A French Beginner

Photos of Paris, France

2010-04-18T19:22:00.001+01:00

Paris

I have been too busy with my PhD thesis that I hardly have time to post any update here. I am still learning some French, although not as much as I used to. Till I have more time, here are some photos from France.

Regular -IR verbs

2008-10-23T15:01:00.009+01:00

Second group regular -IR verbs are similar to first group -ER verbs in terms that all regular -IR verbs can be conjugated in one way. There are not too many common regular -IR that I am aware of. The most common being finir (to finish).

Finir - To finish

Je finis - I finish
Tu finis - You finish
Il/Elle finit - He/She finishes
Nous finissons - We finish
Vous finissez - You finish (formal/talking to more than one person)
Ils/Elles finissent - They finish (Ils for masculine/misex, Elles for feminine)

Another one is choisir - to choose. It is conjugated in the exact same way.

Je choisis - I choose
Tu choisis - You choose
Il/Elle choisit - He/She chooses
Nous choisissons - We choose
Vous choisissez - You choose
Ils/Elles choisissent - They choose

Some others:

grossir - to get fat
agir - to act

If you notice, the ending for Nous, vous, and Ils/Elles is quite similar to regular -ER verbs (ez, ons, ent). One way that I use to remember conjugation (and many others that I will post in the future) is by reversing it with the English conjugation. What I mean is, for example, for I/You in English, "to choose" becomes choose (without s) as compared to He/She where it becomes chooses. In French conjugation, Je/Tu has s in the ending (choisis/choisis) where Il/Elle has no s (i.e. choisit). This might sound a bit confusing but as you go along, you will see that this is also the case other verbs. This might be of no use to you but certainly works for me in remembering the conjugations! I hope that this well help you too!

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2008-10-08T11:47:00.004+01:00

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My new favourite song!

2008-09-09T15:49:00.003+01:00

It's a French song by Charles Trenet called "Que reste-t-il de nos amours?", which means "What is left of our love?" Thanks to Frenchpod's "Voulez-vous chanter avec moi?"! You can listen to their mp3 for the translation of the lyrics or see mine below (roughly translated, might not be 100% correct). Any comments more than welcome!

The lyrics:

Ce soir le vent qui frappe à ma porte (Tonight the wind which hits at my door)
Me parle des amours mortes (Telling me of the dead love)
Devant le feu qui s' éteint (In front of the fire which is fading)
Ce soir c'est une chanson d' automne (Tonight it is a song of autumn)
Dans la maison qui frissonne (In the trembling house)
Et je pense aux jours lointains (And I think of the distant days)

{Refrain:} (Chorus)
Que reste-t-il de nos amours (What is left of our love)
Que reste-t-il de ces beaux jours (What is left of these beautiful days)
Une photo, vieille photo (A photo, an old photo)
De ma jeunesse (of my youth)
Que reste-t-il des billets doux (What is left of love letters)
Des mois d' avril, des rendez-vous (Months of April, the meetings)
Un souvenir qui me poursuit (A memory that pursues me)
Sans cesse (Continuously)

Bonheur fané, cheveux au vent (Happiness wilted, hairs in the wind)
Baisers volés, rêves mouvants (Stolen kisses, changing dreams)
Que reste-t-il de tout cela (What is left of all this)
Dites-le-moi (Tell me)

Un petit village, un vieux clocher (A small village, an old clock)
Un paysage si bien caché (A landscape so well hidden)
Et dans un nuage le cher visage (And in a cloud the dear face)
De mon passé (Of my past)

Les mots les mots tendres qu'on murmure (The words the tender words that one murmurs)
Les caresses les plus pures (The purest of caresses)
Les serments au fond des bois (The promises at the bottom of the woods)
Les fleurs qu'on retrouve dans un livre (The flowers that one finds in a book)
Dont le parfum vous enivre (Of which the perfume intoxicates you)
Se sont envolés pourquoi? (Flew away why?)

{au Refrain} (Chorus)

The song just sounds so lovely in French!

How to ask questions in French (II)

2008-09-08T15:09:00.002+01:00

With regards to my previous post here, another way to ask "would you like" using the conditional form for the verb aimer (to like).

Therefore, following the examples:

Vous aimeriez manger quelque chose? (You would like to eat something?)

J'aimerais manger quelque chose. (I would like to eat something.)

According to one of my friends, and some podcasts, waiters in French would say "Je vous écoute", meaning "I am listening to you". This might sound a bit arrogant in English but is quite a norm in France.

I will be posting a third post regarding asking questions which will include who, why, where, when and what soon. Stay tuned!

La vie en rose

2008-08-11T15:37:00.006+01:00

One of my favourite songs, La Vie en Rose, by Edith Piaf (one of my favourite singers of all time). It literally translates to life in pink, similar to rose-coloured glasses, which basically means "more pleasant than it is".

