LESSON NOTES

Lower Intermediate S1 #2Psst! Have You Heard the News?

CONTENTS

2 Informal French2 Informal English2 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences4 Grammar5 Cultural Insight

# 2 COPYRIGHT 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

FRENCHPOD101.COM LOWER INTERMEDIATE S1 #2 - PSST! HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS? 2

INFORMAL FRENCH

1. Pretty Julie: Tu as regard le journal ?

2. Cheapo Bruno : Non ?

3. Pretty Julie: Quelquun a achet la tour Eiffel !

4. Cheapo Bruno: Oh mon Dieu cest possible ?

5. Pretty Julie: Non, en fait un particulier a pay 280 000 euros pour un morceau descalier de la tour Eiffel.

6. Cheapo Bruno: 280 000 euros bonjour les taxes et les impts !

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. Pretty Julie: Did you watch the news?

2. Cheapo Bruno: No.

3. Pretty Julie: Someone bought the Eiffel Tower!

4. Cheapo Bruno: Oh my god, that's possible?

5. Pretty Julie: No, in fact, an individual paid 280 thousand euros for a flight of stairs from the Eiffel tower.

6. Cheapo Bruno: 280 thousand euros? Hello, taxes!

VOCABULARY

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French English Class Gender

morceau piece, chunk noun masculine

tour tower noun feminine

taxe tax noun feminine

impts taxes noun masculine

le journalnewspaper, radio or

TV news noun masculine

quelquun someone pronoun

acheter to buy verb

regarder to look at, watch verb

Dieu God noun masculine

possible possible, okay adjective

particulier individual Noun masculine

pay paidpast participle of

payer

escalier stairs noun masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Tu veux un morceau de tarte aux pommes? "Do you want a piece of apple tart?"

La tour de Pise est penche. "The Pise tower is leaning."

Les taxes dduites d'un salaire en France sont d'environ 40%. "The deducted taxes from a salary in France are about 40%."

Je ne paie pas d'impts. "I don't pay tax."

J'coute le journal sur France info. "I listen to the news on France info."

Il y a quelqu'un la porte. "There's someone at the door."

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Quelqu'un est dehors. "Someone is outside."

Il a achet une maison. "He bought a house."

Nous avons regard un bon film. "We saw a good movie."

Dieu seul le sait. "Only God knows."

Prendre des vacances, c'est possible? "Is it okay to take a vacation?"

C'est un choix possible. "It's a possible choice."

Il a un got particulier pour les sardines. "He has a particular taste for sardines."

Vente de particulier particulier. "Sales from individual to individual."

Tu as pay la facture d'eau ? "Did you pay the water bill?"

Il y a trente-cinq marches sur cet escalier. "There are 35 steps on this stairway."

GRAMMAR

En fait/au fait/un fait "In fact/by the way/a fact"

Don't mix up these expressions, as they sound quite similar. They are all based on the very versatile verb, faire.

We use en fait, pronounced [a feht], to give an explanation or clarification. We can translate it as "as a matter of fact, actually, in fact."

Au fait, pronounced [o feht], introduces a new topic. Its English equivalent is "by the way."

Un fait, pronounced [hu feh], is a noun meaning, "a fact."

Let's see some examples in context:

1. Au fait, qu'est-ce que tu fais pour ton 50me anniversaire? "By the way, what will you do for your fiftieth birthday?"

2. Je ne sais pas. En fait, je ne veux pas le fter. "I don't know. In fact, I don't want to celebrate it."

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3. Un fait certain, c'est que je te donnerai un cadeau. "A sure fact is that I will give you a gift."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

French TV News on TV5

TV5 Monde, formerly known as TV5, is a global television network broadcasting several channels of French language programming. This TV channel is available on satellite service.

Their programming includes worldwide news as well as cultural, musical, entertainment programming and much more. French speaking channels from France, Canada, Belgium, Africa, and other countries where the official or secondary language is French, create all their content.