French online classes by a native speaker

1. French online classes by a native speaker Jean-Marie « Le français tel qu’on le parle… »…

2. ALPHABET L’alphabet français se compose de 26 lettres dont 6 voyelles et 20 consonnes A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z The French alphabet has the same 26 letters as in English, which are obviously pronounced differently. Besides, French has five accents : four for vowels and one for a consonant.

3. French accents There are four French accents for vowels - l’accent aigû (acute accent é) on the letter e ( ex : un étudiant (a student), une école(a school), une épine (a thorn) - l’accent grave (grave accent è à ù) on the letters e, a or u (on a and u, it serves avoiding homographs as ou (or) and où (where) - l’accent circonflexe (circumflex) on the letters a, e, i, o, u .In old French, people wrote an s after the vowel like in « fenêtre » (une île : in old French= une isle = an island) It is also used to avoid homographs such as du ( as a contraction of de + le) and dû (past participle of devoir = idea of obligation) - l’accent tréma ¨ (dieresis) on ë, ï and ü. We use the trema when 2 vowels are next one to the other, and must absolutely be pronounced such as un caïman, ovoïde. and one accent for a consonant. - la cédille (cedilla) only used on the letter ç. It modifies the hard sound of C like an S, as in « un garçon » a boy. Capital letters are not accented.

4. How to type French accents on your keyboard ? There are different ways to type these accents, no need to have a special software for that. Among many, here is a very simple way to write in correct French with all the different accents. Just have always at hand this useful site http:french.typeit.org What you just need is to type your text in the box, and then copy and paste on your document. The main advantage of this site is that you can use it for other languages than French.

5. ASSOCIATION OF SOUNDS Frejus city Hall Sounds in French may sound a little queer to your ears, so I believe the following link will be useful to understand how it works : http://phonetique.free.fr/indexphonvoy.htm My advice is to use as many as possible the different exercises. Just because you must train your ears to these foreign sounds.

6. French symbols and punctuation marks Un point . = full stop, dot, period Une virgule , = a comma, Deux points : = colon Un point-virgule ; = semi-colon Une apostrophe ‘ = apostrophe Un point d’exclamation ! = exclamation point Un point d’interrogation ? = question mark Des points de suspension ….. = ellipsis Un trait d’union - = hyphen Un tiret __ = dash Un souligné _ = underscore Symbole du degré ° = degree sign

7. des guillemets«  » = inverted commas " " des parenthèses (  ) = parentheses des crochets droits [  ] = brackets des accolades {  } = braces descrochets <  > = brackets un et commercial& = ampersand un astérisque* = asterisk un dièse # = pound sign signe du dollar $ = dollar sign signe de la livre £ = pound sign

8. signe de pourcentage %, = percent sign signe plus+ = plus sign signe moins- = minus sign signe égal=equal sign signe inférieur< = less-than sign signe supérieur > = greater-than sign barre verticale = pipe barre oblique /trait oblique = forward slash barre anti-oblique, antislash= backslash arobas @, a commercial = « at » sign How to read an email and a website address ? For an email address : mon-oiseau_bleu@mon-FAI.fr = mon tiret oiseau souligné bleu arobas mon fournisseur accès internet point fr

9. For a website : www.myngle.com = 3 W (www) point myngle point com Now, a quick info about « les lettres muettes » = SILENT LETTERS In French, all letters are not pronounced because it is not a phonetic language like in Spanish. For example, the final consonant in a word is almost always dropped off. But the trick is that many exceptions exist. Ex : letter b plomb (no b) = lead Exceptions where you need to pronounce the final b Un nabab : Un club de pétanque, de golf = petanque/golf club Un toubib = a doctor Un lob = (tennis) lob Un baobab = ( African tree) = monkey bread tree

10. With the letter C : parc = park truc = gizmo what-you-call-it flic = (slang) = cop Avec = with But again a few exceptions porc = pork tabac = tobacco banc = bench estomac = belly With the letter F : Chef = manager, chef Actif = active Fief = fiefdom

11. With exceptions like : clef (or clé) = key nerf = nerve Œufs (zeu) = eggs. In singular you must pronounce the f and make the linkagelinkage with the preeceding consonant. (un (n)œuf) And with many other letters : For instance, we pronounce the Z for gaz, but we don’t with riz (ri) We pronounce the final R in abrutir, or fuir but with all verbs of 1st group ending with er such as aimer, donner, chanter, parler…we don’t ! From these examples, you may think that the French language is really difficult to learn and in someway not very logical….! Not at all….. and we can prove it to you ! It is just a question of being used to hear these different sounds.

