You’ve heard it before. Speaking is one of the best ways to improve your listening and spoken skills. Thanks to technology, there are a lot of ways to practice with native speakers or other learners, being tutoring sessions or language exchanges. Because of my lack of vocabulary and fluidity, I always find myself sort of clumsy when it comes to these lessons, and I end up talking way too much in English.
If you are like me, you might like this little list. These useful phrases could help you maintain a conversation in French, even if you are a beginner. Keep the list close to you next time you have a lesson (you don’t have to memorize it all!)
You’ll be surprised to see how many letters are not pronounced in spoken French. As opposed to some textbooks, I decided to show you how natives pronounce it, even if it means to shorten a few negations here and there. Don’t worry if it seems like too much to care about for now. It will come with time, and you’ll still be understood if you pronounce a few extra « e » along the way.
Greetings and Basic Vocabulary
Bonjour | Hi (polite) |
Enchanté(e) | Nice to meet you |
S’il-vous-plaît | Please |
Merci | Thank you |
Au revoir | Goodbye |
À la prochaine | See you next time |
On se voit la semaine prochaine? | See you next week? |
Taking the Lead
Ça va si on parle juste en français ? | Is it ok if we only speak in French ? |
Comment dit-on … en français ? | How do you say… in French ? |
Pouvez-vous corriger ma prononciation ? | Can you correct my pronunciation ? |
C’est correct ? | Is that correct/right ? |
Je vais essayer | I will try |
Un moment | One moment /Give me a second |
Asking for Help
Pouvez-vous répéter? | Can you repeat? |
Pouvez-vous le dire plus lentement? | Can you say it more slowly? |
Pouvez-vous l’écrire? | Can you write it down? |
Je vais l’écrire | I will write it down |
Je ne me rappelle plus | I don’t remember |
Je ne sais pas | I don’t know |
Je ne comprends pas | I don’t understand |
Je n’ai pas tout compris | I didn’t understand everything |
C’est trop compliqué | It’s too complicated |
Useful Words
la grammaire | grammar |
le verbe | the verb |
l’adjectif | the adjective |
la prononciation | pronunciation |
le dialogue | the dialog |
la phrase
cette phrase |
the sentence
this sentence |
le mot
ce mot |
the word
this word |
Technical Problems
Je vous entends mal | I can’t hear you well |
M’entendez-vous? | Can you hear me? |
La connexion est mauvaise | The connection is bad |
*Don’t forget that Francophonie is diverse. Pronunciation may vary! 😉
Ce post est très utile, merci Marie! Et avec l’audio aussi c’est super!
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Merci pour ton feedback Elena! Probablement un peu trop facile pour ton niveau de français par contre 😀 Je tâcherai de faire du matériel plus avancé aussi.
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C’est toi qui parle?
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Ouin
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