Act 1: Does Roast Beef mean I m ready to settle down?

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Bertram Morton
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Act 1: Does Roast Beef mean I m ready to settle down? Bienvenue! Welcome to the Language Theater! Come in, come in! Take your seat and get ready for a unique experience.

1 Act 1: Does Roast Beef mean I m ready to settle down? Bienvenue! Welcome to the Language Theater! Come in, come in! Take your seat and get ready for a unique experience. My name is Jean-Paul and I will take you through this masterful play. I hope you will enjoy the performance and learn to understand and even speak French by the end of the play. Oh, and by the way, it s a long play... from one act to the next, you will learn the language, discover nuances of French culture, and experience the thrill of a theatrical performance in the language you are learning. Oui, oui! We start with just a few words of French in Act I, but by the end of our play, most of the acts will be performed in French! Oh, what a thrill it is to enjoy a play in French! Now, a few words about the format of the show, or course if you will... A French teacher, Valérie, gives one-on-one lessons. The students who come for the lessons have very little knowledge of French, almost none. From the first lesson to the last, they will learn to the extent that each one of them will be able to understand and speak French well. You are cordially invited to enjoy the Language Theater and learn French with our students. Well, let s begin Act I. Valérie, our French teacher, is waiting for her student Jack. This is the first time Valérie and Jack meet in person. Introduction Bonjour! Êtes-vous Jacques? Excuse me? Hello, are you Jacques? Oh, right! Bonjour! Oui, oui, je suis Jacques. Très bien! Please, come on in! It is very nice to meet you, and I m glad that you want to learn French. 1/6

2 Thank you, Valérie! Well, let s start our first lesson. Thank you so much for taking me as a student! You are most welcome, Jacques! But, before we start, tell me a little about yourself. You have studied French before, right? In school, if it counts. I just remember a few words like Bonjour, je m appelle Jacques, s il vous plaît, merci, au revoir. Very good! But, I am very serious about studying. Excellent! May I ask why you have decided to go back to studying French? I would like to know what your goals are so that I can successfully design a course for you. Sure! You see, I have this idea, it's a business idea and I will need a good knowledge of French, and I may add French culture. Oh! It's intriguing! What is that? Is that a secret? It s a French restaurant! I want to open a French restaurant. Ah bon?...really? I have so many ideas about this restaurant, so it s going to be great! But I really need to be able to speak French and I need to know cultural nuances to design a great menu. Well, good luck! Bonne chance! Merci! Well, let s not waste time. Let's start learning! Grammar 1: Être in the present, Personal pronouns - Part I Our first grammar lesson will be about the verb to be, in French le verbe être. Think about the conjugated form of to be in English: I am, you are, he is, she is and so on. It doesn t really sound like a variation of to be, right? In French, it s the same with the verb être. It s an irregular verb so you won t really hear être once we start conjugating it. This is être in the present: I am - je suis You are - tu es He/she is - il/elle est We are - nous sommes You are - vous êtes They are - ils sont You probably noticed that I said You are twice in English, but gave two different translations in French, tu es and vous êtes. 2/6

3 Yes. One of this is informal "you are" and the other formal. But, we'll talk about it later today. And, now, let s start speaking French! Hah! Just like that?! Well, I ll try to use French as much as I can and if you feel confident, you answer in French. Uff! Well... let s try. Je suis Valérie. Je suis une professeure de français. Je suis Jack. Jacques est bon. Merci, Valérie! Je suis Jacques. Je suis... Vous êtes un entrepreneur. Oui oui! Je suis un entrepreneur. And... nous sommes in a class learning French. Uff, something is coming back, Valérie. Très bien! You are doing very well. Give me more examples, Jacques! Hmm...je suis... je suis... not easy to start speaking French just like that... Because you are a... je suis...i'm a... Cause' je suis a picker je suis a grinner je suis a lover And je suis a sinner playin' my music in the sun... I love Steve Miller Band! je suis a joker je suis a smoker je suis a mid-night toker I get my lovin' on the run Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Très bien! Try he is and she is, in French. il est et elle est. Il est a doctor, elle est a teacher... Il est médecin. Elle est professeur. Très bien! Continue! il est funny and elle est beautiful, il est happy and elle est happy too, il est smart and il est tall, il est interesting and il est funny... I think you already said il est funny. OK, il est very funny. Now, elle est blonde and elle est French, elle est a student, elle est a friend. 3/6

