Learn how to make polite requests using the French verb vouloir
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Céline: Bonjour! Je m'appelle Céline. |
| Christophe: Et moi c’est Christophe! |
| Sam: Sam here. I'm working, Sir C-He-O. |
| Christophe:What is CEO? |
| Sam: C-He-O or CEO? |
| Christophe:Ah! |
| Céline: A word play! |
| Sam: It's like a joke, you know. It's pretty funny, I think. |
| Christophe:Ok! |
| Céline: I really don't understand American jokes. |
| Sam: It's kind of dry, but we can work with it. |
| Céline: So Sylvain will be Robert et Christophe will be Mr. PDG. |
| Sam: PDG, like Mr. CEO? |
| Céline: Exactement. PDG in French. |
| Sam: Ah, ok. |
| Céline: Président Directeur Général. |
| Sam: Ah, ok. So, CEO in French is PDG. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Is that masculine or feminine? |
| Céline: Masculin. |
| Christophe:T’as mis le temps de réflexion, mais bon... |
| Céline: C'est parti? |
| Sam: Ok, let's go! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Christophe: Qu’est-ce que vous faites, monsieur Martin? |
| Sylvain:Je suis en train de travailler sur un dossier, monsieur See Heeho. |
| Christophe:Et Henri, que fait-il? |
| Sylvain: Henri et moi sommes en train de calculer le rendement de la société, monsieur le P.D.G.! |
| Christophe:Très bien, veuillez me donner les résultats adéquats! |
| Sam:One more time, with the English. |
| Céline:Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Christophe: Qu’est-ce que vous faites, monsieur Martin? |
| Sam:What are you doing, Monsieur Martin? |
| Sylvain:Je suis en train de travailler sur un dossier, monsieur See Heeho. |
| Sam:I’m working on a file, Sir See Heeho. |
| Christophe:Et Henri, que fait-il? |
| Sam:And Henri, what is he doing? |
| Sylvain: Henri et moi sommes en train de calculer le rendement de la société, monsieur le P.D.G.! |
| Sam:Henri and I are calculating the productivity of the company, Sir! |
| Christophe:Très bien, veuillez me donner les résultats adéquats! |
| Sam:Very well, would you please give me your figures! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: Wait a minute, wait a minute. How do the French manage to be the fourth or fifth economy in the world given the way they work and strike, when we're on the job all week? |
| Céline: You have to be French to know that. It's just like a gift. N’est-ce pas Christophe? |
| Christophe: Ah oui exactement, je suis tout à fait d’accord. |
| Céline: I mean, when we're at work, we really work. We don't fake. We work. |
| Sam: Like in America. |
| Céline: Je ne sais pas. Maybe. |
| Sam: Maybe? Of course we work at work? |
| Céline: How many hours a week do you usually work in America? |
| Sam: Well, I think a normal workweek is 40 hours. Anything over that is time-and-a-half overtime. |
| Céline: Ok. In France, it's 35. |
| Christophe:Yes because we can do the same with 35 hours. |
| Céline: 35. Yeah, so the same work, we do it in 35 hours in France. |
| Sam: So you're saying we're lazy in America? |
| Céline: I didn't say anything. You said it. |
| Sam: That's what you meant. |
| Céline: No, I didn't say. |
| Sam: Ok. Or maybe you just decide to cut your day short. I think you need 8 hours to finish all your work maybe. |
| Céline: No, no. 7 is ok. |
| Sam: Do you have like a two-hour lunch break? |
| Céline: Sometimes. Yes. |
| Sam: That's not bad. |
| Céline: That's really good. |
| Sam: That's good, yeah. |
| Céline: But you know, in France lunch is very important. It's a big deal. |
| Sam: Like in America. It's also a big deal. |
| Céline: No, I don't think. No. |
| Sam: Why? |
| Céline: Because in America you eat whatever. In France you have to eat really good food. |
| Sam: We don't eat whatever in America for lunch. |
| Céline: Yes, you eat whatever. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Céline: For example, hot dogs. 66 hot dogs in twelve minutes. |
| Sam: That was the hot dog contest. That's different. That's special. Those were nice hot dogs. Nathan's hot dogs. |
| Christophe:McDonald's? |
| Sam: McDonald's doesn't serve hot dogs, actually. Not where I live. |
| Céline: But burgers. |
| Sam: Yeah, but burgers aren't hot dogs. |
| Céline: Ok, Sam. Everybody's right. |
| Sam: Let's move on to the vocab then. |
| Christophe:Ok, go. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Let's look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first item is? |
| Christophe:Travailler. |
| Sam: To work. |
| Christophe:Travailler. Travailler. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Dossier. |
| Sam: A file. |
| Céline: Dossier. Dossier. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Christophe:Calculer. |
| Sam: To calculate. |
| Christophe:Calculer. Calculer. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Rendement. |
| Sam: Productivity. |
| Céline: Rendement. Rendement. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Christophe:Société. |
| Sam: Company. |
| Christophe:Société. Société. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Veuillez. |
| Sam: Would you? |
| Céline: Veuillez. Veuillez. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Christophe:Donner. |
| Sam: To give. |
| Christophe:Donner. Donner. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Résultat. |
| Sam: Result. |
| Céline: Résultat. Résultat. |
| Sam: And lastly? |
