To anyone who just showed up/is new to this channel: PLEASE make sure you bookmark this man's youtube channel!! Subscribe, ring the bell, etc, because I've been ALL OVER UA-cam looking at lessons for those just starting out, and I'm telling you RIGHT NOW, from experience, you will NOT find a better teacher for this than right here on Language City. Not only does he make it very easy to understand, but he tells you details that you genuinely need to know to understand native speakers, and gives details on learning that you will not find anywhere else. I also understand that he has a website where you can pay for lessons. If I had any money, I'd be doing this in a HEARTBEAT because I've learned so much in just the last 4 lessons here that I've learned anywhere else with MANY MORE lessons. I firmly believe that you would get your money's worth and then some. I've also already had him answer a few of my questions here, even on the older videos, which has been VERY beneficial to me so far, so check the comments sections to see where he has answered peoples questions, just in case they were things you were wondering about as well, D'accord? NOW, about the word "On", here is what I've noticed. Very formal teachers like "French with Alexa" will teach Je, Tu, il/elle, Nous, Vous, Ils/elles. She very rarely will mention On being used at all. *She isn't a bad teacher, but she teaches the absolute basics without adding some of the detail I've found here). Then, I can remember in high school (over 20 years ago) my french teacher would show us "il/elle/on" and just mentioning that it was "one", as in "on est" is one is. Newer French UA-camrs are more likely to mention that Nous is SUPER formal, and that they use On all the time, but they are also normally focused on much more complicated lessons, and are more directed at people who already know TONS of french (Which I'm not quite there yet) - so they're not very good for those of us who are either relearning, or learning for the first time. I sincerely think that this is going to be a fantastic place to be learning, so make sure you stick around guys!
Merci, Carrie. That's very nice :) Well, I don't mean to badmouth others, but... Alexa is a kindergarten teacher. I have never met a kindergarten teacher who could teach a foreign language, even in a bilingual school. Not mentioning that the French say "on" 99.9% of the time in spoken French means she has never really thought about French for more than a split second... I also heard her talk about the conditional tense... I think any language teacher should know there is no such thing as a conditional tense, but well. Anyway, I'm glad you like this channel :)
@@kelljanesmith No :) The Conditional is a mood, not a tense. In the conditional, you have the present, past conditional, and the conditional perfect. Not that knowing the technical terms really matters, but it's good to know.
I am 83 years old and started learning French just a few years ago with Pimsler tapes. I’ve been to a few immersion classes in France etc. but I’m still uneasy with my French. I’ll start with a video every day and see how much I can learn. This ole brain ain’t rusty yet!
Out of the 4,000 students who have taken my French course, I would say at least 30 are over 80 years of age (as far as I know). One of my most dedicated and passionate students is turning 94 soon :) As long as you have the desire to learn, it's the most important thing! Then if you have the best program at hand, then nothing can stop you! You should try my course! You'd love it! www.language-city.com/freetrial. Try it free for 14 days!
wow I have been teaching French for 26 years and have learned so much from you .. a native speaker...will recommend you to all my pupils for reinforcement....the pronounciation is especially useful for the listening element of G.C.S.E and A Level.Informal and slang French is essential for higher level students as exam boards require students to be aware of similes...just lovely to know how French people ACTUALLY speak...would equate chuis to our abbreviation of I am..I'm...This is how I love to teach...with all the twiddly extras for my pupils...I have trained and mentored student teachers...those with French as a third language like me would benefit hugely by viewing this to give them a huge confidence boost.Vielen Dank ...grazie mille...merci bien,,thank you...cheers mate..grosses bises
Bonjour Lynne! Merci :) Do they require knowledge of colloquialism and slang in the UK? If so, I think it is pretty smart and means that they understand languages better than most!
I have learned french in school. Then, I joined some classes to learn French. I love the language so much that I always wanted to speak fluently but didn't succeed as I have no one to talk to. I have tried learning from many UA-cam french channels, but since I know little vocabulary and basics, it gets boring at some time. Thanks a lot Mr Alexander, for teaching and making every video interesting. 🙏
I just started teaching High School French and detest the pacing and style of the textbook. You have literally saved my life with these videos! Merci beaucoup!
