Practice Makes Perfect French Conversation

By Eliane Kurbegov

Learn how to speak French fluently and spontaneously

Practice Makes Perfect: French Conversation gives you helpful instruction on correct pronunciation, grammar, syntax, and word usage, keeping in mind the typical problems of native English speakers like you. Each section includes a series of exercises that gives you extra practice in using new concepts and encourages you to construct personalized conversations. The lessons will reassure even grammar-phobic learners that you can achieve a confident speaking style.
Offering a winning formula for getting a handle on speaking French right away, Practice Makes Perfect: French Conversation offers:

• Engaging dialogues illustrate practical conversational situations
• Example phrases or sentences clarify each point
• A variety of exercises for practice, with an answer key that provides instant feedback and reference
• Practical and high-frequency vocabulary used throughout

• Language: English
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Release date: Jan 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9780071770880

Book preview

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT™

French Conversation

Eliane Kurbegov

Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-177088-0

MHID:       0-07-177088-7

The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-177087-3, MHID: 0-07-177087-9.

All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.

McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please e-mail us at [e-mail].

Trademarks: McGraw-Hill, the McGraw-Hill Publishing logo, Practice Makes Perfect, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of The McGraw-Hill Companies and/or its affi liates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The McGraw-Hill Companies is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

TERMS OF USE

This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.

THE WORK IS PROVIDED AS IS. McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.

Contents

Preface

1   Meeting people

2   Making conversation and making plans

3   Discussing leisure activities

4   Discussing current events

5   Watching sports events

6   Celebrating and having fun

7   Accomplishments

8   Making comparisons

9   Asking for help

10   Departures

Answer key

Preface

Have you already spent considerable time learning French vocabulary and grammar? Are you ready to learn the language that real Francophones speak in a spontaneous and authentic manner? In that case, this is the right book for you. You have some knowledge of French, and you probably want to embark on activities that will allow you to engage in conversations with native speakers of French. That is precisely the aim of this book!

My personal experience as a student of languages as well as a teacher of French is that the most appealing aspect of language study lies in your ability to interact with other people in the target language, gaining ever greater insights into new cultures.

Although learning vocabulary and grammatical concepts is important, it is but one avenue toward real communication. Therein lies the fun! Once you have established the fundamentals of language, it is time to aim at practical applications, setting the stage for personal interactions, and above all, an understanding of the target culture.

Language does not merely consist of words and structures; it is a representation of the perspectives and points of view of real people. Growing up in France, I became accustomed to acting humbly, for instance questioning whether I truly deserved a compliment, instead of simply accepting it and thanking the giver for it—as Americans do. So, when I first came to the States, it took me a while to understand that an appropriate reply to a compliment such as What a pretty dress! is Thank you rather than Really, you think so?

Therefore, to help you gain an understanding of cultural differences between U.S. culture and French culture, I have tried to create as many culturally appropriate scenarios as possible in this conversation book, so that you can appreciate situations you might encounter in France: transportation strikes, Bastille Day celebrations, shopping at the Fnac (a chain of stores specializing in electronics, books, CDs, and videos). I also created Chris, an American student in France, so that you could meet French people and face authentic French situations through his eyes. Although the cultural focus is on France, the communicative aspects of language emphasized throughout the book are applicable to all Francophone cultures. Furthermore, because my goal is to give you the skills required for conversation, dialogues are often written in the informal register (with tu) except for interactions that require the formal register (with vous), for example, with salespeople, waitpersons, or business associates.

The book is divided into ten units. Each unit is guided by a theme, such as current events, leisure time, or asking for help. You can focus on specific units or themes of interest, or you may opt to travel through the chapters in the order they are presented. The latter approach will allow you to become familiar with the characters who reappear throughout the chapters and meet new ones as you go through the book.

The conversational style of the lessons aims at developing a confident speaking style. Beginning with an opening conversation, followed by grammatical notes, syntactical structures, and study of word usage, all elements are focused on the typical problems of native English speakers.

Each unit features several engaging dialogues that illustrate practical, interesting, and culturally relevant conversational situations. For example, in one chapter, you will learn that travel and leisure activities in France are at times impacted by labor strikes. Useful, high-frequency conversational phrases are highlighted in the dialogues, then clarified and illustrated for your use. A variety of exercises help you put new knowledge into practice. The Answer key provides quick and easy feedback. You will get practice in using new concepts and will be encouraged to construct personalized conversations.

This book will enhance your conversational skills by exposing you to high frequency phrases and sentences used in spontaneous conversations and provide opportunities to practice them in a variety of formats.

À vous de jouer!

·1·

Meeting people

Dialogue 1

Chloé meets a young American at a party. She has never met him face to face, but she seems to know him …

EXERCICE 1·1

Jugez de votre compréhension. Check your comprehension. Write T for true or F for false.

1. _______ Chris connaît déjà Chloé.

2. _______ Chris est français.

3. _______ Chloé est américaine.

4. _______ Chris est l’ami de Didier.

5. _______ Chloé traduit des méls en français.

Improving your conversation

Review the following explanations of some interesting phrases found in the previous dialogue. Make them your own.

Bonjour

To say hello, the words bonjour (literally, good day), bonsoir (literally, good evening), or salut (hi) may be used. Bonjour is usually used until around six P.M., whereas bonsoir is used after six P.M. On the other hand, salut can be used any time of day.

Ça va bien?

This question has several variations. Ça va? may be interpreted as How are you?, How’s it going?, or Is everything OK? Therefore, there is flexibility in the response.

The question Ça va bien? is more specific and requires a yes or no answer.

Moi, je/toi, tu/lui, il/elle, elle

In English, voice inflexion and tone are used to emphasize the subject; in French, emphasis is conveyed by adding a stress pronoun before the subject pronoun.

C’est ça

Use this phrase to confirm what someone says to you.

Je vois

Use this phrase to confirm that you understood what was conveyed to you.

Je pige

This phrase is slang for Je comprends (I understand).

Merci pour…

Use