The lyrics:

Des yeux qui font baisser les miens
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche
Voilà le portrait, sans retouche
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens

*Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose

*Il me dit des mots d'amour
Des mots de tous les jours
Et ça me fait quelque chose

*Il est entré dans mon cœur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause

C'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vie
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie

+Et dès que je l'aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon cœur qui bat

Des nuits d'amour ne plus en finir
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place
Des ennuis, des chagrins s'effacent
Heureux, heureux à en mourir

{Repeat *}

C'est toi pour moi, moi pour toi dans la vie
Tu me l'as dit l'as juré pour la vie

{Repeat +}

The Translation:

Eyes which make me lower mine
A laugh which vanished on his mouth
Here is the portrait without retouch
of the man to whom I belong

*When he takes me in his arms
He whispered to me
I see life in pink

*He tells me words of love
Everyday words
And it does something to me

*He came into my heart
A part of happiness
of which I know the cause

It is him for me, me for him in life
He said it to me, he sworn it to me for life

+And as soon as I catch a glimpse of him
Then I sense in me
My heart that beats

Nights of love no longer ending
A big happiness that takes its place
Problems, grieves fade off
Happy, happy to die from it

{Repeat *}

It is you for me, me for you in life
You told me it, you sworn it for life

{Repeat +}

Please correct me if there are any mistakes!

How to ask questions in French

2008-08-06T11:48:00.005+01:00

I am back after missing for a while now. I have learned more now and have registered to do another year of French. I actually signed up for level 3 (intermediate), which is quite ambitious of me! I hope I will do ok.

Back to the topic, asking questions in French.

So far, I know there are 3 ways of doing this:

First and probably the easiest way, is to raise your pitch at the end of a sentence. For example: Vous voulez manger quelque chose? (You want to eat something?)
Secondly, you can add "Est-ce que" in front of the sentence. For example: Est-ce que vous voulez manger quelque chose? (Do you want to eat something?)
Finally, is to invert the verb and the subject pronoun. For example: Voulez-vous manger quelque chose? (Do you want to eat something?)

They are all pretty similar and not too difficult to remember at all. Of course, asking someone "do you want to eat something" can sound a bit impolite, usually in English we would ask "Would you like to eat something?" This is the same for French.

So you go:

Vous voudriez manger quelque chose? (You would like to eat something?)
Est-ce que vous voudriez manger quelque chose? (Would you like to eat something?)
Voudriez-vous manger quelque chose? (Would you like to eat something?)

Voudriez is a conditional form of the verb vouloir, to want. For subject pronoun "Je", it will be "je voudrais" (I would like). For example, Je voudrais manger quelque chose (I would like to eat something).

Well that's it for this time. Any comments are welcomed!

Long overdue

2008-07-31T00:35:00.002+01:00

Bonjour/bonsoir depending on where you are. I have not been updating my blog for too long. Partly because I was too lazy since my French lessons have come to an end for this year in April. I will be starting my French lessons again this coming October so I need to get myself back to learning French!

My trip to France in April was a fun one as I get to communicate in a bit of French. It was also quite useful as I got lost a few times. Well not really, I just used it as an excuse to speak in French.

Well hopefully I get back to French by next week and I shall post more update here!

Visit to France!

2008-04-21T17:59:00.002+01:00

I am actually visiting Lyon for a conference tomorrow and then heading south to Nice for the weekend! It would be a good opportunity for me to practise some French (even though I am so limited in terms of vocabulary), at least when ordering drinks and food in a restaurant! I will update about my visit to France. Stay tuned!

More 1st group verbs

2008-03-07T17:03:00.003Z

A few more:

Aider - to help
Nager - to swim
Étudier - to study
Laver - to wash
Parler - to talk
Travailler - to work
Visiter - to visit

Some first group verbs

2008-03-04T11:33:00.017Z

I have mentioned about first group -ER verbs in my previous post. They are regular verbs and follow the same conjugation as below for present tense:

1. Remove the -ER ending from the verb
2. Add the following to the ending:
Je - E
Tu - ES
Il/elle - E
Nous - ONS
Vous - EZ
Ils/elles - ENT

For example:

Danser - to dance

Je danse
Tu danses
Il/elle danse
Nous dansons
Vous dansez
Ils/elles dansent

Other examples include:

Regarder - to look/watch
Marcher - to walk
Écouter - to listen
Aimer - to like/love
Penser - to think
Rester - to stay
Rencontrer - to meet
Arriver - to arrive/come
Inviter - to invite

There are also some regular -ER verbs that are slightly different, for example:

Manger - to eat

Je mange
Tu manges
Il/elle mange
Nous mangeons
Vous mangez
Ils/elles mangent

Notice the difference for nous? An -e is added before -ONS so that the pronunciation of the word do not deviate too much from the root (an explanation from my tutor :)).