4 Excellent! He and she seem to be very nice people. Well, that s enough for the first lesson. Let's take a quick break and then we'll continue tu es, nous sommes, vous êtes, and ils sont. Grammar 2: Être in the present, Personal pronouns - Part II So Jacques, we already talked about je suis, il est and elle est. Now, let s practice tu es, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont and elles sont. What is tu es? It s you are. Bien, what about nous sommes and vous êtes? Nous sommes is we are and vous êtes is you are. So what s the difference between tu es and vous êtes if they both mean you are? Tu es is used when you talk to one person only. And vous êtes is used when you address several people. It s like you guys are. Excellent Jacques. There is another use for vous êtes or just vous. It s the polite or formal you. You should use vous and not tu with a person you don t know. Par exemple, in your case, you would use vous with new business contacts, new employees... You should use vous when there is a difference in hierarchy, for example with your boss... Ah ah, that s good, I don t have one!...with your teacher. Ah bon? Oui Jacques. Even teachers can choose to address their students using vous if they re adolescents. It s a sign of respect. So if I m talking to you, I would say vous êtes professeur de français, vous êtes française... Exactement!. And I will address you, saying: Jacques, vous êtes américain, vous êtes restaurateur, vous êtes en classe de français. Ok. Nous sommes very polite. Valérie, vous êtes un bon professeur de français. Merci Jacques. Vous êtes un bon étudiant! Try ils sont or elles sont. The French, ils sont gastronomes. The French women, elles sont chics! Excellent! Vous êtes chic also Valérie! Vous êtes gentil Jacques. Expressions: Ah bon? Now, we move to a new segment French expressions. If you want to speak as French do, Jacques, you have to use French expression. I know! Lots of them! 4/6

5 I know, I know. I have spent a few months in Paris learning French cuisine and working on my restaurant idea. I know how frequently French people use them. It s like in my neighborhood, in Brooklyn, NY, where I grew up. I swear, we could throw out all the words and get away only with expressions! Get outta here! Yeah, yeah! This is it. That s one of them! Well, let s get started then! The first French expression we ll learn is Ah bon? Ah bon? Oui, Ah bon? is most of the time translated really? but it can be translated into many other ways in English. Generally, we use it to express surprise but also to acknowledge what someone just said. In this case, it won t really sound like a question...just like really...it isn t always a question, sometimes it just means I see.. If you go to France, you ll hear it a lot. Well, now that we ve gone over the grammar lesson and the vocabulary words, do you think you could try to incorporate some of that to explain your restaurant idea? I m not sure. Je suis not ready. Je ne suis pas prêt, that s how you would say I m not ready. Ah bon? Don't be shy! Just go with your story. Whatever you can say in French, say it in French. Switch to English if you can't find words. Just don't stop. Well, let's try... Le restaurant est différent et original. Très bien Jacques! Couples would come on a first date and use the food, la cuisine, to tell about themselves. Le menu will feature items to help them do just that. For example... Par exemple... Par exemple, si un client est prêt to settle down and get married, he can order a classic plat principal such as roast beef et purée de pommes de terre fait maison. Ah bon? Why would roast beef et purée de pommes de terre fait maison send the message that he is ready to settle down? Ah bon? Isn t that obvious? Not to me? But, go on! Je suis...euh...hooked! Ah bon? No, I mean, really? Oui, oui! It s a an unorthodox idea! Je suis hooked and je suis intrigued. Well, let me ask you this. If une cliente wants to warn her date that she likes le luxe, what could she order? Hmmm, in this case, Caviar russe et blinis est un bon choice. What if elle est temperamental? Jacques: Maybe un dessert les truffes au chocolat amer. Wow! You have a real food conversation going on in your restaurant! That s the idea! It s better than sitting and feeling awkward on your first date. I agree. Let s continue. Si elle est passionnée? Passionate? She can commander Mousse aux fruits de la passion. Are you trying to describe someone in particular? Elle likes le luxe, elle est temperamental, elle est passionnée. Es-tu that client? 5/6

6 Non, non, Jacques! Who pays l addition in your restaurant? Le serveur or la serveuse can t allow la cliente to pay l addition. Ah bon? Je suis a little old-fashioned. 6/6

Trousse de Core French Learning Resources Centre Les vêtements / Clothing

Trousse de Core French Learning Resources Centre Les vêtements / Clothing Crée par Cheryl Adebar, Noah Burdett, Terri Ingram, Joan Pearce Suggested Lesson Format for using Mon passport themes *It is important