I believe in learning with a community of learners; therefore, I have started these weekly posts about french language. Whatever I’ll learn in one week, I’ll share with my gracious readers. If you have any suggestion — or correction, for that matter — feel free to share in the comments section. We shall start from the basics and, hopefully, learn it all. I am looking for an option to record the voice clip, store it in a website and share the link to help with the pronunciation, but that is a work in progress. If you know a free website, which could come in handy, let me know. Without further ado, let’s start learning.

Agenda for Today

1. French translation of the words that we would need to use while introducing ourselves
2. Meaning and usage of the verbs: s’appeler, parler, aimer, habiter
3. Numbers till 10
4. When do we use à, en and au
5. Present one object
6. Present one  person
7. Introduce yourself
8. Exercise to revise today’s lesson
9. Assignment

French translation of the words that we would need to use while introducing ourselves

Before we start, let’s get acquainted with these words:

Je – I

Il/Elle – He/She

Tu – You (In informal situations)

Vous – You (In formal situations)

Meaning and usage of the verbs: s’appeler, parler, aimer, habiter

S’appeler – In the simplest words, this verb means to be called. Here, we would use this verb to tell one’s name. The form of this verb changes according to the subject.

Je m’appelle

Tu t’appelles

Il/Elle s’appelle

Vous vous appelez

Comment tu t’appelles? (How do you call yourself? or What’s your name?)

Je m’appelle Ankita. (My name is Ankita.)

Il s’appelle comment? (What is his name?)

Il s’appelle Arun.

You get the picture, right?

Parler – To speak. The usage of the verb according to the subject is given below:

Je parle

Tu parles

Il/Elle parle

Vous parlez

Quelle(s) langue(s) parlez-vous? (Which language(s) do you speak?)

Je parle anglais, hindi et un peu français. (I speak English, Hindi and a little bit french.)

Aimer – To like

J’aime

Tu aimes

Il/Elle aime

Vous aimez

J’aime lire des livres. (I like reading books.)

Habiter – To live

J’habite

Tu habites

Il/Elle habite

Vous habitez

Tu habites où? (Where do you live?)

J’habite à New Delhi en Inde. (I live in New Delhi, India.)

Numbers till 10

 

1. Un(e)
2. Deux
3. Trois
4. Quatre
5. Cinq
6. Six
7. Sept
8. Huit
9. Neuf
10. Dix

When do we use à, en and au

In today’s lesson, we would use these prepositions with the name of a place. If I wish to say that I live in India. I would write it as J’habite en Inde. I have used en due to two reasons:

1. Inde is female.
2. Inde is a country

If we are talking about a country, then we use either en (f) or au(m).

If I wish to say that I live in New Delhi in India, then I would write: J’habite à New Delhi en Inde. Yes, you guessed it right! We use ‘à’ in front of a city’s name.

Present one object

If you wish to ask about an object, then you should ask: Qu’est-ce que c’est? (What is this?) Let’s write something about the object in the picture. Before scrolling down, try writing your own sentences about the object in the picture. A few words for your help: a pen is called un stylo in french, a book is called une livre, blue is bleu, white is blanc, write is écrire. Helping verb for is/are/am is être. The form of  être according to the subject is as given below:

Je suis

Il/Elle est

Tu es

Vous  êtes

Qu’est-ce que c’est?

C’est un stylo. Il y a une livre sous le stylo. Le couleur de stylo est bleu est blanc. J’aime ce stylo. J’utilise ce stylo pour écrire.

Present one  person

If you want to know about a person, the question is Qui est-ce? (Who is this?)

Answer the question Qui est-ce for the person in this image. Use chanteuse (for female singer), cheveux (for hair), rouge (for red), boucles d’oreilles (for earrings), and robe (for dress).

C’est une chanteuse. Elle s’appelle Selena GOMEZ. Elle est americaine. Elle est très belle. J’aime ses chansons. Dans cette image, elle porte une robe rouge et des boucles d’oreilles. Ses cheveux sont noirs.

Introduce yourself

Now, that we have done this much, time has come to introduce ourselves. We would mention our name, profession, language, hobbies, nationality, and the place where we live.

Maintenant, présentez-vous! (Now, present yourself!) Write your answer before scrolling down.

Bonjour mes amis,

Je m’appelle Ankita. Je suis indienne. J’habite à New Delhi en Inde. Je suis ingénieur. Je parle trois langues: anglais, hindi et un peu français. J’aime lire, écrire, apprendre cette langue et de la mode.

Au revoir!

A few points to remember: 

• In English, you are Indian, irrespective of your gender; however, in french, Je suis indien (if I am a male) or Je suis indienne (if I am a female). Imagine, there is a chinese boy and a chinese girl, then the girl would say: Je suis chinoise. The boy, on the other hand, would say Je suis chinois.
• Un stands for one, une stands for one, but in the context of a female person or object. Des is the plural form. If you wish to say 1 apple, it would be une pomme, but if you wish to say apples, you must say des pommes.
• For precise information, use articles le(for male), la(f), l'(in front of a vowel), and les (for plural). If I want to say the city of India, I would say la ville d’Inde. However, if I want to say a city of India, I would say une ville d’Inde.

Exercise to revise today’s lesson

Répondez ou complétez ces questions.

1. Vous parlez anglais? (Oui pour Yes et Non pour No)
2. Qui est votre ami? Présentez-son!
3. Où est le Taj? __ Portugal? __Inde? (Complétez avec au et en)
4. Complétez avec un, une ou des.
   1. __addresse
   2. __restaurants
   3. __enfant
5. Complétez avec le, la, l’ ou les.
   1. __addresse
   2. __café
   3. __ place
   4. __ rues

Answers:

1. Oui, je parle anglais.
2. Mon amie est Abhinanda. Elle est très sympa. Elle est indienne. Elle habite à Shillong. Elle parle trois langues: anglais, hindi et bengali. Elle est un ingénieur. Elle aime écouter des chansons.
3. au, en
4. une, des, un
5. l’, le, la, les

Assignment

1. Write down ten different nationalities for Jack and Jill. For example: Jack est japonais. Jill est japonaise.
2. Write a letter to your friend and tell him/her about a place that you have recently visited. You can refer this sample letter:

Salut Megha,

Je suis à Bali. J’aime la mer et les monuments, ici. J’adore cette île. Les gens sont très sympa. La vue est magnifique. C’est une expérience super.

Bises,

Ankita

That’s all for today. I will see you again on Sunday with another lesson. Enjoy!