Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Intro

Virginie: Bonjour tout le monde! Hello everyone!
Eric: Eric here!
Virginie: Easy Self-Introductions in French. Hi, I'm Virginie, and thanks again for being here with us.
Eric: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask someone's name and tell your own name.
Virginie: And you will soon listen to a conversation. Where does it take place, Eric?
Eric: It takes place in a classroom at the Sorbonne.
Virginie: Oh, the Sorbonne,. Well, this will involve students I bet.
Eric: Right. The conversation is between Rob and Giulia, two students.
Virginie: Yeah, Rob, freshly arrived from the U.S. to study in France for a semester.
Eric: It's the first day of school, and Rob sits by Giulia, an Italian student.
Virginie: The speakers are young and soon to be friends, therefore they will be speaking informally.
Eric: Okay, let's listen to this conversation.

Lesson conversation

Rob : Bonjour.
Giulia : Salut !
Rob : Je suis Rob. Tu t'appelles ...?
Giulia : Je m'appelle Giulia.
Rob : Tu es française ?
Giulia : Non, je suis italienne.
Eric: One more time with the translation.
Rob : Bonjour.
Rob: Hello.
Giulia : Salut !
Giulia: Hi!
Rob : Je suis Rob. Tu t'appelles ...?
Rob: I'm Rob. Your name is...?
Giulia : Je m'appelle Giulia.
Giulia: My name is Giulia.
Rob : Tu es française ?
Rob: Are you French?
Giulia : Non, je suis italienne.
Giulia: No, I'm Italian.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Virginie: So Rob and Giulia in our dialog meet for the first time.
Eric: Right, and since they are both young -- they're college students -- they use the informal you.
Virginie: Which in French is tu.
Eric: And that's spelled T-U. So what are the contexts for using tu are there in French?
Virginie: In general if you are among friends and family.
Eric: And to say hello, French people also tend to kiss, right?
Virginie: Yes, for example our two characters Rob and Giulia, next time they meet, they will kiss.
Eric: That's sort of a hello kiss. It's usually one kiss on each cheek.
Virginie: Yeah, and you don't need to be very good friends to do that.
Eric: So in what context can we give someone a kiss?
Virginie: Well, you give a kiss each time you meet a friend, and also the first time you meet a friend of a friend.
Eric: And you will give a kiss to say bye too?
Virginie: Absolutely.
Eric: What if I don't feel comfortable kissing someone I don't know?
Virginie: Well, you can always offer your hand to shake, but the person in front of you might just say "hey, let's kiss".
Eric: Wow, a little pushy. If I recall well, men usually don't kiss other men though?
Virginie: No, they only give hello kisses to women, and among men, they just shake hands.
Eric: Okay, we'll talk about French greeting habits more in our lessons to come.
VOCAB LIST
Virginie: So what's next Eric?
Eric: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
Virginie: Bonjour [natural native speed].
Eric: Hello.
Virginie: Bonjour [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Bonjour [natural native speed].
Eric: bonjour The next one.
Virginie: Salut [natural native speed].
Eric: Hi or bye (informal)
Virginie: Salut [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Salut [natural native speed].
Eric: And next.
Virginie: Je / j' [natural native speed].
Eric: I.
Virginie: Je / j' [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Je / j' [natural native speed].
Eric: And next.
Virginie: Tu [natural native speed].
Eric: You (informal)
Virginie: Tu [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Tu [natural native speed].
Eric: So what do we have next, Virginie?
Virginie: S'appeler [natural native speed].
Eric: To be called.
Virginie: S'appeler [slowly - broken down by syllable]. S'appeler [natural native speed].
Eric: And next.
Virginie: être [natural native speed].
Eric: To be.
Virginie: être [slowly - broken down by syllable]. être [natural native speed].
Eric: être The next one.
Virginie: Non [natural native speed].
Eric: No.
Virginie: Non [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Non [natural native speed]
Eric: Okay, next.
Virginie: Français(e) [natural native speed].
Eric: French.
Virginie: Français(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Français(e) [natural native speed].
Eric: And finally.
Virginie: Italienne [natural native speed].
Eric: Italian (female).
Virginie: Italienne [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Italienne [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Virginie: The first word we're going to look at is.
Eric: Bonjour. And that's hello.
Virginie: Yes, bonjour is said anytime during daytime.
Eric: So, how would we say hello at night?
Virginie: You need to say Bonsoir.
Eric: Bonsoir, B-O-N-S-O-I-R. Does it matter if I mix them up?
Virginie: Not really, people will understand that you're saying hello.
Eric: Now in our dialog, Giulia says salut to say hello to Rob.
Virginie: Yeah, and that's spelled S-A-L-U-T. Salut is casual.
Eric: So that's used among friends?
Virginie: Yes, among friends, relatives, and friends of your friends, and young people.
Eric: And you can say salut to say goodbye too?
Virginie: Yes, like, I'm leaving now, salut!
Eric: Now at the end of the dialog, Giulia says, Je suis Italienne.
Virginie: Which is "I am Italian".
Eric: So to say your nationality, you just need to say "I am", je suis and then just add on your nationality.
Virginie: Yes, while we're at it, let's take a look at some French.
Eric: Well, why don't we start with American?
Virginie: Of course.
Eric: How would I say that?
Virginie: Americain, Americain.
Eric: And that's the masculine version, right? But, would it be different for women?
Virginie: Yes, absolutely. French language has genders.
Eric: Right, masculine and feminine.
Virginie: Yes, just two genders. And French adjectives agree to the gender. And nationalities are adjectives.
Eric: So if that's neat, you were going to say you're American, how would you say it?
Virginie: I would say, Je suis Americaine.
Eric: Repeat the whole version one more time.
Virginie: Americain, this is male. Americaine, this is female.
Eric: Can you hear the difference? Let's try one other nationality and see if we can hear the difference.
Virginie: Sure.
Eric: Chinese.
Virginie: Okay, Chinese for men is Chinois. Why don't you say, I am Chinese, Eric?
Eric: Je suis Chinois.
Virginie: And for female, it will be Chinoise. To say, I am Chinese, I would say, Je suis Chinoise.
Eric: So if it's Chinois or.
Virginie: Chinoise.
Eric: And then finally, what about French in French?
Virginie: Oh, that's important, right?
Eric: That is.
Virginie: Why don't we start with the male?
Eric: Je suis Français.
Virginie: And for me, it would be, Je suis Française.
Eric: And don't forget the cedille when you write that down.
Virginie: Yes, you know, the cedille is the little hook underneath the letter c. Well, you can check the lessons notes to figure that out.
Eric: And that makes your c sound like s.
Virginie: Exactly. I think that's enough vocabulary for now.