12. NOTE : when a word with a slient ending consonant is immediatelly followed by a vowel, you need to make la liaison (linkage) • For example : les droits affichés de ces personnes sont clairs et détaillés (displayed rights of these persons are clear and detailed ones) • The letter T is silent in «  droit », but we make the linkage with affichés (zaffichés) • What about the « LIAISONS » (LINKAGE) • A characteristic of the French idiom : we do make linkage with preeceding words just for a question of good sounding. • How to recognise you need to make this linkage ? Or shouldn’t make it …..? • You have the choice between : - required linkage • - forbidden linkage - optionnal linkage

13. If you are a beginner, you must learn about required and forbidden linkage. You may find it strange, (and somehow boring sometimes…) but you will manage to grab the essential part of a correct pronounciation. Ruins of Roman aqueduc in Fréjus Required liaison means you must always and distinctly pronounce this particular sound. You can find it in nominal or verbal groups, with « quand »+ est-ce que……? And also in given expressions. For instance : Un homme, des hommes un ami, des amis (amies) Vous avez de jolis yeux Ils ont acheté un bel appartement en centre ville. Les anciens élèves de mon école J’ai lu ce livre tout entier Tout ceci est bien étrange

14. Forbidden linkage means, obviously, that you should never pronounce this sound as you will immediately be laughed at by people around you. Most of the time, it is just a question of good sounding, and sometimes to avoid confusion with other words. For instance ; Before a H aspiré, or a mute H Les hommes (zom), but les homards (omar) = lobster Les héros de bande déssinée, le haut des escaliers After an inversion of the pronoun : Sont-ils arrivés à l’heure …? After a conjunction of coordination Les onze élèves de cette classe, but les deux élèves… After a singular noun : L’étudiant est disposé à refaire sa copie After interrogative adverbs : comment est-il arrivé à ce résultat ? Habites-tu toujours ici ….?

15. Optional liaisons are for those who have a serious command of the language, and want to prove it. There is no specific rule for that, but you will learn by yourself in hearing how the natives consider that option (It can depend on the region of origin, and also on social background. Je suis allé à la Poste ce matin Il est heureux car il a reçu de bonnes nouvelles de ses parents Finalement, c’est assez utile comme système de défense Il n’a pas donné de ses nouvelles depuis un an. CONCLUSION : Generally speaking, the more you pronounce the liaisons, the higher register of language is spoken. Academic and refined language demands every possible liaison. In business French, people adopt a reasonable use of liaison. In conversational French, and specially among the younsters, a limited number can be heard. In the streets, you will hear a very few of them, and most of the time people won’t bother with liaisons.

16. Now, let’s talk about the GENDER OF NAMES. In French all nouns have a gender, masculine or feminine. For an English-speaking person, that is a real difficulty. How do I know the gender of the word I want to use …? In fact, there are no rules, except one : every time you learn a new vocabulary, you need to learn its gender. My advice : go to www.wordchamp.com, register with them (free !), and start creating your flashcards. And systematically Cathedral Ste-Leonce add the gender in brackets after the name (m or f) Ex : une voiture (f), un avion (m), un escalier (m), un lit (m), une orange (f) Some people would recommend to check with suffixes and words endings in order to get an idea of what the gender can be … Yes, it can help you, but as always beware of possible confusions : ex we say un squelette (m) but une allumette (f) Once you get used to write down a name and its gender, you finally will be able to memorize with no difficulty at all. But you need to do it as from the very beginning of your training.

