
Yasmine: [Normal] tu [Slow] tu
Becky: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'What are you doing?'
Yasmine: [Slow] Que fais-tu? [Normal] Que fais-tu?
Becky: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'What are you doing?'
Yasmine: [Normal] Que faites-vous?
Becky: First is the word meaning ‘what'
Yasmine: [Normal] que [Slow] que
Becky: Next is the word meaning ‘do’
Yasmine: [Normal] faites [Slow] faites
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'you’, in formal register
Yasmine: [Normal] vous [Slow] vous
Becky: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'What are you doing?'
Yasmine: [Slow] Que faites-vous? [Normal] Que faites-vous?
Becky: Here's a response meaning 'I am studying.'
Yasmine: [Normal] J'étudie.
Becky: First is a word meaning 'I'
Yasmine: [Normal] j' [Slow] j'
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'study'
Yasmine: [Normal] étudie [Slow] étudie
Becky: Listen again to the response, 'I am studying.'
Yasmine: [Slow] J'étudie. [Normal] J'étudie.
Becky: Here's a response meaning, 'I'm doing nothing special.'
Yasmine: [Normal] Je ne fais rien de spécial.
Becky: First is a word meaning 'I'
Yasmine: [Normal] je [Slow] je
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'nothing'
Yasmine: [Normal] ne...rien [Slow] ne...rien
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'do'
Yasmine: [Normal] fais [Slow] fais
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'some’
Yasmine: [Normal] de [Slow] de
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'special'
Yasmine: [Normal] spécial [Slow] spécial
Becky: Listen again to the response, 'I'm doing nothing special.'
Yasmine: [Slow] Je ne fais rien de spécial. [Normal] Je ne fais rien de spécial.
Cultural Insight
Becky: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Yasmine: Asking this can be either curiosity, or just a polite way to start a conversation when you want something from someone.

Outro

Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!

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