Leçon Un: Salutations et Phrases Touristiques
Lesson One: Greetings and Tourist Phrases
Let's start with the easy stuff. "Bonjour"; a phrase everyone knows. It is a formal way of saying "hello", and if you are in France it is customary to say this to everyone you meet before speaking or even after entering a room. This is pronounced "bohnjorr". It should be said in a very fast manner, angling your tongue towards the top of your mouth and slightly pursing your lips.
So let's say you are in France on a lovely little European holiday (or "vacation", if you're a non-rebellious American). Someone comes up to you and starts speaking in French. The conversation should go as follows:
Person: Bonjour.
You: Bonjour !
Person: D'où venez vous ?
You: États-Unis. Vous ?
Person: France. Comment vous appellez-vous ?
You (or, rather, me): Je m'appelle Sock. Vous ?
Person: Enchante, Sock. Je m'apelle Pierre.
This is the formal way of carrying out this conversation. We'll get to the informal way in a moment.
Now, let's dissect this dialogue. We already know what Bonjour means. But what about "D'où venez vous"?
D'où venez vous means "where are you from" or more literally, "where do you come from". So vous is, obviously, "you". États-Unis is the United States. Of course, you may not be from the United States and can substitute it with any country of your choice (you can find a list
here, and find pronunciations
here). As always, you want to keep your tongue angled towards the roof of your mouth, so you don't appear like an ignorant foreigner. Comment vous appellez-vous is just asking what is your name. Simple enough. So the answer for me would be "Je m'appelle Sock" (I am Sock). Of course, you'd replace "Sock" with whatever your name is, and if you don't know your own name it's probably best we stop immediately. Enchante (or with an extra e, if you're a girl) means "nice to meet you". We'll get to pronunciation later.
And now, let's do an informal version of this same conversation:
Person: Salut.
You: Salut!
Person: D'où viens-tu?
You: États-Unis. Tu?
Person: France. Comment t'appelles-tu?
You (or, rather, me): Je m'appelle Sock. Tu?
Person: Enchante, Sock. Je m'apelle Pierre.
This is a much more relaxed way of going about it. As in English, know when to be formal and when to be informal. If you are at a party, it is likely fine to use informal language. However, if you are with your co-workers, using formal language is probably best. This doesn't apply to all situations, and also a sweeping generalisation, but in general just use your common sense. Please note that "salut" can also mean "bye".
Here's another small conversation:
A: Salut !
B: Salut.
A: Ça va ?
B: Ça va. Ça va ?
A: Ça va. Tu parles anglais ?
B: Oui.
Now, we know what Salut means. "Ça va?" is an informal way of saying how are you. "Ça va" is an answer to it, meaning "not bad" or "I'm fine". The next question, "Tu parles anglais ?" is "Do you speak English?". The answer, "oui", is something we all know, and the butt of the joke for many immature Americans. Now, let's go to the formal way of carrying this conversation out:
A: Bonjour !
B: Bonjour.
A: Comment allez-vous ?
B: Pas mal. Vous?
A: Pas mal. Parlez-vous anglais ?
B: Oui.
Same conversation, but with the tone changed slightly. Other helpful phrases are "merci (beaucoup)" meaning thank you (very much), and "excusez-moi" (excuse me), "de rien" (you're welcome), and "S'il vous plaît / S'il te plaît" (please, formal/informal). There are tons I could cover, but instead check the resources for more info. Any questions or improvements you might have should be left in the comments.
Also, an index of all the things we've learned this time around, as well as helpful links:
bonjour - hello
D'où venez vous ? - where are you from (formal)
États-Unis - United States
Comment vous appellez-vous ? - what is your name (formal)
Enchante(e) - nice to meet you
Je m'appelle ___ - my name is ____
salut - hi/bye (informal)
D'où viens-tu? - where are you from (informal)
Comment t'appelles-tu? - what's your name (informal)
Ça va ? - how are you (informal)
Ça va - I'm fine (informal, when answering the above)
Tu parles anglais ? - do you speak english? (informal)
oui - yes
Comment allez-vous ? - how are you (formal)
pas mal - not bad
Parlez-vous anglais ? - do you speak english? (formal)
merci (beaucoup) - thank you (very much)
excusez-moi - excuse me
de rien - you're welcome
"S'il vous plaît - please (formal)
S'il te plaît - please (informal)
And now, resources and links to check out:
http://www.ielanguages.com/french1.html - A list of basic French day-to-day phrases.
http://french.about.com/library/listening/bl-begdialogue1-transcript.htm - beginning french dialogue transcript. Go to the bottom and you can translate or listen.
http://french.about.com/library/vocab/pays/bl-countries.htm - countries
http://www.forvo.com - language pronunciation; good for any language, not just french
http://www.smart.fm - online flashcard website. Requires sign-up. Mostly for Japanese, but has a lot of great french lessons.
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dczfq5r9_422sc2bdfm - Wraith Lord's french lesson for absolute beginners
