BASIC FRENCH LESSONS

Bonjour, Paris! from Funny Face

2010-12-19T05:21:00.001-06:00

Le Retour de Martin Guerre

2010-09-09T13:23:00.002-05:00

As recommended by: piefrance from YouTube:

Salut, Rémy! Although I cannot find a proper trailer for it, I thought the movie, 'Le Retour de Martin Guerre', would be a good one to list on your Basic French Lessons blog.

I enjoy your French lessons and your recommendations for movies/music; merci beaucoup! Tonight my husband and I will be watching 'Séraphine'.

Bonne journée!

French Internet Abbreviations

2010-09-09T13:16:00.004-05:00

Abréviations françaises pour l'intenet.

In response to the following msg:

Subject:
Help me please!
Date:

Sep 02, 2010
Message:
Dear rémy

I have a few french friends on facebook (all young people) and they use a very abbreviated version of french similar to English "text speak".

Some examples are, using "ki" to mean "qui", "derien" to mean "de rien"

There are some who's meaning I can't work out. Can you help me? Also can you let me know of any more abbreviations that young people use in texts or on the internet?

Here are some of the ones I don't understand:
C'bn
Enkeure (the sentence was c'est gros enkeure)
Pourkoi
Dakeure
tkt
mfr
mdr

Also many facebook posts seem to start with the word "ben". What does that mean?

My answer:

Here's a good list and a good site which I recommend:

http://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-texting.htm

Ben is used for bien
C'Bn could be it's good / It's all good / It's OK

Elodie Frégé - La Fille De L'Après Midi

2010-06-28T01:42:00.002-05:00

Je vous ai vu me dévisager, envisagez-vous de me sauver,
Lasse, à vos pieds….vexée
Je vous voyais, vous m’aviez versé
Divers aveux et vertueux essais,
Laissant penser….mais après

Vous m’avez laissée là, vivoter
Entre vous et mes « si » éventés
Lâche aux baisers, et défait
Vous vouliez m’éviter l’échafaud
Vissée à votre cou de salaud, nichée à la plaie
Mais après, mais après ……

Tout ce que je suis, la la la la
La fille de l’après midi
Pourquoi ce compromis, sans clairon, sans grains de riz
La fille de l’après midi

Je vous ai voulu, les poings levés,
Esquiviez-vous mes lèvres aux veillées,
Sachez l’attente …sans regret
Je vous en veux, vous m’avez vue nue
Livrée, le ventre et l’ivresse en plus,
Séchée l’étreinte, détachée…

Tout était convenu, vous saviez
prêcher le vers quand le mot virait
Vous me lisiez Marivaux,
Moi le buvard à l’ennui dévié
Vous le bavard aux élans mauvais, nous étions beaux
Oubliez, oubliez…..

Tout ce que je suis, lalalala
La fille de l’après midi
Pourquoi ce compromis,
Sans clairon, sans grains de riz

Rendez-vous vendredi, j’éviterai les bris de vous,
Et de cet amour là, la la la
Je suis la fille de l’après midi.

Je l’ai bien vue se désabuser
La triste fille au balcon percée, lavée d’attraits, décousue
Mais la baie vitrée vite a coupé court à la bavure à lessiver
Fin de l’ivraie

Je reprends tout
Ce que je suis, la la la la
La fille de l’après midi…..
La fille de l’après midi…..
La la la la

Je vous ai vu me dévisager,
Envisagez-vous de me sauver, lasse, à vos pieds, vexée.

Post it notes / Laundry list

2010-06-27T23:58:00.008-05:00

Jackson a student of mine, recently asked me to provide a list of items found around the house that he could tag in order to add to his vocabulary.
I'm not a big fan of learning lists but I have used the post-it method myself while learning English and Spanish.

Here's the list:

Lamp = la lampe
Light = la lumière / Turn on the light = allume la lumière / Turn the light off = éteins la lumière.
Comfortable chair = le fauteuil
Sofa = le sofa, le divan, le canapé
Closet = le placard
Cabinet = le cabinet (WARNING: les cabinets is street French for the toilets)
Stove = la cuisinière
Refrigerator = le réfrigérateur
Freezer = le congélateur
Shelves = les étagères
Table = la table
Desk = le bureau
Phone = le téléphone
Power outlet = la prise de courant / le prise électrique
Light switch = l’interrupteur
Light = la lumière
Smoke detector = le detecteur de fumée
Thermostat = le thermostat
Kitchen sink = l’évier / Bathroom sink = le lavabo
Spoons = les cuillères (f)
Knives = les couteaux (m)
Forks = les fourchettes (f)
Plates = les assiettes (f)
Lock = la serrure
Handle = la poignée (le poing = the fist / poignard = the dagger) / Une poignée de main = a handshake
Broom = Le balai (Du balai! = get out of here!)
Mop = La serpillière
Detergent = le détergent
Washing machine = la machine à laver
Dryer = le séchoir à linge
Bathroom sink = le lavabo
Shower = la douche (to take a shower = prendre une douche)
Towel = la serviette
Towel rack = le porte-serviettes
Toothbrush = la brosse à dents
Toothpaste = le dentifrice
Razor = Le rasoir / se raser = to shave oneself
Shaving creme = le crème à raser
Nail clippers = le couple-ongles
Aftershave creme = l'après-rasage
Desk = le bureau
Bed = le lit
Pillow = l'oreiller
Blanket = la couverture
Bed sheets = les draps
Chair = la chaise
Laptop = le laptop / ordinateur portable
Dresser = la commode [No I'm not making this up. Something that is "commode" is "handy", easy to use]

Every time you reach for something that is tagged, read the tag or make a sentence using the word on the tag.
Your friends will think that you may have lost your mind but they may join in the fun ;)
After a month or so remove all the tags. You will be surprised at how many words you will remember :)

Click on the following audio file to hear me read the list. Follow along.

Methods I recommend

2010-05-01T01:32:00.000-05:00

Michel Thomas

Rosetta Stone

Ondulé par Mathieu Boogaerts

2010-04-29T14:25:00.001-05:00

Suggested by smithbrooklyn

Gilles Vigneault - I Went To The Market

2010-01-24T11:12:00.002-06:00

NOTE: Mr. Vigneault a l'accent du Québec :)

1. I went to the market
Mon p'tit panier sous mon bras [My little basket under my arm]
I went to the market
Mon p'tit panier sous mon bras
The first girl I met
C'est la fille d'un avocat [That's the daughter of a lawyer]

[REFRAIN]
I love you vous n'm'entendez guère [You don't hear me well]
I love you vous ne m'entendez pas [You don't hear me at all]

2. The first girl I met
C'est la fille d'un avocat
She said what have you got
Dans ce beau p'tit panier-là [in that nice little basket here]

3. She said what have you got
Dans ce beau p'tit panier-là
I have got some eggs
N'en achèteriez-vous pas [You wouldn't want to buy some?]

4. I have got some eggs
N'en achèteriez-vous pas
I'll taken two dozens
P'is l'bonhomme te paiera ça [and that guy will pay for it]

5. I'll taken two dozens
P'is l'bonhomme te paiera ça
I gave her two dozens
Mais l'bonhomme y payait pas [but that guy didn't pay]

6. I gave her two dozens
Mais l'bonhomme y payait pas
Such is the business
Avec la fille d'un avocat [with the daughter of a lawyer]

7. Such is the business
Avec la fille d'un avocat
But she hatched my eggs
Elle a fait tout couver ça [She covered the eggs]

8. But she hatched my eggs
Elle a fait tout couver ça
Should have seen the chickens
Qui sont sortis de l'là [That came outa there]

9. Should have seen the chickens
Qui sont sortis de l'là
To collect my money
Ils ont fondé un syndicat [They founded a union]

10. To collect my money
Ils ont fondé un syndicat
And they fly like ducks
Qui parlent comme des avocats [who speak like lawyers]

11. And they fly like ducks
Qui parlent comme des avocats
When they flew over the barn
Me reconnaissez-vous pas [Don't you recognize me?]

