• To describe people’s physical appearance and age
• To identify objects
• To discuss what one owns and doesn’t own, and whether these things work or not
• To describe one’s room, what’s in it, and where things are located
• To use the expression il y a
• To learn about the multi-cultural reality of contemporary France
Accent sur … les jeunes Français
France is a young country. One quarter of the population is under the age of twenty. In their daily lives outside school, young people in France are not that mdifferent from their counterparts in the United States. They enjoy listening to music and going to the movies. On weekends, they go to the mall or into the city to check out the newest teen fashions and the latest in video games. As computers become more and more widespread, French young people often spend their free time surfing the Internet and participating in chat rooms and forums.
Since almost everyone studies English in school, French teenagers are very much aware of the American way of life. They have a generally positive attitude towards the United States and many would like to visit our country.
A. VOCABULAIRELa description des personnes
→ How to describe someone:
une personne une personne
un étudiant student une étudiante
un élève pupil une élève
un camarade classmate une camarade
un homme man une femme woman
un professeur, un prof teacher un professeur, une prof
un voisin neighbor une voisine
→ Une personne is always feminine whether it refers to a male or female person.
→ Un professeur is always masculine whether it refers to a male or female teacher. However, in casual French, one distinguishes between un prof (male) and une prof (female).
B. VOCABULAIRE Les objets
→ How to identify something:
Qu’est-ce que c’est? What is it? What’s that? —Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est … It’s …, That’s … —C’est un livre.
→ How to say that you know or do not know:
Je sais. I know. Je ne sais pas. I don’t know.
→ How to point out something:
—Regarde ça. Look at that. —Quoi? What? —Ça, là-bas. That, over there.