Also for example, acheter - to buy, you need to change the accent:

J'achète
Tu achètes
Il/elle achète
Nous achetons
Vous achetez
Ils/elles achètent

The pronunciation for the verbs with subject pronouns je, tu, il/elle, and ils/elles are the same. The -ent is silent.

I recently stumbled upon another website which I think is very good. It's called Frencvita Online French Course. The website is divided into courses for lower intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced. Have a try!

The verb aller (to go)

2008-01-24T16:05:00.002Z

Another French verb that is very common is aller, meaning to go. I don't think I have mentioned this, but there are 3 groups of French verbs: 1st group, -er, which is the easiest to conjugate; 2nd group, -ir, and 3rd group which is irregular verbs.

Aller shoud be 1st group but it is irregular, therefore it falls in the 3rd group.

Je vais - I go
Tu vas - You go
Il va - He goes
Elle va - She goes
Nous allons - We go
Vous allez - You have (formal)
Ils vont - They have
Elles vont - They have

There is no "am going" or "is going" in French. The same verb is used as for "go" or "goes". Examples:

Je vais chez mon ami - I go to my friend's house/I am going to my friend's house

Il va chez le dentiste - He goes to the dentist/He is going to the dentist

Je vais à l'hotel - I am going to the hotel

Je vais à la piscine - I am going to the swimming pool

Je vais au restaurant - I am going to the restaurant

If you notice the last three examples, there are different ways to say "to the".

For masculine nouns, au is used. Eg. au restaurant
For feminine nouns, à la is used. Eg. à la piscine
For words starting with a vowel (or h and y), à l' is used. Eg. à l'hotel
Finally, for plural, aux is used. Eg. aux toilettes

This verb is also used to ask how one is. For example,

Comment vas tu? - How are you? (informal and literally: How go you?)

Comment allez-vous? - How are you? (formal and literally: How go you?)

"avoir" continued...

2008-01-22T13:43:00.000Z

In my previous post, I forgot to mention another important usage of "I have" in French. It is also used to say:

J'ai vingt-cinq ans - I am 25 years old (literally: I have 25 years)

Il a trente ans - He is 30 years old (literally: He has 30 years)

Found another language learning software called Before You Know It. It is in the style of flash cards, and is quite good in making you remember the nouns and verbs. They have many more languages besides French. Click on the link under Les Liens to download the Free version which is very good.

FREE French Before You Know It Lite™ Download

The verb avoir (to have)

2008-01-17T18:33:00.001Z

Another verb that is very useful is avoir - meaning to have. Conjugation of the verb is as follows:
J'ai - I have
Tu as - You have
Il a - He has
Elle a - She has
Nous avons - We have
Vous avez - You have (formal or a group of people)
Ils ont - They have (masculine / mixed)
Elles ont - They have (feminine)

Examples:

J'ai un chat - I have a cat

Elle a des cheveux noirs longs - She has long black hair

One also uses this verb to describe hunger/thirst/coldness/hotness etc.

Example:

J'ai faim - I am hungry (literally: I have hunger)

J'ai soif - I am thirsty (literally: I have thirst)

J'ai chaud - I am hot (literally: I have hotness)

J'ai froid - I am cold (literally: I have coolness)

Les mois - The months

2008-01-10T13:41:00.001Z

A new year and I have been slacking in both learning my French and also updating this website. I thought I would state what are the months in French. This is my style of learning as I like learning the things that are directly related to my daily lives.

January - janviér
February - février
March - mars
April - avril
May - mai
June - juin
July - juillet
August - août
September - septembre
October - octobre
November - novembre
Decemeber - décembre

The last four months are very similar to English with just one spelling difference. Since we are talking about months, let's look at the seasons too.

Les saisons

Spring - Le printemps
Summer - L'été
Autumn - L'automne
Winter - L'hiver

Les jours - The days

2007-12-22T15:08:00.001Z

Days of the week in French:

Monday - Lundi
Tuesday - Mardi
Wednesday - Mercredi
Thursday - Jeudi
Friday - Vendredi
Saturday - Samedi
Sunday - Dimanche

Well I suppose this would be my last update until after the New Year. Here is wishing everyone Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année. Meilleurs Voeux! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Best Wishes!

The verb être (to be)

2007-12-22T14:33:00.001Z

One of the verbs that I first learnt and which I thought to be important was être. It is similar to "to be" in English. These are all in present tense.