12. When they flew over the barn
Me reconnaissez-vous pas
I took you to the market
Mon p'tit panier sous mon bras
I took you to the market
Mon p'tit panier sous mon bras

13. Comment vous me r'connaissez pas [How can you not recognize me?]
Oh ! ben sâcrement [Well, how about that!]
Oh pis vous comprenez pas ce que je dis en plus [And you don't even understand why I'm telling you]
Oh ben ! [Well then..]
I go and get my gun
J'en vise un p'is je l'abats [I aim at a small one and I shoot it down]

14. I go and get my gun
J'en vise un p'is je l'abats
And just before he died
Il a l'temps de m'dire tout bas [He had the time to tell me very quietly]

15. And just before he died
Il a l'temps de m'dire tout bas
I must speak english
A partir de c'te hauteur-là [From this height right here]

16. I must speak english
A partir de c'te hauteur-là
Un canard même à l'orange [ A duck even "à l'orange"]
Ca fait pas tout un grand repas [Doesn't make for a big meal]

17. Un canard même à l'orange
Ca fait pas tout un grand repas
Never seen the girl again
J'pense que j'la marierai pas [I think I won't marry her]

[REFRAIN]
I love you c'est d'valeur qu'on m'comprenne guère [It's worth it not to be understood well]
I love you c'est d'valeur qu'on m'comprenne pas [It's worth it not to be understood at all]

Comment Ca Va

2010-01-24T10:50:00.001-06:00

Warning: only the refrain is in French. The rest seems to be in Norwegian.

Comment ça va? [How are you?]
comme ci
comme ci
comme ci, comme ça [So, so]

Tu ne comprends rien à l'amour [You don't understand nothing about love]
restez la nuit [Stay the night]
restez toujours. [Stay always]

NB:
Comme ci, comme ça = like this, like that = So, so.

Une Vieille maîtresse / The Last Mistress

2010-01-24T08:32:00.000-06:00

How do you say that in French?

2009-12-21T10:50:00.002-06:00

Question from Didi:

Remy,

How do you say in French the equivalent of "Como se dice en Espanol" which means "How do you say it in Spanish?" So if I am speaking French and don`t know how to say a certain word or phrase and I want to say "how do you say it in French?" , how would I say it?

Didi

My answer:

Salut Didi,

Voici la réponse à ta question:

To say = dire (similar to decir in Spanish)

[Je dis, tu dis, il / elle / on dit]

How = comment

So now that we have the "building bocks", let's put them together:

Comment dit on ____________ en français?

Please note that I'm using "on" but not as meaning "we" but rather "one" in this case. "How does one say ___________ in French?"

You just have to plug in the english word you want to have translated.
Should you want to say "how do you say it?" then you could say:
"Comment le dit on en français?" but in street french you might hear:
"Comment on dit ça en français?"

Which method is best?

2009-11-12T09:33:00.003-06:00

Here's a message that I received on YouTube from Didi aka. Scout4Me

FRENCH CONFUSION
Hi Remy,

I am taking French lessons from you and I like it and have learned much, but I have also physically bought the entire Pimsleur set of CDs to becoming 80% fluent in French (their numbers) if I strictly follow the directions by Pimsleur. I am getting flooded in the mail with all these Pimsleur CDs, and woa, I am not that fast a learner. Pimsleur does not allow us to take notes nor use any books, not even to look up the spelling of a French word, though I have cheated a little and have looked up the spelling of some French words, in fact, a lot of French words and I think it has helped not hindered me even if Pimsleur has said that is a no-no. So, I don`t know which is the best method of learning French short of living in France, and I don`t know if I started on the wrong footing with Pimsleur. Looking up the spelling of French words has helped me in pronunciation and understanding the LINKS between words, but I must admit I have not been able to rattle off sentences as quickly as I would like in an easy converstional manner. I think the trouble is I am MEMORIZING the order of French words in a sentence in my mind`s eye, exactly what Pimsleur tells us not to do. A child can be fluent in a language without knowing grammer, so does Pimsleur have a point here? Also, you are teaching us grammer and it helps me understand French also. What is right and what is your opinion of Pimsleur?

Here is my answer:

In the absence of total immersion I actually recommend a variety of methods: The Michel Thomas Method, The Rosetta Stone Method, The Pimsleur Method, The Basic French Lessons Method, watching French videos on YouTube, reading news headlines at Yahoo.fr etc...
The major obstacle to learning a new language is the acquired language you're using to do so because it acts as both a filter and a barrier.Those did not exist when you acquired your native language because obviously you had no language as a infant.
I am for example learning Spanish using my English and to a lesser extent my native French so the process goes through two different filters. This mechanism is both a help and a hindrance.
I favor building a strong grammatical foundation first on which to build the base for being conversant. I do not favor what I call the "Perrot Method" based on memorizing entire pre-packaged sentences. I prefer to learn how to build sentences using building blocks so that I can then make news sentences using the blocks I'm already familiar with.I use both the Michel Thomas method and the Rosetta Stone for Spanish Learning.
I learned English in High School and College then by moving to the United States and actually speaking with people. Remember that a language is meant to be spoken to other human beings :) I also watched quite a bit of television and movies when I no one else was around. Those were pre-internet days :)
The key to all this is to keep at it over many days, weeks, months, years, decades and a lifetime. It takes an average of 10,000 hours to master most skills and language learning is no exceptions. The good news is that you have already mastered one language and you did it as a child.
I conclusion, I can only recommend that you try various methods and see what works best for you. Just keep going. Slowly yes but surely.

Pham Quynh Anh & Marc Lavoine - J'espère

2009-11-11T02:28:00.001-06:00

J'espère = I hope

J'fais des e-mails à toute allure
Tu me réponds à tout à l'heure

Tu mets du rouge sur ta figure
Je mets du baume sur mon coeur

J'espère , j'espère , j'espère , oh oui J'espère
C'est mon caractère .. . j'espère

Comme disait Yoko Ono
Je vais essayer de retrouver ses mots
L'air est la seule chose qu'on partage en frère
Mon frère,
J'espère, j'espère, j'espère, oh oui j'espère
C'est mon caractère .. . j'espère

On a envie de faire l'amour
Mais les amours sont diluviennes

Assommé par les temps qui courent
Il n'y a pas d'amour qui tienne

J'espère, j'espère, j'espère, oh oui j'espère
C'est mon caractère,.. j'espère

Comme disait Yoko Ono
Je vais essayer de retrouver ses mots,
"The air is the only thing we share"
Mon frère

Esk Vs. Kesk

2009-09-26T10:23:00.002-05:00

Here a question from Baiba who lives in Latvia:

Hi Remy!

Je suIs Baiba. J'ai dix-huit ans. J' habite en Letton.

Thats all i can say in French.
so far French has more similarities with latvian than it do than with english,
like gender and verb conjugations

I have a question
Are those esk and kesk stand for the same? Can i ask same questions using them?

And here's my answer:

Salut Baiba,

"esk" stands for "is it that">>> "Do you...?"
"kesk" stands for "what is it that">>> "What do you...?"

Est que tu veux manger?
Do you want to eat?

Qu'est ce que tu veux manger?
What do you want to eat?

"That's French for ya!"

How do you pronounce this?

2009-09-25T12:42:00.004-05:00

I'm often asked how to pronounce a particular French word. Here's the site that I use to respond to such questions. It does a pretty good job. Make sure that you select "French" and that your spelling is correct. On many occasions I have found that the program will deal with missing accents.

Aller Vs. Je vais

2009-09-21T19:03:00.006-05:00

Question from:

qwertygirl31

Salut Remy, merci beaucoup for all your videos so far. I have a question-in #3, you mentioned 'va' means 'go', and here you explain that 'aller' means 'to go'. I'm a little confused...do they both mean the same?