17. List of French names having two genders In the French language, you may find words having two genders, each one having a special meaning. Un aide (male assistant Une aide (help, assistance from another person, or female assistant) Un capital (money) une capitale (capital city) Le chêvre (goat cheese) la chêvre (goat) Un crème (coffee with cream) la crème (cream) Le gène (gene) la gêne (embarrassment, trouble) Le gîte (shelter) la gîte (inclination of a ship) Le livre (book) la livre (pound: money & weight) Le manche (handle) la manche (sleeve) Le mode (way, method) la mode (fashion) Le mousse (moussaillon = petit mousse) ship’s boy as apprentice La mousse (foam, froth,moss) Le moule (mold) la moule (mussel)

18. A FEW FRENCH HOMOPHONES Homophones are words which are pronounced the same way, but with a different meaning, and sometimes with a different spelling. For instance : The letter a can be the 1st letter in our alphabet Can be verb avoir conjugated at present tense, 3rd person singular il…. elle a Can be the preposition à (but with an accent) Une amande (almond) and une amende (road fine) An (année) year and en (adverbial pronoun, or preposition) O = the letter o, eau (water) oh ! (interjection), au or aux (contraction of à + le or à + les in the plural) Un autel (altar) and un hôtel (hotel) Un avocat (fruit avocado) and un avocat (lawyer) La faim (hunger) and la fin (the end) Le basilic (basil) and la basilique (basilica) Le filtre (filter) and le philtre (love potion) Le saut (jump), le sceau (seal), un seau (bucket), sot (adj. Stupid, dumb)

19. TRUE AND FALSE COGNATES (Les bons amis et les faux-amis) As you will learn gradually the true cognates as they appear in your training, I will talk only here about the others, considered as one of the biggest pitfalls for beginners in French. Old Roman arenas in Frejus The list is long as examples are numerous, so check first if you need to translate a text.

20. AVOID CONFUSION BETWEEN « AVOIR » (to have) and « ETRE » (to be) In French, there are lots of expressions where you need to get the correct auxiliary verb, which is the opposite in English. For instance, when you refer to « how old are you » In English you use the verb to be, but in French we use the verb avoir (to have) How old are you ? I am ……… = Quel âge avez-vous ? J’ai ……… ans More examples with : Avoir chaud/froid = to be hot/cold Avoir faim/soif = to be hungry/thirsty Avoir peur de = to be scared of Avoir honte de = to be ashamed of Avoir le mal de mer = to be seasick Avoir tort/raison = to be wrong/right Avoir sommeil = to be sleepy En avoir marre/assez = to be fed up

21. REQUIRED CONTRACTIONS as : à + le , de + le In French, you need to make contractions, they are not optional like in English. For instance, when a word is followed by a vowel, a mute H, or by the pronoun « Y », you need to drop the vowel, add an apostrophe, and contract to the following noun. FREJUS Town Hall square Ex : j’adore les spaghettis à l’italienne (not : je adore) J’habite dans le sud de la France (not : je habite) Vas-tu au cinéma ce soir ? Oui j’y vais à 8H (not : je y vais) Article le or la followed by a vowel Le + avion = l’avion le + abricot = l’abricot Le + aigle = l’aigle la + usine = l’usine La + allumette = l’allumette le + orage = l’orage Le + incendie = l’incendie le + impasse = l’impasse Le + ouragan = l’ouragan la + énergie = l’énergie Le + uniforme = l’uniforme la + urne = l’urne La + obeïssance = l’obeïssance la + outre = l’outre

22. With single-consonant words ending by e like je, ce, de, se, te, ne, le, me, que Ex : ce que j’aime (not ce que je aime) Tu m’aimes (not tu me aimes) C’est lui qui parle (not ce est lui….) Qu’est-ce qu’il veut ? (not que est-ce que il veut ?) Je t’enverrai les photos par mail (not je te enverrai les photos) Comment il s’appelle ? (not comment il se appelle ?) Exception : with an inversion of the pronoun , we don’t make the contraction Puis-je avoir encore des frites s’il vous plaît ? (not puis-j’) Dois-je vraiment partir tout de suite ? (not dois-j’ ) We also make contractions with conjunctions like puisque and lorsque Puisqu’on est seuls, puisqu’ils sont si nombreux (not puisque on) Lorsqu’ils seront là, nous pourrons parler de tout ça (not lorsque ils) Contractions with preposition « à » À + le = au à + les = aux

