Bonjour !
Do you know this feeling of being stuck in a conversation?
You want to connect with the person in front of you and the only vocabulary you have is « Ça va ? »? SO frustrating.
You’d like to ask them about their dreams, their story, share ideas… ARGH.
I know this feeling too.
Let’s learn some useful conversation phrases in French together.
So you can have a real conversation in France.
Last week, we covered 3 ways. I’ll top this with 4 new ways this week. All in a formal and informal form.
Click to watch « How to connect with a French person »:
Et toi alors ?
What French phrases do YOU use in French to start a conversation?
Do you have tips to share with us? Or are your strategies top secret?
Tell me in the comments how it went. Share your story so we can discuss in the comment area below the video.
Share your story so we can discuss in the comment area below the video.
Géraldine
this is mahesh ,i’m from india.Iam poor in your native language.I’m so much interested in french .so as an aid ,please give me how to connect french people and make me to learn your language.
Bonjour Géraldine
J’aime bien tous les videos que vous avez bien faite! Vraiment(=. Cette question est totalement hors sujet.
Je suis encore confusée avec les pronoms direct (le, la, les) et “y” et “en”. Je les ai utilisé mal.
pourrez-vous m’éclairer cette confusion, s’il vous plaît(=
Cordialement
Nafeesa
Hi Geraldine
I enjoy your emails and we both find them very helpful. I have a suggestion for a future topic. We have been impressed by the support shown to bereaved people in the neighbourhood (we live in the country) and how everyone goes to funerals. What is expected of us, and what should we say or do?
Regards
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your kind message.
The minimum is to say “Mes condoléances”.
You can also send a card. And flowers if you knew the person or the family.
Geraldine,
This is slighltly off your topic,but still “un petit truc”. Is expression l’heure bleue used in French and what does it mean exactly? Dusks?
Merci!
Hi Valeria,
Thanks for your question. I had never heard of this expression: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wik… There’s an auditorium called L’Heure Bleue here in Grenoble but I didn’t know it meant something.
So: yes, it means something (L’heure bleue is the grey-blue time just before dawn or dusk). But no, nobody uses it.
Hope it helps!
Hi Geraldine!
I love your helpful clips; well done.
Now in my French ‘hamlet’ of only 15 houses, I was once asked “why do you always say ‘vous’? Obviously because at school we were told only use the personal address with children (or animals). Now we exclusively use the ‘tu’ form. However away from the village, I am cautious. Have barriers declined significantly nowadays? Most Brits and all Americans freely use first names; what about the French? The very old in the village still use Monsieur ( and one says ‘maitre’!). Amicalement, Jeff (44290)
Hi Jeff,
Thanks. Glad you like them.
First, the vous/tu barrier is so blurry, there is no definite rule.
Let’s try:
– tu to children
– tu to friends and potential friends and obviously to the ones asking “On se tutoie ?”
– vous to elderly people
– vous to people at work (at least at the beginning / it can change, mostly with people at your hierarchy level)
– vous to “officials” / “sales people” : le maire / the doctor / the cheese maker / the teacher…
– vous with people you don’t know, generally
Then, the names.
My golden rule: copy what the other is calling you.
What I do: I try to use first name to induce proximity, both at a professional and personal level. And also, I like people to know they’re not “another person” to me. I value them and I prove it by using their first name. EVEN when I still use “vous” with them (Not with my doctor, there are still limits not to cross!).
Monsieur and Madame are perfect as well. I say “Bonjour Madame” to my elderly neighbour to show respect. And “Bonjour” to the others.
Remember that it’s so blurry that even us, French people, often wonder how we should call each other. 🙂 So no worries.