How can you introduce yourself in French?
You probably learned something like: “Bonjour, je m’appelle Géraldine, j’habite à Grenoble.”
This is fine! It’s correct French, and it can work as a basis for a conversation… But it’s boring. And it’s not the real spoken French language that you’ll hear French people use!
Instead, it would sound more like:
“Moi c’est Géraldine. J’habite à Grenoble, mais j’viens d’région parisienne à la base. Dans la vie, j’ai ma boîte, j’enseigne le français à des anglophones, tu vois, genre le français parlé du quotidien et la culture en général. Sinon j’fais du piano et plein d’autres trucs ici et là. Enfin voilà quoi !”
If you’ve spent months on apps or in classes, but still feel completely lost the second a native speaker opens their mouth, it’s because you’ve been learning a version of French that doesn’t exist in the wild.
Today, we’ll explore real French phrases, the ones French people would actually use when meeting someone. Repeat them after me, out loud!
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I built a free quiz to show you where your ear is right now. Seven short audio bits of real French, recorded by me at normal speed. You listen, you guess what was said, and at the end you get a personalized report showing exactly which patterns trip you up and which ones you’ve already got. Click here to try out your free quiz right now.
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C’est parti.
1) The real basics
Giving your name.
“Je m’appelle Géraldine.” is correct but stilted.
More natural: “Moi, c’est Géraldine.” (= I’m [Géraldine])
Even more natural: “Bonsoir. Géraldine.” (with a smile and a handshake)
(To be honest, the most natural thing here could be not to share your name at all, when making small talk with people you don’t expect to ever meet again.)
Where you’re from
Correct and serviceable, but with stilted pronunciation:
- J’habite en Pologne. (= I live in Poland)
- Je viens du Canada. (= I’m from Canada)
- Je suis américaine. (= I’m American)
In real spoken French, we very often cut the “e” in “Je” or “de”, and “Je suis” becomes “Chuis. :
- “J’viens d’Toulouse.”
- “Chuis Breton.”
- “J’habite à Grenoble, mais j’viens d’région parisienne à la base.” (= I live in Grenoble, but originally I come from the Parisian area.)
We wouldn’t really ever write it that way, with the dropped “e” and all that, but that’s how it sounds. Also, “à la base” (= originally, to begin with) is a very useful common expression!
In a conversation: questions in everyday spoken French
– C’est quoi ton nom déjà ? (= What’s your name, again?)
– Moi, c’est Géraldine. (= I’m Géraldine.)
– T’es d’où ? (= Where are you from?)
– J’viens d’Grenoble. (= I’m from Grenoble.)
2) For a living
French people will ask you: “Tu fais quoi dans la vie ?” (= What do you do for a living?)
Correct stilted French answers:
- Je suis professeur. (= I’m a teacher.)
- Je travaille dans une banque. (= I work at a bank.)
In real everyday spoken French, you can also use:
- bosser or taffer (for “travailler”, to work)
- une boîte (literally “a box”, for “une entreprise”, a company)
- “Chuis”, cutting the “e” in “Je”, shortening some professions.
For instance:
- “Chuis prof.”
- “Chuis graphiste.” (= I’m a graphist designer.)
- “Chuis à la retraite.” (= I’m retired.)
- “J’bosse dans la mode.” (= I’m working in fashion.)
- “Je bosse pour une start-up.” (= I’m working for a start-up.)
- “Je suis DRH pour une boîte de nettoyage.” (= I’m working in HR for a cleaning company)
- “J’ai créé ma propre boîte.” (= I started my own business.)
- “Dans la vie, chuis [métier.]” (your profession)
- “Je bosse dans [domaine.]”
- “Chuis [métier] dans une boîte de [domaine].”
3) Your passions
There’s no good word for “hobby” in French, so we’d ask:
- “Tu fais quoi de tes temps libres ?” (= What do you do in your free time?)
- “Et sinon, t’as des hobbies ?” (= Apart from that, do you have any hobby?)
The easiest, informal answer would follow this structure: “J’fais du vélo” (= riding bikes), “J’fais de la méditation.” (= doing meditation)
For instance:
- “J’fais du foot.” (= I play soccer.)
- “J’fais du piano.” (= I play the piano)
- “J’fais du crochet.” (= I do crochet.)
- “J’fais d’la rando.” (= I go on hikes, “rando” = la randonnée, hiking)
You can also use “J’adore [doing something.]” For instance:
- “J’adore le jardinage.” (= I love gardening.)
- “J’adore jardiner.” (= I love gardening.)
You can add: “…et plein d’autres trucs.” (= and a lot more stuff)
→ “truc” is a very common informal word for “something, stuff.”
4) The secret sauce: filler words
Filler words are a real game-changer. They’re not always slang – but with just a few words here and there, you get to transform your French and sound way more confident.
Tu vois ? (Tu vois ?) (= You see?)
J’bosse dans une école, tu vois, avec des ados. (= I work in a school, you see, with teenagers.)
Sinon (Sinon) (= Otherwise, also.)
Chuis ingénieure à Grenoble… Sinon j’fais aussi de l’escalade et du tricot. (= I’m an engineer in Grenoble. I also enjoy rock climbing and knitting.)
Enfin voilà quoi. Enfin, voilà, quoi. (= And you know how it is, that’s basically it) → when you’re not sure how to wrap up your discussion.
Et puis je fais de la rando, du vélo… Enfin voilà, quoi. (= And I also go on hikes, ride a bike… Well, you know how it goes.)
In a spoken French conversation, there’s always a ton of different filler words. By using them, you sound more relaxed, people will understand your point better – and they’ll know you’ve been learning some French for real!
5) Stitching it all together
Imagine you’re at a dinner party, someone’s turned to you, and it’s your turn to say who you are. Add in your own information in this next line, and pronounce it out loud:
“Salut ! Moi, c’est [name]. J’habite à [city], mais j’viens d'[place] à la base. Dans la vie, chuis [profession], tu vois. Sinon, j’fais du [hobby] et plein d’autres trucs. Enfin voilà quoi !”
Really, repeat that out loud, for you! Say it twice, or three times. It OK if you stumble or if it’s not perfect, that’s the whole point.
And that’s it: you just introduced yourself in real spoken French – not the way a French manual would. And you can apply what we’ve seen to all your other conversations!
→ Now I want to hear from you. In the comments, introduce yourself in French. Use what you just practiced. Pick one phrase from this video – or even one word – and use it right now. “Chuis retraitée.” Or “J’fais d’la rando”. Or “bosser.” Write it down there, it’s great practice!
→ If you want to go deeper, if you want to keep building this confidence with structured practice every single day, click here to join my free newsletter. I send you weekly lessons with exactly the kind of real French we practiced today, along with a clear roadmap so you always know what to work on next.
→ Did you get your free quiz? Seven questions, seven gaps, one personalized report straight to your inbox. Click here to take the audio test.
I’ll see you in the next lesson.
À très vite !
Salut, Geraldine! Moi, c’est Roni. J’habite a New York mais j’viens d’ Boston. Chuis à la retraitee. J’fais du yoga et plein d’autres trucs! J’ai hate a rejoindre la prochaine de 30 jours challenge! Merci!
Aujourd’hui le commencement était très poétique.