Colloquial French: The Complete Course for Beginners has been carefully developed by an experienced teacher to provide a step-by-step course to French as it is written and spoken today.
Combining a clear, practical and accessible style with a methodical and thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in French in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required.
Colloquial French is exceptional; each unit presents a wealth of grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range of exercises for regular practice. A full answer key, a grammar summary, bilingual glossaries and English translations of dialogues can be found at the back as well as useful vocabulary lists throughout.
Key features include:
A clear, user-friendly format designed to help learners progressively build up their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
Jargon-free, succinct and clearly structured explanations of grammar
An extensive range of focused and dynamic supportive exercises
Realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of narrative situations
Helpful cultural points explaining the customs and features of life in France.
An overview of the sounds of French
Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial French is an indispensable resource both for independent learners and students taking courses in French.
Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.
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Anne Murdoch arrives in Belzain, a French town, and takes a taxi to her hotel. Try to understand what we learn about her.
ANNE: Bonjour, monsieur. Hôtel Les Lilas, s’il vous plaît.
CHAUFFEUR: Hôtel Les Lilas? On y va, madame. Vous êtes anglaise?
ANNE: Non, je suis écossaise, mais j’habite en Angleterre.
CHAUFFEUR: A Londres?
ANNE: Non, je travaille à Londres, mais j’habite à Coventry.
CHAUFFEUR: Vous parlez bien franÇais!
ANNE: Merci. C'est gentil!
CHAUFFEUR: Voilà, on est arrivé. Ça fait 8 euros, madame.
ANNE: Voilà. Merci beaucoup, monsieur. Au revoir.
CHAUFFEUR: Au revoir et bon séjour!
ANNE: Hello. Hotel Les Lilas, please.
TAXI-DRIVER Hotel Les Lilas? OK. Are you English?
ANNE: No, I’m Scottish but I live in England.
TAXI-DRIVER In London?
ANNE: No, I work in London but I live in Coventry.
TAXI-DRIVER You speak good French?
ANNE: Thank you. That’s very kind?
TAXI-DRIVER Here we are. That’s 8 euros.
ANNE: Here you are. Thank you very much. Goodbye.
TAXI-DRIVER Goodbye and enjoy your stay?
Language Points
Greetings and Opening Moves
(Audio 1; 2)
The French use monsieur and madame much more frequently than speakers of English use sir and madam. Note how Anne greets the Taxi-Driver and how he says goodbye to her.
Bonjour, monsieur.
Au revoir, madame.
Bonsoir is used in the evening, both when you greet people and when you leave.
Bonsoir, monsieur.
Bonsoir, madame.
Salut is more informal and is used between people who generally know each other well. It is also used both to greet people and when you leave.
Salut Pierre!
Salut Martine!
Politeness is also greatly appreciated in France. The French will normally say bonjour, au revoir and merci when entering and leaving a shop, even if they just go in to have a look. Do not forget to say s’il vous plait when asking for something.
Un café, s’il vous plaît.
Merci.
Talking About Nationalities
(Audio 1; 3)
To ask about Anne’s nationality, the Taxi-Driver said:
Vous êtes anglaise?
She answered:
Non, je suis écossaise.
To give your nationality in French, you say if you are a man:
To give your nationality in French, you say if you are a woman:
