Learn how to ask for directions in French and how to say thank you and you're welcome
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Céline: Bonjour! Je m’appelle Céline. |
| Sylvain: Et moi c’est Sylvain. |
| Sam: “On the Right.” Sam here again, with Sylvain and Céline. |
| Céline: Oui bienvenue à tous! |
| Sylvain: Bonjour. |
| Céline: Oui! Alors Sam tu es en retard aujourd’hui! |
| Sam: I’m late?! |
| Céline: You’re late. Where were you? |
| Sam: No, no. You were late. |
| Céline: That’s true, I was late. Ok, but I got lost. |
| Sylvain: Where were you lost? |
| Céline: At my friend’s new place. Eh oui j’ai perdu le nord! |
| Sam: You lost the northern direction? We’re going to help you with it. Is that ok? |
| Céline: Oui, s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: I suppose one of you will be Julie. |
| Sylvain: That will be Céline, surely. |
| Céline: Oui c’est moi qui serai Julie. |
| Sam: Ok. That’s a good idea. |
| Céline: Yeah. |
| Sam: And Sylvain, you can be the gentleman in the story. |
| Sylvain: Yeah. Let’s go! |
| Sam: Quelle surprise! |
| Céline: What a surprise! |
| Sam: C’est parti! Let’s go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sylvain: Où est l’hôtel? |
| Céline: À droite du restaurant. |
| Sylvain: Et où se trouve la banque? |
| Céline: À votre gauche. |
| Sylvain: Merci. |
| Céline: De rien. |
| Sam: One more time, slowly. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, lentement. |
| Sylvain: Où est l’hôtel? |
| Céline: À droite du restaurant. |
| Sylvain: Et où se trouve la banque? |
| Céline: À votre gauche. |
| Sylvain: Merci. |
| Céline: De rien. |
| Sam: One more time with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois avec l’anglais. |
| Sylvain: Où est l’hôtel? |
| Sam: Where is the hotel? |
| Céline: À droite du restaurant. |
| Sam: To the right of the restaurant. |
| Sylvain: Et où se trouve la banque? |
| Sam: And where is the bank? |
| Céline: À votre gauche. |
| Sam: On your left. |
| Sylvain: Merci. |
| Sam: Thank you. |
| Céline: De rien. |
| Sam: You’re welcome. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Céline: Have you ever get lost in a city in France? |
| Sam: Have I ever gotten lost in a city in France? |
| Sylvain: Many times. |
| Sam: Many times. It’s a bit confusing, the design of the city. I don’t think it’s based on the same things as in America. |
| Céline: No. They’re built as a spiral, not as a square. And were the people friendly? |
| Sam: Of course! Bien sûr. |
| Céline: Ah! Because I hear-- many people, they say just that French are not that friendly. When you’re lost and you ask for directions on the street. |
| Sam: I don’t think so. It’s case by case. Some people are nice; some people are not nice. |
| Sylvain: An intelligent answer, I think. |
| Céline: Yes. Yes. And I’d like to apologize. |
| Sylvain: We are sorry for the attitude of the French people. |
| Sam: What might help our listeners is if you get lost, try to ask the question in French. |
| Céline: That’s a very good idea. I mean, you’re just like “Excusez-moi. Excusez- moi.” |
| Sam: You’re in France, why not? |
| Sylvain: Nice training also. |
| Céline: Yeah, and then you can switch in English, but at least you make the effort. |
| Sam: Yes, that’s always important. To make the effort. You have to take the first step. |
| Céline: So if I go to America, I will speak French. |
| Sylvain: All day. |
| Céline: All day. |
| Sam: In America? |
| Céline: In America, I will say “excusez-moi”. |
| Sylvain: Pardon. |
| Sam: Some people will understand, though, as they’ve studied French in school. |
| Céline: Yeah, that’s true. |
| Sam: But in Milford, maybe not so many people. |
| Sylvain: Where is Milford? |
| Sam: Milford? It’s close to Dover. Not England. |
| Céline: Pas Douvres. |
| Sylvain: Pas Douvres. |
| Sam: It’s about four and a half hours from New York City. |
| Céline: Yeah, and let’s say hello to our... |
| Sylvain: Listeners. |
| Céline: Listeners from England. Because we always talk about America, but-- but, yeah, our cousins, the British. |
| Sylvain: Our British listeners. Thank you for your humor. |
| Sam: Yes. And thank you for listening. |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sylvain: French would be nothing without the English humor. |
| Céline: So in this conversation, Julie is lost. Right? |
| Sylvain: Yes. |
| Céline: And you know, in France, we talk about droite et gauche, also about politic parties. |
| Sam: Right and left. |
| Céline: Yeah, right and left. |
| Sylvain: That’s right. |
| Céline: So how about Sarcozy? Which party does he belong to? Do you know? |
| Sylvain: Wow. |
| Sam: Of course! He belongs to the right. |
| Céline: Yes! |
| Sylvain: You’re good! |
| Céline: Exactement! Sarkozy est de droite. |
