Bonjour! Tu vas bien?

-Greetings!

-How are you?

-Good day!

-Goodbye.

                How often do you see any individual to talks to people without even greeting them? Even a wave of a hand, a smile on the face, or just by calling the person can indicate someone recognizes you and wishes to communicate with you or just simply greet you. Here are some of the greetings I learned in French class:

                                Saluer de maniére formelle:

                                                Bonjour/Bonsoir + Monsieur/Madamoiselle/Madame

                                                Vous allez bien? (Are you fine?)

                                                Comment allez-vous (How are you?)

                                                Au revoir, monsieur, mademoiselle, madame (Goodbye mister/miss/mrs.)

                                Saluer de maniére informelle:

                                                Bonjour/Salut! (Greetings!)

                                                Tu vas bien? (You fine?)

                                                Ça va? (Ok?)

                                                Au revoir/Salut/Ciao! (Goodbye)

                                Saluer de maniére formelle ou informelle:

                                                Bonne journée/ Bonne soirée (Good day/Good eve)

                                                Bon week-end! (Nice weekend)

                Familiar? Yes, you’ve definitely heard it from TV shows, movies, cartoons, or even your friends and relatives! À la prochaine. Ciao!

Et vous?

                Two of the most important part of language are verbs and negations. In English, it is as simple as past, present and future tenses. But in French or most European language, the present tense can have numerous conjugations.

                                Être (meaning “to be”)                                                 

Je	Suis
Tu	Es
Il/Elle	Est
Nous	Sommes
Vous	Êtes
Ils/Elles	Sont

                                Avoir (meaning “to have”)

J’	Ai
Tu	As
Il/Elle	A
Nous	Avons
Vous	Avez
Ils/Elles	Ont

                To distinguish the uses, “to be” is commonly used for identification of a person like relationship and nationality. “To have,” on the other hand is used with possession and with numbers.

                For example:     Je suis chinois. (I am Chinese.)

                                         Il est mon ami. (He is my friend.)

                                         Vous avez vingts ans? (You have 20 years of age?)

                                         J’ai une carte d’identité. (I have an identification card.)

                Differentiating the two verbs can be quite hard.  But, if you know the rules, then you’re halfway ready!

                Other verbs are not that difficult to conjugate compared to the ones stated above. These are called regular verbs: adorer, étudier, parler, desirer, travailler, jouer, habiter, aimer, et rêver.

Je	-e
Tu	-es
Il/Elle	-e
Nous	-ons
Vous	-ez
Ils/Elles	-ent

                  For example:     Je joue du violin dans un grand orchestra.

                                           Il parle anglais, esagnol, et un peu chinois.

Word	Meaning	Usage
Adorer	To love	Always followed by a noun
Étudier	To study	Followed by a subject/course
Parler	To speak	Followed by a language
Désirer	To wish	Always followed by another verb
Travailler	To work	Followed by job or date
Jouer	To play	Followed by the word “de”
Habiter	To live	Followed by a place
Aimer	To like	Followed by another verb
Rêver	To dream	Followed by the word “de”

              For example:     J’adore la cuisine de mexicaine.

                                      Nous étudions l’architecture.

                                      Tu parles quelle langue?

                                       Il desire être ingenerie pour l’university.

                                      Vous travaillez par deux.

                                       Je joue de guitar.

                                       Vous habitez au Canada?
                                       Elles aiment beaucoup étudier l’economie.

                                       Je rêve de visiter Paris.

                Negations, on the other hand are placed around the verb.

                For example:     Je ne parle pas russe. (I can’t speak Russian.)

                                         Il ne travaille pas pour samedi (He can’t work on Saturday.)

                Un formulaire d’inscription

Mon nom de famille	Lee
Mon prenom	Je m’appelle Sherwin
Mon age	J’ai 21 ans
Ma date de naissance	11 Juin 1989
Ma nationalité	Je suis chinois.
Mes etudes	J’étudie l’economie
Mon numéro de telephone	09063129226
Mes addresses électroniques	pspslye@yahoo.com
Ma passion	C’est le mathematique

                Et toi? 