Oh Gosh, those French textbooks are so boring! I feel for you! I'm so glad I'll never go back to that! I'm glad you found this channel. You should sign up for the course. It's filled with gems :)
Hey man i really thank you VERY MUCH for the time you spend working on these lessons, it is people like you that make a difference in this world. thanks again.
I spend long time learning what l realized l would never used Good thing l found out on time, now am learning in your videos how l will talk Thanks thousands for teaching reality
WOW - what an excellent channel ! Thank you. I wish I'd found this decades ago. Together with the Coffee Break French channel I think I will finally make some progress in my French. Who knows I may even get the confidence to start speaking French whilst in France ?! :) Merci beaucoup
De rien, Claire! And this is just the tip of the iceberg :) The rest of the course gives you everything else you need to become completely fluent. You can just subscribe to my entire course for one month for $19.95! You can also subscribe for 6 months ($99, or 12 months ($149). You can also purchase any part of my course. You can find all your options here: www.language-city.com/shop/. In the meantime, enjoy what's on the UA-cam channel. THere's already quite a bit :)
As a general rule, I always tell everyone that chances are they will learn plenty at all levels as my course is very different from others. That being said, you can always sign up for a month and get access to everything and look around. If you see that you could start at French III and wish to purchase the course, I can give you credit for the one month, and you can purchase a package. You can just email me at alex@language-city.com to get a promo code. You can also take this assessment test which will give you an idea of where to start: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyxYfi6tUojZmvFMkR4cLVDCgGfypJ6WzTPdv7TC8LjzFyKA/viewform.
I just discovered you and I just wanted to say your lessons are so helpful and I really appreciate the effort you put in your videos. Votre nouveau abonné :)
Hi, just to add some reasoning behind the word "Enceinte". In spanish it translates "Embarazada" but when people want to sound more polite or formal they would say "En cinta". The term came from antiquity when women used to wear corsets, the undergarment that is tightened using a threaded strap or band (cinta in Spanish). When they became pregnant they couldn't tighten the strap to avoid injuring the unborn baby. I have no idea as to why "enceinte" is used for speaker, though :P thank you for sharing these awesome lessons. I'll recommend them to everyone I know that might be interested in learning french. Salut!
@Language City - You are a wonderful teacher so far! Very enthusiastic, I appreciate the insight, and you're gorgeous! . Just a side note, maybe it's different in France, but you should never ask a woman if she's pregnant (11:30) unless you are 1,000% sure, it's against social standards.
Oh no, this is a small drop in an ocean :) Really, it is. Follow the link to access the full course. Enter promo code FRANCE to subscribe for only $9.98 the first month. Beyond that, it reverts to the regular price of $19.95. You can also simply purchase any part of the course. The 1st link is for descriptions. Keep in mind the amount spent on subscriptions can be applied towards a purchase, so if you've spent $50 after 3 months and decide you'd like to buy 4 levels listed for $249, then you can get it for $199. Does that make sense? Here are all your options: www.language-city.com/shop/
this might be a dumb question, but here goes...is it rude or pretentious to use the forms you suggest as the way the french 'really' speak when you are just learning the language. I get it from an understanding point so you can follow a conversation but wouldn't it be rude not to use formal french when you are learning?
It always depends exactly on what you're referring to. If you're talking about "Je suis" or "Tu es", no it's not rude. It's fine. It's like saying "I'm gonna go to the store". "Je suis à la bourre" is another story. That's colloquial, so you shouldn't use it with random people. It always depends on who you're talking to, but I usually make sure I tell you in what circumstances you will hear such or such word/expression. Also, I teach all those mainly for you to at least be able to understand the French, because listening comprehension seems to be a big struggle for many English speakers. Does that make sense?
Just like for "haricots verts", the "h" is what we call an "h aspiré" (I don't think native speakers even hear a difference with a silent "h"), mais enfin, on ne fait pas de liaison avec ces mots-là...
