Lesson 1 2 : Elle s’appelle Maja…

Bonjour ! Comment ça va ? In this dialogue, which occurs a few days after they first met, Emeka runs into Taiye
again. This time, Emeka is with his girlfriend [= copine], Maja. Emeka introduces Maja
to Taiye, making sure to spell out her name. Because Maja thinks—and actually
I - LESSON PREVIEW remarks—that Taiye looks quite young, she asks him how old he is.
In this lesson, you are going to be learning how to make contact, draw someone’s attention,
ask after people, respond to questions about how you’re doing as well as ask for direction EMEKA : Tiens, salut Taiye ! Comment ça va ?
using the French verb chercher [= to look for]. You will also learn the French alphabet, how TAIYE : Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ?
to use the definite and indefinite articles as well as how to conjugate the verbs être [= to be], EMEKA : Moi aussi, je vais très bien, merci… Voici ma copine. Elle s’appelle Maja, Maja
avoir [= to have] and s’appeler [= to be known], a verb used to introduce oneself and others.
avec un ‘j’ [= Maja with a ‘j’] : M-A-J-A !
II - EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES MAJA : Enchantée, Taiye [= Nice to meet you, Taiye.] ! Euh…, tu as l’air très jeune… [= You
Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to look quite young, Taiye…] Quel âge as-tu ?
1. say ‘Hi’ to someone as well as introduce yourself and inquire about how they are TAIYE : Ah, j’ai seize ans. [= I am sixteen years old.]
doing.
2. draw someone’s attention.
3. Ask for assistance on how to get to some location using the verb chercher. Comprehension questions
4. Read the letters of the French alphabet and use them to spell your name. 1. What is the relationship between Emeka and Maja?”
5. Conjugate the verbs être, avoir and s’appeler in the present indicative.
2. When Emeka says “Maja avec un ‘j’” [= Maja with a ‘j’], he suggests a) ‘Maja’ is a
III - DIALOGUES foreign name. b) ‘Maja’ can also be spelled in other ways c) Maja is difficult to spell.
3. How old is Taiye? Could you repeat the exact same sentence Taiye uses to tell his age?
1 : Bonjour ! Je m’appelle…
In this dialogue, Taiye, who is new on campus, approaches Emeka to ask for direction
to the Department of French. Emeka obliges him and points to the office, which Dialogue-based Activities
happened to be just two doors away on the right [= la deuxième porte à droite].
Phonetic drill
TAIYE : Pardon, excuse-moi… Bonjour ! This segment is designed to provide you with additional pronunciation, intonation and pace
EMEKA : Bonjour… Je peux t’aider [= How may I help you] ? practice with materials from the dialogues. Play back the corresponding audio and repeat after
each sequence, making sure to imitate as closely as possible the pronunciation, intonation and
TAIYE : Oui, je m’appelle Taiye. Je suis nouveau ici [= I am new here.]. Je cherche le
pace of the speaker in the audio.
Département de français.
EMEKA : Enchanté ! [= Nice to meet you!] Moi, je suis Emeka. Le Département de français − Pardon, excuse-moi...
− Bonjour !
c’est la deuxième porte à droite.
o Bonjour, monsieur !
TAIYE : Merci beaucoup. o Bonjour, Emeka !
EMEKA : Il n’y a pas de quoi. [= You’re welcome!] − Enchanté !
o Enchantée, Taiye !
− Je peux t'aider. [= I can help you.]
Comprehension questions o Je peux t'aider ? [= How may I help you?]
1. Is Taiye a “staylite” or a “fresher”? − Je vais bien !
o Je vais très bien !
2. Taiye is seeking help to find (a) the University library, or (b) the Department of English, o Je vais très bien, merci !
or (c) the Department of French? o Moi aussi, je vais très bien, merci !
3. What does Taiye say to draw Emeka’s attention?

