Crépieux, G. Massé, O. Rousse, J. (2013) Interactions 1: Méthode De Français (Course material for Français langue étrangère at Lycée d’Adultes, Paris)
Repeat the sounds
| [a] | [o] | [u] | [i] | [y] | |
| [s] | sa | so | sou | si | su |
| [z] | za | zo | zou | zi | zu |
| [ʃ] | cha | cho | chou | chi | chu |
| [ʒ] | ja | jo | jou | ji | ju |
Explaining places
At some point we all have to ask for directions. Asking them in another language adds another layer of difficulty as there are two parts to understand, the question and the answer.
As an example, imagine you are in a small French village and need to find the toilet.
Excusez-moi monsieur, je cherche les toilettes s’il vous plaît?
Les toilettes ? Elle est sur la place de l’église, en face de la marie.
La place de l’église ? Ou est-ce qu’elle est ?
Elle est dans la centre-ville.
Merci Monsieur.
Je vous en prie.
Or perhaps a less formal exchange explaining where you live,
Tu habites en banlieue?
Non, j’habite dans le centre-ville, à côté de la place de la Républic.
Ah? Et il est comment ton quartier?
Oh, il est practique. Il y a un gare.
Each of these exchanges follow the same basic form. Someone asks where something is and then the other answers first with the place (lieu) and then with more precision.
C’est ou?
Le lieu!
There are some basic adjectives for explaining where things are in relation to others.
| French | English | Example |
| Ici | Here | It is here. |
| Là-bas | Over there | It is over there. |
| En face | Across or opposite | Across from the supermarket. |
| De face | From the front. | Look from the front. |
| Sur | On | On the table. |
| Devant | In front of | In front of the table. |
| Derrière | Behind | Behind the table. |
| À gauche | To the left. | To the left of the table. |
| De gauche | From the left | Three steps from the left of the table. |
| À droit | To the right | To the right of the table. |
| De droit | From the right | Three steps from the right of the table. |
| Tout droit. | Straight ahead | Then go straight ahead. |
| Loin | Away | Go away |
| De loin | Far from | Our cousins live far from us. |
| Dans | In | In the house. |
| Prés | Near | Near the salt. |
| À côté | In the area of | In the region of the Louvre |
Parts of a town
Une or un have been used to denote the masculinity or femininity of the word.
| French | English |
| Une boulangerie | A bakery |
| Une gare | A station |
| Un parc | A parc |
| Une station de métro | A metro station |
| Une école | A school |
| Une pharmacie | A pharmacy |
| Un commissariat | A police station |
| Un centre commercial | A commercial center |
| Une place | A place |
| Une église | A church |
| Une mairie | A town hall |
| Une poste | A post office |
| Un supermarché | A supermarket |
| Une boucherie | A butcher |
These notes are from Interactions 1 Méthode de Française A1.1 and where copyrighted work is used it is done so under the New Zealand Copyright Act 1994.