Learn how to reach your destination by bus
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In today's lesson, we’re going to be learning about riding the bus in France. |
| The bus is an important way of transportation. However, before you get on the bus, you probably want to confirm if the bus is going to your destination. You can accomplish this by asking “Will this bus go to…?” and then add in the destination. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In today's lesson, we’ll use the station Châtelet. |
| In French, “station” is station. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: station |
| Now let's hear it once again: station |
| To recap, our location is Châtelet. |
| So in French, "Will this bus go to Châtelet?" is Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet ? |
| Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet ? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet ? |
| Now let's hear it once again: Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet ? |
| The first word, est-ce que, is actually three words, est, ce, and que, or "is,” “it,” “that" respectively. Literally, this means "is it that” and is translated as "does." |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: est-ce que |
| And, est-ce que |
| It is followed by ce, which in French is "this." |
| Ce |
| Ce |
| And, ce |
| So to recap here, we have est-ce que ce. Literally, this means "is it that this." |
| Let’s take a look at the next word, bus, which means "bus." |
| Bus |
| And, bus. |
| This is followed by va, which in English means "go." |
| Va |
| Va |
| And, va. |
| The next word is à, which in French is "to." |
| À |
| À |
| And, à. |
| Finally, we have Châtelet, which in French is Châtelet, our destination. |
| So all together, we have Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet? Literally, this means "Is it that this bus goes to Châtelet?" |
| Once you have the right bus, there are a few things you need to know about riding the bus. City buses in France are different in each city, and so prices and ticketing systems vary. Few buses provide text explanations in English, so be sure to ask the driver or another local (for instance, a tourist office employee) how it all works. However, there are a few commonalities. |
| One, you can almost always buy your ticket from the bus driver if you don't have one already. Two, prices vary system to system, so ask at the local tourist office. |
| Three, you can pay with coins or bills. |
| Four, an average fare is one euro fifty. |
| Once when I was waiting for the bus for a long time, I made the mistake of reading without keeping an eye on what I was doing. Sure enough, the bus came and drove right past me. In France, the buses don't start automatically every stop, if you were waiting, be sure to flag it down. If you are in the bus, be sure to request the next stop by hitting one of the red buttons by the seats. If a stop is not requested, it is skipped. |
Outro |
|---|
| Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so bonne chance, that means “good luck” in French. Ok, here we go! |
| "Does this bus go to Châtelet?" - Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet? |
| Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet? |
| Est-ce que ce bus va à Châtelet? |
| This is the end of today’s lesson. See you soon! À bientôt! |
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