My answer:

"Aller" is a bad, bad guy. It likes to masquerade as an easy "er" verb but he is nothing of the sort. He is in fact an irregular verb that likes to make his own rules. But as bad as he is, you have no choice but to get to know him real well. You can't get ahead without him.

Here's a sample of what to expect:

Infinitive
Aller (to go)

Ex: I'm going to go to the post office = je vais aller à la poste

Present

je	vais (I go...)
tu	vas
il	va
nous	allons
vous	allez
ils	vont

Past

je	suis	allé (I have gone...)
tu	es	allé
il	est	allé
nous	sommes	allés
vous	êtes	allés
ils	sont	allés

Past

j'	allais (I used to go...)
tu	allais
il	allait
nous	allions
vous	alliez
ils	allaient

Future

j'	irai (I will go...)
tu	iras
il	ira
nous	irons
vous	irez
ils	iront

Conditional

j'	irais (I would go...)
tu	irais
il	irait
nous	irions
vous	iriez
ils	iraient

"That's French for ya!"

Clash of the Vowels

2009-09-21T14:51:00.006-05:00

I get many questions in regards to those two examples:

Elle est

Tu es

First when it comes to "elle est", you need to consider the fact that the last "e" in "elle" is silent and therefore doesn't clash with the "e" in "est".
As to why the "u" is allowed to remain when followed by a vowel, this is because phonetically it is not objectionable to the French ear. In street French the "u" is often dropped regardless.

In the end the clash of vowels is more a clash of vowel sounds.

This being French, you can count on many exceptions to any one rule :)

"That's French for ya!"

Le fils de l'épicier (2007) (The Grocer's Son)

2009-09-17T12:39:00.007-05:00

Voici un message que j'ai reçu de la part de smithbrooklyn:

Hi Remy,
Its me again, your favorite Brooklyn Francophile with a movie recommendation for you and your students.
Le fils de l'épicier (2007), The Grocers Son by Eric Guirado. I rented this from my local library. Nobody will be offended by this film. In my opinion it can be watched by anybody over the age of about 14, but I will let you be the judge of that. It won awards at two different film festivals. It is in French with English subtitles. I enjoyed it so much I watched it twice ! I love the scenery; the French countryside is a lot different than my neck of the woods in Brooklyn.
à bientôt.

I recommend you first watch the trailer without subtitles (full immersion style) then the version with the subtitles and back to the version without and see what happens :)
Let me know...

Here's the trailer without subtitles

And this is the trailer with subtitles

La Marseillaise, French National Anthem (Fr/En)

2009-09-09T00:23:00.002-05:00

This is older French but yet again this is only suggested for ear training and single word recognition.

Official Séraphine movie trailer

2009-08-30T01:57:00.002-05:00

Suggested by Lisa

Capucine: Cute French Girl's Fairytale

2009-08-26T01:50:00.003-05:00

See if you can detect a few French words you either know or recognize from you English. But even if you don't, you will still benefit from just listening :) I learned a lot of my English from talking to children.

Paris Je T'aime - Faubourg Saint Denis (subtitled)

2009-08-16T13:11:00.002-05:00

As suggested by Lisa

La Lune Brille Pour Toi

2009-08-15T20:06:00.006-05:00

From the motion picture "Le Petit Poucet" (2001) [Tom Thumb] Music composed by Joe Hisaishi. Sung by Vanessa Paradis.

Ferme les yeux [Close your eyes]
Et laisse les étoiles [and let the stars...]
S'accrocher à tes doigts [... cling to your fingers]
Comme des papillons, mon amour [like the butterflies, my love]
La nuit est belle [the night is beautiful]
Approche-toi de moi [come closer to me]
Ouvre grand tes ailes [open wide your wings]
La lune est telle un ange [the moon is like an angel]
Veille sur toi [watch over you]
Si tu as peur d'apprendre à voler [If you are scared to learn to fly]
Les battements de mon coeur [My heartbeats...]
Disent je suis tout près [... tell you that I am near]
J'ai demandé un ciel parfait [I;ve asked for a perfect sky]
Pour que tu puisses enfin rever [So that you could dream at last]
Ferme les yeux [Close your eyes]
La nuit sera ton amie [The night will be your friend]
Sens comme le vent [Feel how the wind...]
Caresse ton visage [...caresses your face]
Gageons que le temps [Let's bet that time...]
Ne soit juste qu'un mirage [...won't be just a mirage]
La nuit est belle [The night is beautiful]
Approche-toi de moi [Come closer to me]
On ne voit plus qu'elle [We can only see it...]
La lune, mon amour [... the moon, my love...]
Brille pour toi [...shines for you]

[Interlude]

Ferme les yeux [Close your eyes]
Et laisse les étoiles [and let the stars...]
Briller de tout leurs feux [shine from all their fire]
Comme d'immenses soleils, mon amour [like gigantic suns, my love]
La nuit est belle [the is nice is beautiful]
Approche-toi de moi [come closer to me]
Ouvre grand tes ailes [unfurl your wings]
C'est toi, mon amour [It's you my love...]
Qui brille pour moi [who shines for me]

C'est toi mon amour
Qui brille pour moi.

Au bord de l'étang (Updated)

2009-08-14T15:39:00.005-05:00

The old link died so here's a new one:

Stacey Kent & Jim Tomlinson Live @ Birdland Jazz Club, NYC, June 6, 2009. Personnel: Art Hirahara (piano), Gordy Johnson (bass) and Phil Hey (drums).

YouTube Link

Sur la lande, au bord de l'étang

On the edge of the pond

Où la brume est bleue

Where the mist is blue

Seule, je flotte et l'ombre s'étend

Alone I float and the shadow extends

Dans le soir frileux

in the chilly evening

Là le ciel, pour quelques instants

There the sky, for just an instant

Garde encore de l'or dans ses yeux

Keep some gold in its eyes

Une étoile brille au fond de l'etang

A star shine at the bottom of the pond

pour les hommes heureux

for happy men.

J'ai mes rêves, j'ai la nuit

I have my dreams, I have the night

et l'odeur des fleurs epanouies

and the scent of the opened flowers

J'ai le chant des oiseaux

I have the singing of the birds

Les nuages glissants sur les eaux

The clouds gliding on the waters

Et je viens m'etendre au bord de l'etang

and I come to lay on the edge of the pond

Où la brume est bleue

where the mist is blue

Seule je sens et l'ombre s'etend

Alone I feel and the shadow extends

dans le soir frileux

In the chilly evening

Là le ciel, pour quelques instants

There the sky, for just an instant

Garde encore de l'or dans ses yeux

Keep some gold in its eyes

Une étoile brille au fond de l'etang

A star shine at the bottom of the pond

pour les hommes heureux.

for happy men.

Facebook or no Facebook. That is the question...

2009-08-14T13:39:00.003-05:00

I'm getting more and more requests to add a Facebook page but I'm not really familiar with the site and concept.
I'd welcome your input on what might be the advantages for me and you or if you think it's at good idea in the first place :)

TRYO-Serre moi

2009-08-06T14:25:00.005-05:00

This video was suggested by smithbrooklyn

Tune your ear to the following:

Serre moi = hold me
Embrasse moi = kiss me
Mon ange = my angel
Le ciel = the sky
Ton corps = your body
Tes ailes = your wings
Ton dos = your back
Revenir = to come back
Partir = to leave
Donne moi la main = give me your hand
Le coeur = the heart
Les femmes = women
L'amour = the love
Papillon = butterfly
Une fleur = a flower
Une étoile = a star
bruler = to burn / brulant = burning
Les larmes = the tears
Le sang = blood
Les amants = lovers
Reviens moi = comme back to me
Le vent = the wind
Les enfants = the children
I y a = there is / there are

Serre moi jusqu'a etouffer de toi = hold me/squeeze me 'til I'm smothered by you

Encore = again / more

A few questions from smithbrooklyn

2009-08-03T16:31:00.007-05:00

A few questions from:
smithbrooklyn

Bonjour Remy. Ca va ca va? You are an excellent teacher and are an inspiration for me to keep studying French. Merci Beaucoup!! I have questions, perhaps to be addressed in a future lesson . . . Legumes

Première question: How do you know if a vegetable is mas. Or fem. When they begin with un? e.g. un abricot, un ananas, un raison. Are these all masculine and singular and can they be plural?