Je suis - I am
Tu es - You are (informal)
Il est - He is
Elle est - She is
Nous sommes - We are
Vous êtes - You are (formal or speaking to a group of people)
Ils sont - They are (masculine or mixed male and female group)
Elles sont - They are (feminie group)
C'est - This is/It is (can be used to introduce someone)
Ce sont - These are (plural of c'est)

Examples:

Je suis étudiant - I am a student (étudiante for feminine. Note that you don't say "un" or "a" in this case)

Il est ingénieur - He is an engineer (again you don't say "an" like in English. This is the same for all occupations)

Nous sommes professeurs - We are teachers

Elle est femme au foyer - She is a housewife

C'est mon amie Jenny - This is my friend Jenny

Greetings and introductions

2007-12-14T15:23:00.001Z

The first thing they always teach you in a new language is to say hello and ask how is one doing. So here goes.

Good day: Bonjour
Good evening: Bonsoir
How are you?: Comment ça va? (literally "how it goes?" pronounced as sa-va) or just Ça va?
I am well: Ça va bien or Ça va très bien (I am very well)
What is your name: Comment vous appelez-vous? (How do you call yourself? in a formal way) or Quel est votre/ton nom? (What is your name? votre=formal, ton=informal)
My name is...: Je m'appelle... (literally "I call myself...")
Nice to meet you: Enchanté(if female add -e)

For example:

F: Bonjour monsieur!
M: Bonjour madame. Comment ça va?
F: Ça va bien. Et vous?
M: Très bien. Comment vous appelez-vous?
F: Je m'appelle F. Quel est votre nom?
M: Je m'appelle M. Enchanté.
F: Enchantée.

Typing in French

2007-12-14T14:55:00.000Z

To type all the accent acute etc. in French such as é, è, ê etc. using the US/UK keyboards, check out this page by Microsoft.

Using US-Int'l Keyboard Layout to Type Accented Characters

It is easy to setup and only takes a while to get used to it!

To setup the Int'l keyboard, follow these simple steps for Windows XP.

1st: Go to Control Panel -> Regional and Languange Options.

2nd: On the new Regional and Language Options window, click on the second tab to open
Languages tab. Then click on Details under "Text services and input languages".

3rd: Click on Add and then select French (France) or you can also use the default English. DO NOT click on OK yet.

4th: Check the "Keyboard layout/IME" and choose "United States - International" under the drop down list. Click OK.

That's it! You can start typing using the rules as in the document!

French learning websites

2007-12-14T13:55:00.001Z

There are lots of websites out there for French learners. I particularly like the idea of learning French through podcast, as you can copy the audio files to your MP3 player and listen to it repeatedly on the go until you can remember what was being taught. Another advantage to this is that you can learn how to pronounce it exactly, although you might not want to follow the pronunciation in public places. The French podcast I like best for now is the French for Beginners podcast. It is easy to follow, and the information is clearly published on a .pdf file. French Steps by BBC is also very good with lots of activities and tests. You can subscribe to their newsletter and they will email you weekly on how to proceed with that course. Or if you prefer to learn everything by yourself, the French website by About.com is very useful.

Happy Learning!

Au Sujet de Moi - About Me

2007-12-12T16:18:00.000Z

Firstly, a short introduction about myself in French!

J'ai 25 ans et je suis étudiant à l'université de la Reine à Belfast. Je suis de Malaisie et je suis d'origine chinois.

Mon grand père et ma grand mère étaient de la Chine mais ils sont morts maintenant. J'ai un père, une mère, 4 soeurs mais je n'ai pas de frère. Mon père est retiré et mon mère est femme au foyer. Mes première et quatrième soeurs travaillent dans un bureau. Mes deuxième et troisième soeurs travaillent en Chine. Ma première soeur est mariée. Son mari est ingénieur. Ils n'ont pas d'enfant. J'ai aussi 4 cousins. Une de ma cousins est mariée et elle a un fils qui s'appelle Kang Kang. Il a 8 mois et il est très mignon!

J'aime nager, courir, le cinéma, le théâtre, la musique, la photographie et apprendre le français.

OK well that took me some time! If you spot any error, do let me know!

Learning French

2007-12-12T15:49:00.000Z

My friend's ChinEasy blog has prompted me to start my own "language learning" blog too. As some of you may be aware, I have been learning French for about half a year now. My progress is slow as I am quite busy at the university at the moment, so I still have a long way to go! I have to say that French is one of the languages that I like the best! The pronunciation is difficult, especially the letter "R", the grammar can be different from English, and like many of the world's languages, all things can be separated into masculine and feminine, which have to be dealt with slightly differently. Having said that, I am not about to give up, and if you too are learning French, let's learn together!

I am not too sure what the contents of this blog are going to be like. I suppose I would post some contents in French as well as some of the things that I have learned over the past few months and the future. If I made any error, please do tell me!