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FRENCH
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OF FRENCH Lesson
6
AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE

Discussing your
interests

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 Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006
Level: beginner.
aimer + infinitif
apprcier [ngocier, multiplier, nier, etc]
sintresser, se passionner (pour)
au, la, aux
faire [+ activities]
reflexive er verbs
lundi, le lundi
Dialogue

Hello once again, and welcome to Learn French by

Podcast. My name is Hugh Nagle and here with me is
Amlie Verdier. Welcome back, Amlie!
Bonjour!

Today, Amlie?
Nous allons parler des loisirs.

Leisure-time activities. Our likes and dislikes, I suppose

you could say. So, what are your interests? Quels sont tes
centres dintrt?
Eh bien, jaime la lecture. Je pense quil est important
de lire. Cela permet dapprendre de nouvelles choses
tout en se dtendant.

Now, just in case our listeners didnt catch all that first
time round, lets hear it again
Bien sr! Bon, alors jaime la lecture. Je pense quil
est []

And one final time

Jaime la lecture. []

Now, today well be looking at some verbs which are

central to talking about what interests us as well as the
things that do quite the opposite! Right at the start, you
said
Jaime la lecture.

Now that verb is easy. Its a regular er verb. That is, its aimer +
infinitive ends in er. Lets just make one point about infinitive
pronunciation: it sounds like em, not aim. How will we Remember!
say He likes surfing?
Il aime surfer. aimer + infinitive
We can create a wide range of
Or, They like hiking in the mountains? possibilities with aimer, followed by
the infinitive of another verb:
Ils aiment les randonnes en montagne. jaime surfer
elle aime lire
Note that the plural form of the verb sounds exactly the nous aimons visiter des monuments
same as the singular. ils aiment aller au cinma.
Now, lets make one further point. We can put a aimer
second verb in its infinitive form directly afterwards to jaime
form all sorts of combinations. For example: Jane likes to tu aimes
swim il / elle / on aime
Jane aime nager. nous aimons
vous aimez
ils / elles aiment
Or, Jacques likes to tell jokes!
Jacques aime plaisanter.

Or, Adrienne and Zo like to sing

Adrienne et Zo aiment chanter.

 Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

 Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006
Level: beginner.
aimer + infinitif
apprcier [ngocier, multiplier, nier, etc]
sintresser, se passionner (pour)
au, la, aux
faire [+ activities]
reflexive er verbs
lundi, le lundi
Dialogue

Note that, in each of these examples, the verb following

aimer nager, plaisanter, chanter is in the infinitive.
Tell us more about your leisure-time activities. Parle-
nous davantage de tes loisirs
Japprcie galement la musique, notamment
les chanteurs de musique traditionnelle franaise
comme Edith Piaf. Jaime couter de la musique mais
aussi chanter! Au dbut, mes parents naimaient pas
trop parce que je chantais comme une casserole!

Lets hear that once again

Japprcie galement la musique []

Now, you said Japprcie la musique. Lets talk for apprcier,

a moment about that verb apprcier a regular er (ngocier,
verb. Other verbs like ngocier, multiplier, nier are multiplier, nier)
conjugated in the same way as apprcier. Lets hear a few
examples. How do we say about two businessmen, for
Watch it!
example They are negociating? two forms of the Present in
Ils ngocient. English, but only one in French:
remember that, in French, theres just
How do we say He is negociating? one version of the Present tense. The
Il ngocie. following English sentences:

1. They negociate [in general]

How would we say talking about students doing
arithmetic, for example They are multiplying and
numbers?
Les lves multiplient des chiffres. 2. They are negociating [right
now]

How would we say talking about the woman who are both rendered by:
is doing some calculations She is multiplying two
numbers? Ils ngocient in French.
Elle multiplie deux chiffres. So, to reiterate: theres just one
Present tense in French.
Talking about my parents, how would I say They
appreciate they like classical music?
Ils apprcient la musique classique.

And finally, how would we say that He denies the

facts?
Il nie les faits.

So, in summary, its important to remember that, in the Remember!

present tense, at least, the 3rd person singular and
Je chantais:
plural forms are pronounced the same, and the final e
Heres an example of the Imperfect
is silent, once again. tense, used when you want to say
On another point, you said that, initially, you werent a that you used to do something,
very good singer! You had an interesting expression e.g. I used to be a lousy singer!
Oui. Je chantais comme une casserole!

comme une casserole thats funny! Normally of

course, une casserole refers to a saucepan.

Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved. 

 Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006
Level: beginner.
aimer + infinitif
apprcier [ngocier, multiplier, nier, etc]
sintresser, se passionner (pour)
au, la, aux
faire [+ activities]
reflexive er verbs
lundi, le lundi
Dialogue

Ok. Lets move on. You have other interests, too

Oui. Je mintresse aussi la peinture. Jadore visiter
des expositions Paris ou bien des muses comme expression
le Louvre ou le muse dOrsay! Je peins ds que jai
avoir la main verte
un moment de libre!
literally, to have a green hand, that
Je me passionne galement pour le jardinage, is to have green fingers (i.e. to be a
mais on ne peut pas dire que jai la main verte! good gardener)

Lets hear this again

Je mintresse aussi la peinture []

And one final time

Je mintresse aussi la peinture []

Now, lets look at two expressions you used: Je sintresser ,

mintresse and Je me passionne (pour). These verbs se passionner
are known as reflexive verbs. In the first person, we can pour
hear the reflexive pronoun, me: je mintresse. It was
the same in the case of the expression Je mappelle,
although we didnt mention it before.
We really should remember these verbs: lets take a
few examples to imprint them in our brains! How about:
Im interested in sport?
Je mintresse au sport.

Im interested in painting?
Je mintresse la peinture.

Im very interested in the cinema

Je mintresse beaucoup au cinma.

Hes fascinated with computers and gadgets?

Il se passionne pour linformatique et les gadgets.

Theyre fascinated with gardening

Ils se passionnent pour le jardinage.

Ok, Amlie. Lets talk a little more about your interests.

Est-ce que tu tintresses au sport?
Je ne mintresse pas trop au sport, mais mon petit
ami adore a! Je pense que le foot, cest sa grande expressions..
passion! En ce moment, il regarde tous les matchs
de la Coupe du Monde de Football la tl. On On dirait (un lgume)
dirait un lgume devant la tlvision! Moi, je naime That is, Youd say [he was a] couch
pas du tout regarder des joueurs courir derrire un potato. (In other words, one would
ballon, a ne mintresse pas du tout! Cest mourir describe him as a couch potato.)
dennui!
Cest mourir dennui!
There are quite a few interesting expressions there. Lets That is, Its deadly boring!
hear that again
Je ne mintresse pas trop au sport []

And one final time

Je ne mintresse pas trop au sport []

 Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

 Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006
Level: beginner.
aimer + infinitif
apprcier [ngocier, multiplier, nier, etc]
sintresser, se passionner (pour)
au, la, aux
faire [+ activities]
reflexive er verbs
lundi, le lundi
Dialogue

Now, you said that you were not too interested. How
did you say that, again?
Note!
Je ne mintresse pas trop au sport.
Remember the word order in
the case of reflexive verbs
So, Im not too interested in reading, would be? used in the negative:
Je ne mintresse pas trop la lecture. Je ne mintresse pas

Now, we have au sport but la lecture. Lets
remember that this happens because of the gender
masculine or feminine of the activity that were
discussing. If were talking about something masculine
le cinma or le sport, for example well have
Je ne mintresse pas au sport.
au, la, aux The reflexive me or m, where it
meets a vowel remains stuck to the
verb (intresser, in this case). The ne
and pas then come before and after
this combination.

On the other hand, if its a feminine activity la lecture,

for example it will be
Je ne mintresse pas la lecture.

Finally, if we have a plural noun des activits

sportives, for example well have aux
Il sintresse aux activits sportives.

Now, we mentioned the World Cup. Theres an interesting ballon (m)

point here, too. The round object that the footballers kick balle (f)
around the field is called
le ballon.

On the other hand, in Wimbledon, the tennis players

strike
la balle.

In French, you have a different word for ball in each of

these sports.
Moving on a little, you said before that your sister was
keen on sport. Tu nous as dit que ta sur tait sportive.
Quel genre de sport fait-elle? Note!
Alors, oui, en effet, ma sur est trs sportive. Elle
fait beaucoup de sport. Elle aime beaucoup, enfin, enfin
elle adore faire de lescalade. Elle sentrane trois fois Elle aime beaucoup, enfin, elle
par semaine : le lundi, le mercredi et le vendredi adore
Elle apprcie galement la marche pied. Elle fait = She really likes, in fact, she
souvent des randonnes avec maman le dimanche. loves

Lets hear that one more time

Ma sur est trs sportive. []

And one final time

Ma sur est trs sportive. []

Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved. 

 Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006
Level: beginner.
aimer + infinitif
apprcier [ngocier, multiplier, nier, etc]
sintresser, se passionner (pour)
au, la, aux
faire [+ activities]
reflexive er verbs
lundi, le lundi

faire
Dialogue

Theres a key verb here: its the verb faire which is

essential when talking about all sorts of activities. To [+ activities]
take part in a lot of sport is
faire beaucoup de sport.

To do or participate in judo is:

faire du judo.

To go climbing?
faire de lescalade.

Lets try a few concrete examples: I go climbing:

Je fais de lescalade.

We go climbing:
Nous faisons de lescalade.

They go hiking on Sundays.

Ils font des randonnes le dimanche. verb
So, lets be sure to remember the conjugation of the verb faire [= to do, to make, to take
part in [sport]]
faire. Dont forget, its all there for you in the PDF Guide
which accompanies this lesson. je fais
tu fais
il / elle / on fait
Now, weve already met Elle sappelle and Elle reflexive nous faisons
vous faites
sintresse. Once again, we meet another of these verbs ils / elles font
reflexive verbs here: elle sentrane she trains. Now,
Amlie, remind us of what I train would be:
Je mentrane
verb
We train
Nous nous entranons sentraner [to train]

je mentrane
The second nous here refers to ourselves. Its a reflexive tu tentranes
verb because we are training ourselves, one might say. il / elle / on sentrane
Once again, youll find the full conjugation of this reflexive nous nous entranons
verb in the PDF Guide. vous vous entranez
ils sentranent

Now, in French, on Sundays or on Mondays is lundi,

simple, right? We simply say: le lundi Remember!
le lundi.

That is, we put the definite article le before the day of lundi..........................Monday
the week. Without the article, well be talking about a mardi.........................Tuesday
mercredi....................Wednesday
specific Monday, for example: jeudi..........................Thursday
Lundi, je vais chez Marie. vendredi....................Friday
samedi......................Saturday
which means: On Monday, [that is, next Monday] Im dimanche..................Sunday
going to Maries.
In French, the days of the week are
spelled with a small letter when they
appear within a sentence.

 Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

 Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006
Level: beginner.
aimer + infinitif
apprcier [ngocier, multiplier, nier, etc]
sintresser, se passionner (pour)
au, la, aux
faire [+ activities]
reflexive er verbs
lundi, le lundi
Dialogue

Ok, Amlie, once again, theres a lot of material to digest

in this lesson. To our listeners, dont forget to download
our accompanying PDF Guide from our website at
www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com.
Finally, if youre enjoying our podcasts, why not send
us some feedback? To do that, you can click the link on the
last page of our PDF Guide or visit our website. We look
forward to hearing from you.

So, Amlie, until next time!

A la prochaine!

If you understood our lesson, then you should be ready for Vocab extra!
apprendre..............to learn
aussi.......................also, too
1. We like reading.
Now its your turn

avec........................with
bien, eh ~..............well
2. They like going to the cinema.
bien, ou ~..............or indeed
3. Hlne is not interested in sport. chiffre (m)..............number
chose (f).................thing
4. Jack and Jim are fascinated with information technology [linformatique]. comme...................like, as
courir......................to run
5. They go climbing on Saturdays.
dbut, au ~............at the beginning
6. He trains twice a week. derrire..................behind, after
ds que..................as soon as
7. We train often. dtendre, se ~.......to relax
galement..............also, too
8. She doesnt train.
ennui (m)...............boredom
exposition (f).........exhibition
fois (f)....................time, occasion
grand.....................big
jardinage (m).........gardening
joueur (m)..............player
click! libre, de ~..............free
loisir (m)................hobby
maman..................mum, mom
See the answers at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htm marche, ~ pied....walking
moment, en ce ~...at the moment
mourir....................to die
muse (m)..............museum
notamment............notably, mainly
nouveau, nouvelle.. new [adj.]
parce que...............because
penser....................to think
permettre...............to allow
Any questions? randonne (f).........hike
semaine (f)............week
souvent..................often
Submit them to us at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/question.htm click!

Any comments?

Submit them to us at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/feedback.htm click!

Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.