My answer:

Correct if it has un or le in front it's masculine

P.S. You meant "un raisin". (La raison means the reason)

Deuxième question: If it begins with Les or Des is this masculine and can it ever be singular? e.g. les escargots, les epinards, le petits pois, des oeufs Toisieme question: If it begins with l how do you know if it is mas. Or fem? e.g largenterie, lepiccerie etc. BTW, I recommend the French band Tryo. I saw them in concert in Canada in the Spring and now have many of their Cds.

My answers:

Les or des are only used for the plural (more than one) and can be used for either masculine or feminine nouns:

Les tables = the tables (fem.)
Les trains = the trains (masc.)

Je mange des fruits = I eat fruits (Le fruit is masc.)
Je mange des tomates = I eat tomatoes (La tomate is fem.)

Regarding l' and how you can tell the gender You just have to learn the gender of most things or deduce it from the context:

ex: L'épicerie est grande ( 2 clues that the word épicerie is feminine: 1) it ends in ie 2) grand has an added "e" which also signals feminity in accordance with the noun it modifies (épicerie in this instance)

Un grand garçon = a tall boy
Une grande fille = a tall girl

Video responses from Sean

2009-07-22T17:39:00.004-05:00

Give credit to Sean for his effort. He posted no less than 2 video responses and did a good job. He can be easily understood. Here's hoping this will inspire others to post their own video responses.

A question from Fadi

2009-07-12T05:38:00.003-05:00

Bonjour jermy, comment ca va?

my question is:
ca va= it goes
and you said in previous lesson CE=it
so which is the right one use CA or CE and whats the difference.
thanks youre a great teacher and it been very easy learning from you.
Fadi

My answer:

First, thanks for subscribing Fadi.
As to your question: Ce = this and ca = that. There is no such thing as "it" in French thus the confusion here.
You cannot say "ce va", You have to say "ca va".
Don't let your English get in the way of your French :)
Some things just are .... and for no good reasons.

"That's French for ya!"

Rémy

Dog commercial

2009-06-19T18:35:00.004-05:00

DISCLAIMER:

"Basic French Lessons" are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation or The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

No financial product offered by State Street Corporation or its affiliates is sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by "Basic French Lessons".

Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses.

However "Basic French Lessons" does endorse cute videos featuring dogs and a French sounding soundtrack :)

Click below for:

Audio only minus voiceover

Thomas Dutronc chante J'suis pas d'ici

2009-06-06T21:47:00.012-05:00

Requested by bumbobb :

Remy, your videos are great! I started listening to some French pop songs because of you. I really love "J'suis pas d'ici," by Thomas Dutronc. Can I ask you for a translation to english?

Here's my adaptation. Do remember that the lyrics from a song may not reflect the way people speak in real life :)

J'suis pas d'ici

Un coude en l'air, le vent est doux, la lune fidèle,
Un chant tsigane, j'me sens tsigane
Le cœur léger, je vois passer une fleur d'été
Hello jolie, j'suis pas d'ici, j'suis musicien
Un soir je suis le roi, un soir je suis le chien
Qu'on caresse ou qu'on laisse en solo

On se dit tout mais tout, en fait, c'est rien du tout
J'aime tes silences, tes rêves immenses
C'est l'heure de jouer sous les étoiles
J'ai pris ta main et le monde est flou jusqu'à demain
J'me jette à l'eau, faut bien qu'j'prenne la vie comme un cadeau
Une caresse, une ivresse, un solo

Tu m'jettes à l'eau, c'est vrai des fois
je n'suis pas un cadeau
Une caresse, une ivresse, un seau d'eau
Un air de fête, une tempête de liberté
Un mojito, j'vais m'coucher tard
Deux mojito, j'vais m'coucher tôt

I'm not from here

An elbow in the air, the wind is soft, the moon loyal,
A gypsy chant, I feel gypsy
With a light heart, I see a summer flower passing by
Hello pretty, I'm not from here, I'm a musician
One evening I am king, one evening I'm a dog
that one pets or is left by itself

We tell each other just about everything, in fact, nothing at all
I like your silence, your tremendous dreams
It's time to play under the stars
I took your hand and the world is fuzzy until tomorrow
I jump in the water, I have to take life as a gift
A caresse, an intoxication, a solo

I jump in the water, it's true that sometimes
I'm not a gift
A caresse, an intoxication, a bucket of water
A festive air, a storm of liberty
One mojito, I'll go to bed late
Two mojitos, I'll go to bed early

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

N.B.

A mojito is a Cuban cocktail made of rhum, lime and mint. This drink was made famous by one Ernest Hemingway.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Audio only version with improved sound quality: Click here

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Dassin - Aux Champs-Élysées w/lyrics

2009-06-03T17:48:00.000-05:00

A letter from Mariah

2009-06-03T17:13:00.009-05:00

I receive many messages on YouTube and I get asked the same questions hundreds of times. Here's a typical letter that I get. I will share the answer in the hopes that you will all get some benefit from it :)

Hi. :D
my name is mariah, and i am currently a freshman in highschool, almost a sophmore soon. (10th)
i recently started watching your videos, and they have helped me alot.
I have been taking french 1 this year at my school, and at first it was quite easy, but then came all of the difficult stuff. then i started getting confused...
we went really fast and i dont have the best of teachers to be teaching french. ;)
i study really hard at it, and pay attention, it just doesnt seem to click.
and all on top of that, i have finals for french next week. we are being tested on everything we have learned throughout the year on french.
Do you have any pointers on the best ways to study for french? or any tricks that might help me remember what words mean?
i think my problem is just remembering what everything means. i will know what a phrase means but i cannot put those same words into a different phrase. it just doesnt come to me.
please help me.
Mariah
:D

My answer:

The only "trick" to learning a language is to use the language. You can learn to ride a bicycle from a book but at some point you willl have to actually get on the bike :)

Your brain is rebelling. It doesn't understand why it has to learn something that you almost never use so it's putting a lot of what you're learning in the recycling bin :)

So how do you use French if you only use English in your daily life? Some schools have French clubs but if you can't do that then there are steps you can take to help convince your brain that French is worth remembering:

Go on Yahoo.fr every day and just check the headlines. Most of it won't make sense but you're brain will try to pick something that it recognizes.

Watch DVD with a French soundtrack with or without subtitles (very hard at first). It's better if the film is actually a French speaking film no just dubbed in French.

Put post-it notes in your room: BED / WINDOW / SINK / COMPUTER etc... but in French of course: LE LIT / LA FENETRE / LE LAVABO / L'ORDINATEUR. It will drive your family crazy :)

Ask yourself questions: How would I say this in French and find the answer. Keep it simple. (How do you say: I'm going to the movies = je vais au cinéma)

Think in French from time to time. Keep it simple. (I like this movie = j'aime ce film)

Find a friend who likes French and use French sentences as code. This will drive your other friends crazy :)

Learning a new language is no easy task but remember that your brain is wired for language. You already have learned English and you did it as a child and without books or tapes. Your brain realized that you needed language skills and that screaming an crying were not going to be enough to get the things you wanted from your parents :)

All this takes weeks, months and years but it worked for me.

