SFF11

UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
FOUNDATION COURSE

FIRST YEAR
FIRST SEMESTER

PAPER - I FRENCH- I
PRESCRIBED TEXT AND GRAMMAR - I

INSTITUTE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS
FOUNDATATION COURSE - FRENCH PAPER-I FRENCH - I
FIRST YEAR - FIRST SEMESTER PRESCRIBED TEXT AND GRAMMAR - I

WELCOME
Warm Greetings.

It is with a great pleasure to welcome you as a student of Institute of Distance

Education, University of Madras. It is a proud moment for the Institute of Distance education
as you are entering into a cafeteria system of learning process as envisaged by the University
Grants Commission. Yes, we have framed and introduced Choice Based Credit
System(CBCS) in Semester pattern from the academic year 2018-19. You are free to
choose courses, as per the Regulations, to attain the target of total number of credits set
for each course and also each degree programme. What is a credit? To earn one credit in
a semester you have to spend 30 hours of learning process. Each course has a weightage
in terms of credits. Credits are assigned by taking into account of its level of subject content.
For instance, if one particular course or paper has 4 credits then you have to spend 120
hours of self-learning in a semester. You are advised to plan the strategy to devote hours of
self-study in the learning process. You will be assessed periodically by means of tests,
assignments and quizzes either in class room or laboratory or field work. In the case of PG
(UG), Continuous Internal Assessment for 20(25) percentage and End Semester University
Examination for 80 (75) percentage of the maximum score for a course / paper. The theory
paper in the end semester examination will bring out your various skills: namely basic
knowledge about subject, memory recall, application, analysis, comprehension and
descriptive writing. We will always have in mind while training you in conducting experiments,
analyzing the performance during laboratory work, and observing the outcomes to bring
out the truth from the experiment, and we measure these skills in the end semester
examination. You will be guided by well experienced faculty.

I invite you to join the CBCS in Semester System to gain rich knowledge leisurely at
your will and wish. Choose the right courses at right times so as to erect your flag of
success. We always encourage and enlighten to excel and empower. We are the cross
bearers to make you a torch bearer to have a bright future.

With best wishes from mind and heart,

DIRECTOR

(i)
FOUNDATATION COURSE - FRENCH PAPER-I FRENCH - I
FIRST YEAR - FIRST SEMESTER PRESCRIBED TEXT AND GRAMMAR - I

COURSE WRITERS

1 Mrs. K. Srunika, Assistant Professor, Unit 1 – Slaut!

Department of French & Other Foreign Languages,
University of Madras Ph: 09840274740
Email: [email protected]

2 Ms. S. Ramya, Assistant Professor, Unit 2 – Enchanté!

Department of French & Other Foreign Languages,
University of Madras Ph: 08754328567
Email: [email protected]

3 Dr. C. Thirumurugan, Associate Professor, Unit 3 – J’adore!

Department of French, Pondicherry University,
Puducherry-605014 Ph: 09442787609
Email: [email protected]

4 Dr. C. Thirumurugan, Associate Professor, Unit 4 – Tu veux bien?

Department of French, Pondicherry University,
Puducherry-605014 Ph: 09442787609
Email: [email protected]

5 Dr. Ashish Agnihotri, Associate Professor, Unit 5 – On se voit quand ?

Centre for French & Francophone Studies,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Ph: 09968292565 Email: [email protected]

6 Dr. Ashish Agnihotri, Associate Professor, Unit 6 – Bonne idée!

Centre for French & Francophone Studies,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Ph: 09968292565 Email: [email protected]

COORDINATION AND EDITING

Dr. N.C. MIRAKAMAL
Assistant Professor & Head in Charge
Department of French & Other Foreign Languages, University of Madras

© UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS, CHENNAI 600 005.

(ii)
 UNDERGRADUATE

FOUNDATION COURSE - FRENCH

FIRST YEAR

FIRST SEMESTER

Paper - I FRENCH - I

PRESCRIBED TEXT AND GRAMMAR - I

SYLLABUS

Régine Mérieux & Yves Loiseau, Latitudes 1, Paris, Didier, 2017 (Units 1-6only).

(iii)
 1

UNIT 1
SALUT !
1. Introduction
This unit entitled Salut ! (Hi !) corresponds to pp.10-19 of Latitudes 1.

The learner is advised to devote approximately 15-20 hours to this lesson.

The learners are advised to refer to the textbook Latitudes 1 for better understanding of
the study material provided.

2. Plan of Study
To make the first contact

· Say please and thank you

· Differentiate between the formal and informal ways of saying ‘you’

· The French alphabet

· Instructions used in class

To introduce oneself

· I am… I live in …

· The verb ‘To be’

· Nationality

· Numbers from 0 to 10

To excuse oneself

· Excuse me

· I’m sorry
2

Final Task

You are taking up cookery classes at the Alliance française. Introduce yourself to your
group.

3. Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you will learn the following:

4. Thematic Introduction
In the very first lesson of your French course you will learn the basics of conversing in
French like, greeting people, introducing yourself and excusing yourself. Conversational aspect
apart, you will also learn how to use the verb ‘être’ or ‘to be’ in French. Mastering this verb will
 3

help you give more information about yourself. This lesson also covers the alphabet and numbers
from 0 – 10.

p. 10

Salut ! – Hi !

Now look at p.10.

Here are a few everyday mini dialogues between different people. Each context is different.
Read these dialogues as you listen to audio clip no. 2 in the CD accompanying your textbook.
You may have to listen to them more than once to get a good understanding of the meaning and
a good pronunciation. Observe the differences in context and think of similar situations and
how dialogues in these situations might play out in your own mother tongue.

Given below are the translations of the dialogues. For transcriptions in French refer to
page 10 of the textbook.

Dialogue 1 :On the street, two friends meet each other suddenly…
— Ah! Good morning, Anne. How are you?
— Hi, David. I’m doing good and you?
— Good. Thank you.

Dialogue 2 :In the office, two colleagues greet each other …

— Good morning, Mr Lucas. You’re doing good?
— Very well. And you?

Dialogue 3 :Two friends say goodbye to each other at the end of their meeting…

— See you, Alix!

— Bye!

Dialogue 4: Two friends speaking over the phone…

— Hello Eric, it’s Lili. You’re doing fine?
— Ah! Hi Lili! Yes, fine and you?
4

Dialogue 5: In an office at the reception…

— Good morning. Antoine Mouly.
— Good morning sir.
— Mr. Dubois, please.
— Yes… (makes a phone call to the person) Damien, your meeting… (Phone call ends)
Yes Mr. Mouly.

Dialogue 6 : Two students crossing each other in the school hallway

— Hi, Office number 318, please.
—It’s here !
— Ah! Thank you! See you!

p. 11

C’est clair ?

Activity 1 : Using the images in the textbook (pg 10) as a guide, match the dialogues 1 –
6 and the pictures A – F. To do this activity you must first be able to understand the meaning of
each dialogue and then match the corresponding picture with the dialogue.

Answer:

A2, B3, C6, D4, E1, 5F.

TU ou VOUS?

A pronoun is a word or a phrase that is used to replace a noun. For example, the noun
Ramesh need not be repeated again and again, it can be replaced with the pronoun He. Observe
the list of English pronouns and their French equivalents.
 5

The distinction we wish to make here is that of the usage of the pronoun You. In English
this pronoun is used to address both the young and the elderly. It is used to address one person
or sometimes even a group pf people. The French language however uses two different pronouns
Tu and Vous for different contexts. Tu is used in informal contexts like between friends and
family or while talking to a younger person. It is never used to address a group of people. Vous
on the other hand is used in a more formal context, say while addressing a superior, someone
elderly or an authority. It is a sign of respect. Vous is also used to address a group of people
whether they are old or young. Here are a few examples:

Looking for the words Tu or Vous isn’t the only way to find whether the situation is formal
or informal. Some greetings or phrases may also serve as clues that can help you identify the
same. For example, here is a list of greetings and phrases and the situations in which they are
used.
6

Activity 2 :Listen to audio clip number 3 in the first CD accompanying your textbook.
Listen to all 5 mini dialogs. Then try and classify them as to whether they are informal (Tu) or
formal (Vous).

Listen to the dialogues first, more than once if required. Transcriptions of the dialogues
are given on page 11. Below you will find English translations of the same.

Dialogue 1:
— Ah! Good morning Mr. Delafon! How are you?
— Yes! Very well, thank you. And you, Clara?

Dialogue 2:
— How are you Nina?
— I am fine, thank you. And you?

Dialogue 3:
— Bye Theo! See you tomorrow!
— Bye! See you tomorrow!
 7

Dialogue 4:
— See you Madam.
— See you on Monday!

Dialogue 5:
­­— Will you call me on Saturday?
— Yes ok.

Activity 3 : Listen to the same audio clip again and repeat what you hear.

Activity 4 : Classify the words in the different columns of the following table.

S’il vous plait, bonjour, merci, bien, salut, au revoir, monsieur Delafon, toi, madame, s’il te
plaît, tchao, à lundi, d’accord, à demain

Answers:

Activity 5 : Look at the images in activity 5 on page 11 of your textbook and write two
dialogs based on them.

In the first photo two young girls (high school students) greet each other with a kiss. In the
second photo a student meets a teacher in the library.

Answers :

Photo A
— Salut Marie! Ça va ?
-- Salut ! Oui et toi ?
8

Photo B
— Bonjour Madame ! Vous allez bien ?
— Bonjour Marie ! Je vais bien.

Les jours de la semaine - Days of the week

Observe the table given below. The days of the week have been listed. Some English
equivalents have been filled in. Try filling out the rest.

Saluer – To greet

Ça va? - How are you?

 9

p. 12

ENTRER EN CONTACT – START A CONVERSATION

Comment on dit ?

