Bonjour !
Today, let’s train your ear to catch real-speed French, with one conversation in three speeds — slow, medium, native.
C’est parti !
Greetings and catching up
Géraldine : Salut Thomas ! Ça fait longtemps, dis-moi. Comment ça va ?
Geraldine: Hey Thomas! It’s been a while. How are you doing?
Thomas : Salut Géraldine ! Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ? Quoi de neuf ?
Thomas: Hey Geraldine! I’m good, thanks. How about you? What’s new?
Géraldine : Moi ça va super. Là je rentre de vacances. J’ai passé une semaine en famille, chez mes parents.
Geraldine: I’m doing great. Just got back from vacation. I spent a week with family at my parents’ place.
Thomas : Ah ouais, dans le Sud ? Ça s’est bien passé ?
Thomas: Oh yeah, down south? Did you have a good time?
Géraldine : Oui, on s’est bien amusé. Et puis il a fait super beau !
Geraldine: Yeah, we had a lot of fun. And the weather was amazing!
Discussing plans
Thomas : Et tu fais quoi ce week-end ?
Thomas: So what are you up to this weekend?
Géraldine : Je sais pas encore. On va sûrement aller se balader dans les montagnes. Pourquoi ?
Geraldine: I’m not sure yet. We’ll probably go hiking in the mountains. Why?
Thomas : Il y a le festival régional de chorales samedi après-midi. On y participe, j’ai hâte d’y être ! Ça te dit de venir ?
Thomas: There’s a regional choir festival Saturday afternoon. We’re performing in it. I can’t wait! Want to come?
Géraldine : Ah c’est vrai, tu chantes aussi avec Stéphanie et Julien, c’est ça ? Écoute, pourquoi pas, c’est vrai que ça a l’air chouette.
Geraldine: Oh right, you sing with Stephanie and Julien, don’t you? Listen, why not? It does sound pretty cool.
Thomas : Génial !
Thomas: Awesome!
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Arranging details
Géraldine : C’est où ? C’est payant ?
Geraldine: Where is it? Do we need to buy tickets?
Thomas : Non, c’est gratuit. C’est au parc de la Citadelle, autour du kiosque. C’est la ville qui organise.
Thomas: No, it’s free. It’s at Citadel Park, around the bandstand. The city is organizing it.
Géraldine : Parfait ! Et vous avez un horaire, tu sais à quelle heure vous passez ?
Geraldine: Perfect! Do you have a schedule? Do you know what time you’ll be performing?
Thomas : Ça commence à quatorze heures, jusqu’à dix-neuf heures. On devrait passer vers quinze heures, mais je te redis quand on aura plus de détails.
Thomas: It starts at 2 PM and goes until 7 PM. We should be on around 3 PM, but I’ll let you know when we have more details.
Géraldine : Ça marche. Je dois y aller – mais à samedi alors !
Geraldine: Sounds good. I gotta run – but see you Saturday then!
Extra quick exercise:
Which answer means “cool, nice, fun” in everyday informal French?
a) Chouette
b) Hâte
c) Redis
d) Marche
You’ll find the answer at the bottom of this page!
Informal French and vocabulary :
Salut ! = informal friendly “Bonjour !” (and “Au revoir”) = Hi! / Bye!
Dis-moi = Tell me…
Quoi de neuf ? = What’s new, what’s up? Friendly conversation starter.
Là = Here / Right now…
Ouais = informal “oui” = yes
Je sais pas = informal “Je ne sais pas” = “I don’t know” ; we cut the “ne” in informal negations
Se balader = se promener, marcher = to stroll, to go for a walk, to walk around
Il y a = becomes “Ya” in fast spoken French = There is, there are
J’ai hâte = I can’t wait
Ça te dit ? = Does it sound good to you, are you interested?
C’est où ? = informal question ; the correct “Où est-ce ? Où est-ce que c’est ?” which would sound way too formal.
Un évéménet payant = a paid event, you need to pay to enter
Gratuit = free (costs nothing)
Neuf heures = the “liaison” here replaces the “f” with “v” sound.
Je redis = Je dis encore une fois = I say again, I contact you again.
Ça marche. = “It walks” literally, it works, OK for me, that’s agreed.
Voilà !
With this video, you just listened to real-speed French — and your brain’s already getting stronger!
Replay this video daily for 5 min and watch your comprehension skyrocket!
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À bientôt!
See you in the next video!
A confidence boosting introduction to lessons as Geraldine convincingly explains how listening to the three speeds will accustom a learner’s ear and understanding of normal spoken French.
C’était vraiment bien et une bonne façon de s’habituer au français rapide.
Fantastic lesson! Like the way you put the dialogue in different speeds. Love it!
I prefer the medium speech. You spoke faster then Thomas, even in normal French conversation. I could understand him easily but you seemed to go faster. I don’t think I will ever drop the “ne” in the negative. To me, it is ruining the beautiful French language. Désolé!
merci