So Verja, I'm gonna give you a little bitty lesson on how to speak one of the most beautiful and romantic languages in the world (in my humble opinion of course). =)
To aid in my lesson, I'll introduce you to Jean and Marie. (Jean is a boys name and is the English equivalent of John. the 'ean' in Jean is pronounced like the 'o' in on. Marie of course, is the English equivalent of Mary.)
First off, are the greetings:
Jean: Bonjour, Marie. (Hello Marie)
Marie: Bonjour, Jean. Comment ça va? (Hello Jean. How are you?)
Jean: Ça va bien, merci. Et toi? (I'm fine thanks. And you?)
Marie: Ça va. (I'm fine)
Thank you Jean and Marie! Now, bonjour is a fairly well known French word, n'est pas? (is it not?) Comment is the question word in the sentence. It means 'how' and is pronounced co-mo[n]. NOT like the word comment or common. The first 'o' is LONG and the second 'o' has the silent-ish 'n' added to the end.
Ça va (said sah-vah) literally means 'it goes'. With the comment added before it it means literally 'how's it going?' Marie responds with ça va bien which means 'It's going fine' or 'It's going good'.
Bien means good or well and in this case it could mean fine.
The word et is very simply 'and'.
Toi is the word for ‘you’. It is the informal version, as if you were talking to a very good friend or a relative. V
ous is the polite form of 'you'. If Marie and Jean were strangers, they could use the word vous like this:
Jean: Ça va bien, merci. Et vous?
Vous is considered more polite and is used for strangers or people in authority. It is also used when addressing a group of people like if Jean were speaking to Marie AND (let's pick a name...)
So there you have it! Your very first French lesson! Hope it was fun and informative and all that jazz. One more thing to learn
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5 comments:
wow, you spent a LOT of time on that.
Not really... I taught three people French Level 1 last year... I'm in French 4. The hardest thing is telling how to pronounce stuff. The handy dandy Jean, Marie, and Pierre stickmen are my incredible Paint creations. Brilliant, non? (FYI, 'non' is how you say 'no'. I'm sure you know that Phil, but others don't.)
it would've taken me a long time, if only because of the pictures.
Oo! Thank you for the lesson! French is so...hrmph...weird...you don't pronounce things like they're spelled. xD
I find it better to learn a whole new alphabet like Russian and have everything pronounced like it's spelled.
I'm just that way.
I despise the H in school. xD
Merci, Chan!
Thanks so much! Really!!
So. I have to make a post for YOU! *rubs hands together in delight*
Be sure to read my blog, mon ami.. Did I say that right? I meant to say my friend...I hope I said it right.
And thanks again!
I'm thinking of making a blog where I teach Spanish lessons. To anyone who wants to learn.
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