French · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 12 of 12
Your first conversation
Votre première conversation
A longer conversation that brings together all of A1: meeting someone, talking about where you're from, work and hobbies, and asking questions.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Hold a short conversation with a stranger
- Ask questions in three different ways
- Ask someone to repeat or speak more slowly
Listen
On the TGV from Paris to Marseille, Samuel asks Hélène if the seat next to her is free, and they start talking. As strangers, they use vous. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Samuel
Excusez-moi, madame. La place est libre ?
Excuse me. Is this seat free?
Hélène
Oui, bien sûr. Vous allez à Marseille ?
Yes, of course. Are you going to Marseille?
Samuel
Oui, je vais chez ma sœur. Et vous ?
Yes, I'm going to my sister's. And you?
Hélène
Moi, je rentre chez moi. J'habite à Marseille. Vous êtes d'où ?
I'm going home. I live in Marseille. Where are you from?
Samuel
Je suis de Rouen, mais je travaille à Paris. Je suis professeur de musique.
I'm from Rouen, but I work in Paris. I'm a music teacher.
Hélène
Ah, j'adore la musique. Vous jouez du piano ?
Oh, I love music. Do you play the piano?
Samuel
Oui, et de la guitare. Et vous, qu'est-ce que vous faites le week-end ?
Yes, and the guitar. And you, what do you do at the weekend?
Hélène
Je fais du vélo, et je vais souvent à la plage des Catalans.
I go cycling, and I often go to the Catalans beach.
Samuel
Pardon ? Vous pouvez répéter plus lentement, s'il vous plaît ?
Sorry? Can you repeat that more slowly, please?
Hélène
La plage des Catalans. Elle est très jolie.
The Catalans beach. It's very pretty.
Understand
Questions: a review, and inversion
Since chapter 4 you've asked questions in two ways: with your voice rising at the end (), the most common way in conversation, or with at the start (). In relaxed speech, a question word often goes at the end:
The third way is more formal: swap the subject pronoun and the verb, and join them with a hyphen. This is called inversion: You already know one example: You'll hear inversion in formal situations and read it in writing. In everyday conversation, the other two ways are more common.
| Style | Yes/no question | With a question word |
|---|---|---|
| Voice rises | ||
| Inversion (formal) |
What you can say now
With A1 French you can already talk about the main things in your life. Two new points from the dialogue: with a job, French uses no or : And for a musical instrument, use or , not : compare with .
| Topic | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| Your name | My name is Samuel. | |
| Where you're from | I'm from Rouen. | |
| Your family | I have a sister. She's thirty. | |
| Your job | I'm a teacher. | |
| Your day | I get up at seven. | |
| What you like | I love music. | |
| Your hobbies | I play the piano. | |
| Your plans | I'm going to go to the beach. |
When you don't understand
Nobody understands everything at first. These phrases keep the conversation going, and people are usually happy to help.
- Pardon ?Sorry? (I didn't catch that.)
- Vous pouvez répéter, s'il vous plaît ?Can you repeat that, please?
- Vous pouvez parler plus lentement ?Can you speak more slowly?
- Je ne comprends pas.I don't understand.
More in the grammar: Asking questions
New words
- la placeseat (on a train) · also a square in a town (chapter 4)
- librefree (not taken)
- bien sûrof course
- chez moihome, at my place · : I'm going home
- d'où ?where from?
- le professeur / la professeureteacher · no article after :
- la musiquemusic
- jouer du pianoto play the piano
- la guitareguitar
- la plagebeach
- pardon ?sorry? pardon?
- répéterto repeat · , like
- plus lentementmore slowly
Practise
1.Which question means the same as
2.Complete the question: “Where are you from?”
Where are you from?
3.Complete the sentence: “I play the guitar.”
I play the guitar.
4.How does Samuel say he's a teacher?
5.Put the words in order to ask someone to slow down.
Tap the words below in the right order.Can you speak more slowly?
6.Match the French with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Bonjour, je m'appelle Samuel. Je suis de Rouen.
Hello, my name is Samuel. I'm from Rouen.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.