LEARN FRENCH BY PODCAST

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1 LEARN FRENCH BY PODCAST AUDIO PODCASTS FOR LEARNERS OF FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE Lesson 9 Discussing a sports event Plus Publications Bramley Douglas Road Cork Ireland (t) 353-(0) (f) 353-(0) (e) editor@learnfrenchbypodcast.com (i)

2 Hello once again, and welcome to Learn French by Podcast. My name is Hugh Nagle and here with me is Amélie Verdier. Welcome back, Amélie! Bonjour! Today, Amélie, we re going to have an Intermediate lesson. We re going to discuss a football match which took place just a couple of days ago, but the vocabulary could just as easily apply to any sports event we might be discussing. So let s get started! Alors, tu as vu le match France-Espagne hier soir? Oui, je suis allée au pub avec mon copain et des potes à nous. Il y avait une bonne ambiance! Au début les Français étaient calmes, surtout après le but sur penalty des Espagnols! Par contre, après l égalisation, un, deux, trois buts!! C était la folie!! Tout le monde chantait, criait, sautait de joie!! Let s hear that a second time Je suis allée au pub [ ] pote (m) pote (m) [= mate, buddy, pal] French has several words for friend, including ami, copain and pote. The noun pote (m) forms part of the slogan Touche pas à mon pote! (literally, Don t touch my mate! ) of the organisation called SOS Racisme, founded in 1984 to fight against all forms of racial discrimination. Watch the pronunciation! The final s of Je suis is normally silent. Here, however, it collides with a vowel. In such cases, the s is pronounced as a z. And one final time Je suis allée au pub [ ] Now, let s start with the first thing you said: Je suis allée au pub. From a grammatical point of view, this expression is not so simple: it is one of those situations where a verb in the Past tense le passé composé requires the auxiliary verb être: je suis. Let s not worry too much about this right now, however. Let s just remember that expression: Je suis allée au pub. Je suis allé(e) Let s take another couple of examples. Now, we received an from Simone who suggested that we pause after each example so our listeners can repeat the pattern to themselves. From this podcast forward, we re going to do that. So, Amélie, I went to the bank would be Je suis allée à la banque. Je suis allée à la banque. I went to the post office Je suis allée à la poste. Je suis allée à la poste. I went into town Je suis allée en ville. Je suis allée en ville. So, this is an example of le Passé composé, the past tense we use when we re talking of cut-and-dried events that are now complete. to the à la [+ feminine noun] to the will be à la in the case of feminine nouns. au [+ masculine noun] We will find au in the case of masculine nouns. au magasin. au bureau. à l [+ noun beginning with vowel or h ] Where we have a noun beginning with a vowel or mute h, we ll find à l : à l église. à l école.

3 There are several examples, too, of the Imperfect tense in this passage. You said, for example Il y avait une bonne ambiance Les Français étaient calmes C était de la folie! Tout le monde chantait, criait, sautait We can clearly hear these distinctive endings of the Imperfect tense describing a scene in the past. So our listeners can practice their pronunciation, let s take a few further examples There was a bad atmosphere Il y avait une mauvaise ambiance. Il y avait une mauvaise ambiance. l imparfait Remember! We ll use the Imperfect when describing events in the past. chanter [= to sing] je chantais tu chantais il / elle / on chantait nous chantions vous chantiez ils / elles chantaient Remember the endings (in bold) of the Imperfect. une mauvaise ambiance, as opposed to une bonne ambiance. Now, how about I was calm? J étais calme. J étais calme. I was not calm Je n étais pas calme. Je n étais pas calme. The French were mad! Les Français étaient fous! Les Français étaient fous! The French were sad! Les Français étaient tristes. Les Français étaient tristes. I was singing Je chantais. Je chantais. I was shouting Je criais. Je criais. Je criais I was shouting, not crying. I was jumping Je sautais. Je sautais. crier [= to shout (out)] je crie tu cries il / elle / on crie nous crions vous criez ils / elles crient pleurer [= to cry]. A regular er verb.