Lesson focus

Eric: Well, the focus of this lesson is on how to ask and tell your name.
Virginie: In the dialog, Rob says, Je suis Rob.
Eric: And that means I am Rob.
Virginie: Then he asks Giulia, "Tu t'appelles?"
Eric: He's asking "Your name is?" You've got to watch your intonation here. You literally are saying, "you call yourself?"
Virginie: To which Giulia answers, Je m'appelle Giulia.
Eric: My name is Giulia, or literally, I call myself Giulia.
Virginie: Let's focus on je m'appelle and tu t'appelles for today.
Eric: Okay. And what verb is this, Virginie?
Virginie: It's the verb s'appeler.
Eric: S apostrophe A-P-P-E-L-E-R. Note the s apostrophe is in the infinitive.
Virginie: Now in order to say my name, I will say, using the verb s'appeler, Je m'appelle.
Eric: And je is I.
Virginie: And see how the s apostrophe of the infinitive became a m apostrophe, m'appelle.
Eric: The m apostrophe stands for "myself", I call myself.
Virginie: So je, "I" ,m apostrophe, myself, and appelle, "call". Je m'appelle.
Eric: So these are reflexive verbs. The verb is following and changing based on the subject.
Virginie: Exactly.
Eric: So see how the m relates to the subject je, but it won't be the same for tu. The verb changes slightly for the subject. So if it's a you, we will say.
Virginie: Tu t'appelles, your name is.
Eric: Tu t'appelles. So now you have in your French bank my name is, your name is. What about his or her name is?
Virginie: "His name is" is Il s'appelle. And "her name is" elle s'appelle.
Eric: Il is I-L, is he. And you’re doing the s apostrophe, Il s'appelle.
Virginie: Yeah, and elle, she, is spelled E-L-L-E, elle s'appelle.
Eric: Okay, so for a quick recap, I would say, je m'appelle Eric.
Virginie: Tu t'appelles Eric.
Eric: Il s'appelle Rob.
Virginie: Elle s'appelle Giulia.
Eric: So now how do we ask someone's name, Virginie?
Virginie: Well, Rob in the dialog said, "Tu t'appelles?"
Eric: Listen to how Virginie's intonation goes up at the end of the question.
Virginie: Yes, and that means, you call yourself?
Eric: You can also add the word comment at the beginning or at the end of your question.
Virginie: And that would be, comment tu t'appelles? Or Tu t'appelles comment?
Eric: And literally, comment means how.
Virginie: Right.
Eric: Again, today we focused on the informal way of asking and saying your name.
Virginie: But for those who are curious about the formal way, don't worry, we'll cover it later on in another lesson.

Outro

Eric: Okay, great. Well that just about does it for today. Au revoir!
Virginie: Au revoir!

Grammar

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Comments

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FrenchPod101.com
2009-07-08 18:30:00

Where are you from? What is your name? Do you have more than one first name ?

Sandra
2025-05-09 11:37:09

This is exciting. I always wanted to learn French. I like the beginning.

Shelley Anderson
2025-05-02 10:15:55

À propos de la question,

je m'appelle Shelley.

J'habite dans l'état de North Carolina,

qui est sur la côte de l'Atlantic Ocean,

de le pays des Les États Unis, en Amerique du Nord.

J'ai seulement deux noms:

un prénom et un nom de famille,

qui sont Shelley Anderson.

(Je n'ai pas de "middle name," parce que mes parents ont donné à moi seulement un prénom et un nom de famille.)

J'ai quatres enfants, (qui ont 53 ans,

44 ans, 43 ans, et 37 ans).