I added an "s" because that "On est" means "nous sommes". There are several people who are sorry even though "on" is 3rd person singular. Does that make sense?
Could I understand it this way, "on" could followed by both singular adj and plural adj, depends on your emphasis, and if a group of women, one of them could say' on est desolees'? it should be said in this way or ' on est desole' also commonly used in such situation? Thank you for explaining
Right, and so the big misunderstanding comes from the fact that most books and teachers say that "on" is like "one". Yes, technically, it is, 80% of the time, it is simply used in the sense of "nous". It would be singular if you can replace "on" by "people". In that sense, we would really be saying "One is + singular adjective". Does that make sense?
The pronoun subject on can mean one, they, people, you and it is always conjugated like il and elle. But, in modern speaking French we use it more to say nous. I'd say 99% of spoken French uses on rather nous to say we. So here on means nous and nous is plural, hence the s at the end.
Does anyone know what bourre literally translates to in English? I occasionally check google translate (I do NOT rely on it for reliable translations, but just goofing around). If you put in bourre in with nothing else, it says WAD. If you put in LA BOURRE, it says "The stuff". If you put in just a la bourre, it says "I'm late". If you put in Je suis a la bourre (I can't type the accent grave over the A, but it's there when I use my phone to input it), it says "I'm in a rush". Just something odd I wanted to point out in case no one ever tried it ;)
I think what might help is to understand that the verb "bourrer" originally means "to stuff". "se bourrer la gueule" in slang means "to get drunk" (literally "to stuff one's mouth").
I have no idea if I did this correctly, but I'm trying: Bonjour. Je m'appelle Carrie. J'ai trente-neuf ans et je suis américaine. J'ai de longs cheveux blonds et des yeux noisette. Je suis marié et j'ai quatre enfants, un fils et trois filles. Et toi? I had to look up Hazel, but I thought noisette was the word for hazelnut (my favorite coffee flavoring). I almost added
Excellent :) You did dodge some pretty subtle difficulties in those seemingly basic lines! Moi, j'ai quarante ans. Je suis marié et j'ai deux enfants: deux filles de 6 et 9 ans.
This is very exciting! I've picked up things here and there, but I SWEAR just watching your videos is making things click in place for me like never before. It's fantastic, and it makes learning SO much more enjoyable when you don't have to feel like you're lost, or in over your head, as I do watching some others. Keep up the fantastic work that you're doing, and thanks again for being so amazing! You are absolutely making a dream come true for me, as I've always wanted to learn this beautiful language. Thanks so much for putting the "Spark" back in, and giving me my excitement for learning back!
I know it can be frustrating and feel like a daunting task when you feel like you have to go pick up the pieces of a broken jigsaw puzzle... Glad you're one of us, now!
To anyone who just showed up/is new to this channel: PLEASE make sure you bookmark this man's youtube channel!! Subscribe, ring the bell, etc, because I've been ALL OVER UA-cam looking at lessons for those just starting out, and I'm telling you RIGHT NOW, from experience, you will NOT find a better teacher for this than right here on Language City. Not only does he make it very easy to understand, but he tells you details that you genuinely need to know to understand native speakers, and gives details on learning that you will not find anywhere else.
I also understand that he has a website where you can pay for lessons. If I had any money, I'd be doing this in a HEARTBEAT because I've learned so much in just the last 4 lessons here that I've learned anywhere else with MANY MORE lessons. I firmly believe that you would get your money's worth and then some. I've also already had him answer a few of my questions here, even on the older videos, which has been VERY beneficial to me so far, so check the comments sections to see where he has answered peoples questions, just in case they were things you were wondering about as well, D'accord?
NOW, about the word "On", here is what I've noticed. Very formal teachers like "French with Alexa" will teach Je, Tu, il/elle, Nous, Vous, Ils/elles. She very rarely will mention On being used at all. *She isn't a bad teacher, but she teaches the absolute basics without adding some of the detail I've found here).