"That's French for you"

Rémy

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later Mariah sent me her reply:

wow, thank you so much. :)
As you said about the French Club, i currently in one. it is quite fun.
Your idea of the post-it notes is a good idea i think i may actually do that..
Thanks for all your help.
Mariah. :D

Voyage, Voyage

2009-05-24T18:46:00.005-05:00

Your mission should you decide to accept it:

Listen to the song by Desireless. Write a comment with words you're able to recognize.

I'll start with the title itself:

Un voyage = a voyage / trip

[Voyager = to travel]

This video was suggested to me by vitorfvalente from Youtube

Extra Episodes

2009-05-19T14:42:00.004-05:00

A series recommended by our good friend Rhys.
Somewhat of a parody of "Friends".
I recommend it to tune your ear to the French language even if you do not understand much of what is said. Your ear will pick up a word here and there and your brain will do the rest :)

Click here to watch

Alizee - 2003 interview with english subtitles

2009-04-13T23:48:00.008-05:00

Thanks go to Jalen (aka. old sandwich on YouTube) for finding this:

Click on the following links:

Part one

Part two

Lasts a total of 45mn!

Emily Loizeau - 'Je Suis Jalouse'

2009-03-07T13:52:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Patrick for bringing this video to my attention :)

Emily Loizeau / Je Ne Sais Pas Choisir

2009-03-07T13:51:00.000-06:00

Thank you Patrick for bringing this video to my attention

Lauren Cooper - French Class

2009-02-27T09:20:00.002-06:00

Once again thanks to Rhys for spotting this video

Déjeuner du matin

2009-02-20T04:18:00.003-06:00

In some of the videos you might notice a slight difference in accent.

Déjeuner du matin

2009-02-18T07:57:00.005-06:00

A little game for you: If you can pick up any word, write it to me as a comment.
Don't write the whole thing. Just pick out a few words. Let everybody have a go :)

As we add more and more pieces of the puzzle, I'm hoping that the meaning of the piece will emerge.

Just remember that this is done for ear-training purposes first and foremost. Don't fret if you only understand but a few words. You're still learning.

Thanks to Rhys for finding the video in the first place and of course to its author.

Alizée - J'en Ai Marre

2009-01-20T19:59:00.001-06:00

Les couleurs / colors

2009-01-08T14:02:00.003-06:00

An interesting video that was sent to me. Nicely made.

Petit Papa Noël

2008-12-12T14:55:00.006-06:00

Vocab to look for:

Noël = Christmas
Papa = Daddy, father
Les enfants = the children
Le ciel = the sky
Les jouets / les joujoux = toys

C'est la belle nuit de Noël, [It's the beautiful night of Christmas]
la neige étend son manteau blanc, [the snow spreads its white coat]
et les yeux levés vers le ciel, [and with eyes pointed at the sky]
à genoux les petits enfants, [on their knees, the little children]
avant de fermer les paupières, font une dernière prière: [before closing their eyelids, say one last prayer:]

"Petit Papa Noël, quand tu descendras du ciel, [Little Father Christmas, when you'll come down from the sky]
avec des jouets par milliers, n'oublie pas mon petit soulier, [with toys by the thousands, don't forget my little shoe]
mais avant de partir, il faudra bien te couvrir, [but before leaving, you'll need to dress warmly]
dehors tu vas avoir si froid, c'est un peu à cause de moi. [outside you're going to be cold, it's a little bit because of me]
Il me tarde tant que le jour se lève, [I can't wait for the sun to rise]
pour voir si tu m'as apporté, [to see if you have brought me]
tous les beaux joujoux que je vois en rêve, [all the toys that I see in my dreams]
et que je t'ai commandés. [and that I asked of you]
Petit Papa Noël, quand tu descendras du ciel,
avec des jouets par milliers, n'oublie pas mon petit soulier.

Le marchand de sable est passé, les enfants vont faire dodo, [The Sandman came and the children are going to sleep]
et tu vas pouvoir commencer, avec ta hotte sur le dos, [and you can start with your bag on your back]
au son des cloches des églises, ta distribution des surprises. [at the sound of churchbells, your distribution of surprises]
Petit Papa Noël, quand tu descendras du ciel,
avec des jouets par milliers, n'oublie pas mon petit soulier.
Si tu dois t'arrêter sur les toits du monde entier, [if you must stop on the rooftops of the entire world]
tout ça avant demain matin, mets-toi vite, vite en chemin. [all this before tomorrow morning, be on your way soon]

Et quand tu seras sur ton beau nuage, viens d'abord sur notre maison, [And when you'll be on your beautiful cloud, come to my house first]
je n'ai pas été tous les jours bien sage, mais j'en demande pardon. [I haven't been good everyday, and I ask forgiveness for it]

Petit Papa Noël, quand tu descendras du Ciel,
avec des jouets par milliers, n'oublie pas, mon petit soulier.

Petit Papa Noël...

Vive le Vent d'Hiver

2008-12-12T14:48:00.006-06:00

[Thanks to Rhys for bringing this video to my attention]

Vocab to look out for:

Le vent = the wind
Le temps = the time
L'hiver = winter
Les enfants = the children
Joyeux Noël = Merry Christmas
Bonne Année = good year = Happy New Year

Vive le vent, vive le vent, [Long live the wind, long live the wind]
vive le vent d'hiver [Long live the winter wind]
qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant [Which goes whistling and blowing]
dans les grands sapins verts. Oh... [through the great green pinetrees]
Vive le temps, vive le temps, [Long live the season. long live the season]
vive le temps d'hiver [Long live wintertime]
boules de neige et jour de l'an [snowballs and new year's day]
et bonne année grand-mère. [happy new year Gran' ma]

Joyeux joyeux Noël aux mille bougies [Merry, merry Christmas of thousands of candles]
qu'enchantent vers le ciel [enchanted toward the sky]
les cloches de la nuit. Oh... [by the bells in the night]
Vive le vent, vive le vent,
Vive le vent d'hiver [Long live the winter wind]
qui rapporte aux vieux enfants [which brings to older children]
leur souvenir d'hiver. [their memories of winter]

Sur le long chemin [On the long path]
tout blanc de neige blanche [covered by white snow]
un vieux monsieur s'avance avec [an old man appears with]
sa canne dans la main [his cane on hand]
et tout là-haut le vent qui siffle [and up there the wind that whistles]
dans les branches puis souffle [in the tree limbs then sings]
la romance qu'il chantait petit enfant [the song he sang as a little child]

Vive le vent, vive le vent,
vive le vent d'hiver
qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant
dans les grands sapins verts. Oh...
Vive le temps, vive le temps,
vive le temps d'hiver
boules de neige et jour de l'an
et bonne année grand-mère.

Joyeux joyeux Noël aux mille bougies
qu'enchantent vers le ciel
les cloches de la nuit. Oh...
Vive le vent, vive le vent,
Vive le vent d'hiver qui rapporte aux
vieux enfants un souvenir d'hier.

Et le vieux monsieur descend [And the old man walks down]
vers le village [towards the village]
C'est l'heure où tout est sage [It's that time where everything is quite]
et l'ombre danse au coin du feu [and the shadow danses in the fireplace]
Mais dans chaque maison [but in each house]
il flotte un air de fête partout [A festive air floats everywhere]
la table est prête et l'on entend [The table is ready and one hears]
la même chanson: [the same song:]

Vive le vent, vive le vent,
vive le vent d'hiver
qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant
dans les grands sapins verts. Oh...
Vive le temps, vive le temps,
vive le temps d'hiver
boules de neige et jour de l'an
et bonne année grand-mère.

Vive le vent, vive le vent,
vive le vent d'hiver
qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant
dans les grands sapins verts. Oh...
Vive le temps, vive le temps,
vive le temps d'hiver

French pronunciation

2008-12-09T14:02:00.002-06:00

I'd like to thank Diane for recommending this site.
I like the site because you just need to "mouse over" the sounds to hear them. You may want to adjust the volume downward at first. The sounds are accurate and most likely made by native speakers.
Due to the shortness of the sounds it may sound a bit rushed or abrupt but give it a chance. Don't forget to look at the words listed immediately to the right of the sound(s) in question.