Observe the daily conversations on page 12 and notice how people begin conversations
in French. Since you are already familiar with the basic greetings like ‘Bonjour’, ‘Salut’ etc. note
how people introduce themselves. Listen to the dialogues first, more than once if required.
Transcriptions of the dialogues are given on page 12. Below you will find English translations of
the same.

Dialogue 1: An elderly couple at the reception.

— Good day!
— Good day, madam,
— Your name, please?
— Euh… Demarty.Je m’appelle Paul Demarty.
— Demarty ? Ça s’écrit comment ?
— D.E.M.A.R.T.Y.

Dialogue 2: A young man at the bakery.

— Good day!
— Good day madam. One baguette, please?
— One baguette? Here it is. One euro, please.
—Thank you
— You’re welcome.

Dialogue 3: Two friends.

-- Here. Your Bénabar CD.
—Ah ! Thank you.
— You’re welcome.

Activity 6: Match the corresponding pictures on page 12 of your textbook and the dialogues
using the clues.
10

Answers:

A1, B3, C2

Expressions of Politeness: Adding ‘S’il vous plaît’ or ‘S’il te plaît’ at the end of a request
is usually practiced. Ex. “Votre nom, s’il vous plait?”, “Le bureau 318, s’il vous plaît”.Even while
saying thank you it is essential to add monsieur or madame according to the person being
spoken to. Ex. “Merci, monsieur / Merci, madame!” If someone thanks you, you may choose to
respond with either “Je vous en prie” which is similar to ‘You’re welcome’or “De rien” which is
not unlike “No problem”.

Activity 7: After having read and understood the above note try and apply the same
principles in the following activity. Fill in the blanks using the correct expressions of
politeness.

Answers:

Dialogue 1 : In a café
— Monsieur?
— Euh… Un café s’il vous plaît ?
— Un café. D’accord.

Dialogue 2 : Conversion at home between mother and child.

— Un euro pour le pain _____________, maman.
— Tiens.
— Merci, maman. (Thank you, mom)
— De rien. (No problem / You’re welcome.)

Dialogue 3 : Conversation between two men in a formal context

— Merci, monsieur.
— Je vous en prie. (you’re welcome)
— Au revoir, monsieur! (Bye / See you)
— Au revoir, à Samedi.
 11

p.13

Activity 8: Follow activity 8 on page 13 of your textbook. Play clip number 5 from
audio CD number 1. Observe and repeat the pronunciation of each French alphabet.
Repeat this exercise more than once if necessary.

Activity 9: 6 French abbreviations and their meanings are given below. After having
read and understood the table, complete it by filling in the letter of the corresponding
picture from page 13 of textbook (activity number 9)

AnswerS:

SNCF - F, CHRU – C, TGV – D, BD – E, ONU – A, CIC – B

Activity 10: Listen to track number 6 on the audio CD number 1. The clip is a short
dialogue between a man and a woman. Listen to the clip carefully more than once if required
and then read the English translation given below. The French transcriptions for the same are
given on page 184.

Man: Good day madam. You are…?

Woman: My name is Inna Gusinova.
Man: Okay. How do you spell it?
Woman: Inna, I two N A. Gusinova, G.U.S.I.N.O.V.A
Man: Thank you!
12

Activity 11: The following sentences are often used in class. Some are used by the
teacher and some are used by the students. Play track number 7 from audio CD number
1. The transcriptions are given on page 13. Repeat after each sentence and use the
translation given below to understand the sentences you hear. Once you understand all
of them identify 4 sentences that are usually used by students.

1. Listen well...
2. Yes, yes I understood.
3. No, I do not understand.
4. Act out the given situation in groups.
5. Could you please repeat?
6. Please repeat.
7. How are you doing?
8. Look at the photo.
9. How do you spell it?
10. Complete it.

Answers

The four sentences that are usually used by students are 2,3,5 and 6.

Activity 12: Certain action words that are often used in class and their meanings
are given in the table below. Understand the meanings, turn to page 13 in your textbook
and look at the pictures given under activity 12. Each picture corresponds with an action
word given below. Match them.

p. 14
 13

SE PRÉSENTER – TO INTRODUCE ONESELF

Observe the dialogue given on page 14 of your textbook. You will notice that it is actually
part of an online forum. The forum is called “Multicités” which translates to multi cities. You may
note that it is a Belgian website as the domain is .be. Note the names of the two people who are
chatting on the forum. They are usernames or screen names (called ‘pseudo’ in French). Once
you have read the dialogue in your textbook on page 14, read the translation given below.

Aiko: Good day.

Fabio: Hi. You are… Japanese? Chinese?

Aiko: No. I am French.*

Fabio: Excuse me.

Aiko: It’s no big deal. My first name is in Japanese : my mother is Japanese. And you? Are
you French?

Fabio: No, I’m Brazilian.

Aiko: Are you from Rio?

Fabio: Eh no! I live in Brasilia, and you? You live in Tokyo or in Paris?

Aiko: In Paris.

Fabio: Are you a student?

Aiko: Yes.

(*The letter E at the end of ‘francaise’ has been capitalized for emphasis to show that Aiko
is a girl. So français = French man, française = French woman. Aiko capitalizes the E to insist
on her gender because for the two other nationalities that Fabio mentions he uses the masculine
gender. Japonais = Japanese man, Chinois = Chinese man. Japonaise = Japanese woman,
Chinoise = Chinese woman.Brésilien = Brazilian man, Brésilienne = Brazilian woman. Reread
the dialogue after understanding this.)

C’est clair?

Activity 13: Read the dialogue and complete the table by ticking the right box.

Answers
14

You will be learning two new things in this lesson : Nationalities and the verb to be. Unlike
in English, in French conveying your nationality goes along with conveying your gender as well.
For example in English if a speaker simply says ‘I am Indian’, the biological gender of the
person who said this sentence cannot be guessed simply from the sentence itself. French
language on the other hand forces you to reveal your gender when you say what your nationality
is. For example, just by reading the sentence ‘Je suis française’, we can say that the person
who said this sentence is female! (There are exceptions to this.) Observe the table given below.
In it you will find the words you will need to denote men and women of different nationalities.
See also page 15.

Note: You need not capitalise the first letter while writing the nationality in French.

Être

Understanding the usage of this verb is very important if you intend to progress in French.
The verb Être or to be is not only used on its own but it also used as an auxillary verb in certain
tenses of the past. It is the most commonly used verb in French. It is further used in a lot of
expressions that are unique to the French language. Observe the table below for the meanings
and the different forms of the verb in the present tense. You may revise pronouns before learning
the following.
 15

Activity 14: Having understood the meaning of Être read the questions given below
to help you complete the sentences on page 14 (activity 14) of your textbook.

Answers
Aiko est française.
Elle est étudiante.
Elle est à Paris
Fabio est brésilien.
Il est à Brasilia.

Activity 15: Read the dialogue and the table, choose the right answer amongst the
options given below. Then do the same exercise on page 14 (activity 15) of your textbook.

Answers

1. Je suis française
2. Tu es brésilien ?
3. Je suis étudiante.
4. MA mère est japonaise.
5. Fabio est italien?
6. Tu es de Madrid?

Activity 16: Fill in the blanks with the right words. Then complete the exercise on
page 14 (activity 15) of your textbook.
16

Answers

1. Fabio est brésilien.

2. Aiko est à Paris.
3. Tu es étudiant ?
4. Je suis espagnol.
5. Ma mère est française.

p. 15

Activity 17: Choose the right answer. Then complete the exercise on page 15 of
your textbook. Use the words Madame/Monsieur as clues.

Answers

1. Madame Cailleau est française.

2. Monsieur Ideka est japonais.
3. Madame Robinho est brésilienne.

Activity 18: Listen to track number 8 on audio CD number 1 and read the sentences
given below. Fill in the blanks. You may refer to the table of nationalities given above.
Then fill up the blanks in activity 18 on page number 15 while listening to the clip again.
Transcriptions of the dialogues are given on page 184.

Answers

1. Amanda est brésilienne.

2. Lars est danois. Eva est danoise.
3. Javier est espagnol. Amalia est espagnole.
4. Mitsuko est japonaise.
5. TrungKien est vietnamien.
6. Yazid est marocain.

Activity 19: Listen to clip number 9 on audio CD number 1. You will hear numbers
0 to 10 in French. Listen and repeat.
 17

Activity 20: Refer to the table above and complete the calculations given on page
15 (activity 20).

Answers

Un + un = deux, cinq – deux = trois, six + deux = huit, trois + cinq = huit, sept – quatre =
trois, sept + trois = dix, quatre + cinq = neuf, deux + quatre = six, six – un = cinq, huit – deux =
six.

Activity 21 :Listen to track number 10 on audio CD number 1. You will hear 5 short
audio clips. Listen to them carefully and note the number mentioned in them.
Transcriptions for the same have been given on page 184. Make use of this and complete
activity 21 on page 15 of your textbook.

Answers

A – Huit (8), B – Deux (2), C – Quatre (4), D – Trois (3), E – Sept (7)

Activity 22 : Observe the pictures on page 15 (activity 22). Note how French people
count with their fingers differently.

p.16.

S’EXCUSER– TO EXCUSE YOURSELF

Activity 23: Play track 11 from audio CD 1. You will hear four dialogues. Listen to
them and follow along with the transcriptions given below. Listen to them one more time
and repeat them out loud.

Dialogue 1: A man and a woman talk in a formal context.

Woman: Bonjour monsieur.
Man: Bonjour. Monsieur Boutin.
Woman: Boutin…Alex Boutin?
Man: Non, je suis désolé, Xavier Boutin.
18

Dialogue 2 : A man and a woman talk in a formal context.

Woman: Bonjour monsieur, vous êtes… ?
Man : Samba Barry.
Woman : Pardon ?
Man : Barry. Monsieur Barry. B­A­2R­Y.

Dialogue 3 : A man and a woman talk in an informal context.

