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Beginners’ French: A trip to Avignon
Beginners’ French: A trip to Avignon

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1.1.4 Le rôle du touriste

Activité 4

Vocabulaire
Vous êtes de la région?Are you from round here?

Listen to Extract 41 and take the part of the tourist.

Écoutez l'extrait 41 et parlez dans les pauses.

Download this audio clip.Audio player: Audio 3
Audio 3
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Answer

Dialogue Here is the dialogue in full:

(Apologize and ask if she comes from the region.)

Vous Pardon madame, vous êtes de la région?

La passant Oui, je suis d'Avignon.

(Ask where the town hall is.)

Vous Où est la mairie, s'il vous plaît?

La passante La mairie est place de l'Horloge.

(Ask if it's far.)

Vous C'est loin?

La passante Non, regardez, nous sommes ici, rue de la République et la mairie est là!

Learning verbs

Grammar books and dictionaries give the conjugation of different verbs, that is, all forms of the verb (je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles) in different tenses. You will come across some of the essential verb forms as you progress through the course.

You may like to learn verb tables by heart. However you may find a more effective way of remembering verb forms is to create short sentences. For instance, instead of learning that je suis means ‘I am’, remember a phrase to express your nationality: je suis anglais(e) (English) / écossais(e) (Scottish) / gallois(e) (Welsh) / irlandais(e) (Irish).

Making liaisons

When a word starts with a vowel, a link is sometimes made with the consonant of the preceding word, for example, on est. This is called a liaison. You heard some examples in Extract 39 (on est ici) and in Extract 41 (vous êtes de la région?). You will hear more examples in Extract 42.

It is useful to indicate where a liaison occurs when jotting down new phrases.

Activité 5

Écoutez l'extrait 42 et notez les liaisons, et puis écoutez encore et répétez

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  1. Listen to Extract 42 and note the liaisons that you hear.

    1. On est arrivés!

    2. Vous êtes de la région?

    3. Vous êtes ici!

    4. Vous vous appelez John?

  2. Listen to the extract again and repeat in the pauses.

    Écoutez et répétez.

Answer

  1. We have marked the liaisons in bold.

    1. On est arrivés!

    2. Vous êtes de la région?

    3. Vous êtes ici!

    4. Vous vous appelez John?