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| INTRODUCTION |
| Maryssa: Making Some Difficult Business Decisions in France. Maryssa Here. |
| Aurore: Bonjour, I'm Aurore. |
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you’ll learn about giving opinions. The conversation takes place at the office. |
| Aurore: It's between Naïma and Laurène. |
| Maryssa: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal French. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Naïma: J'ai vu le modèle que tu as rédigé pour la newsletter. Je le trouve bien, mais un peu trop long. |
| Laurène: Tu trouves ? Pourtant je n'ai mis que les informations importantes. |
| Naïma: Cela fait beaucoup, tu ne peux pas réduire ? |
| Laurène: Je ne préfère pas. Ces informations sont importantes. Le but de la newsletter est d'informer les employés. |
| Naïma: Je te comprends tout à fait. Mais j'ai peur que les employés ne la lisent pas si elle est trop longue. |
| Laurène: Je vois... Peut-être pourrions nous la faire en deux parties ? |
| Naïma: J'aime cette idée ! Cela me va ! |
| Laurène: Faisons comme cela alors. |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Naïma: J'ai vu le modèle que tu as rédigé pour la newsletter. Je le trouve bien, mais un peu trop long. |
| Laurène: Tu trouves ? Pourtant je n'ai mis que les informations importantes. |
| Naïma: Cela fait beaucoup, tu ne peux pas réduire ? |
| Laurène: Je ne préfère pas. Ces informations sont importantes. Le but de la newsletter est d'informer les employés. |
| Naïma: Je te comprends tout à fait. Mais j'ai peur que les employés ne la lisent pas si elle est trop longue. |
| Laurène: Je vois... Peut-être pourrions nous la faire en deux parties ? |
| Naïma: J'aime cette idée ! Cela me va ! |
| Laurène: Faisons comme cela alors. |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Naïma: I've seen the sample of the newsletter you wrote. I think it's good, but a bit too long. |
| Laurène: You think so? I've only written important information so far. |
| Naïma: It's a lot, don't you think you can cut some of it? |
| Laurène: I'd rather not. It's important information. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform employees. |
| Naïma: I totally see your point. But I'm afraid employees will not read it if it's too long. |
| Laurène: I see... Maybe we could edit it in two parts? |
| Naïma: I like this idea! Good for me! |
| Laurène: Then let's do this! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maryssa: We just heard a nice discussion about a newsletter. |
| Aurore: Yes, Naïma and Laurène had a few different opinions about it. |
| Maryssa: They were able to talk it through in a nice manner, though. |
| Aurore: The two part solution worked for them both. |
| Maryssa: It was a nice compromise! Is it okay to share opinions like this in France? |
| Aurore: Yes, there’s no problem with giving an opinion in France. |
| Maryssa: Is it okay to give an opinion to a superior, too? |
| Aurore: Yes, that’s fine, too. Just be polite. |
| Maryssa: And stay calm. |
| Aurore: Giving your opinion is a good way to show initiative. |
| Maryssa: Can you give us an example sentence that might be useful when sharing opinions? |
| Aurore: Je préfère son idée à la mienne. |
| Maryssa: That means "I like his/her idea better than mine." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Maryssa: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Aurore: modèle [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "sample" |
| Aurore: modèle [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: modèle [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: rédiger [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to write" |
| Aurore: rédiger [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: rédiger [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: trouver [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to find" |
| Aurore: trouver [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: trouver [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: but [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "goal" |
| Aurore: but [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: but [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: comprendre [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to understand" |
| Aurore: comprendre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: comprendre [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: And last... |
| Aurore: informer [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to inform, to communicate" |
| Aurore: informer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: informer [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Maryssa: Let's have a closer look at the usage of one of the phrases from this lesson. The phrase is... |
| Aurore: tu trouves ? |
| Maryssa: meaning "you think so?" |
| Maryssa: This is a common and casual expression. |
| Aurore: Trouver is a verb. |
| Maryssa: It means "to find." |
| Aurore: You can use this phrase when someone gives an opinion. |
| Maryssa: Yes, if it’s an opinion that surprises you, you can show that surprise with this phrase. |
| Aurore: Yes, you can! |
| Maryssa: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Aurore: Sure. For example, you can say... Tu trouves que c'est une bonne idée? |
| Maryssa: … which means "Do you think it's a good idea?" |
| Maryssa: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you'll learn about giving opinions. When giving your opinion, you’re often replying to someone else. Sometimes you agree, and sometimes you disagree. Let’s start by hearing some phrases that say that you agree with someone. |
| Aurore: Je suis d’accord. |
| Maryssa: "I agree." |
| Aurore: Je pense aussi. |
| Maryssa: "I think so, too." |
| Aurore: Je suis d’accord avec Monsieur Hochet. |
| Maryssa: "I agree with Mr. Hochet." How do you add on to these sentences why you agree? |
| Aurore: You can use either parce que or car. |
| Maryssa: These mean "because." For example: |
| Aurore: Je pense que c’est une bonne idée, car [raison]. |
| Maryssa: "I think that’s a good idea, because…" and then add your reason. Agreeing with someone is easy; disagreeing is far more difficult. |
| Aurore: You must be polite. |
| Maryssa: We often start by talking about the opinion we disagree with. Let’s hear some examples of this, too. |
| Aurore: C’est ton opinion, mais... |
| Maryssa: "That’s your opinion, but…" |
| Aurore: Tu marques un point, mais... |
| Maryssa: "You have a good point, though…" |
| Aurore: Je suis d’accord avec ce que tu dis, mais... |
| Maryssa: "I agree with what you’re saying, but…" So that’s how we can agree or disagree, but how do we give our own opinion? |
| Aurore: We can use Je pense que… |
| Maryssa: "I think that…" and then give our opinion. |
| Aurore: Je pense que c’est une bonne idée. |
| Maryssa: "I think that’s a good idea." |
| Aurore: Je pense que ce nouveau produit sera un gros succès. |
| Maryssa: "I think this new product will be a big success." How do we make this negative? "I don’t think that…" |
| Aurore: Je ne pense pas. For example, Je ne pense pas que soit une bonne idée. |
| Maryssa: "I don’t think that’s a good idea." |
| Aurore: Another phrase is Il me semble que... |
| Maryssa: "It seems to me that…" |
| Aurore: Il me semble que nous n’avons pas le choix. |
| Maryssa: "It seems to me that we have no choice." |
| Aurore: Also D’après moi... |
| Maryssa: "In my opinion…" |
| Aurore: D’après moi, c’est une mauvaise idée. |
| Maryssa: "In my opinion, that’s a bad idea." |
Outro |
| Maryssa: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Aurore: A la prochaine! |
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