Then, I can remember in high school (over 20 years ago) my french teacher would show us "il/elle/on" and just mentioning that it was "one", as in "on est" is one is.
Newer French UA-camrs are more likely to mention that Nous is SUPER formal, and that they use On all the time, but they are also normally focused on much more complicated lessons, and are more directed at people who already know TONS of french (Which I'm not quite there yet) - so they're not very good for those of us who are either relearning, or learning for the first time.
I sincerely think that this is going to be a fantastic place to be learning, so make sure you stick around guys!
Merci, Carrie. That's very nice :) Well, I don't mean to badmouth others, but... Alexa is a kindergarten teacher. I have never met a kindergarten teacher who could teach a foreign language, even in a bilingual school. Not mentioning that the French say "on" 99.9% of the time in spoken French means she has never really thought about French for more than a split second... I also heard her talk about the conditional tense... I think any language teacher should know there is no such thing as a conditional tense, but well. Anyway, I'm glad you like this channel :)
Ca
I agree with you.
Lucy
@@LanguageCity No such thing as a conditional tense?
@@kelljanesmith No :) The Conditional is a mood, not a tense. In the conditional, you have the present, past conditional, and the conditional perfect. Not that knowing the technical terms really matters, but it's good to know.
I am 83 years old and started learning French just a few years ago with Pimsler tapes. I’ve been to a few immersion classes in France etc. but I’m still uneasy with my French. I’ll start with a video every day and see how much I can learn. This ole brain ain’t rusty yet!
Out of the 4,000 students who have taken my French course, I would say at least 30 are over 80 years of age (as far as I know). One of my most dedicated and passionate students is turning 94 soon :) As long as you have the desire to learn, it's the most important thing! Then if you have the best program at hand, then nothing can stop you! You should try my course! You'd love it! www.language-city.com/freetrial. Try it free for 14 days!
wow I have been teaching French for 26 years and have learned so much from you .. a native speaker...will recommend you to all my pupils for reinforcement....the pronounciation is especially useful for the listening element of G.C.S.E and A Level.Informal and slang French is essential for higher level students as exam boards require students to be aware of similes...just lovely to know how French people ACTUALLY speak...would equate chuis to our abbreviation of I am..I'm...This is how I love to teach...with all the twiddly extras for my pupils...I have trained and mentored student teachers...those with French as a third language like me would benefit hugely by viewing this to give them a huge confidence boost.Vielen Dank ...grazie mille...merci bien,,thank you...cheers mate..grosses bises
Bonjour Lynne! Merci :) Do they require knowledge of colloquialism and slang in the UK? If so, I think it is pretty smart and means that they understand languages better than most!
salut...not so much but I always like the value added approach.x
You are a great teacher!! Thank you very much for the lessons.
You're quite welcome! Sorry I hadn't seen your nice words :)
I have learned french in school. Then, I joined some classes to learn French. I love the language so much that I always wanted to speak fluently but didn't succeed as I have no one to talk to. I have tried learning from many UA-cam french channels, but since I know little vocabulary and basics, it gets boring at some time. Thanks a lot Mr Alexander, for teaching and making every video interesting. 🙏
You're very welcome @kalpanaranadive107!
I just started teaching High School French and detest the pacing and style of the textbook. You have literally saved my life with these videos! Merci beaucoup!
Oh Gosh, those French textbooks are so boring! I feel for you! I'm so glad I'll never go back to that! I'm glad you found this channel. You should sign up for the course. It's filled with gems :)
Hey man i really thank you VERY MUCH for the time you spend working on these lessons, it is people like you that make a difference in this world. thanks again.
You're quite welcome, Mauro :)
Best French teacher I’ve encountered. Alex truly understands French learners’ difficulties especially in listening. Excellent teaching method.