| Christophe:Adéquat. |
| Sam: Appropriate. |
| Christophe:Adéquat. Adéquat. |
| Sam: And there's another pronunciation for the same word. |
| Christophe:Adéquat. |
| Sam: Also meaning appropriate. |
| Christophe:Adéquat. Adéquat. Adéquat. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now let's look at the usage for some of the vocabulary and phrases from this lovely lesson. The first word is “calculer”. |
| Céline: Oui, Sam. Calculer, c’est un autre verbe du premier groupe meaning to calculate. Par exemple, dans le dialogue, Robert est en train de calculer le rendement de la société. |
| Sam: So Céline was saying, during the dialogue, Robert was calculating the productivity of the company. |
| Céline: Oui, Sam. |
| Sam: Oh, thank you. My French is getting better, I hope. |
| Céline: Oui. Grâce à qui? Thanks to? |
| Sam: Thanks to Céline... |
| Céline: And? |
| Christophe:Christophe! |
| Sam: And Sylvain. |
| Céline: Ok. What about the next word, Christophe? |
| Christophe:The next word is 'dossier'. |
| Céline: Oui, c’est un nom masculin and it means 'file'. |
| Christophe:It also means the back of the chair. |
| Céline: Yes, but in the dialogue it means file. Right? |
| Sam: Of course! Definitely. The next word is “rendement”. |
| Céline: Rendement. Sorry. |
| Sam: Rendement. |
| Christophe:Ah, ce mot c’est le mot préféré de tous les PDG! |
| Sam: Ah, productivity. |
| Christophe:Oui. |
| Sam: Le or la rendement? |
| Céline: C’est masculin. |
| Sam: It's masculine? |
| Céline: Yeah, and it can be used for people or an activity. |
| Sam: Ah, I got you. |
| Christophe:Alors Sam, qu’est-ce que ça donne puisque c’est masculin? |
| Sam: Le? |
| Christophe:Oui c’est ça. |
| Sam: Le rendement. |
| Christophe:Par exemple: Le rendement de cette entreprise a augmenté de 50% cette année. |
| Sam: So Christophe said, "The productivity of the company rose by 5% this year." |
| Céline: 50. |
| Sam: 50% this year. |
| Céline: Fantastique. |
| Christophe:Oui. C’est ça! Bravo! |
| Céline: So, ensuite nous avons “veuillez”. C’est la forme impérative de “vouloir”. |
| Christophe:Il est utilisé pour donner un ordre mais de façon polie, je dirais. Non? Qu’est-ce que tu en penses? |
| Céline: Oui oui. C’est poli. |
| Sam: Ah! We need an example. Can I give the example? |
| Christophe:Oui, bien sûr! |
| Sam: Par exemple: |
| Christophe:Veuillez fermer la porte s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: Can you close the door, please? I was thinking of the same example! That's funny. I was going to say the same thing. |
| Céline: Super! Les grands esprits se rencontrent. |
| Sam: Great minds think alike. |
| Céline: Voilà. In the dialogue, Mr. PDG, Mr. CEO, says “veuillez me donner les résultats adéquats”. Ok? But he doesn't say, 's'il vous plaît', of course, because he's the PDG. But usually, when you want to ask something you add 's'il vous plaît' à la fin. |
| Sam: It makes it more polite. |
| Céline: Oui, exactement. |
| Christophe:Oui. |
| Céline: Veuillez vous taire s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: Please shut up? Why? |
| Céline: No, for example, veuillez patienter s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: Please wait. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Oh. |
| Céline: On the phone, for example. Veuillez patienter s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: Very polite. |
| Céline: Oui, très poli. |
| Sam: Ok. I think I hear someone saying we should move on to the grammar, so we'll do that. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: Now let's move on to our grammar point. |
| Christophe:Today's point is a piece of cake. It should have been in the beginner series. |
| Sam: You don't say? |
| Céline: Present continuous is the one and only tense to describe activities that are happening now. |
| Sam: Oh, like you're talking to me. |
| Céline: "You are talking to me," would be in French, tu es en train de me parler. |
| Sam: Interesting. |
| Céline: So when building a sentence with le présent continu, we use the word “train”. Imagine you're missing the train and running after it. While it's happening, you could say “Je suis en train de rater le train.”. To form this tense, use the verb être in the present, followed by “en train de” and the main verb at the infinitive form. |
| Christophe:Je suis en train d’écouter. |
| Sam: I'm listening. |
| Céline: Je suis en train de manger. |
| Sam: I'm eating. |
| Christophe:Je suis en train de rêver. |
| Sam: I'm dreaming. |
| Céline: Tu rêves de qui? |
| Christophe:Ben de toi Céline. |
| Céline: Oh c’est mignon! |
| Sam: Oh, how nice. So the question was, "Who are you dreaming of?" And Christophe said, "Of you, Céline." |
| Christophe:Comment faire plaisir à une femme française! |
| Sam: How wonderful the French women are! |
| Céline: Qu’est-ce qui est en train de se passer? |
| Sam: "What's happening today?" was the question. |
| Céline: Yeah. You're too nice to me. |
| Christophe:Il fait beau aujourd’hui. Les oiseaux chantent… |
| Céline: I think this is the end? Ok. |
Outro |
| Sam: That's a good place to wrap up. And what a wonderful lesson it was. Right, guys? |
| Céline: Oui. Tout à fait. |
| Sam: See you again. Au revoir! |
| Céline: Au revoir à tous. Merci beaucoup! |
| Christophe:Au revoir! |
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