Woman: Bonjour Saïd… Saïd! Bonjour!
Man: Ah, oh…excuse-moi…Salut.
Woman : Ça va ?
Man : Euh, oui, oui, et toi ?

Dialogue 4 : A man and a woman talk in an informal context.

Man: Salut Valerie!
Woman: Salut Saïd, ça va ?
Man : Ça va !
Woman : Excuse­moi…Allô !

Activity 24: Refer to the transcriptions given above and complete the table given
below. Which of the four dialogues contain the four words?

Answers

Activity 25: Look at the pictures given in activity 25 on page 16. Based on the
explanations given below understand the situations depicted and then try to guess what
you might say in your mother tongue. Then read all dialogues done in this unit and
choose what a French person might say, suggest alternatives to the phrases given.

Situation 1 : A lady dragging her suitcase behind her accidentally drags it over a passer-
by’s feet. In French she might say « Oh ! Pardon ! Excusez-moi ! Je suis désolé(e) ». Suggest
an alternative French phrase.
 19

Situation 2 : A lady standing at the back of the elevator tries to squeeze herself out of the
elevator, maybe because it has landed in her floor. In French she might say « Excusez-moi ! »
etc

Situation 3 : A lady enters her colleague’s office with a lot of folders and papers. In French
she might say, « Bonjour ! Voilà ! »

Activity 26: Play track 12 on audio CD 1. Listen to the dialogue and follow the transcriptions.
Then complete the activity 26 on page 16 of your textbook.

Answers:

Julie Bourgeois : Excusez-moi, vous êtes Thomas Rühmann ?

Un homme : Non, désolé.
JB : Oh pardon.
JB : Excusez-moi, Thomas Rühmann ?
TR : Oui.
JB : Ah ! bonjour monsieur Rühmann. Julie Bourgeois. Je suis l’assistante de madame
Cailleau.
TR : Ah ! Bonjour madame Bourgeois. Enchanté.
JB : Bienvenue à Paris ! Vous avez fait bon voyage ?
TR : Oui merci.

Activity 27 :You are in the airport in your city. Your French colleague is arriving,
and you must welcome him. Imagine and write a dialogue using the hints given below.

The conversation must be a formal one therefore ‘vous’ has to be used between the two
people. The person welcoming may not know the other person, so they might have to confirm
their name before commencing communication. Here is what it might sound like. Read the one
given below and try to suggest alternative phrases or sentences.

Answers

Woman: Excusez -moi. Monsieur Mouly?

Man: Oui! C’est moi!
Woman : Oh ! Je suis Shruthi. Je suis votre collegue. Bienvenue en Inde !
20

Man : Oh ! Merci Shruthi. Enchanté!

P. 17

TACHE FINALE – FINAL TASK

You are in Alliance française to take up cookery classes. You are meeting the comrades
of your class. Introduce yourself.

While introducing ourselves we must give our first name, family name and our nationality.
We must ensure that we include these details. Here is an example.

Bonjour! Je suis Anita Kumar. Je suis indienne. Je suis étudiante. J’habite à Chennai.
Enchanté !

P. 18

EN FRANCE ET AILLEURS – IN FRANCE AND ELSEWHERE

Observe the map of France on pages 18 and 19. On page 18, you will find a physical map
of mainland France or « France métropolitaine ». This is also known as the ‘hexagon’ due to its
geometrical shape. You will also notice that the neighbouring countries of France are: Spain,
England, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy and Switzerland. To the north is the English
Channel, to the south the Mediterranean sea and to the west the Atlantic ocean.

Activity 28: Look at the neighbouring countries of France and tell which are the
countries where French is spoken?

Answers

French is spoken in Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco and Luxembourg.

On page 19, you will find the overseas territories of France or « Territoires d’outre-mer ».
They are namely Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion and Guyana.

p.19

Activity 29: In this activity you can find the location of each monument on the map.
 21

Answers
A. Le château de Chenonceau – Chenonceaux
B. La tour Eiffel – Paris
C. Le Mont-Saint-Michel – Avranches
D. Le piton de la fournaise – Réunion
E. Le centre spatial de Kourou –La Guyane

Some questions on Civilisation

1. Nommez un pays voisin de la France. (Name one neighbouring country that of France.)

Ans : L’Allemagne (Germany) / La Belgique (Belgium) / L’Italie (Italy) / La Suisse (Switzerland)

/ L’Espagne (Spain) / Le Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

2. Nommez un pays francophone en européen sauf la France. (Name one European country
apart from France where French is spoken.)

Ans : La Belgique (Belgium) / La Suisse (Switzerland)/ Le Monaco (Monaco) / Le Luxembourg

(Luxembourg)

3. Nommez un monument parisien. (Name a Parisian monument.)

Ans : La tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) / Le musée du Louvre (Louvre museum)

4. Nommez la capitale de la France. (What is the capital of France.)

Ans : Paris

5. Nommez un territoire d’outre-mer français. (Name one French overseas territory.)

Ans : La Martinique (Martinique) / La Guadeloupe (Guadeloupe) / La Réunion (Reunion) / La

Guyane (Guyana)
22

UNIT 2
ENCHANTÉ !
1. Introduction
This unit entitled Enchanté! (Pleased to meet you !) corresponds to pp.20-29 of Latitudes
1.

The learner is advised to devote approximately 10-15 hours to this lesson.

The learners are advised to refer to the textbook Latitudes 1 for better understanding of
the study material provided.

2. Plan of study
To ask someone to introduce himself/herself

· How old are you?

· What is your name?

· My, your, his/her

· To be, to have, verbs ending in ‘er’

To introduce someone

· This is my friend, here is…

· Who is this? – This is…He is…

· A few names of professions

· Numbers from 11 –à 69

· Yes, No, but yes

Final task

The learner introduces himself in the French class and fills in a form for his teacher.
 23

3. Learning objectives
In this lesson you will learn the following:

4. Thematic introduction
The second lesson is titled ‘Pleased to meet you’. In this lesson, we continue to learn how
to make introductions, this time in a formal context and we also learn how to introduce another
person. We learn to ask questions and conduct interactions with others in a professional situation.

p. 20

Enchanté ! – Pleased to meet you!

The lesson introduces us to a dialogue taking place in the office of a publishing company
called Pixma publications. The employees of the company from various countries introduce
themselves and others during this meeting. This dialogue will give you an idea of how interactions
in the professional sphere take place.
24

You can listen to the dialogue on Track 17 of CD1 that accompanies your textbook. The
following is the English translation of the dialogue which can be read on page 20 of your textbook.

Dialogue:

Isabelle Tivaut: Good morning. Welcome to Pixma publications. Isabelle Tivaut, I’m the
director. I introduce Christian Rigon, director of French, this is Fabienne, the editor and over
here is Philippe, the international director. Thank you for working in your countries for Pixma
publications.

Could you please introduce yourselves?

Yes, Barbara please start.
Barbara: Good morning. I’m Barbara Malecka; I work for Pixma at Warsaw.
Blandine: I am Blandine, I am French and I work in Mexico.
Amanda: And you live in Mexico?
Blandine: Yes, I live in Mexico.
Isabelle Martin: Isabelle Martin. I’m from Madrid.
Isabelle Tivaut: Very well. And you are…..
Frederic: Good morning. My name is Frederic and I work in Geneva.
Amanda: Are you Swiss?
Frederic: No! I’m not Swiss. I’m Belgian.
Amanda: And me, I’m from Sao Paulo and I work all over the country in Rio de Janerio, in
Brasilia and in Curitiba.
Isabelle Tivaut: And what is your name?
Amanda: Oh! Excuse me…..My name is Amanda.
Noura: Good morning. Me, I’m Noura. I work in Beirut and also in Damascus.
Frederic: And what is your nationality? Lebanese or French?
Noura: I am Lebansese.
Frederic: You are very young, aren’t you?
Noura: Er…young. No…er…yes. I’m 26 years old.
Isabelle Tivaut: Alright, thank you. To start with, Christian will present the new French
books to you …
 25

- Are you Swiss?

- No, I am not Swiss. I am French.
Yes/No
-Do you live in Mexico ?
- Yes, I live in Mexico.
-Philippe is the editor?
- No Philippe is the international director.

Based on this dialogue, we learn how to ask and answer questions in the affirmative or in
the negative. The French words for yes and no are oui and non respectively. If we look at the
examples given in the table we can observe the use of these two structures.

In all the above examples, questions are marked by the voice which rises (intonation)
towards the end of the sentence.

Consider the question Tu est indienne? (Are you Indian ?). In this sentence the voice
rises towards the end indicating that it is a question. The answer to the question can then be
given with a yes or a no.

In the third example sentence, the use of the negative is introduced. The negative sentence
is formed by using the words ne and pas. Ne appears immediately before the verb and pas
immediately after.

p. 21

C’est clair? (Is it clear? / Do you understand?)

26

Activity 1 - Listen to the track and match the elements of the two columns: (This
can also be done after reading the dialogue given above. This exercise corresponds to
track 17 on CD1.)

Answers

1. Il est belge. - Frederic

2. Elle est française - Blandine
3. Elle est polonaise. - Barbara
4. Il est français. - Philippe
5. Elle est libanaise. - Noura

Activity 2 - Answer the following question in the same pattern as the example given:

This activity is also based on the dialogue given on p.20 of your textbook.

Example: - Who is in Mexico?

- It is Blandine.

Answers

1. Barbara
2. Amanda
3. Noura
4. Non, Fabienne est éditrice.
5. Christian Rigon

Activity 3 - Read the dialogue in page 20. Complete the sentences and then match
the columns:

Answers

1. à
2. à
3. de
4. de
 27

Activity 4 - Choose the correct verb and complete the sentences:

Answers

1. habite
2. travaille
3. vient
4. vient ; est
5. travaille

p. 22

DEMANDER DE SE PRÉSENTER – TO ASK SOMEONE TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF

Comment on dit?

