Learn how to say where you are using the French words for "here" and "there"
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| Introduction |
| Virginie: Hello everyone, Bonjour à tous!. |
| Eric: Eric here. Don’t miss you big chance to start speaking. |
| Virginie: Hi, this is Virginie here. |
| Eric: Hello Virginie, how are you? |
| Virginie: I am good. How are you Eric? |
| Eric: Good. |
| Virginie: In this lesson you will learn about the two adverbs, si and tellement. |
| Eric: And this conversation is gonna be taking place at a coffee shop near the Eiffel Tower. |
| Virginie: Actually Joe rents into Manon, remember the person from the plane? |
| Eric: So let’s have a listen what happens. |
| Dialogue |
| Joe : Vous attendez quelqu'un ? Eh bien, je suis là ! |
| Manon : Hein ? Joe ? Qu'est-ce que tu fais là ? |
| Joe : (rires) Je fais du tourisme. Et toi, qu'est-ce que tu fais là ? |
| Manon : Je travaille. J'attends un client. Alors, c'est comment, la France ? |
| Joe : C'est super. Vraiment, c'est incroyable. |
| Manon : Ah, c'est mon client, là-bas. J'aimerais bien te parler de ton voyage, mais... |
| Joe : Tu as un moment ce week-end ? |
| Manon: Oui. Demain ? |
| Joe : Demain, je vais à Vincennes avec les amis de mes parents, pour la Fête de la Musique. |
| Manon : C'est si français. Et dimanche ? |
| Joe : Parfait. |
| Manon : Je t'envoie un email. |
| Joe : Super. À dimanche. |
| Manon : Ciao. |
| Eric: One more time, a little more slowly. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, plus lentement. |
| Joe : Vous attendez quelqu'un ? Eh bien, je suis là ! |
| Manon : Hein ? Joe ? Qu'est-ce que tu fais là ? |
| Joe : (rires) Je fais du tourisme. Et toi, qu'est-ce que tu fais là ? |
| Manon : Je travaille. J'attends un client. Alors, c'est comment, la France ? |
| Joe : C'est super. Vraiment, c'est incroyable. |
| Manon : Ah, c'est mon client, là-bas. J'aimerais bien te parler de ton voyage, mais... |
| Joe : Tu as un moment ce week-end ? |
| Manon: Oui. Demain ? |
| Joe : Demain, je vais à Vincennes avec les amis de mes parents, pour la Fête de la Musique. |
| Manon : C'est si français. Et dimanche ? |
| Joe : Parfait. |
| Manon : Je t'envoie un email. |
| Joe : Super. À dimanche. |
| Manon : Ciao. |
| Eric: One more time, with the translation. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, avec la traduction. |
| Joe : Vous attendez quelqu'un ? Eh bien, je suis là ! |
| Eric: Are you waiting for someone? Well, I'm here. |
| Manon : Hein ? Joe ? Qu'est-ce que tu fais là ? |
| Eric: Huh? Joe? What are you doing here? |
| Joe : (rires) Je fais du tourisme. Et toi, qu'est-ce que tu fais là ? |
| Eric: I'm sightseeing. And you, what are you doing here? |
| Manon : Je travaille. J'attends un client. Alors, c'est comment, la France ? |
| Eric: I'm working. I'm waiting for a client. So, how is France? |
| Joe : C'est super. Vraiment, c'est incroyable. |
| Eric: It's great. Really, it's incredible. |
| Manon : Ah, c'est mon client, là-bas. J'aimerais bien te parler de ton voyage, mais... |
| Eric: Oh, that's my client over there. I would like to talk to you about your trip, but... |
| Joe : Tu as un moment ce week-end ? |
| Eric: Do you have a moment this weekend? |
| Manon: Oui. Demain ? |
| Eric: Yes. Tomorrow? |
| Joe : Demain, je vais à Vincennes avec les amis de mes parents, pour la Fête de la Musique. |
| Eric: Tomorrow, I'm going to Vincennes with my parents' friends for the Music Festival. |
| Manon : C'est si français. Et dimanche ? |
| Eric: That's so French. And Sunday? |
| Joe : Parfait. |
| Eric: Perfect. |
| Manon : Je t'envoie un email. |
| Eric: I'll send you an e-mail. |
| Joe : Super. À dimanche. |
| Eric: Great. See you Sunday. |
| Manon : Ciao. |
| Eric: Bye. |
| Post Conversation Banter |
| Virginie: Ok. It’s the summer, it’s June, and Joe is just sightseeing now, he is pretty free, he is done with work. |
| Eric: And he has a little bit of time to explore the city and maybe hope to get some outdoor festivals and things like that. |
| Virginie: And I think he should. |
| Eric: That’s great. So what do we have in the summer in Paris? |
| Virginie: One very nice thing in Paris in the summer is Paris Plages. |
| Eric: Which is like a kind of simulated beach that they set up in the center of Paris, right? |
| Virginie: Yeah, [Paris Plages means Paris Beach, basically. So what they do is they close roads, highways, and they put sand all over and it’s along the Seine, along the river, they put chairs and then they put mist maker because it’s very hot and they have booths with food – it’s really nice. |
| Eric: Wow. So do people actually go swimming in the sand? |
| Virginie: I don’t think go that far, but probably, maybe at night. |
| Eric: Maybe at night a few drunken Parisians, ok. Any other good festivals that you know about or? |
| Virginie: Well all over the country there is La Fête de la Musique, which is basically music day. |
| Eric: Right. And there is, like, a ton of live performances and everything outside. That’s is great, I’ve done that before. It’s free, they have great concerts. It’s interesting that huge brands, but it’s also sort of just any person who feels like getting up and playing their guitar or horn or whatever. |
| Virginie: Exactly, yeah, local bands and then more famous people play for the Fête de la Musique. It’s a good thing to do. I think that’s what Joe is gonna do. |
| Eric: How is the Fête de la Musique, say, in like the countryside or in the smaller villages? |
| Virginie: Actually I’ve been to a couple in villages. It’s really local kids who take the guitar and their drums and they play in the village square and their parents and family are there to support them. |
| Eric: That sounds nice, that’s fun. |
| Virginie: Yeah, it is very nice, very, very nice. |
| Eric: Have you ever played any music or? |
| Virginie: No. My brother used to though, a lot. It’s fun. |
| Eric: Ok. So let’s get into a little vocabulary. |
| Vocab List |
| Virginie: quelqu'un [natural native speed] |
| Eric: someone |
| Virginie: quelqu'un [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: quelqu'un [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: hein? [natural native speed] |
| Eric: what? huh? |
| Virginie: hein? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: hein? [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: faire du tourisme [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sightseeing |
| Virginie: faire du tourisme [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: faire du tourisme [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: travailler [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to work |
| Virginie: travailler [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: travailler [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un client [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a client |
| Virginie: un client [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un client [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: alors [natural native speed] |
| Eric: then, so |
| Virginie: alors [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: alors [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: super [natural native speed] |
| Eric: great |
| Virginie: super [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: super [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: vraiment [natural native speed] |
| Eric: truly, really |
| Virginie: vraiment [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: vraiment [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: incroyable [natural native speed] |
| Eric: incredible |
| Virginie: incroyable [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: incroyable [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: aimer [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to like |
| Virginie: aimer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: aimer [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: te/t' [natural native speed] |
| Eric: you (informal) |
| Virginie: te/t' [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: te/t' [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: parler [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to speak, to talk |
| Virginie: parler [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: parler [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: parler de [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to talk about |
| Virginie: parler de [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: parler de [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: mais [natural native speed] |
| Eric: but, however |
| Virginie: mais [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: mais [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un moment [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a moment |
| Virginie: un moment [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un moment [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: le week-end [natural native speed] |
| Eric: weekend |
| Virginie: le week-end [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: le week-end [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: une fête [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a party, a celebration |
| Virginie: une fête [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: une fête [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: si [natural native speed] |
| Eric: so |
| Virginie: si [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: si [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: parfait(e) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: perfect |