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Role play p pay t tay x eks
1. Try practicing with the dialogue audios two, three or even more times until you have q coo u u y ee-grek
memorized them and then without reading from your manual, work with a classmate r err v vay z zed
to reenact it. (Even if you are working by yourself, you can still take on all the roles.)
2. Replace the identities of the characters in the dialogue, with you now as one of the s ess w doob-ley-vay
characters.
Spelling in French
3. Imagine the conversation in the first dialogue is between you and one of your
a. Ma mère s’appelle ……….. [Complete with your mother’s first name and then spell
lecturers. Pay attention to the things that need to change: excuse-moi  excusez-moi;
it.]
bonjour  bonjour, monsieur; etc.
b. Introduce yourself and then spell your last name, e.g.,
For the second dialogue, let the conversation be between you and your lecturer and his
Je m’appelle Tunde Fatorki: F-A-T-O-R-K-I!
spouse. Again, pay attention to the things that need to change.
OR
Je suis Tunde Fatorki: F-A-T-O-R-K-I !
IV - COMMUNICATION FOCUS
1. Introducing oneself or others
a. Je m’appelle… ; Je suis… Conjugation of the verbs être [= to be], avoir [= to have] and s’appeler [= to be known as]
b. Je m’appelle Emeka. In the dialogues, we encountered the following verbs:
c. Je suis Emeka.
2. Establishing contact − excuser [= to excuse]: Excuse-moi…
a. Bonjour ! ; Salut ! − pouvoir [= modal verb ‘can’]: je peux…
b. Bonjour, Emeka ! ; Salut, Taiye ! − aider [= to assist, to help]: Je peux t’aider ?
c. Bonjour monsieur/madame/mademoiselle/tout le monde ! − s’appeler [=to be known as…]: Je m’appelle…
Note: You can only use Salut with a classmate, a friend, etc., but not with your − chercher [= to look for]: Je cherche…
teacher, an older person, a stranger or someone you’re not on first name terms − être [= to be]:Je suis…
with. − aller [= to go] : Je vais très bien…
3. Drawing someone’s attention − avoir [= to have] : Quel âge as-tu ?
a. Tiens, …
b. Pardon… However, in this language focus section, we focus on and learn how to conjugate in the
c. Excuse-moi…; Excusez-moi… present indicative only three of these: être and avoir (easily two of the most frequent verbs in
Note: Taiye will say “Excuse-moi…” to Emeka because they are fellow students, French because of their status as both auxiliary and full verbs and also their use in a host of
mates or friends. On the other hand, if he is speaking to the teacher, an older high-frequency expressions, e.g., J’ai seize ans [= I am sixteen years old.]) as well as the
person, a stranger or more generally someone he is not on first-name terms with, pronominal verb s’appeler used to introduce oneself or someone else.
we would have to say: Excusez-moi…; Excusez-moi, monsieur…; Excusez-moi To conjugate a verb is simply to work out the different forms the verb can take relative to the
madame…; etc. grammatical persons (I, you, h/she, we, etc.) in a sentence. It is very important to learn how to
V - LANGUAGE FOCUS do this almost intuitively if you want to be able speak in grammatically correct and fluent
French.
The French Alphabet
être [= to be] avoir [ to have]
The letters of the alphabet are the same in French as in English, but are pronounced
je suis… nous sommes… j’ai … nous avons …
differently. Practice with the aid of the audio and the guides provided below.
tu es… vous êtes… tu as … vous avez …
a ah f eff K kah Il/elle est… ils/elles sont il/elle a ils ont …
b bay g zhay L ell
c say h ash m em s’appeler [= to be known as]

d day I ee n en je m’appelle… nous nous appelons …

e euh J zhee tu t’appelles… vous vous appelez …
o oh
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 il/elle s’appelle … ils s’appellent − le: with a masculine noun
− la: with a feminine noun
Note: In a subsequent lesson, you will have the
− l’: with a singular noun beginning with a vowel or silent h, irrespective of gender
opportunity to do a more rule-based study
of this verb alongside other -er, or first The fourth and last form, les, is used with all plural nouns, irrespective of whether they are
masculine or feminine, or begin with a vowel or not.
group, verbs. For now, just try to remember
how it is conjugated. Below are few examples of each form.