Activity 5 - Read the dialogue on page 20 and complete the following :

Answers

1. Vous pouvez vous présenter, s’il vous plait?

2. Quel est votre nom ?
3. Quelle est ta nationalité ? libanaise ou française ?

Activity 6 - Read the table on how to ask someone to introduce themselves. Listen
to the audio CD and identify the three questions asked by Martin.

This activity corresponds with track 18 on CD1. The transcription of the dialogue can also
be found on page 184 of your textbook. The following is the English translation of the dialogue.

- Hi, what is your name?

- Sophie. And you?
- Me, I’m Martin. And…you are in medicine. I know that!
28

- Yes, yes, in the first year.

- But you are young! How old are you?
- I am 18 years old.
- And …you live….where do you live?
- In Paris, yes, yes, I live in Paris. Good, see you soon.

Answers

1. Tu t’appelles comment?
2. Tu as quel âge?
3. Tu habites où?

Activity 7 - Divide the class into two groups A and B. A will first ask questions from
the table ‘Asking someone to introduce themselves’ to B who will respond. Then members
of groups A and B exchange their roles.

The following is a sample of the answer.

Answer

Comment tu t’appelles? – Je m’appelle Raj.

Quel âge as-tu ? – J’ai 20 ans.
Quelle est votre nationalité ? – Je suis indien.
 29

MON, TA, SES… (My, your, his/hers)

Activity 8 - Read the dialogue on page 20 and complete the following table :

Answers

3. mon
4. ton, ta
5. son, sa, ses
6. votre, votre

Before we go to the next exercise, let us look at the table given next to exercise 9 (given
below). The various forms are called possessive adjectives and they indicate possession or
belonging. Mon nom means my name, the word mon indicating my. Similarly, ma and mes also
indicate my but they are the feminine and plural forms of the same word.

As you must have understood in lesson 1, nouns in French are either masculine or feminine.
So the choice of the form (mon or ma) depends on the word that follows immediately after. For
example, in the expression mon livre, the form mon is chosen (instead of ma or mes) because
the word livre is masculine and singular.

The same pattern follows for the other persons like you(tu)/he/she/you (vous).

** Note that in case a word begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or the letter h in some cases
the forms ma/ta/sa will become mon/ton/son even if the nouns that follow are feminine.
30

Ex. Mon amie even if the word amie refers to a woman because of the vowel a at the
beginning of the word.

Activity 9 - Complete with mon, ma, mes, ton, ta tes, son, sa, ses, votre or vos :

Answers

1. votre, mon
2. mon, ma
3. votre, mon
4. ton

p. 23

ÊTRE, AVOIR, VERBES EN –ER

Activity 10 - Complete with the right form of the subject pronoun (je / j’/ tu / il/elle/
vous ) :

Answers

1. Vous
2. Elle
3. tu
4. j’
5. Vous
6. Je
7. Je, j’
8. Il, il

Activity 11 - Complete the following table with the correct form of the verb :

Answers
 31

Activity 12 - Choose a suitable verb and put it in the right form :

Answers

Example: Tu (travailler/s’appeler) où? – Tu travailles où ?

1. a
2. habitez
3. présentes
4. est ; habite
5. écoutez ; répétez.
6. est ; travaille

** The examples given for the verb avoir are used to talk about a person’s age. Unlike in
English where the verb to be is used to talk about a person’s age, in French the verb used is
avoir (to have). The sentence ‘I am 20 years old’ in English when written in French will be ‘J’ai
20 ans’ (NOT je suis 20 ans).

Activity 13 – (Written) Introduce yourself on the blog following the example of Felix.

A sample introduction is given below.

Je m’appelle Marie et j’ai 22 ans. Je suis professeur de français et je travaille à Paris.

p. 24
32

PRÉSENTER QUELQU’UN – TO INTRODUCE SOMEONE

Activity 14 - Read and complete the following message written by Aiko. You may also
listen to the corresponding clip - track 19 of CD1. The following is the English translation of the
message.

Fabio,

This is a photo of my brother. He also has a Japanese friend: his name is Yumé. He is 29
years old and he works for Air France. He is not a pilot, he is a computer engineer, pity!

There is also a photo of his parents: his mother is called Naoko, she is 52 years old and
his father is Bernard. He is 55 years old. He is a Japanese teacher at Paris.

I adore his family! And you, Fabio, do you have photos of your family please?

See you soon,

Aiko

Answers

Ami s’appelle a il n’est pas est ses

sa elle son a est sa ta

Activity 15 - Read the above text and say whether the statements are true (vrai)/
false (faux) / unknown (on ne sait pas)

Answers

1. Faux
2. On ne sait pas
3. On ne sait pas
4. Vrai
5. Vrai
 33

Activity 16 - Read Aiko’s message and match the following:

Answers

· Il a - 29 ans
· Il s’appelle - Bernard
· Il est - professeur
· C’est - Naoko
· Il travaille - chez Air France
· Il est - informaticien

Activity 17 - Introduce a person that you like. For reference you may use the example
given to the side.

p. 25.

Activity 18 - Listen to the CD and complete the following sentences. Try to listen
attentively and fill in the blanks yourself.

This audio activity corresponds to track 20 on CD1 and a transcription can be found on p.
184 of your textbook. The following is the English translation of the clip. The answers are given
below.

This is Yann Chapion. He is an editor. He is young : he is 22 years old. He is the assistant

of Christian Rigon and he’s my friend.

Answers
34

1. C’est éditeur jeune a ans

2. C’est c’est

Activity 19 - Choose the suitable word.

Answers

1. Fabienne.
2. C’est
3. Blandine.
4. Isabelle.
5. C’est
6. directrice.

Activity 20 - Observe the examples in the table to the side* and fill in the blanks
with c’est /il est / elle est:

Answers

1. C’est ; Elle est

2. Il est ; C’est
3. C’est ; Il est
4. C’est
5. C’est ; Elle est

*The table given below explains the difference in the usage of two expressions C’est and
il est/elle est which are both commonly used while introducing or describing a person.
 35

From these sentences it is clear that c’est conveys the meaning this is. C’est is used to
identify a person or a thing (ex. This is my book – C’est mon livre // This is my sister – C’est ma
soeur). The expression il est/elle est is used to describe a person or thing, normally employed
along with adjectives or professions (ex. He is Indian – Il est indien// She is a singer – Elle est
chanteuse).

Il est / elle est can convey the meaning of he is/she is or in case it describes a thing, it can
mean it is. (ex. C’est ma voiture; elle est rouge – This is my car; it is red).

Activity 21 - What do they do ?

Answers

Match the professions with the images given in your book.

Image a – journaliste; Image b – informaticien Image c – médecin

Image d - professeur

Activity 22 Listen to the clip and from the list given below, identify the names of the
professions that you hear

The clip corresponds to track 21 of CD1. The following is the English translation of the
professions.

Computer engineer – teacher – pilot – journalist – musician – baker – doctor – editor –

hair dresser

Answer

1. Informaticiens
2. Professeurs
3. Journaliste
4. Boulanger
5. Médecins
6. Editeurs

HOW OLD IS HE?

36

Activity 23 – Listen and repeat the following numbers.

Actityi - 23:

The clip corresponds to track 22 on CD1. Practice repeating the numbers to correct your
pronunciation.

Activity 24 – Listen to the clip and write down the number you hear in each sentence.

Answers

a. dix-neuf
b. quarante-sept
c. vingt-neuf
d. trente-deux
e. cinquante-quatre
f. dix-huit

p. 26

Activity 25- Complete the number series. Certain numbers have already been filled
in

Answers
 37

26: vingt-six
29: vingt-neuf
32: trente-deux
37: trente-sept
41: quarante et un
50:cinquante
58:cinquante-huit
60: soixante
61:soixante et un
63: soixante-trois
69: soixante-neuf

OUI, NON, SI

We learn how to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in French in this section. The words Oui (yes) and Non
(no) function the same way as in English, oui being an affirmative response and non being a
negative response.

But in French a third word si exists which means an affirmative reponse to a question that
is negative. For example the question “Vous n’etes pas indien?” can have an affirmative answer
which should start with the word si instead of oui – “Si, je suis indien”.

Activity 26 - Read the following mini-dialogues and choose the correct answer:

Answers

1. si = oui

2. si = oui

Activity 27 - Complete the following with oui, non or si.

Answers
1. Non
2. Si
3. Non
38

4. Non
5. Si

The table given to the side gives examples on the use of the three words.

It is understood that both oui and si are used in affirmative responses while non is used
for a negative response.

Activity 28 - Listen to the tracks on the CD and mark the right word.

This clip corresponds to track 24 of CD1.

Answers

p. 27

TÂCHE FINALE – FINAL TASK

At Mont-Royal School

You are going to work for six months in Canada. In the evening you go to school to learn
French. You arrive in class and your teacher asks you to introduce yourself. You give your first
name and your surname. The teacher asks you your nationality, age, profession and the place
you live in …

Enact the scene in pairs and then fill out the sample form given in the text.

Answer

A sample of the dialogue is given below.

Le professeur: Bonjour! Présentez- vous s’il vous plait.

 39

L’étudiant : Bonjour ! Je m’appelle Eric Tivaut.

Le professeur : Eric ! Quelle est votre nationalité ?

L’étudiant : Je suis belge !

….

Further questions can be asked by the teacher in a similar pattern.

The student will then have to fill up the sample form given.

p. 28.

EUROPE

The cultural aspect that we are going to study in this lesson is the geography of Europe.
On page 28, we have a map of Europe where several countries are marked along with the
important cities. In the images below the map (continued on page 29), we can also see the
important monuments/places in these cities.