| Virginie: parfait(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: parfait(e) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: envoyer [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to send |
| Virginie: envoyer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: envoyer [natural native speed] |
| Vocab and Phrase Usage |
| Virginie: What's the first word we gonna see, Eric? |
| Eric: Well, I'd like to talk about this interjection, hein? |
| Virginie: Yes, it's something we say a lot. Hein? |
| Eric: So, in the dialogue, Manon is surprised by Joe's line |
| Virginie: And that's when she says hein? She didn't get what he said |
| Eric: So it's something you say when you didn't understand what someone said, right? |
| Virginie: Oui. It's a way of asking to repeat. But be careful, it can sound like when you say "what?' |
| Eric: Oh I see it can sound a little rude. |
| Virginie: Yes. |
| Eric: OK what's our next word? |
| Virginie: Well, it is the expression "j'aimerais". |
| Eric: In the dialogue Manon tells Joe 'j'aimerais te parler de ton voyage... |
| Virginie: Yes, so she uses the verb aimer, which we know by now. |
| Eric: and...she uses it in the conditional tense. |
| Virginie: Exactly. Do you know the conditional tense? It's the tense with would. |
| Eric: I would like, I would come, I would... |
| Virginie: So what she says is "j'aimerais, I would like |
| Eric: It's basically the infinitive of the verb aimer and then adding on the ending for je, |
| Virginie: Which is AIS. Again j'aimerais |
| Eric: I would like. You're keeping the entire informative here. |
| Virginie: And it can be followed by either a noun |
| Eric: As in j'aimerais un cafe. |
| Virginie: I would like a coffee. |
| Eric: or a verb |
| Virginie: As in j'aimerais parler, like Manon says. |
| Eric: So now you have in your word bank three ways of requesting something |
| Virginie: Yes you have, je voudrais, |
| Eric: Basically I would like |
| Virginie: je veux |
| Eric: I want |
| Virginie: And j'aimerais |
| Eric: I would like. |
| Virginie: Bien. Now let's take a look at the sentence "qu'est-ce que tu fais là?" |
| Eric: Remember that Manon, at the beginning of the dialogue, is surprised to run into Joe. |
| Virginie: And she says "Joe? Qu'est-ce que tu fais là? |
| Eric: So, we already know that "qu'est-ce que tu fais" means what do you do |
| Virginie: Now when adding the adverb la, |
| Eric: Which we know means either here, or there. |
| Virginie: So it is literally "what do you do here"? |
| Eric: Again, it's "qu'est-ce que tu fais la? |
| Virginie: OK that will do it for the vocab. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Virginie: What's our grammar point, Eric? |
| Eric: Our focus in this lesson is actually pretty easy... |
| Virginie: Oh, good. |
| Eric: Yeah we're talking about the adverbs "si" and "tellement". When followed by an adjective, mean so. |
| Virginie: In our dialogue, Manon says "c'est si francais! |
| Eric: It's so French! So here the word French is an adjective |
| Virginie: She's referring to Joe going to the Fete de la musique, which is a Music Fair. |
| Eric: C'est si facile! |
| Virginie: It's so easy! |
| Eric: OK now is it the same use for tellement? |
| Virginie: Yes, since tellement is not in our dialogue let us spell it out for you |
| Eric: That's TELLEMENT |
| Virginie: For example c'est tellement bon!! |
| Eric: It's so good! |
| Virginie: C'est tellement agreable! |
| Eric: It's so pleasant! So are "si" and "tellment" used as often in France? |
| Virginie: No, actually Tellement is way more usual. |
| Eric: Now I heard tellement in other contexts, and I think it meant something else. |
| Virginie: Oh yes, you probably heard the expression "not much," pas tellement. |
| Eric: Can you tell us a little more about that? |
| Virginie: Sure. When the negative "pas", not, is right before tellement, then it means not much. |
| Eric: So it's Pas tellement. |
| Virginie: Yes for example, je n'aime pas tellement le fromage. |
| Eric: I don't like cheese much. |
| Virginie: Yes. Again, je n'aime pas tellement |
| Eric: I don't like much, literally |
| Virginie: Yes and then the thing you don't like, here it's cheese. |
| Eric: Je n'aime pas tellement le fromage |
| Virginie: Or if I ask Eric, Eric tu aimes le fromage? |
| Eric: Eric, do you like cheese? |
| Virginie: If Eric doesn't like cheese much, he can simply answer "pas tellement". |
| Eric: Not much. |
| Virginie: Makes sense? |
| Eric: Yes it makes sense. Tellement followed by an adjective is So. |
| Virginie: yes, and if there's a pas before tellement then it means "not much". |
Outro |
| Eric: Great, I think we're done for our lesson. |
| Virginie: Yes! Thank you for listening, merci! |
| Eric: Thank you for listening. |
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