Here's Diane's original email to me with the link to the site she recommends:

Bonjour Rémy,

I found a website that illustrate the different French sounds and when you mouse over them, you hear them spoken. The first series is European French and the second series is Canadian. I thought this was so cool. It really helps iron out the differences in pronunciation between the French I hear on my XM radio (Canadian) and the French I hear at school (European French).

http://www.fonetiks.org/sou2fr.html

It helps with especially the elisions. It's hard to know what to skip over and what to pronounce unless you hear it and practice it a lot. It also helps with listening comprehension, definitely.

Anyway, passez un bon week-end !

Diane

Mad Tv Bobby Lee french airport

2008-12-02T14:31:00.003-06:00

Thanks go to Rhys for sending me this video :)

None of these people can actually speak French but you might recognize a French word or two here and there :)

Video response: Leon counting in French

2008-12-01T12:38:00.000-06:00

Lesson 17 is up!

2008-12-01T07:29:00.002-06:00

Worked on it all of yesterday and it's finally done. Enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5mpKCAqJHk

Eddie Izzard's Survival Guide to French

2008-11-27T06:54:00.002-06:00

Lyrics to Xavier Cafeine's Gisèle

2008-11-21T23:54:00.006-06:00

As requested by Curt

Gisèle, tu m'as crevé le coeur ( X 2) [Gisèle you broke my heart]

Je suis parti dans la semaine [I left during the week]
et ne suis jamais revenu [and never came back]
J'avais embagagé mon coeur, [I put my heart in my luggage]
mais sans toi, il est mort dans la rue [but without you, it died in the street]
C'est comme en tous les carroussels, [It's like in all the merry-go-round]
y'a un cheval chez les chevaux [There's one horse among the horses]
qui pourrait s'enfuir aux galops [That could escape galloping]

C'est quand on vit dans une poubelle, [It's when you live in a trash can]
que l'on se sent comme une étoile, [That you feel like a star]
et que l'on invente les remèdes [and that one invents remedies]
pour anastésier tout son crâne. [to dull all of one's brain]
Et je suis Ouh! Ouh! Ouh! [and I am...]
Gelé dans la nuit. [frozen in the night]
Et je suis Ouh! Ouh! Ouh! [and I am...]
À ta merci. [At your mercy]

Gisèle, tu m'as crevé le coeur ( X 2 )

Haaa! Haaa!

J'ai pris la route de la rocaille, [I took the rocky road]
amusé par le pitoresque. [ amused by the picturesque]
Napoléon sans son cheval, [Napoleon without his horse]
voyageant seul dans une brouette. [travelling alone without a Wheelbarrow]
C'est comme dans tous les carroussels,
y'a un cheval chez les chevaux,
qui pourrait s'enfuir aux galops.

C'est quand on vit dans une poubelle,
que l'on se sent comme une étoile
Et que l'on invente les remèdes,
pous anastasier tout son crâne.

Et je suis Ouh! Ouh! Ouh!
Gelé dans la nuit!
Et je suis Ouh! Ouh! Ouh!
À ta merci!

Gisèle, tu m'as crevé le coeur. ( X 2 )

Haaa! Haaa!
Haaa! Haaa!

Gisèle, tu m'as crevé le coeur. ( X 2 )

"La ballade des Gens Heureux"

2008-11-02T04:09:00.009-06:00

This is in response to sydneyjude who wrote me the following:

Hi Remy, you have another fan big time, thanks for all your hard work! I watched your videos on your website and was very taken with gerard lenorman (shock to see him on YouTube 30 years on! still gorgeous though) The song on your site is so 'sing along', but i dont know what I am singing....could you bring yourself to write a translation of this song???? I realise you are a very busy boy however. Gerard has such clear diction, you can pick out every word.

Don't forget that a translation is really an adaptation and it's sometimes hard to really understand what the artist meant with his or her lyrics as some of the meaning might be poetic or cryptic.

"La ballade des Gens Heureux"
(Paroles: Pierre Delanoë. Musique: Gérard Lenorman 1975)

Notre vieille Terre est une étoile [Our old Earth is a star]
Où toi aussi et tu brilles un peu [where you too shine a little]
Je viens te chanter la ballade [I'm going to sing the ballad]
La ballade des gens heureux [the happy people ballad]
Je viens te chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux

Tu n'a pas de titre ni de grade [You have no title or rank]
Mais tu dis "tu" quand tu parles à dieu [but you're on a first name basis with God]
Je viens te chanter le ballade
La ballade des gens heureux
Je viens te chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux

Journaliste pour ta première page [Front page journalist]
Tu peux écrire tout ce que tu veux [You can write what you want]
Je t'offre un titre formidable [I offer you a great headline]
La ballade des gens heureux
Je t'offre un titre formidable
La ballade des gens heureux

Toi qui a planté un arbre [You who planted a tree]
Dans ton petit jardin de banlieue [in your small suburban garden]
Je viens te chanter le ballade
La ballade des gens heureux
Je viens te chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux

Il s'endort et tu le regardes [He falls asleep and you look at him]
C'est ton enfant il te ressemble un peu [He's your child and he looks like you a little]
On vient lui chanter la ballade [We're coming to sing him the ballad]
La ballade des gens heureux
On vient lui chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux

Toi la star du haut de ta vague [You the star on top of your wave]
Descends vers nous, tu verras mieux [come down closer to us, you'll see better]
On vient te chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux
On vient te chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux

Roi de la drague et de la rigolade [King of seduction and laughter]
Rouleur flambeur ou gentil petit vieux [Flim Flammer or nice old man]
On vient te chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux
On vient te chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux

Comme un chœur dans une cathédrale [Like a choir in a cathedral]
Comme un oiseau qui fait ce qu'il peut [Like a bird who does his best]
Tu viens de chanter la ballade [You've just sung the ballad]
La ballade des gens heureux [the ballad of the happy people]
Tu viens de chanter la ballade
La ballade des gens heureux

By request: Halloween vocab

2008-10-26T23:43:00.003-05:00

Melisa a student teacher from Vancouver Canada asked for some help with the correct pronunciation of French words she'll be using with her class in a crossword puzzle with a Halloween theme.
In the following video, I say each word at full speed then slower and finally I give the English translation.

"Bon" Vs. "Bien"

2008-10-08T00:46:00.003-05:00

Here is Daniel's question (sent to me on YouTube)

Salut Remy,

Est-Ce Que la différence entre "bien" et "bonne"?

Again, I'm not sure if this has made much sense to you but I am trying to ask you what is the difference between bien and bonne. I hear you say things like "ça va bien", but I also hear the word good used as bonne, as in "Bonne Chance".

Thank you greatly for taking the time to answer all of us who are beginning french!

Merci Beaucoup,
Daniel

My answer:

Salut Daniel,

I didn't think it'd be too long before someone would notice :)

You meant to ask:

"Quelle est la différence entre "bien" et "bonne"?

Bon usually means good or nice

Bien usually means well

Some examples:

Je vais bien = I am well

Le chocolat est bon = the chocolate is good. ("Bon" because "le chocolat" is masculine)

J'aime bien le chocolat = I like chocolate

Bonne chance = good luck ("bonne" because "la chance" is feminine)

Skypecasts RIP

2008-09-06T12:55:00.004-05:00

Before we could put our first broadcast together, Skype officially discontinued their Skypecasts :( Special thanks go to Samuel for bringing the concept to my attention in the first place and agreeing to produce the show. Thank you to all those who showed an interest in participating :)

Lesson 15 is out

2008-09-01T22:21:00.000-05:00

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How do you type the accents?