Activity 29 - Study the map of Europe and mark the following locations correctly

- Countries: Spain, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Turkey

- Cities: Berlin, Lisbon, Stockholm, Tallinn, Vilnius, Moscow, Athens

Activity 30 - Listen to the CD and state whether the speakers are Europeans or not.

This clip corresponds to track 29 of CD1.

Answers

Activity 31 - Look at the map of Europe and make sentences using the elements
given below in each column.
40

Answers

A few sentences are given below.

Maria habite à Sofia. Elle est bulgare.
Pablo habite à Madrid. Il est espagnol.

Following the same pattern, you can create other sentences on your own. It is important
to make sure that the nationality matches the gender of the noun employed.

Some questions on Civilisation

1. Nommez deux pays voisins de la France.

Ans : L’Espagne, l’Allemagne, l’Italie, la Suisse, L’Autriche, La Belgique

2. Quelle ville est la capitale de la France ?

Ans : Paris

3. Nommez deux villes européennes qui sont les capitales des pays.

Ans : Londres, Paris, Bruxelles, Prague, Berlin

4. Où se trouve la ville de Sao Paolo ?

Ans : Brésil

5. Quelle mer se trouve au Sud de la France ?

Ans : La mer Méditerranée

 41

UNIT 3
J’ADORE !
1. Introduction
This unit entitled J’adore (I adore) corresponds to pp.30-39 of Latitudes 1.

The learner is advised to devote approximately 15-20 hours to this lesson.

The learners are advised to refer to the textbook Latitudes 1 for better understanding of
the study material provided.

2. Plan of Study
To express my tastes

· I detest, I adore…

· Numbers from 70

To speak of my plan

· I am going to leave; they are going to stay…

· Third person neutral pronoun ‘on’

· Immediate future

· Some expressions of time: tomorrow, in May

· Our, your, their

Final Task

I participate in an evening of rapid meeting in café, I talk about my tastes and my plans
and I fill in a slip.

3. Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you will learn the following:
42

4. Thematic Introduction
In the previous unit, we saw the self introduction and asking somebody to present oneself
as communication objectives and in the grammar section we also saw how to make negative
sentences, the usage of possessive adjectives, making interrogative sentences using intonation.
We also saw how to write the numbers in French from 11 to 69.

In the unit, we are going to learn how to make sentences where one could be able to
express one desires, tastes, wishes etc. We will also be able to learn to make sentences where
you will be discussing about your plans and intentions. You will be introduced to an irregular
 43

verb aller and certain other regular first group verbs ending in er, the auxiliary verbs être and
avoir. You will be acquainted with the usage of the pronoun on. In this unit, you will also be
learning the numbers from 69. You will also be introduced to the near future tense. In the later
stage of this unit you will be introduced to the remaining part of the possessive adjectives.

After having read this unit, you will be able to express your desires and your desires and
you will be able to conjugate the verb aller and you may be able to make sentences by using
this verb. You will be acquainted with the numbers after 69 and you will also be able to make
sentences by using future tense. You will be using the pronoun on and you will be able to make
sentences with this pronoun. You will be using the possessive adjectives correctly after this
unit.

p. 30

J’adore - I adore

Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening. I welcome you to the café L’Entrepotes for our
evening of a quick meeting. Do not forget: you have 7 minutes to introduce yourself and talk
about yourself, and then you change the table. A nice evening to all of you!

- Hello, my name is Christophe. I am 31 years old, I am a professor of biology and I live in

Toulouse. And you?

- Hello, myself, I am Alice. I am 29 years old and I am a medical student. I live in Ramonville
in a big house with two friends but next year I am going to work in Lyon. I have two sisters and
I love being with them. They are lovely. I adore Chinese cuisine. And you?

- I love cooking but Chinese food is a bit difficult! I like playing sports. I do climbing and
skiing with two friends. They work with me and on weekends we go for skiing in the Pyrenees.

- Great! I love skiing too, but I do not like climbing. It’s a bit dangerous, right? You like to
swim?

- Oh no, no! I hate swimming but I like to swim in the sea. Next month, I will be spending
two days in Nice: I am going fora swim in the afternoon and I will attend a music festival in the
evening. Do you like jazz?

- Jazz? I don’t like at all!

44

- 2 minutes…

The verb aller

It is an irregular verb. It is used for the formation of ‘futur proche’ / immediate future.

It is used with contracted articles (au, à la, à l’, aux) and other prépositions.

Il va au cinéma.

Nous allons à Paris.

p. 31

C’est clair ?

Activity 1. Read the form, listen and reply: vrai (true), faux (false) or on ne sait pas
(we don’t know).
 45

Answers

1. Faux
2. Faux
3. Vrai
4. On ne sait pas
5. Vrai
6. On ne sait pas

Zoom

Activity 2. Listen to the dialogue one more time and associate:

Answers

1. Nous - je + mes deux amis

2. Ils – mes deux amis
3. Elles – mes deux soeurs

Activity 3. Read the table above and complete:

Answers
Il fait du tennis.
Il fait du judo.
Il fait de la notation.
Il fait de l’escalade.
Il fait du ski.
Il fait du basket-ball.
46

Activity 4. Listen to the dialogue once again and complete the sentences.

Answers

Elle s’appelle Alice. Elle a 29 ans, elle habite à Ramonville et elle est étudiante en medicine.
Elle adore la cuisine chinoise et le ski mais elle n’aime pas l’escalade.

Il s’appelle Christophe. Il a 31 ans, il habite à Toulouse et il est professeur de biologie.

Il aime faire du sport mais il déteste la natation.

p. 32

EXPRIMER SES GOÛTS – TO EXPRESS ONE’S TASTES

Comment on dit ?

Activity 5: Listen and complete the table:

Anwers

Activity 6. Listen and complete the table with the expressions. This activity you can
do yourself.

Activity 7. Read the table and complete the sentences.

Ex: Il…danser. ’! Il adore danser.

 47

Answers

1. Vous aimez bien la musique classique?

2. Tu n’aimes pas l’avion!
3. Oh, oui! Nous adorons la cuisine française !
4. Bien sûr, j’aime beaucoup le sport !
5. Il déteste les chats !
6. Elles n’aiment pas du tout la plage !

Note : the verbs ending in ‘er’ are conjugated by adding the endings e, es, e, ons, ez, ent
to the stem of the verb:

Chanter – chant + e, es, e, ons, ez, ent

Activity 8. Express your tastes for the following:

Ex: le football ’! J’aime beaucoup le football.

Answers

Several answers are possible. We give below one possibility.

Les voyages ’! J’aime beaucoup les voyages.
La télévision ’! Je n’aime pas la télévision.
La ville ’! J’adore la ville de Paris.
La mer ’! Je déteste la mer.
La montagne ’! J’aime beaucoup la montagne.
48

Le jazz ’! Je n’aime pas du tout le jazz.

Le cinéma ’! Je n’aime pas le cinéma.

LES NOMBRES APRÈS 69

Activity 9. See the slips of Alice and Christophe on page 30 and choose the right
answer.

Answer

1. cent sept
2. quatre- vingt- douze

p. 33

Activity 10. Listen and find the number you hear.

This activity is not difficult and try to do it yourself.

Answers

70 – 81 – 97 – 132 – 264 – 895 – 1220

Activity 11. Read telephone numbers on the left side and then write the telephone
numbers on the right side (in number or in letters).

Answers

a. SOS Croix rouge : zéro / huit cents / huit cent cinquante-huit / huit cent cinquante-huit

b. Tabac info service : 0 803 309 310

c. Your telephone number : You could try it yourself.

Activities 12, 13 and 14.

You could listen to the CD and try to answer the questions.

 49

Activity 12. Listen and reply true or false.

Answers

1. Faux
2. Vrai
3. Faux
4. Vrai
5. Faux

Activity 13. Listen and complete the registration form.

Answers

Inscription au TCF épreuves obligatoires: Oui. Prix : 45 €

Inscription à l’expression écrite épreuve facultative : Oui ; Prix : 25 €
Inscription à l’expression orale épreuve facultative : Oui ; Prix : 25 €
Timbre pour envoyer l’attestation : 0,54 €
Total : 95,54 €

Activity 14. Look at the registration form to TCF examination and fill in the cheque.

Answers

Quatre vingt-quinze euros et cinquante-quatre centimes € 95,54

A Agent comptable Fait à : Grenoble Le : 18/06/08

50

p. 34

PARLER DE SES PROJETS – TO SPEAK OF ONE’S PLANS

C’est clair ?

Activity 15. Read the messages and choose the right answer.

This activity is not difficult and try to read the messages and find the answer.
 51

Answers

1-b
2-b
3-b
4-b

LE PRONOM « ON »

The pronoun « on »

“On” is one of the pronouns that we use quite often in French language. It takes the
meaning according to the context. It may mean any noun like we, one, they, people.

Exemple:

Avec mes voisins, on va à la piscine.

With my neighbors, we go to swimming pool.

Activity 16. Read once again the messages and choose the correct answer.

Answer

ON = je + mes copines
52

Activity 17. Choose the correct pronoun.

Answers

1. Il
2. On
3. j’
4. On
5. elle

Activity 18. Conjugate the verbs in the present tense.

Answers

1. dîne, es
2. a
3. aimez, joue
4. va
5. déménage

p. 35

LE FUTUR PROCHE

Le futur proche is a term we use to indicate the immediate future actions. This immediate
future can be expressed by using the verb aller in the conjugated form along with the relevant
infinitive form of the verb to which we need the future proche form. The equivalent in the English
could be to be going to.

The formation of futur proche:

Aller + infinitive
Demain, je vais visiter Annecy.
Tomorrow, I am going to visit Annecy.
 53

Samedi, il va rencontrer des musiciens.

On Saturday, he is going to meet some musicians.

Le week-end prochain, nous n’allons pas rester dans les Alpes.

Next weekend, we are not going to stay in Alpes.