S-H-E-R-W-I-N

         

            After introducing yourself, some might find it interesting to know the spelling of your name. Names, like Schin, Gertrude, or Thierry, may seem new to some individuals that would sooner than later request for a spelling. This was the second topic discussed in my French class.

            It all started with a simple reading of the alphabet. While reading it, I took note of the pronunciations that would help me in reading it correctly. Here’s what I did:

Lettre	Prononciation
A	A
B	Be
C	Se
D	De
E	Uh
F	Ef
G	Je
H	Ash
I	I
J	Ji
K	Ka
L	El
M	Em
N	En
O	Oo
P	Pe
Q	Keu
R	Er
S	Es
T	Te
U	Yui
V	Ve
W	Dublu ve
X	Iks
Y	I grec
Z	Zed

            Interesting, right? Well, it’s quite effective in learning French. Know the alphabet, and then you graduate kindergarten! In addition, as any beginner would enjoy their lesson, we started sing the alphabet song! “A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, ,P, Q, R, S, T, U, V,W, X, Y, et Z. Maintenant, j’ai mon alphabet. Chante avec moi la prochaine fois.” Tons of fun and laughter filled the room, as we started to pronounce the letters correctly while catching up with the tune. Nevertheless, we were able to sing it flawlessly, or at least close to it. ^^

            Afterwards, we started asking and answering the question “Comment ça s’ecrit?” or “Vous pouvez épeler?” – both meaning “How do you spell?” We all enjoyed asking each other the same question, while answering it when asked for it. This is what makes languages courses FUN – it’s a highly interactive learning experience!

            Bonne journée!

Je me présente

                Introductions are very important in every individual. It differentiates us from other people, makes us unique, and gives us an identity. Imagine people being called by the word “Hoy!” or “Hey!” or “Excuse me” without a proper name, then that would really be frustrating.

                This is our first lesson in French – introducing yourself. Well, French class, like any European language classes, start by breaking the ice. We get to know our classmates names, but this time we don’t use English. And since this is in fact a French class, there’s only one option – use French! How? It’s simple.

                First , we need to know the basic pronouns like je, tu, il/elle.

Anglais	Français
I	Je
You	Tu
Him/Her	Il/Elle

                Simple, right? Next, we’re introduced with the next term – appeler. Well, as you might predict when you’ve taken any European language course, this is definitely a word meaning “say” or “call.” Then, you’re right! And, it comes with your matching conjugations:

Anglais	Français
I call myself	Je m’appelle
You call yourself	Tu t’appelles
He/She calls himself/herself	Il/Elle s’appelle
You call youself (formal)	Vous vous appelez

                Does it get harder? Well, for me this was the easiest topic of all! Notice that the pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, and the new pronoun vous (which is used for formal conversations or plural form) were placed at the start of the phrase and followed by letters such as m, t, and s with apostrophes and then the verb appelle which comes in unique forms. Let us first observe and dissect the first one: Je m’appelle.

Je                    m’                appelle

I                    myself                   call

                Like in Spanish, French grammar does not look like that of the English. Imagine the Spanish phrase “Yo te amo,” which means “I love you,” but the direct translation would be “I you love.” Same goes for French, the pronouns are placed in front, while followed by the verb and other succeeding words or concepts.

                Next, notice that the verb is conjugated differently in each case. Unlike English, Other European language uses conjugations. Use this simple rule: Words using “je” end in “e”; words with “tu” end in “es”; words with “il/elle” end in “e”; and words with “vous” end in “ez.” Then, just add your name or someone else's name at the end like: Je m'appelle Sherwin or Il s'appelle John.
                Lastly, to ask for the name of a person, just add the word "Comment," which means "how." For example, "Comment tu t'appelles?" which means "How do you call yourself?" And, take note that it comes in many forms:
                        Informal:       Comment tu t'appelles?
                                            Comment t'appelles-tu?
                                            Tu t'appelle comment?
                        Formal:         Comment vous vous appelez?
                                             Vous vous appelez comment?
                                             Comment vous appelez-vous?
                Having a hard time? Well, it’s time to memorize and familiarize. Practice makes prefect.
                Have fun! Bonne etudie!