Learn how to say something is "better"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: Better than yours. |
| Céline: Bonjour, Sam. |
| Sam: Hello, Céline. Mine's better than yours! That's today's lesson. |
| Céline: Ok j’ai compris. Bonjour, Alex! |
| Alex : Bonjour, Céline. Bonjour, Sam. Vous allez bien? |
| Céline: Ça va. |
| Sam: Yeah, I'm great. But mine's better than yours. |
| Alex : What do you mean? Because you know...? |
| Sam: Hey! That's today's lesson actually. |
| Alex : Ok, because, you know, you should… préciser. |
| Céline: Yeah, you should be precise. |
| Sam: Ok. Ok. But mine's still better than yours. |
| Céline: D'accord. Ok, so thank you for joining FrenchPod101.com. |
| Sam: Thank you, too. Today's conversation takes place between two people, Tiny Rémy and Pimpled Daniel. They're arguing. |
| Céline: Don't forget, there's also Alice. |
| Sam: Oh, yes. Wiz Alice. She's like the referee today, because these two are arguing about whose whatever is better. They're doing this over school lunch, and they're two children. |
| Céline: D'accord. Alors c'est parti. |
| Sam: Let's go! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Christophe: Ma fourmilière est géniale. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est mieux entraînée. Elle peut nager de la baignoire jusque dans un seau d’eau. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis sont plus fortes. Elles sont de meilleures athlètes. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est plus agile que tes fourmis. Elle nage mieux. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis... |
| Céline: Stop! Vous deux, ça suffit! |
| Sam: One more time, with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Christophe: Ma fourmilière est géniale. |
| Sam: My ant farm is awesome. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est mieux entraînée. Elle peut nager de la baignoire jusque dans un seau d’eau. |
| Sam: My eel is better trained. She can swim from the bathtub to a water bucket. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis sont plus fortes. Elles sont de meilleures athlètes. |
| Sam: My ants are stronger. They are better athletes. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est plus agile que tes fourmis. Elle nage mieux. |
| Sam: My eel is more dexterous than your ants. She swims better. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis… |
| Sam: My ants… |
| Céline: Stop! Vous deux, ça suffit! |
| Sam: Stop it! You two, knock it off! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So guys, you know when you're kids and maybe you have something cool and your friend has something. Did you ever argue with your friends about whose whatever was better? |
| Alex : Well, maybe not about things, but maybe I'm arguing more about opinions, you know? More that sometimes I think that I'm correct and my opinion is right and my friend's opinion is not right. |
| Céline: Yeah, that's true. That's typically French. |
| Sam: Oh, really? Typically French? |
| Céline: Yes. Oui. Je dois admettre. |
| Alex : Typiquement français. |
| Céline: Typiquement français. We want to be. Yes. |
| Sam: Do you ever argue with your friends about who's right and who's not? |
| Céline: Always! |
| Alex : Tout le temps! |
| Sam: But, actually, when we argue, I'm always right, so it's ok. |
| Céline: I let you think that you're right, but tu n’as pas raison. |
| Sam: But I am right. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: My opinion's better than yours, usually. |
| Céline: Je ne sais pas. Ok. Let's get-- Je ne sais pas. I want to keep him... |
| Alex : C’est une façon de voir. |
| Sam: Ah, see I was right as always. |
| Céline: Bien sûr, tu as toujours raison Sam. Allez. |
| Sam: Thank you. |
| Céline: Allez. On va au vocabulaire? |
| Sam: Ok. Since I'm right, we can move on to the vocabulary now. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Let's look at some items from this lesson, ok? The first one is? |
| Céline: Fourmilière. |
| Sam: Ant farm. |
| Céline: Fourmilière. Fourmilière. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Anguille. |
| Sam: Eel. |
| Alex : Anguille. Anguille. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Génial. |
| Sam: Great. |
| Céline: Génial. Génial. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Alex : Entraîner. |
| Sam: To train. |
| Alex : Entraîner. Entraîner. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Nager. |
| Sam: To swim. |
| Céline: Nager. Nager. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Jusque. Jusque. Jusque. |
| Sam: Until. |
| Alex: Jusque. |
| Sam: Until. |
| Alex: Jusque. Jusque. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Seau. |
| Sam: Bucket. |