Activity 19. Read the sentences and complete:

Answer

Le future proche = le verbe aller au présent + le verbe à l’infinitif

Activity 20. The verbs of the activity 19 are in futur proche.

Answer

b) Les actions au future proche vont se réaliser bientôt. (The actions expressed by the
“future proche” are going soon to be realized).

Activity 21. Read the letter and complete the table.

This activity will help the student differentiate verbes in present tense from those in futur
proche.

Activity 22. Complete the sentences with verbs in immediate future.

Answers

1. vais étudier
2. allons visiter
3. vont adorer
54

4. allons danser
5. va avoir
6. allez téléphoner

p. 36

NOTRE, VOTRE, LEUR

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

In French de and the name of the person show possession.

Ex: Le livre de Milton - Milton’s book.

La mère de David et de Martin - David and Martin’s mother.
Les livres des garçons - the boys’ books.

Following are the various forms for the possessive adjectives.

The possessive adjective agrees in number and in gender with the noun modified, not
with the possessor.

Exemple: mon ordinateur - my computer

ma sœur - my sister
mes plantes - my plants
 55

Activity 23. Read the messages of p. 34 and complete.

Answers

Le bébé de Juliette: son bébé

La fille des Jouanet : Leur fille
Les plantes des voisins : Leurs plantes

Activity 24 : Complete the table.

Answers

ma sœur notre ordinateur nos amis

ton ordinateur tes amis votre ordinateur
ton université tes plantes votre sœur
son ordinateur
son université ses plantes leur sœur
sa sœur leurs plantes

Activity 25. Listen and complete.

Try to do this activity yourself.

Answers

1. mon vélo ; tes skis

2. Notre fille ; sa voiture
3. vos parents ; leurs amis
4. son adresse ; ma rue
56

Activity 26. Conjugate the verbs in present tense.

Answers

1. nos
2. leur
3. ta, ton
4. votre
5. mes, mon

Activity 27. You are going to spend your next week-end with your neighbour. You
speak about your plans for Saturday and Sunday.

Try to make simple sentences wherein you are going to discuss about something that is
going to happen in near future.

Sample Answer

Le week-end prochain, je vais aller chez mon voisin. Samedi, nous allons visiter Paris et
le soir, on va dîner ua restaurant. Dimanche, on va aller au cinéma pour voir un film avec sa
sœur. Nous n’allons pas rentrer tard.

Avec mon voisin et nos amis, on va aller à l’opéra samedi prochain.

p. 37

TÂCHE FINALE – FINAL TASK

Meetings

You are in a café and you participate in the evening of rapid meeting. By group of two,
introduce yourself rapidly; speak of your tastes and your plans. Then change the table. For
each person met, fill in a slip.

pp. 38-39
 57

LA FAMILLE EN France – FAMILY IN France

Marriage in France.

In France, since the 1970s, the number of marriages has been decreasing every year...

1999 ’! 293 700 marriages,

2006 ’! 274 400 marriages

And the age of marriage increases...

In 1986 : The bride used to be 23 years of age and the groom used to be 25 years of
age.

Today : The bride is 29 years of age and the groom is 31 years of age.

Activity 28. Read the above text on marriage in France and complete the sentences
with numbers and verbs.

Answers

Aujourd’hui, le nombre de mariages est de 274400.

Les femmes se marient à 29 ans et les hommes se marient à 31 ans

Les Français ne se marient pas beaucoup : le nombre de mariages diminue tous les ans

Les Français se marient quand ils sont plus âgés : l’âge du mariage augmente

Activity 29. Read the marriage card and reply.

Answers

1.Ils envoient carte cette pour annoncer leur mariage.

2.Ils envoient cette carte à leurs amis et leur famille.
3.Le rendez-vous est à la mairie de Bordeaux.
4.Le rendez-vous a lieu le 10 juillet 2007 à 12 heures.
5. Après le mariage à la mairie Ils vont prendre l’apéritif et dîner à l’hôtel « Belle vue ».
58

p. 39

ET VOUS ?

Activity 30. See the two graphs and complete the table with the given sentences.

Answers

Activity 31. Compare these graphs with the situation in your country.

What is the situation of marriage, divorce and birth? What do you think?

You try to write simple sentences with the models sentences given in Activity 30.

Activity 32. Read the following information. Are you surprised, amused…? Compare
with the situation in your country.

a. In France, a woman takes generally her husband’s name but she can also keep her
maiden name. The child can have the mother’s name, father’s name or both.

b. Today, there are 15 million bachelors in France. The matrimonial agencies, evening get
together and internet meetings grow.

c. One in ten families is a mixed family: the husband and the wife have a child or children
before their meeting and they all live together.

d. The PACS (Civil pact of solidarity) exists since 1999: two people over 18 years, of the
same sex or different sex can live together.

e. Today in France, on an average, a woman has her first child at the age of 28. In 2006,
it was found that a woman had two children. That’s the record since 30 years!
 59

Some questions on Civilisation

1. Depuis quand le PACS existe-t-il?

Ans : Le PACS existe depuis 1999.

2. Combien de célibataires y a-t-il en France?

Ans : Il y a 15 millions d’adultes célibataires en France.

3. Aujourd’hui, à quel âge les femmes se marient-elles en France ?

Ans : Aujourd’hui, les femmes se marient à 29 ans en France.

4. Qu’est-ce qui diminue aujourd’hui en France ?

Ans : Le nombre de mariage diminue tous les ans en France.

5. Qu’est-ce qui augmente tous les ans en France ?

Ans : Le nombre de divorces augmente tous les ans en France.

60

UNIT 4
TU VEUX BIEN ?
1. Introduction
This unit entitled Tu veux bien ? (You like to?) corresponds to pp.46-55 of Latitudes 1.

The learner is advised to devote approximately 15-20 hours to this lesson.

The learners are advised to refer to the textbook Latitudes 1 for better understanding of
the study material provided.

2. Plan of Study
To ask to do something

· To enter, you could…

· To ask politely

· Moi, lui, eux (Me, him, them)

To speak of the past actions

· Present perfect

· Le, la, les, un, une, des

· Plural of nouns

Final Task

An important person comes to visit our school. We discuss and decide the tasks to be
done and divide the tasks among ourselves. We prepare a programme of activities.

3. Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you will learn the following:
 61

4. Thematic Introduction
In the previous unit, we saw how to make sentences where one could be able to express
one desires, tastes, wishes etc. We also learnt to make sentences where you will be discussing
about your plans and intentions. You were also introduced to an irregular verb aller with which
you can make the future proche tense. You were also acquainted with the usage of the pronoun
on and the possessive adjectives and its usages.

In this unit, we are going to see, how to ask somebody to do something, how to ask
politely and how to make sentences where we will be able to express the actions which have
happened in the past with the help of certain electronic messages. You will also be initiated to
write an email message. You will be learning the usage of il y a, the definite and the indefinite
articles, the plural form of nouns, and the prepositions that we use after a pronoun (avec lui,
chez moi etc). You will be introduced the passé composé tense and also certain other irregular
verbs like pouvoir, connaître, venir and vouloir.

After having read this unit, you will be able to ask somebody to do something, make
sentences where the actions have taken place in the past that is you will be able to make
sentences in past tense. You will also be able to write an email message using the past tense.
62

You will be able to use the expression il y a, and you will be using correctly the definite and the
indefinite articles and you will be making sentences using the pronouns used with the prepositions.
You will be alse to conjugate certain irregular verbs like pouvoir, connaître, venir and vouloir.

p. 46

TU VEUX BIEN? – WOULD YOU LIKE TO

p. 47

C’est clair?

Activity 1. Listen and reply: vrai, faux or on ne sait pas.

You can do this activity yourself. Listen carefully and if need be, you can listen several
times to understand and also to pronounce correctly.

Answers

1. Vrai
2. Vrai
3. Faux
4. On ne sait pas
5. Vrai
6. On ne sait pas

Zoom

The conjugation of the verb pouvoir (to be able to) in present tense:

Pouvoir is an irregular verb and it is frequently used in French and it is also a semi-
auxiliary verb.
 63

Je peux - I can, I am able to

Tu peux - You can
I l/ Elle / On peut - he / she /it / one can
Nous pouvons - we can
Vous pouvez - you can
Ils / Elles peuvent - they can

The conjugation of the verb vouloir (to want) in present tense:

Vouloir like pouvoir is also an irregular verb and it is also frequently used in French and it
is also a semi-auxiliary verb (For example: I want to go, He wants to read).

Je veux - I want

Tu veux - You want

Il /Elle /On veut - he / she/ it / one wants

Nous voulons - we want

Vous vouvez - you want

Ils/Elles veulent - they want

As these two verbs are irregular verbs, we don’t have any norms in the conjugation pattern.

Activity 2. Listen and then choose the correct word you listen.

Answers

1.veux
2.pouvez
3.peux
4.veux
5.vouvez; voulez
64

Activity 3. Read the table and complete the sentences with vouloir or pouvoir.

Answers

1. peux
2. pouvons
3. voulez
4. peut
5. pouvez
6. veux

The conjugation of the verb venir (to come) in present tense:

Venir is yet another irregular verb and it is frequently used in French and it is also a semi-
auxiliary verb as this verb is used to make sentences where we could expresses that actions
that have taken place in the recent past (Je viens de parler à I just spoke).

Je viens - I come
Tu viens - You come
Il / Elle / On vient he /she / it / one comes
Nous venons - we come
Vous venez - you come
Ils/Elles viennent - they come

Activity 4. Complete the sentences as given in the example.

You have to conjugate the verb venir according to the subject given and make sentences
in the recent past.

Ex. Lucas vient à Milan avec moi.

Answers

1. viennent
2. viens
3. venez
 65

4. vient
5. viens
6. venons

p. 48

DEMANDER DE FAIRE QUELQUE CHOSE – TO ASK TO DO SOMETHING

Comment on se dit?

