Leçon 1 – Greetings and Salutations

Vocabulaire

The symbol (n) will represent the very nasal, almost unpronounced French sound. To achieve this sound (or something resembling it), say ing (as in “sing”). Draw out the ng sound, but do not pronounce the “g.”

French	Pronunciation	English
Bonjour!	Boh(n)-zhoor	Hello! / Good morning!
Salut!	Sah-loo	Hi! / Bye! (like “aloha,” informal)
Comment allez-vous?	Cohmoh(n) tallay voo	How are you? (formal)
Je vais: bien/mal/comme ci comme ça.	Zhuh vay: bie(n)/mahl/come see comme sah	I'm doing: well/badly/so-so
Comment vas-tu?	Cohmoh(n) vah too	How are you? (informal)
Ça va?	Sah vah	How are you? How's it going? (informal)
Je vais/Ça va: bien/mal/comme ci comme ça.	Zhuh vay/Sah vah: bie(n)/mahl/come see comme sah	I'm doing/It's going (informal): well/badly/so-so.
Et vous?	Ay voo	And you? (formal)
Et toi?	Ay twah	And you? (informal)
Au revoir!	Oh rivwah	Good bye!

Practice the following conversations (in French). If you are by yourself, you should do funny voices for each character!!!

Informal

A - Hello, Mother Teresa! How's it going?

B – Hi, Pope Benedict! It's going well. And you?

A – Oh, I'm doing so-so. Good bye!

B – Bye!

Formal

A – Good morning, Abraham Lincoln.

B – Hello, Frederick Douglas! How are you?

A – I am doing well. And you?

B – I am doing badly. Good bye.

A – Good bye.