4 That s excellent, Amélie. Let s move on a little. And your friends, what did they think of the match? Tes amis, ils pensent quoi du match? Ils pensent que notre équipe a très bien joué. Les Espagnols nous en veulent maintenant! Ils pensaient tellement gagner! Ce match change de d habitude. Lors des matchs du premier tour, l équipe des Bleus était vraiment mauvaise. On aurait dit que les joueurs ne voulaient pas jouer, mais là il y avait du jeu. L arbitrage était juste. L arbitre n a donné que quelques cartons jaunes. Concernant le penalty, on a tous été un peu chauvin! Tous les Français étaient dégoûtés! C était un but volé! Sinon, on a retenu le nom de Ribéry parce qu il a marqué le premier but et qu il a fait d excellentes passes pendant le match! en vouloir à quelqu un This expression means to have it in for someone. Some further examples: Il m en veut. Le prof nous en veut. To use this expression, we ll need to know vouloir [to want, to wish]: je veux tu veux il / elle / on veut nous voulons vous voulez ils / elles veulent past participle: voulu Let s hear this section again. Before that though, let s put a couple of questions to our listeners and see if we can discover the answers while listening a second time: (1) what do we hear with regard to the refereeing, and (2) why should we remember Ribery s performance? Ok, then. Let s hear this a 2nd time Mes amis pensent que [ ] Now, the answers were (1) that the refereeing was just or good and that the referee gave just a few yellow cards, and (2) Ribery s performance was memorable because he scored the first goal and he made some excellent passes. Let s listen a final time so we can hear that information once again Mes amis pensent que [ ] Let s point out a couple of expressions which would recur when discussing the performance of a team. You said L équipe a très bien joué. That is, The team played very well. Let s practice: Jack played well Jacques a bien joué. Jacques a bien joué. bien / mal jouer = only ne... que This combination ne... que when wrapped around a verb means only: that is, the referee only gave (out) a few yellow cards. Je n ai que deux stylos. [I have only 2 pens.] verb retenir = to remember, to retain je retiens tu retiens il / elle / on retient nous retenons vous retenez ils / elles retiennent past participle: retenu [This verb is conjugated in the same way as: venir (to come), and tenir (to hold) We played well Nous avons bien joué. Nous avons bien joué. The Blues played very well. Les Bleus ont très bien joué. Les Bleus ont très bien joué. The Reds played badly. Les Rouges ont mal joué. Les Rouges ont mal joué.

5 Then, we heard the expression You d have said that or One would have said that ; remind us again of that expression On aurait dit que And once again? On aurait dit que When you said We were all a little patriotic!, you used the expression On a tous été un peu chauvin. On a tous été un peu chauvin. We could substitute different adjectives for chauvin. How about We were all a little disappointed On a tous été un peu déçu. On a tous été un peu déçu. On aurait dit que So, how does that work, exactly? It s a combination of the Conditional form of avoir: On aurait followed by the past participle of the verb dire (to say): dit In other situations, we would find other past participles: On aurait travaillé [= We/one/people would have worked ] We were all a little tired On a tous été un peu fatigué. On a tous été un peu fatigué. We were all a little drunk! On a tous été un peu ivre. On a tous été un peu ivre. You mentioned that Ribery scored the first goal Oui. Il a marqué le premier but. marquer un but, to score a goal. Now I scored a goal would be? J ai marqué un but. J ai marqué un but. un but He scored two goals Il a marqué deux buts. Il a marqué deux buts. The Blues scored three goals Les Bleus ont marqué trois buts. Les Bleus ont marqué trois buts. Let s make the point that un but can be a goal in a match or, figuratively, a goal in life, for example in the expression Mon but, c est de voyager autour du monde avant l âge de 30 ans!

6 Finally, Amélie, what awaits the French now? Qu est-ce qui attend l équipe de France? Et bien, le match contre les artistes du ballon rond: l équipe du Brésil. Ça va être sensationnel!! Le Brésil a toujours une revanche à prendre sur la France depuis leur défaite en final de la Coupe du Monde 98. Let s hear this last part once more Et bien, le match [ ] It s going to be sensational! that s a good expression to remember Ça va être sensationnel! Ça va être. Now, if it was going to be a difficult encounter, we could say Ça va être difficile. Ça va être difficile. or an easy one? Ça va être facile. Ça va être facile. Ça va être it s another example of le Futur immédiat which we ve met before. Amélie, we ve discovered a lot here, today: we ve talked once again about the Imperfect when describing a scene in the past, and we ve learned some sports-specific vocabulary, too. Until next time A la prochaine! Ça va être avoir une revanche à prendre sur that is, to want to take revenge on [someone]. depuis Remember! This word means depending on the context since, for, from [the time that something occurred], etc. depuis leur défaite [ since their defeat] Depuis trois mois j étudie le français. [I ve been studying French for three months.]

7 If you understood our lesson, then you should be ready for Now it s your turn Any questions? Any comments? 1. He went to the bank. 2. They went to the library. 3. We went to the pub. 4. We were shouting, jumping, singing. 5. My sister played well. 6. Roddick played badly in Wimbledon. 7. It s going to be exciting! See the answers at Submit them to us at Vocab extra! ambiance (f)... atmosphere après... after arbitrage (m)... refereeing ballon (m)... ball Brésil, le~... Brazil carton (m)... card, box chauvin... patriotic, chauvinistic concernant... with regard to contre, par ~... on the other hand copain (m)... friend, pal coupe (f)... cup d habitude... usually début, au ~... at the start défaite (f)... defeat, loss dégoûté... disgusted égalisation (f)... drawing level équipe (f)... team Espagnol (m)... Spaniard folie (f)... madness gagner... to win jeu (m)... game joie (f)... joy maintenant... now monde (m)... world monde, tout le ~... everybody parce que... because passe (f)... pass [in sport] pendant... during penser... to think pote (m)... mate, pal premier... first pub (m)... pub, bar rond... round sinon... but, otherwise surtout... especially tellement... so toujours... still, always tour (m)... round volé... stolen vraiment... truly, really Submit them to us at

LEARN FRENCH BY PODCAST

LEARN FRENCH BY PODCAST AUDIO PODCASTS FOR LEARNERS OF FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE Lesson 40 How am I going to explain it to him? Plus Publications Bramley Douglas Road Cork Ireland (t) 353-(0)21-4847444