Demander de faire quelque chose: Here we are going to see how to make sentences to
express politely to do / to get something. Even though it is similar to commanding form, in
French we use few special verbs (vouloir, pouvoir) to change an ordinary sentence to a sentence
wherein we add a little bit of politeness.

Ex. Je veux un café! Je voudrais un café!

I want a coffee! I would like to have a cup of coffee!
Pouvez-vous arroser mes plantes? Pourriez-vous arroser mes plantes?
Can you water my plants? Could you water my plants?

Activity 5. Compare the words of Louise and the sentences given on the right side.
What is the difference?

In this activity, you have to observe and think about the meaning of “je voudrais, tu pourrais
and vous pourriez”.

You have to understand the meaning of “je voudrais, tu pourrais and vous pourriez”
according to the usage and context.

Answers

Sentences 1,2 and 3 are less direct than the sentence a, b, and c. The sentences on the
left side are express politeness.

Activity 6. Look at the box Demander poliment (to ask politely) and then transform
the following sentences in a more polite form.
66

In this activity, which is a continuation of what you have learnt in the activity 5, you will be
making sentences wherein you will be transforming the sentences given into polite form: that is
asking something politely

Answers

1. Je voudrais un café, s’il vous plait.

2. Tu pourrais venir lundi ?

3. Je pourrais vous poser une question ?

4. Vous pourriez écrire votre nom, s’il vous plait ?

5. Je voudrais aller à Bruxelles.

Activity 7. Listen again the beginning of the dialogue and reply.

Comprehension Activity. This activity will help you to understand to say in another way
“somebody to do something” by using the imperative, in the second person singular and plural
forms.

Answers

1. Mais, entre!
2. Tu pourrais garder mon chat?
 67

Activity 8

A reinforcing activity which helps you to identify with the help of the four mini dialogues,
different expressions used to ask someone to do something.

Answers

1. Ecrivez…. s’il vous plait

2. Vous pourriez… s’il vous plait.
3. Je peux… Tu pourrais
4. Je voudrais …. entrez.

p.49

AVEC MOI – CHEZ TOI

In order to emphasize the subject, we use some pronouns. We can also use them after
certain verbs which take the preposition à. The words avec (with) and chez (used in the meaning
of home) are certain prepositions that we use along with the nouns. Je, tu il, elle are the subjects
and moi, toi, lui, elle, are the relevant pronouns.
Je - moi - me
Tu - toi - you
Il/Elle - lui/elle - him / her
Nous - nous - us
68

Vous - vous - you

Ils/Elles - eux/elles - them

Activity 9. Observe and then complete the sentences with chez or avec.

Ex: Oui, ça va être super, et Lucas vient avec moi.

Garder ton chat. Euh, oui, mais il va rester chez toi?

Answers

1. chez
2. avec
3. avec
4. chez

Activity 10. a) Observe the table and complete the dialogues.

Answers

1. moi, vous
2. elle
3. eux

b) Replace the underlined words with lui, elle, eux ou elles.

Answers
 69

1. lui
2. eux
3. elles
4. elle
5. eux

Activity 11. In groups of two, enact this situation.

You can do this activity yourself.

p. 50

PARLER D’ACTIONS PASSÉES – TO SPEAK OF PAST ACTIONS

C’est clair ?

Activity 12. Read the message and find the appropriate answer:

Answers

1. mardi
2. un livre
3. d’aider Lylia
4.écrire à Fabio

LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ (1)

The passé composé can be equated with the present perfect or the simple past in English.
We use it to indicate that an action in the past has been completed. We use this form in particular
to emphasize the results or consequences of the action.

In day-to-day’s language, the passé composé is quite often used to express the action
that has been completed in the past.

How to conjugate a verb in passé compose?

We need the present tense forms of the auxiliary verbs avoir or être and the past participle
(participe passé) of the verb ( main verb) to which we are going to make a past tense.
70

The formation of passé composé:

The conjugation of verb avoir in present tense + past participle of main verb

Ex. Elle a trouvé le livre. (she has found the book / she found the book)

J’ai reçu son message. (I have received his message / I received his message)

Elle n’a pas trouvé le livre. (the negative form of « Elle a trouvé le livre »)

Je n’ai pas reçu son message. ( the negative form of « J’ai reçu son message»)

Le participle passé (The formation of past participle)

For regular er / ir verbs, the participe passé is easy to construct:

If the infinitive ends in er, the participle ends in é

Example: aimer – aimé; parler - parlé

If the infinitive ends in ir, the participle ends in i

Example:

finir – fini

choisir - choisi

For the irregular verbs, if the infinitive ends in re, the participle ends in u

Example:

vendre – vendu

rendre - rendu

For the other irregular verbs, however, we don’t have a regular pattern of the formation of
past participle. Hence, we have to see the participle form in the list of irregular verbs and learn
these past participle forms by heart.
 71

Activity 13. Observe the following forms in the message and reply.

Answers

1a) l’action est terminée quand Aiko écrit.

2. passé compose = avoir (au présent) + le verbe (au participe passé)

3. Elle a cherché ’! chercher j’ai donné ’! donner

4. Demander : J’ai demandé à Valérie. Manger : On a mangé chez Thomas. Envoyer : Tu

as envoyé un message.

p. 51

Activity 14. Observe the sentences and write verbs in the negative form.

Answers

1. Je n’ai pas oublié.

2. Elle n’a pas téléphoné à Louise ?

3. On n’a pas travaillé lundi.

4. Ils n’ont pas parlé à la directrice.

Activity 15. Look at the present participles, find the infinitive and complete.

écrit : écrire - Vous avez écrit au directeur?

eu : avoir - On a eu des problèmes.
été : être - J’ai été malade pendant le voyage.
fait : faire - Elle a fait des études d’économie.
pris : prendre - On a pris un café.
compris : comprendre - Je n’ai pas compris
dormi : dormir - Nous avons dormi Chez des amis.
entendu : entendre - Il n’a pas entendu la réponse.
voulu : vouloir - Elle a voulu venir avec nous.
72

pu : pouvoir - Je n’ai pas pu ouvrir la porte.

reçu : recevoir - Elle a reçu un message de Fabio.

Activity 16. Listen and find the sentence that you hear.

Listen carefully and choose the right sentence. If need be listen two or three times to
understand the difference between present tense and present perfect.

Answers

1. J’écris un message.
2. J’ai visité Paris.
3. J’ai dit bonjour à Camille.
4. Je finis mon travail.
5. J’ai eu un problem.

Activity 17. Make a group of two and tell what happened.

Try to do this activity yourself.

Sample answers

a. Elle a reçu un cadeau pour ses 34 ans.

b. Il a mange le gâteau.
c. Il a eu un problème.
d. Elle a visité le muse.
e. Il a dormi dans un parc.
f. Elle a pris le bus.

Activity 18. Lylia would like to send an email to Fabio. Utilise the following verbs to
write the message.

Based on the email found on page 50 of the textbook, you can frame sentences as the
verbs given in the list are first group verbs.
 73

Sample Answer

Bonjour Fabio,

Je m’appelle Lylia, je suis ne amie d’Aiko. On a fait de l’escalade ensemble. J’étudie la

littérature à l’université et je cherche un livre de Lima Barreto. J’ai cherché ici mais je n’ai pas
trouvé. J’ai écrit à Aiko pour avoir des informations. Elle a envoyé un message avec ton adresse.
Tu pourrais ‘aider ? je te remercie beaucoup.

A bientôt,

Lylia.

p. 52

LE, LA, LES – UN, UNE, DES

Definite articles in French

The French definite article indicates either a particular noun or contrarily, the general
sense of noun. It is used placed directly in front of the countable and uncountable nouns or
adjectives. It agrees with the noun in number and gender.

Masculine Feminine

Singular le, l’ la, l’

Plural - les les

Indefinite articles in French

The French indefinite article indicates unspecific and unidentified noun. It is also used
and placed directly in front of the countable and uncountable nouns or adjectives. It agrees with
the noun in number and gender.

Masculine Feminine
Singular un une
Plural - des des
74

Activity 19. Reread the message of Louise.

a) Choose the sentence that explains the words in rose.

Answers

Elle cherche un livre : Nous ne connaissons pas le livre.

Elle n’a pas trouvé le livre ici. – Nous connaissons le livre.

b) Choose the correct choice and explain:

Answers

le message – definite and precise

une amie – a friend, some friend

un message – not determined, some message

Activity 20. Complete the table.

Answers

Les maessages
Une lettre
Une adresse
Des adresses

Activity 21. Complete the sentences with le, la, l’, les, un, une or des.

Answers

1. le
2. un
3. une
4. les, la
5. l’
 75

6. un, un
7. les
8. des, le

Activity 22. Complete the post card of Louise with le, la, l’, les, un, une or des.

Answers
La ville
L’hôtel
Un petit restaurant
L’hôtel
Des magasins
Les musées
Une amie

p. 53

TÂCHE FINALE – FINAL TASK

An important person (director, in-charge…) is going to visit your school and your city next
Monday.

Discuss in large group to decide what tasks need to accomplished a day: to welcome the
person in the station, to make a school and city visit, organize a dinner, prepare a small festival

Make a list of all the tasks and then ask yourself questions as how to divide the tasks
based on your time table.

ANIMAUX & COMPAGNIE – ANIMALS AND COMPANIONSHIP

1. The pet animals in France

Based on the article of FACCO / Sofres 2004, more than 51% of French families own at
least one pet animal. France is a leading country in Europe as far as owning a pet animal is
concerned with nearly 65 million dogs, cats, birds, fish and other rodents. The number of dogs
estimated is 8.5 million and that of cats is nearly 10 million.
76

Fish : 35 million
Cats :10 million
Dogs :8.5 million
Birds :6.5 million
Rabbits and rodents :3.5 million

2. Go on a trip with your pet?

You can travel with your dog or with your cat.