Masculine Singular Form Plural Form

EXERCISES le les
le garçon (m) [= the boy] les garçons
Complete with the correct form of the verb in parentheses. le vélo (m) [= the bicycle] les vélos
le livre (m) [= the book] les livres
Example: Elle ……………………. Folashade. (s’appeler) le professeur (m) [= the teacher] les professeurs
Elle...s’appelle…Folashade. le tableau blanc (m) [= the whiteboard] les tableaux blancs

1. Je ………………….. étudiant à Osun State University. (être)

Feminine Singular Form Plural Form
2. Ma mère [= my mother] …………….. deux voitures. (avoir) la les
la chaise (f) [= the chair] les chaises
3. Mon père [my father] ……………… médecin [= a doctor]. (être) la secrétaire (f) [= the secretary] les secrétaires
la table (f) [= the table] les tables
la femme (f) [= the woman] les femmes
4. Nous …………………….. très contents [= very happy]
la voiture (f) [= the car] les voitures
5. Comment tu …………………….. ? [= What’s your name?] (s’appeler)

6. Monsieur et Madame Bakare ………………….. professeurs. (être) Before a Vowel or silent h Plural Form
l’ les
7. Comment ……………………. le professeur ? (s’appeler) l’étudiant (m) [= male student] les étudiants
l’étudiante (f) [= female student] les étudiants
8. J’………….. trois frères [= brothers] et deux sœurs [= sisters]. (avoir) l’école (f) [= school] les écoles
l’hôpital (m) [= hospital] les hôpitaux
9. Quel âge …………………..-vous, monsieur ? (avoir) l’heure (f) [= hour] les heures

10. Folashade et Atinuke ……………… étudiantes à Osun State University. (être)
The definite and the indefinite articles
Based on the gender and number of the noun it is determining, the definite article in French
can take one of the following forms: le, la, l’ or les.
The indefinite article, on the other hand, has the following forms: un, une, des.
The definite article: le, la, l’, les
The first three forms are used with singular nouns as follows:
So, when should you use the definite article in French?
There is a whole series of fine distinctions in the use of the definite article in French.
However, the two most important ones are:
1. It is used indicate specific reference: both speaker and listener know the specific item
or person referred to, e.g.:
− Je cherche le professeur. [= I am looking for the teacher.]
Here, both speaker and listener know which teacher the speaker is looking for.
2. It is also frequently used to indicate so-called general reference, e.g.,
− Je n’aime pas la musique. [= I do not like music.]
Here, it is clear the speaker does not like music in general, not a particular music.

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 4. ………… étudiants de de M. Ojo [= Monsieur Ojo’s students] sont dans la salle de
The indefinite article: un, une or des classe [= in the classroom].

The first two forms—un and une—are used with singular nouns as follows 5. Il y a [= There are] ……… étudiants dans la salle 203 [= in Room 203].
− un: with masculine singular nouns
6. Voici ………… voiture
− une: with feminine singular nouns
The third and last form, des, is used with all plural nouns, irrespective of gender. CHAPTER REVIEW
Below are a few examples using the same nouns as we used for the definite article.
In this lesson, you learned how to say ‘Hi’ or make contact using the following expressions:

− Bonjour, Emeka !
Masculine Singular Form Plural Form
un des − Bonjour, monsieur !
un garçon (m) [= a boy] des garçons
− Salut, Taiye !
un vélo (m) [= a bicycle] des vélos
un livre (m) [= a book] des livres
un professeur (m) [= a teacher] des professeurs You also learned how to draw someone’s attention:
un tableau blanc (m) [= a whiteboard] des tableaux blancs
− Pardon, excuse-moi…
− Pardon, excusez-moi, monsieur…
− Tiens, Taiye…
Feminine Singular Form Plural Form
une des
une chaise (f) [= a chair] des chaises You further learned how to conjugate in the present indicative three important verbs in
une secrétaire (f) [= a secretary] des secrétaires French, i.e. être [= to be], avoir [= to have] and s’appeler [= to be known as], which is used to
une table (f) [= a table] des tables
une femme (f) [= a woman] des femmes introduce oneself or someone. You may want to return to the conjugation tables for these
une voiture (f) [= a car] des voitures verbs above to revise them.

Finally, you learned about the uses and forms of the definite and indefinite articles (le, la, l’
When should you use the indefinite article?
and les for the definite article and un, une, des for the indefinite article), vary with the gender
The indefinite article is used when the thing or person referred to is not specific. For example,
instead of looking for a specific teacher as in the example cited under the definite article, you and number of the nouns they determine.
might just be looking for any teacher:
Je cherche un professeur. [= I am looking for a teacher.]

EXERCISES
Complete the following sentences with the appropriate article: un, une, des; le, la, l’, les.
Example:
1. Je mange [= I am eating] ……… banane (f).

2. Je n’aime pas [= I don’t like] ……… banane (f).

3. Je cherche [= I am looking for] ……….. étudiant (m). Il s’appelle Taiye.

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