Merci Amanda :)
I spend long time learning what l realized l would never used
Good thing l found out on time, now am learning in your videos how l will talk
Thanks thousands for teaching reality
WOW - what an excellent channel ! Thank you. I wish I'd found this decades ago. Together with the Coffee Break French channel I think I will finally make some progress in my French. Who knows I may even get the confidence to start speaking French whilst in France ?! :) Merci beaucoup
De rien, Claire! And this is just the tip of the iceberg :) The rest of the course gives you everything else you need to become completely fluent. You can just subscribe to my entire course for one month for $19.95! You can also subscribe for 6 months ($99, or 12 months ($149). You can also purchase any part of my course. You can find all your options here: www.language-city.com/shop/. In the meantime, enjoy what's on the UA-cam channel. THere's already quite a bit :)
Before enrolling on your course - how do you decide what level you are ?
As a general rule, I always tell everyone that chances are they will learn plenty at all levels as my course is very different from others. That being said, you can always sign up for a month and get access to everything and look around. If you see that you could start at French III and wish to purchase the course, I can give you credit for the one month, and you can purchase a package. You can just email me at alex@language-city.com to get a promo code. You can also take this assessment test which will give you an idea of where to start: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyxYfi6tUojZmvFMkR4cLVDCgGfypJ6WzTPdv7TC8LjzFyKA/viewform.
Formidable
this is the most useful channel ive ever seen concerning french definitely recomending everyone i know studying french
Merci, Simon :)
Thank you 😊
The Quebec and eastern Canada word for car is char which comes from chariot which itself is an antiquated word for carriage. Merci Alexandre!
De rien @KittyxCross!
Best teacher on youtube
Merci David :)
I just discovered you and I just wanted to say your lessons are so helpful and I really appreciate the effort you put in your videos.
Votre nouveau abonné :)
Thank you Batuhan :) Where are you from?
I am from Turkey studying French Translation and Interpretation in the University of Hacettepe :) Much love and respect.
Oh wow, that's great! I think it's amazing that people watch these videos on the other side of the world. How did you learn English? At school?
Yes I know right. Power of the internet... I learnt it at highschool and went to some english courses.
Hi, just to add some reasoning behind the word "Enceinte". In spanish it translates "Embarazada" but when people want to sound more polite or formal they would say "En cinta". The term came from antiquity when women used to wear corsets, the undergarment that is tightened using a threaded strap or band (cinta in Spanish). When they became pregnant they couldn't tighten the strap to avoid injuring the unborn baby.
I have no idea as to why "enceinte" is used for speaker, though :P
thank you for sharing these awesome lessons. I'll recommend them to everyone I know that might be interested in learning french. Salut!
I love this! Thank you for your insight. I believe "cinta" and "cinturón" have the same root (belt). Merci Alejoide :)
@Language City - You are a wonderful teacher so far! Very enthusiastic, I appreciate the insight, and you're gorgeous! . Just a side note, maybe it's different in France, but you should never ask a woman if she's pregnant (11:30) unless you are 1,000% sure, it's against social standards.
Un cabot also means dog.
Oui! En France, c'est péjoratif. On a tendance à dire "Sale cabot!" C'est plus la génération de ma mère.
Excellent video!!!!
Merci, Drew :)
thank you so much, It was very useful.
You're quite welcome, Janna!
Yea finally some one who understands the difference between spoken and written where as most don’t get that glitch ..
It's big! I think that's mostly what hold people back! There's such a gap between the two!
💝
Un bigo also means cell phone.
Bonjour!...at 11:25 should it not be singular for "on", i.e. on est desole. just my second week of french! Merci!!!.
T'es où ?
T'as combien d' pognon ?
Tu fermes ta gueule !,
Chui là,
Is this playlist is full course of french
Oh no, this is a small drop in an ocean :) Really, it is. Follow the link to access the full course. Enter promo code FRANCE to subscribe for only $9.98 the first month. Beyond that, it reverts to the regular price of $19.95. You can also simply purchase any part of the course. The 1st link is for descriptions. Keep in mind the amount spent on subscriptions can be applied towards a purchase, so if you've spent $50 after 3 months and decide you'd like to buy 4 levels listed for $249, then you can get it for $199. Does that make sense? Here are all your options: www.language-city.com/shop/
Great
this might be a dumb question, but here goes...is it rude or pretentious to use the forms you suggest as the way the french 'really' speak when you are just learning the language. I get it from an understanding point so you can follow a conversation but wouldn't it be rude not to use formal french when you are learning?
It always depends exactly on what you're referring to. If you're talking about "Je suis" or "Tu es", no it's not rude. It's fine. It's like saying "I'm gonna go to the store". "Je suis à la bourre" is another story. That's colloquial, so you shouldn't use it with random people. It always depends on who you're talking to, but I usually make sure I tell you in what circumstances you will hear such or such word/expression. Also, I teach all those mainly for you to at least be able to understand the French, because listening comprehension seems to be a big struggle for many English speakers. Does that make sense?
Why in "Les Halles" il n'y a pas lieson?
Just like for "haricots verts", the "h" is what we call an "h aspiré" (I don't think native speakers even hear a difference with a silent "h"), mais enfin, on ne fait pas de liaison avec ces mots-là...
RIP Kobe.
😢😮
On est desoles?? why it has an 'S'?
I added an "s" because that "On est" means "nous sommes". There are several people who are sorry even though "on" is 3rd person singular. Does that make sense?
Could I understand it this way, "on" could followed by both singular adj and plural adj, depends on your emphasis, and if a group of women, one of them could say' on est desolees'? it should be said in this way or ' on est desole' also commonly used in such situation? Thank you for explaining
Right, and so the big misunderstanding comes from the fact that most books and teachers say that "on" is like "one". Yes, technically, it is, 80% of the time, it is simply used in the sense of "nous". It would be singular if you can replace "on" by "people". In that sense, we would really be saying "One is + singular adjective". Does that make sense?
It's kinda nuance. Thank you for explaining it in such detail! I like your way of teaching, it's really efficient and hitting the point!
The pronoun subject on can mean one, they, people, you and it is always conjugated like il and elle. But, in modern speaking French we use it more to say nous. I'd say 99% of spoken French uses on rather nous to say we. So here on means nous and nous is plural, hence the s at the end.
Does anyone know what bourre literally translates to in English? I occasionally check google translate (I do NOT rely on it for reliable translations, but just goofing around). If you put in bourre in with nothing else, it says WAD. If you put in LA BOURRE, it says "The stuff". If you put in just a la bourre, it says "I'm late". If you put in Je suis a la bourre (I can't type the accent grave over the A, but it's there when I use my phone to input it), it says "I'm in a rush".
Just something odd I wanted to point out in case no one ever tried it ;)
I think what might help is to understand that the verb "bourrer" originally means "to stuff". "se bourrer la gueule" in slang means "to get drunk" (literally "to stuff one's mouth").
I have no idea if I did this correctly, but I'm trying:
Bonjour. Je m'appelle Carrie. J'ai trente-neuf ans et je suis américaine. J'ai de longs cheveux blonds et des yeux noisette. Je suis marié et j'ai quatre enfants, un fils et trois filles. Et toi?
I had to look up Hazel, but I thought noisette was the word for hazelnut (my favorite coffee flavoring). I almost added
Excellent :) You did dodge some pretty subtle difficulties in those seemingly basic lines! Moi, j'ai quarante ans. Je suis marié et j'ai deux enfants: deux filles de 6 et 9 ans.
This is very exciting! I've picked up things here and there, but I SWEAR just watching your videos is making things click in place for me like never before. It's fantastic, and it makes learning SO much more enjoyable when you don't have to feel like you're lost, or in over your head, as I do watching some others.
Keep up the fantastic work that you're doing, and thanks again for being so amazing! You are absolutely making a dream come true for me, as I've always wanted to learn this beautiful language. Thanks so much for putting the "Spark" back in, and giving me my excitement for learning back!
Leur noms sont quoi?
I know it can be frustrating and feel like a daunting task when you feel like you have to go pick up the pieces of a broken jigsaw puzzle... Glad you're one of us, now!
Great job! Attention je suis mariée ( agreement with gender and number in French is a must).