23. à + la = à la (no contraction with the feminine) à + lequel = auquel à + lesquels = auxquels à + lesquelles = auxquelles à + laquelle = à laquelle (no contraction) (lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles are complex forms of relative pronouns) Contractions with preposition « de » de + le = du de + les = des de + lequel = duquel de + lesquels = desquels de + lesquelles = desquelles (with the feminine, no contraction : de + laquelle NOTE : don’t get confused with « le and les » as object pronouns Ex : je lui ai demandé de les laver pour moi (I asked her to wash them for me, them = my clothes)

24. A few examples of contractions which never change : D’abord, d’habitude, d’après, d’ailleurs, d’accord, aujourd’hui, quelqu’un, presqu’île. Jusqu’ici, jusqu’à présent, jusqu’alors (but jusque là) S’il and s’ils (if he, if they) But si elle (si elles) We don’t make contractions with the H aspiré (aspirated) Ex : le héros du film est un géant (the heroe in the film is a giant Je deteste le haddock ( I hate smoked haddock) No contraction also with oui, onze and presque (1 exception with presqu’île) Le oui a remporté tous les suffrages (the Yes won the poll) Le onze tricolore a remporté la finale (the french team : 11 players) won the final) No contraction possible with foreign words beginning with the letter « y » like Le yacht, le yaourt , le yack, le yeti, le yoga…

25. How to recognise the mute H from the aspirated H ? In French, we have two types of H : Both are silent, but they don’t function the same way…One is mute, and requires contraction and linkage ex : l’homme, l’hymen, l’humus, l’hôpital… The other one is « aspirated », and acting as a consonant, doesn’t allow contractions or linkage : ex le homard, la harpe, le hors-jeu, le hors-bord, le hors d’œuvre, le haricot. There is no rule to help you out with that H, so my advice is to create your own vocabulary flashcards precising gender and type. (Use a good dictionary) For instance, la hache (f.mute) la haie (f.mute) le haillon (m.mute) la haine (f. mute), le hérisson (m. mute) le hibou (m. mute) for the mute type. And for the « aspirated » type : L’habileté (f. aspirated), l’habit (m.aspi, l’habitation, l’hacienda, l’hallucination, l’hébergement, l’hélium…..etc

26. How to use the « Tu » and « Vous » ? Unlike in English, we have two pronouns corresponding to « you », tu and vous.To attribute the correct pronoun, we use the verb « tutoyer » (when you say « tu » to someone, and « vouvoyer » when you need to say « vous » • Tu is the way you show a certain informality : you can say « tu » when you speak to : - a member of your family - a co-worker- a child (until 15) or a pet • - a close neighbour or relative you ‘ve known for years On the contrary, use the « vous » when you adress : - an older person (you need to show respect to them) - someone you’ve never seen before (a sales assistant in a store, restaurant/hotel staff, a desk clerk…) or someone you don’t know well - any representative of the authorithy (Mayor, politician, police, army, any VIP) - any person you want to show respect. - when you speak to a group of people.. - Only one rule : if you are in doubt: use « vous »

27. Capitalization or no capitalization ? Many words which need to be capitalized in English are not in French. For instance : Days of the week (lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche) Months of the year (janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre) Languages : we write ….le français, le russe, l’espagnol, l’anglais (but un Français as a nationality) French adjectives are not capitalized, but nouns are. Un Anglais, un Espagnol, un Russe, un Turc, un Grec….. Geographical terms are not capitalized either : L’océan Indien, la rue Mermoz, la mer Noire, l’isthme de Panama, le canal de Suez. AND HERE IS THE END OF THE BASIC NOTIONS OF THE LANGUAGE THAT YOU NEED TO GAIN ….!