| Sam: I had a fifty percent chance. But let’s go to the vocabulary, I think that’s a safer item. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first phrase is... |
| Céline: À droite. |
| Sam: On the right. |
| Céline: À droite. À droite. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Sylvain: Restaurant. |
| Sam: Restaurant. |
| Sylvain: Restaurant. Restaurant. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Se trouver. |
| Sam: To be located. |
| Céline: Se trouver. Se trouver. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Sylvain: Banque. |
| Sam: Bank. |
| Sylvain: Banque. Banque. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: À votre gauche. |
| Sam: On your left. |
| Céline: À votre gauche. À votre gauche. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Sylvain: Merci. |
| Sam: Thank you. |
| Sylvain: Merci. Merci. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: De rien. |
| Sam: You’re welcome. |
| Céline: De rien. De rien. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now that we understand that lovely dialogue, let’s review the vocabulary usage. |
| Sylvain: The first element is a group of words, “à droite”. This means “on the right.” |
| Céline: For example, you can tell someone “tournez à droite”. |
| Sam: Turn right. |
| Sylvain: Not to confuse with “à votre droite.” When “votre” is used an additional information is given. |
| Céline: “Votre” means “your” so the reference is the person the directions are given to. |
| Sam: Ah! That’s very precise. So “à droite” means on the right in general, and “à votre droite,” the group of words we mentioned before means “on my right” |
| Céline: On your right. |
| Sam: It means “on your right,” but if you said to me “Sam, à votre droite.” It means... |
| Sylvain: That’s Sam’s right. |
| Céline: Next word is “où”. |
| Sam: You use this word when you want to ask for a location. |
| Sylvain: Où est la chambre? Where is the room? |
| Sam: Next is the reflexive verb... |
| Céline: Se trouver. |
| Sylvain: This verb is to indicate place. It is usually translated as “be located.” |
| Sam: Oh, ok. So, Sylvain, this verb is used to indicate a place and usually translated as “as located.” How about an example with the verb “se trouver.” |
| Céline: Let’s say we are in Toulouse, and you are looking for the bakery. |
| Sylvain: Pardon monsieur. |
| Sam: Pardon me, sir. |
| Sylvain: Où se trouve la boulangerie? |
| Sam: Where’s the boulangerie. Ah! À votre droite. On your right. |
| Sylvain: Merci beaucoup! |
| Sam: De rien. Thank you. You’re welcome. |
| Céline: Then the next word is “merci.” |
| Sylvain: To show your gratitude, “merci,” “thank you,” is the only word. |
| Sam: You can also say “merci beaucoup” right? |
| Sylvain: That’s right. |
| Sam: Oh. How can you respond? |
| Céline: De rien. |
| Sylvain: ou “à votre service”. |
| Sam: Which translates as to “you’re welcome,” or the second one, “at your service.” |
| Céline: Yeah, and I almost always-- I use “avec plaisir”. |
| Sam: With pleasure. |
| Céline: Yeah. |
| Sam: Yeah, yeah. Me, too. I use all three of those. Great! Now, let’s look into the grammar, huh? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sylvain: D’accord. Ok. We’re going to study how to ask for places. |
| Céline: As we mentioned before, “où” is used for “where”. |
| Sylvain: Regarding the verb, there are two possibilities. The verb “être” ou, or “se trouver”. |
| Sam: Oh. Pouvez-vous imaginer une situation? Un exemple s’il vous plaît? |
| Céline: Yeah, ok. Some examples. |
| Sylvain: Où se trouve l’église? |
| Sam: Where’s the church located? |
| Céline: Où est la mairie? |
| Sam: Where’s city hall? |
| Sylvain: Où se trouve le cinéma? |
| Sam: Where’s the cinema? So guys, remember, “se trouve,” if you ask “où se trouve” or “où est”, they mean the same thing basically. You just have two choices in which to ask the question. |
| Céline: Exactement. And there are other ways to ask for directions. You use the same words, but you change their order. |
| Sylvain: Let’s take the example from the dialogue, “Où est l’hôtel?” Another possible question is “L’hôtel est où?” |
| Sam: Ok. Both of those are very nice. The first one, literally, “Where is the hotel?” The second one, “The hotel is where?” |
| Sylvain: That’s right. |
| Sam: They mean the same thing. |
| Céline: Oui. So “où” can be used at the end and the subject at the beginning. |
| Sam: Or with the verb “se trouver,” “L’hôtel se trouve où?” or “Où se trouve l’hôtel?”. So guys be careful with the structure “L’hôtel est où?” It can come off as being quite aggressive. It’s better to use the former of the two structures. |
| Céline: tout à fait! |
| Sam: fantastique! |
Outro |
| Sam: That’s a good place to end, guys. Thank you for support, as always. |
| Céline: Merci beaucoup! |
| Sylvain: À bientôt! |
| Sam: Au revoir. |
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