J'ai donné à chaque de mes enfants

un prénom et deux noms de famille (la nom de famille de son pere, et aussi le nom de famille de sa mere, qui est moi).

Je suis aussi une grand-mere,

avec plusiers grands-enfants

(et meme des "great-grands-enfants"

qui sont les enfants de mes grand enfants) 💞💝💞

Merci pour d'être demander🥰

Shelley Anderson
2025-05-02 09:46:30

Bonjour, mes amis à FrenchPod 👋

J'ai continnueé maintenant depuis deux anneé pour étudier le français avec les leçons de FrenchPod101. Le dernier mous (avril 2025) je les étudiais pendant vingt-trois d'heures. Pendant le mois d'avril, j'ai fini de huit leçons, et j'ai étudieé

plus que une mille de "flash cards."

J'ai besoin de très beaucoup d'étudier, pour continuer à m'ameliorer.

Au'jourdhui, c'est le premier jour de mai, et je travaillais dur sur l'étude de la langue français, sur la journeé de travail de la France🥰

Bon soir (Ici dans l'endroit ou j'habite, il est le temps du soir 1 mai 2025)

Avec des beaucoups de remercies à tous pour votre aide à moi pendant mes aventures avec la belle langue français,

Je reste

Votre amie,

Shelley 💐🌹❤️✍️🇾🇪🥰❤️🌹💐

FrenchPod101.com
2025-04-30 17:16:12

Hi Keishe!

Merci de partager un peu de toi avec nous! (Thank you for sharing a bit about yourself with us!) 😊 Your introduction is great! If you would like to say your names in French, you can say: « Je m'appelle Keishe, et j'ai aussi un autre nom, Borlay. » (My name is Keishe, and I also have another name, Borlay.) Keep practicing, and you'll become more confident in introducing yourself in French.

Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.

Merci! (Thank you!)

Team FrenchPod101.com

KEISHE
2025-04-10 16:45:44

Je suis Keishe. Je suis libérienne. J'ai deux noms, Keishe et Borlay.

FrenchPod101.com
2024-09-03 19:45:36

Bonjour Khadija,

Je te souhaite la bienvenue sur FrenchPod ! 😄

Belle journée,

Marion

Team FrenchPod101.com

Khadija
2024-09-02 01:31:15

Salut! Je m’appelle khadija. Je suis Nigérian. J’ai deux noms. Khadija et nana

FrenchPod101.com
2024-06-17 17:56:45

Bonjour Kary,

Thank you for your message and for sharing your experience with us!

The diagnostic test is designed to evaluate your current knowledge before starting the lesson series.

Rest assured, you will learn about all the questions and topics covered in the test as you progress through the lessons.

Keep up the great work, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need support.

Sincerely,

Ali

Team FrenchPod101.com

Kary
2024-06-12 11:43:20

Dear French pod team,

Bonjour !

Je m'appelle Kary.

I am an absolute beginner and i am learning French with this website happily. I have started from Level 1 lesson 1.

however after trying the Test Diagnostic 2 (50 questions) and found really frustrated, because most of the words and grammar dont appear in the first few lessons, i cant even understand most questions.

anyway i wont give up and will continue my studies !

FrenchPod101.com
2024-05-07 23:01:36

Bonjour John,

Bienvenue à toi ! Moi mon deuxième prénom c'est Ludivine.

Belle journée,

Marion

Team FrenchPod101.com

John
2024-05-04 02:26:22

Bonjour! Je m'appele John. Je suis Philippin. J'ai deux noms, John et Christian

FrenchPod101.com
2024-03-13 11:45:37

Hello Munashe,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us!

Please feel free to contact us via contactus@frenchpod101.com, and don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything!😊

Sincerely,

Ali

Team FrenchPod101.com

Munashe
2024-03-09 23:43:45

How do I contact you

FrenchPod101.com
2024-02-08 22:02:14

Bonjour Lu,

Bienvenue à toi !

Bonjour Barbara,

Juste une petite correction : canadienne. 😉

Belle journée

Marion

Team FrenchPod101.com

Barbara
2024-02-07 00:45:16

Bonjour,

Je m'appelle Barbara. Je suis Canadianne.

King Lu
2024-02-02 03:02:32

Bonjour Lu, je suis américaine.

FrenchPod101.com
2024-01-04 13:20:59

Bonjour Yemi,

Thanks for your message.

Do not forget the accent when you write your nationality (Nigérian). The rest is perfect. Keep it up 😊.

Bonne journée,

Jonathan

Team FrenchPod101.com

Yemi
2024-01-03 18:58:39

Bonjour,

Je suis Yemi. Je suis Nigerian

FrenchPod101.com
2023-12-05 15:26:56

Hello Munashe,

Excellent!

A big thank you for your post and kind feedback!❤️

Please don't hesitate to contact us if any questions arise throughout your studies. We would be happy to help you! 😊

Sincerely,

Ali

Team FrenchPod101.com

Munashe Gonhi
2023-12-01 02:06:34

Good work I love it so far am getting 16/35 from the assessment From the United Kingdom, is Lyla gonna teach us or cos she is so funn!!

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