2008-08-05T19:04:00.003-05:00

I've been getting this question a lot lately so here's a chart for you.

Press and hold the ALT key and type corresponding number then release ALT key

a with grave accent à 133
a with circumflex â 131
a with tréma ä 132
a e ligature æ 145
c with cedilla ç 135
e with acute accent é 130
e with grave accent è 138
e with circumflex ê 136
e with tréma ë 137
i with circumflex î 140
i with tréma ï 139
o with circumflex ô 147
o e ligature œ 0156
u with grave accent ù 151
u with circumflex û 150
u with tréma ü 129

Mon amie is a girl?!

2008-08-02T15:05:00.002-05:00

Helen wrote me the following:

oh btw, u said " de rien mon ami. je suis content de pouvoir t'aider " to me on youtube. isnt it should be " de rien ma amie..." ? cuz im a girl lol

It actually should be mon amie because you cannot have ma amie with those two "a" clashing. Do note however that amie takes an "e" at the end to indicate that it's a female friend as opposed to "mon ami" which would indicate a male friend.

How to tell your right from your left

2008-07-12T10:05:00.003-05:00

This is a response to Ariana's request:

I have been studying these words lately: a gauche = to the left; tout droit = straight ahead; a droite = to the right. I have been practicing the french pronounciation that you have taught us throughout the course of these classes, however I am having trouble pronouncing these words, so I have a request for you...In the next lesson, would you please pronunciate these words so that I can hear them spoken? I hope I'm not bothering you. I know you do the lessons in your own way and I'm not trying to change the lesson or anything. I just really enjoy learning french and some words are still hard for me to pronounce (and you are the only person I can ask for help). I always appreciate the help you give me. Merci beaucoup!!!
Bon soir. -Ariana

Contractions

2008-07-09T06:03:00.006-05:00

Here's my answer to another good point raised by one of my YouTube viewers:

thomasravish

hi remy, great tools of learning and very well done. however, i have a small quarry.. why is it that we do not remove the 'e' in ell(e) est when there is a clash of vowels among the words..!!

jremy7

Well observed :)
The reason why there is no contraction here is that the last "e" in "elle" is silent. Therefore you're just pronouncing the "l" which in turn does not clash with the "e" from "est".

Now, I have gotten comments about "Tu es" because there is no contraction in the written language. The "u" sound doesn't clash with other vowels. It phonetically "flows". In addition removing the "u" can be confusing because you then end up with something that sounds like "tes" or "ta" which are possesive adjectives (your).

BUT (there's always a but...) in informal French or what I call street French, people do say "t'es". Ex: "T'es américain?"

Comment va-t-il?

2008-06-21T09:47:00.004-05:00

I tought you "Comment ça va?" which means "How is it going?" or you can use "Comment vas-tu?".
But I just got a question from Lisa. She asks:

Remy,
Can you tell me what the "t" stands for in these screw-y constructs of the French language:

comment va-t-il ?

Thanks, Lisa

My answer:

"Comment va-t-il" means "How is he doing" (literally how is he going). The "t" is there because of the clash of vowel sounds between "a" and "i". You couldn't say "Comment va il?".

Every time you make a question by putting the verb in front of the subject and your verb ends in a vowel, you have to stick a "t" to avoid a clash. This goes for "il", "elle" and "on".

This sounds complicated but French people do this by ear. They know when vowels clash and they make the "liaison" or stick a "t" in there.

"Comment va-t-elle?" (How is she doing)

Les Liaisons Dangereuses

2008-06-19T12:09:00.003-05:00

papilatinguapo writes:

Bonjour Remy. J'suis Cesar. Comment ca va? Je vais bien. J'suis americain mexicain. Je parle l'espagnol et l'anglais. J'apprends le francais avec vous. I have a question about this lesson versus lesson 5. In lesson 5 you taught us how to say il est or elle est. You had stated that we pronounce est the same as es. In this lesson you pronounced the t in est when you said, "elle est une touriste australienne". You never explained why. :( Estoy confundido.

My answer:

Hola Cesar.
The "t" in "est" is silent unless it is followed by a vowel sound as to avoid a clash of sounds The "t" is used to make a smoother transition. HOWEVER most French people do not abide by that rule and do not always make the "liaison" or link where they should thus the confusion :)

Since the "t" is silent you're left with the vowel sound "es" which clashes with the vowel sound "un". The "t" should ring. At full speed in the spoken language many French people won't bother sounding the "t" however.

Do not take from this that all "liaisons" can be ignored. Some are very necessary.

Recommended French films on Netflix

2008-06-18T14:33:00.005-05:00

List of recommended french movies available on Netflix:

L' Effrontée
Amelie
The Chorus
The Closet
Au Revoir Les Enfants
The Two of Us,
The Dinner Game
La Folie Des Grandeurs
Donkey Skin
The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Small Change
Jean de Florette / Manon of the Spring
Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits)
Army of Shadows (L'Armée des Ombres)
Le Professionnel
Le Cercle Rouge
Dirty Money (Un Flic)
Read My Lips (Sur Mes Lèvres)
Les Uns et Les Autres

Some French sounds by request

2008-06-14T10:24:00.004-05:00

I get many requests on how to pronounce words and I don't like to use text to do it because so many sounds are impossible to reproduce using combination of English letters. You can't beat hearing the actual words and actual sounds.
Here are a few that have come up recently:

vent (wind)
vin (wine)
joie (joy)
juin (June)
deux (two)
douze (twelve)

Samantha (how to say it the French way)

The french language

2008-05-27T01:45:00.002-05:00

Here's an interesting question I've received:

I can't figure this out. You told us that France is feminine but I
noticed I have one resource which uses the masculine article when
referring to the French language, another source which utilizes the
feminine article, and my French-English dictionary has two words for
language, one identified as nm and the other as nf. Can you clarify?

Here's my answer:

La France is always feminine with the exception of "Le France" which
was an ocean liner in the 60s.

Le language français
"Le" refers in this case to the word "language" which is masculine.

La langue française
The french tongue. "la" refers to "langue" which is feminine.

Polls

2008-05-25T21:14:00.001-05:00

Thank you so much for voting in the polls. I do look at the results and take those into account.

Don't forget Portuguese

2008-05-18T23:01:00.002-05:00

I received this message from Raphael and I thought I'd share it with you all:

Dear teacher Rémy, I´d like to thank you for the incredible lessons because I´m improving everyday (thank´s to you - really), but I just would like to ask you for something... Don´t forget about the portuguese language (please) when you compare the french with the german or spanish languages, specially when you talk about "being gender specific".

The portuguese language is just the same, very specific (take a look to the example below - English=French=Portuguese):

I = Je = Eu
You = Tu = Tu
He = Il = Ele
She = Elle = Ela
It = Il/Elle = Isso/Isto
We = On/Nous = A gente/Nós
You = Vous = Vós/Você/Vocês
They = Ils/Elles = Eles/Elas

Today it´s one of the world's major languages, ranked sixth according to number of native speakers (approximately 250 million). It is the language with the largest number of speakers in South America, spoken by nearly all of Brazil's approximately 186 million population, which amounts to over 51% of the continent's population even though it is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas. It is also a major lingua franca in Portugal's former colonial possessions in Africa. It is the official language of ten countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Chinese S.A.R. of Macau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe), being co-official with Spanish and French in Equatorial Guinea, with Cantonese Chinese in the Chinese special administrative region of Macau, and with Tetum in East Timor, which makes it official in all continents with the exception of North America, where it does not have any official status.

Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes once called Portuguese "the sweet language", while Brazilian writer Olavo Bilac poetically described it as a última flor do Lácio, inculta e bela: "the last flower of Latium, wild and beautiful".

So please my friend, I´m just asking for it... To don´t forget the portuguese language. It´s me and a lot of friends of mine here in Brasil (in portuguese is Brasil with ans "S", not the "Z" used in english) asking for it.