| Céline: Seau. Seau. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Fourmis. |
| Sam: Ants. |
| Alex : Fourmis. Fourmis. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Fortes. |
| Sam: Strong, feminine plural. |
| Céline: Fortes. Fortes. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Plus. |
| Sam: More. |
| Alex : Plus. Plus. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Agile. |
| Sam: Agile. |
| Céline: Agile. Agile. |
| Sam: Lastly? |
| Alex : Ca suffit. |
| Sam: That's enough. |
| Alex : Ca suffit. Ca suffit. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Let's look at the vocabulary usage from the section. Ok, guys? |
| Céline: Allez! |
| Alex : On y va. Alors, le premier mot c’est “génial”. It means 'awesome' or 'brilliant'. |
| Céline: “C’est génial” can be used to express excitement. Another term is “c’est d’enfer!”. |
| Alex : Mais ne le confondez pas avec “c’est l’enfer”, which means 'it's hell'. |
| Céline: Oui ouh là là. Bravo Alex! So next, there's the word “entraîner”. |
| Sam: It's from the first verb group meaning 'to train'. |
| Céline: Yes. As in train animals or train for a competition. Je m’entraîne pour le 100 mètres. |
| Sam: I'm training for the 100 meters. |
| Alex : Then the adverb 'plus'. |
| Sam: Ah! Like “plus ou moins”, 'more or less'. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. “Plus” ou “plus” is used to compare superiority. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Alex : Je suis plus grand que toi. |
| Sam: I'm taller than you. |
| Céline: Or “Je suis plus intelligente que toi”. |
| Sam: I'm more intelligent than you. But that's not true. |
| Céline: Hahaha… “ça suffit” is our next item. |
| Alex : I thought you were serious for a second. |
| Sam: What does it mean? |
| Céline: 'That's enough' or 'knock it off'. You can use it when someone is getting on your nerves. Sam. |
| Sam: Oh. I understand. But I would never get on anyone's nerves. Shall we move on to the grammar? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Ok. Today, we look at the common erreur. How to use “mieux” et “meilleur”. |
| Alex : First of all, let's remember that “mieux” is the comparative of 'bien' and “meilleur” is the comparative for 'bon'. |
| Sam: 'Bon' and 'bien' mean 'good' and 'well', respectively. |
| Alex : Exactement! “Mieux” and “meilleur” have, therefore, the same meaning. 'Better'. |
| Céline: Listen, Sam, and tell me if you can pinpoint the difference in the usage. Je parle mieux français que toi. Mon français est meilleur que le tien. |
| Sam: What did she say? |
| Alex : Only the truth. I speak better French than you. My French is better than yours. |
| Sam: I'm lost, but I know you just trashed my French. |
| Céline: Let me help. Je parle mieux français que toi. “Mieux” highlights the verb. “Mieux” is an adverb. |
| Alex : And, on the contrary, with “Mon français est meilleur que le tien”, “meilleur” highlights the noun 'français'. “Meilleur” is an adjective here. |
| Sam: Wow. So the difference comes with the usage, huh? |
| Céline: And one more thing. You might be confused with phrases with “être”. Most of the time, “mieux” is used. |
| Alex : Par exemple, “Il est mieux comme ami”. Here, “mieux” describes the way of being, therefore the action, and the adverb “mieux” is needed. |
| Céline: If a noun is described then “meilleur” is used. As in “Ce fromage est meilleur”. This cheese is better. Here 'cheese' is qualified by the adjective “meilleur”. |
| Sam: Ok. |
| Alex : Tout va pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes. N’est-ce pas Sam? |
| Sam: Ok. Whatever you say. |
| Céline: Ok. Everything is at its best in the best of the worlds. |
| Alex: World. |
| Sam: Ok. Let's practice. Can you give us an example with “mieux”? |
| Alex : Je me sens mieux aujourd’hui. |
| Sam: I feel better today. How about an example with “meilleur”? |
| Céline: Pour le meilleur et pour le pire. |
| Sam: For better or worse. |
| Céline: Or “Mes idées sont meilleures que celles de Sam”. |
| Sam: My ideas are better than Sam's. |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Sam: But we know that's not true. It was just an example. |
| Céline: That's a good example. |
| Sam: That's a bad example, but it's good grammar. |
| Céline: Oui. Tu as compris? |
| Sam: Yes, I understood. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: And I'm hungry, so let's wrap up this lesson. |
| Céline: You're always hungry. |
| Sam: No, I'm not always hungry. |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: Just give me some steak with some ketchup on it. |
| Céline: Super! On y va? |
| Alex : On y va! |
Outro |
| Sam: Ok. A la prochaine! |
| Céline: Merci beaucoup! |
| Alex : Au revoir. |
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