How to Speak French: Lesson One

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. Vous 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...) Pierre. (Pierre is the French equivalent of Peter - and you know what's cool? The name Peter means 'rock', and the French word for 'a rock' is un pierre!) If Jean was speaking to Marie and Pierre, he would use vous, because there is more than one person. (Oh, by the way, I can't spell in any language that I speak, so please ignore my horrible spelling of bien in the comic... Paint doesn't have spellcheck, lol!)

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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En Français

Je voudrais ecrire quelque chose en français. (I would like to write something in French.) À vous qui ne parlez pas français, tant pis! (To those of you who don't speak French, too bad!) Moi, je parle français aussi rapidement. (I speak French fairly rapidly.) Ici en Niamey, il faut parler français ou hausa ou zarma... ou une autre langue comme ça. (Here in Niamey, you must speak French or Hausa or Zarma... or another language like that.) Il n'y a personne presque qui parle l'anglais. (There is hardly anyone who speaks English.) Mais, je pense que je suis beni avoir une autre langue. (But I think that I am blessed to know another language.) C'est très utile! (It's very useful!) Je voudrais apprendre une autre langue aussi. (I would like to learn another language too.) Peut-être l'espagnol! (Maybe Spanish!)

Voici une poeme j'ai écrit en français. (Here is a poem I wrote in French.)

La Zamou

Merci pour la joie tu m'a donné (Thank you for the joy you've given me)
C'est comme la pluie (It is like the rain)
Je suis trempée jusqu'aux os (I'm soaked to the bone)
Merci pour la joie tu nous a donné (Thank you for the joy you've given us)
C'est comme l'océan (It is like the sea)
Tu fait tremper tout (You soak everything)
J'espere que le soleil n'arrive jamais (I hope the sun never comes)
Ni la poussière, ni la saison sèche (Neither the dust, nor the dry season)
Que ta joie jamais se tarir (That your joy will never dry up)
Laisse la pluie, laisse l'océan (Leave the rain, leave the ocean)
J'aime être mouillée (I love being wet)

Bon, au revoir mes amis! (Ok, goodbye my friends!) À la prochaine! (Until next time!)
Salama