Thank you teacher.

Obrigado e um forte abraço (thank´s and a tight hug for you).

Você é o cara! (You´re the one!).

Tchau (au revoir).

Raphael

Honors for lesson 13

2008-05-17T18:51:00.002-05:00

For the week of May 12th, 2008

#14 - Premium Most Viewed (This Week) - Education - Germany

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#16 - Premium Most Viewed (This Week) - Education - Russia

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#15 - Premium Most Viewed (This Week) - Education - Taiwan

Thanks to all of you watching and learning from all around the world.

True cognates are true friends

2008-05-15T12:12:00.005-05:00

In response to Vania who posted the following:

"One question... "the same word", in different languages, with the same spelling and the same meaning are called "cognates", right?
well, my question is: "the same word", same spelling, but different meaning in different languages, how is it called? Let me leave you an easy (but really easy) example:

Comment

comment (english) = the opinion of a person about something, like the text I'm posting right now.

comment (french) = the way people do things, or things are, english translation to the french word is "how""

My answer:

One has to differentiate between a true, semi and false cognate.
A semi cognate is a word that is identical in meaning between two languages but may also have other meanings that are not common between the two languages. An example of this is the word route. In addition to meaning itinerary it also means road in French.

A false cognate is a word that has a similar spelling but a different meaning in the two languages. I call this a "false friend". Comment is the perfect example. It means how in French but not in English.

A true cognate I call a "true friend". I've used some of those: la table, le train.

Be careful of automatically thinking that words that look alike have the same meaning:
La librarie is not the library but a bookstore and un préservatif is not a preservative but a condom...

French and English cognates

2008-05-13T17:14:00.002-05:00

Here's a question I was sent by Malik:

Hello!

I am just an average Joe, who happened to creep upon your videos(they are great by the way!)

After I watched a few of your videos, I went to Yahoo France, to see how French looks and all. One thing that astonished me was the number of words that were spelled exactly as English words. I did not realize how many there were!

So then I googled a little, and discovered that 25% of French words were taken directly from English, most of them quite recent..

My question, is... Are these words pronounced exactly as English, or are they pronounced the French way? For example, the last word I saw that looked like it was the word "ferry" (as in a boat) . It is spelled exactly as English. But is it pronounced as it is in English, or it is totally different? Other examples could be "sports" "Union" "People" "Messenger" "hot dog" etc.

I just hope that these words are pronounced differently then they are in English, because I would hate to see such a beautiful language as French go down the drain!

Also, why does it seem that English is so heavily influenced in French? For example, when it comes to music.. They all seem to have English in them! I am just wondering, because I plan to learn French and want to know a little about this

Thanks
-Malik

Here are my answers:

French do pronounce english words their own way.
Don't forget that the Normans invaded England. King Richard I (the Lionheart) spoke French... only.
The word ticket is orginally french. It was then incorporated to the English language and made its way back to French later and replaced billet in common use.
So there is quite a bit of French left in the English language.
I have a list of over 1,700 cognates. Words that are spelled the same and have the same meaning between French and English. I try to use those in my lessons.
This is also the reason why I spend so much time teaching correct French pronunciation in my lessons.
French has incorporated a lot of English into itself as a direct result of the effect of American culture and technology on the world.
So if you're learning French you have somewhat of a head start with over a 1,500 word vocab you already know!
Most people only use a 500 vocabulary in their daily lives...
You do the math :-)

Rémy

French Lesson 13 is up

2008-05-12T04:06:00.001-05:00

Well the new lesson is up. It took me most of Saturday and Sunday to edit it together from various elements that I collected over the last two weeks.
One correction to the video: German does not have two words for "they" but just one. I also forgot an "s" in Stravinsky.
Thanks to Bipanah for bringing this to my attention.

New donate button

2008-05-08T10:10:00.000-05:00

This endeavor is of course not motivated by profit. I'd like to think that I do most of the giving. But quite a few of you have wanted to send me a a buck or two so I created this Paypal button which allow you to make a donation to the site. So there. :-)

200,000 views

2008-05-07T00:38:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable... The videos have now been viewed over 200,000 times. Who would have thought...
Not me. I couldn't believe when I reached 100 subscribers either. The interest certainly is there and you've all been so kind. I've received thousands of nice comments and very few nasty ones lol.
This is encouraging me to continue as well as your visits to this blog.
Thank you all!

French lesson 13 coming up

2008-04-22T17:42:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to let you know I'm working on the next French lesson. I always give a lot of thoughts to what I'm going to be teaching even though I do not work from a script.

Gender and the French language

2008-04-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

This is a question I get a lot. French people just learn which is which as you should always learn new vocab with the appropriate le or la in front of the new noun you're learning.
For example I taught you : le train and la table. Don't just learn train is train. Learn le train means train.

Here are some tricks to help you BUT be aware that there are always exceptions lurking:

Nouns ending on -ble are usually feminine (la table, la bible) BUT (le cable)
Nouns ending on -age are usually fem (la page, la page, la cage, la rage)
Nouns ending on -tre are usually fem (la montre) BUT (le centre)
Nouns ending on -me are usually fem (l'alarme, l'arme)
Nouns ending on -de are usually fem (la méthode)

Nouns ending on -ion are usually masculine (le lion, le pion)
Nouns ending on -ce are usually masc (le silence)
Nouns ending on -ite are usually masc (le granite)

Lesson 12 is up and running

2008-04-12T02:30:00.000-05:00

Click here to get to the video.

I just finished uploading lesson 12. Verb manipulation and how to extract the stem from the ending is not an easy thing to teach but is important to know of course. One has to know about the building blocks.
I see grammar as a cook book and conjugation as a recipe to be followed.
The infinitive form of a verb is like a raw vegetable that might need cooking. For the "er" verbs, you need to peel off the "er" to cook them in the sauce of the preseent. In the written language you then need to add a pinch of salt or pepper like an "e" or an "es".

adorer is to adore. If you want to say "I adore". Take adorer and remover the "er" ending. You come up with "j'ador". That IS the way you actually say it. In the written language you need to add a dash of salt in the form of an "e" with is not actually said. You end up with "j'adore"

J'adore = I adore
Tu adores = You adore
Il adore = He adores
Elle adore = She adores

This system works for most "er" verbs of which there are thousands. Many amongst those are quite similar to the english.

French musicals

2008-04-10T05:57:00.000-05:00

I got a questions about French musicals I'd recommend. Not a lot of French musicals I can think of. I have enjoyed:
"Donkey Skin" and "The Young Girls of Rochefort".
Although not a musical as such I do recommend "The Chorus".

All available on Netflix

Lesson 11 released

2008-04-04T09:06:00.000-05:00

At one point I talk about "laine". It's hard to understand that I'm saying that "la laine" is "wool" :-)
I did misspell the word responsibility at the end. I got my French mixed up with my English. In French responsibility is "responsabilité".

Why the delays?

2008-04-01T17:41:00.000-05:00

I know many of you check my YouTube page daily to check on my progress. I have been working on the lessons and have recorded some but I was not happy with the end result thus the delay. I'm trying to find a way to be on track to post weekly but without having to spend six hours on each lessons as I have in the past :-)
In the meantime I have been studying and answering all of the comments and questions concerning my videos.
Thank you for keeping on my toes.

Clarification

2008-03-22T17:43:00.000-05:00

Over the past few weeks I have received a few comments from YouTube users living in France who think that French is my second language.
In fact I was born and raised in France near Paris and english is my second language.
I came to the United States when I was 22 and have lived here ever since.
So either my english is pretty good or my french is not too bad or the other way round :-)

Welcome to the blog

2008-03-19T21:22:00.000-05:00

I get so many comments and questions that I thought I could compile some of the info on here and also let you know what's going on with the lessons. Feel free to join in and add your grain of salt.

Rémy