By train:

Put your cat in a transport crate or basket. You can travel with a big dog if it is muzzled
and kept on a leash.

By plane:

Your cat or dog weighs less than 5 kgs? It can travel with you in a transport case. It
weighs more than 5 kg: it will travel in the baggage hold of the plane. In the crate, leave some
water and something to eat for the animal.

By taxi:

A taxi driver can refuse an animal or he can charge extra.

3. Stroller / Pushchair - 00001-A

Description
Stroller ROSE for dogs. Un ideal way to transport securely a sick dog; a convalescing dog
or an aged dog…but equally in some places normally prohibited for animal in all times.
Size when unfolded : L57xL35xH25 cm
Size when folded : 70x40x15 cm, height of the top : 37 cm
2 security belts; double breaks, removable and washable upto 30o. Upto 16 kilos.
Rose colour
One in stock
00001-A-145.00 euros
 77

Activity 23. Read the first text and indicate for each photo the number given.

Answers

In the order of the photos

3,5 millions de lapins et rongeurs
10 millions de chats
8,5 millions de chiens
35 millions de possons
6,5 millions d’osieaux

Activity 24. Read the second text and explain to the lady at the bottom of the page
54 how she can travel.

Answer

Vous pouvez voyager en train avec votre chien s’il est tenu en laisse et muselé.
En avion, le chien va voyager dans la soute.
Un chauffeur de taxi peut refuser votre chien ou demander un supplément.

Activity 25. Read the third text and reply.

Answers

1. Dans ce document la poussette est un objet pour transporter les animaux.

2. Avec la poussette, on peut aller dans des magasins interdits aux animaux.

3. Le prix de la poussette est 145 euros.

Activity 26. Listen and complete the table.

Answers
78

Activity 27. Do you have animals ? And in your country, are there a lot of domestic
animals (dogs, cats, fish…)

You can try this activity by yourself.

Sample answer

Nous avons beaucoup d’animaux dans notre pays. J’ai des chats chez moi.

Some questions on Civilisation

Here are some sample questions created based on the text given. You could have
understood the text which has been given in the form of a translation. Now go through the
questions given along with the answers.

In the same manner create your own questions and try to find the answers from the text
given in the book.

1. Combien de familles françaises possèdent des animaux familiers ?

Ans: Plus de 51 % des familles françaises possèdent au moins un animal familier.
2. Quel rang occupe la France concernant la possession d’animaux de compagnie en
Europe ?
Ans: La France est au premier rang des pays possesseurs d’animaux de compagnie en
Europe.
 79

3. En France, parmi les animaux de compagnie, combien de poissons y a-t-il ?

Ans: Il y a 35 millions de poissons comme animaux de compagnie en France.
4. Comment peut-on voyager avec votre chien en avion ?
Ans: En avion, le chien va voyager dans la soute.
5. Est-ce que le chauffeur de taxi peut refuser votre chien ?
Ans: Oui, un chauffeur de taxi peut refuser votre chien ou demander un supplément.
80

UNIT 5
ON SE VOIT QUAND?
1. Introduction
This unit entitled On se voit quand? (When do we meet?) corresponds to pp. 56 - 65 of
Latitutes 1.

The learner is advised to devote approximately 15-20 hours to this lesson.

The learners are advised to refer to the textbook Latitudes 1 for better understanding of
the study material provided.

2. Plan of Study
To invite and reply to an invitation

· Are you free?

Yes, ok.

· To propose, accept, refuse

· Direct object pronouns: Me, te....

· To tell time

To take and fix an appointment

· What day? At what time?

· To ask questions with est-ce que

To ask and tell time

· What time is it?

· It is 8 O’clock.

Final Task

I call up a friend over phone and ask him to come with me to cinema. We discuss, then I
write an email to another friend to invite him to come with us.
 81

3. Learning Objectives

4. Thematic introduction
In this unit, we are going to learn how to invite and reply to invitation, how to fix an
appointment and how to tell time. You will also learn the pastimes of French people.

p. 56

So, to begin, let us observe the four images in page 56 and ask ourselves the following
questions:

i. What do they possibly represent?

ii. What age groups do they represent?

iii. Are they formal or informal?

Now look at page 57 and the Activity no. 1 therein, under the section titled

C’est clair?
82

Activity 1. Study the four invitations and choose the most suitable answer.

You may possibly have guessed what the photos and the texts therein are about.

So look at the short dialogue at the very bottom of the page:

- On se voit quand ?
- Lundi soir, d’accord ?

It is thus obvious that the page refers to a meeting (se voir) at a particular day or time
(quand).

Now please observe the language and the structures applied in each of the invitations.
One notices that each one of them contains a date and time, for example, Le samedi 17 janvier
(à partir de 15 heures) and Le samedi 2 décembre à partir de 18h30.

You would thus see that in French, the day, date and time are written as follows:

Le + day of the week + date + month, followed by the time (in 24 hours to denote forenoon
and afternoon, since a.m. & p.m. do not exist in French).

Answers

Activity 2. Now look again at the documents on page 56 again and

a. Document A: Answer the questions

1. Who is sending these invitations

2. What is his/her age?

3. Whom do they address?

4. Where is the event being held?

5. At what time does the event begin?

 83

Answers

1. Agathe Dorn

2. Elle a 10 ans.

3. Laura

4. 10 rue Rabelais, 63000 Clermont Ferrand

5. A partir de 15 heures.

b. Document B: Read the invitation. Answer “True”, “false” or “don’t know” in each
case.

Gilles Trély is a painter. False: ®Thibault Franc is a painter.

Answers

1.Faux

2. Faux

3. Vrai

4. On ne sait pas

5. Vrai

6. Faux

a. Document C: Choose the right answer.

Answers

1. L’exposition est en Hongrie.

2. On fait le vernissage pour commencer l’exposition.

3. L’exposition est du 5 au 22 juillet.

4. Le vernissage est à la banque.

84

b. Document D: Complete the table

These are very simple questions and the answer shall be found in the texts of the documents
themselves. Please observe that the attempt here is to help you glean the relevant information
that will allow you to interpret the documents correctly.

Answers

So now that we have finished the first 3 exercises, let us consider the French verb, finir,
i.e. to finish, which is in the green box at the right of page 57. Please read carefully the
conjugations and note the endings:

This is a 2nd group verb and is conjugated in the same way as verbs such as choisir, agir,
subir, grandir and saisir, among others. You may try to conjugate them since these are very
commonly used in French and you shall certainly be using them, too, very shortly.

Activity 3. Listen to the person and answer the questions on page 57

The current exercise is designed to enhance your listening comprehension. Listen to the
telephonic message a few times to pick up keywords and try to decipher the meaning. The
questions in the exercise confirm that you have rightly understood the gist of the message.
Please note the sentence structures and the vocabulary to respond to an invitation, as presented
in this message.

Answers

Elle répond à l’invitation à dîner de Betty.

Elle dit oui (pour le vendredi 12).
Elle s’appelle Murielle.
p. 58
 85

INVITER ET RÉPONDRE À UNE INVITATION – TO INVITE AND

REPLY TO AN INVITATION
Comment on dit ?

Exercises 4, 5, 6 and 7 present different expressions for inviting someone or refusing an

invitation.

Activity 4. Please look at page 56 once again, and say in which document we find
the sentences given below.

These are fixed expressions one uses while inviting someone. One must pay attention to
these structures, which shall be used during communication.

This activity is simple and you should be able to do it yourself.

Answers

1......vous invitent à.... Document B

2. J t’invite à .... Document A

3. ...........ont le plaisir de vous inviter à ....... Document C

4. Vous êtes libres? Document D

Activity 5. Listen to the dialogue and complete the table given below.

This exercise is designed to improve oral comprehension. One discovers here the various
forms of an invitation as well as ways of accepting or refusing one. Please listen to each dialogue
a few times to catch keywords in order to grasp the meaning. Also, please notice the tone and
tenor of each invitation. Is it formal or informal? Study each response and classify it accordingly.
Subsequently, please fill in the blanks in the grid provided for the exercise. Please do not forget
to use the same expressions orally with your classmates or co-learners.

Answers
86

Activity 6. Your friends invite you to dine with them on Friday at 8:30 p.m. (Please
note the time in French: 20h30). Write two sentences to accept and two to refuse the
invitation.

The expressions have already been used in the various exercises above. Please revisit
them.

Sample answers

Oui - Samedi? Avec Thierry et Marie? Oh, oui, avec plaisir!

- Vendredi à 20h30? Oui, c’est d’accord.
Non – Ce n’est pas possible: on dîne avec Jean et Céline.
- Je voudrais bien mais je ne peux pas.

The pink table at the bottom of page 58 resumes the numerous ways to offer, accept or
refuse an invitation. Some are formal, other informal. Please read the various entries in the
table a few times, sometimes in your minds and sometimes, out aloud and try to remember
them. Also, please do not hesitate to discuss them with other members of your class or your
group of learners to clarify doubts etc.

Activity 7. Please invite a neighbour to dinner, next Saturday. He may accept or refuse.

This is an oral exercise based on all the previous exercises. Please revisit all the
expressions learnt upto this point and, with a partner playing the role of the neighbour, act out
the situation. You may improvise on the formal / informal tone and tenor of the invitation as well
as the response. This could be full of surprises, owing to mispronunciations as well as
misunderstandings – which shall be noted and corrected subsequently ­ but fun all the same!
 87

Sample answers

Ça te dit de venir dîner chez moi samedi prochain ? C’est mon anniversaire !

- Oh, oui, avec plaisir ! Merci !

Tu pourrais venir chez moi, samedi prochain ? J’organise un dîner avec Damien et Pauline.

- Désolé, je ne peux pas samedi prochain, ce n’est pas possible, ma soue va venir chez
moi pour le week-end.

p. 59

ME, TE, SE, NOUS, VOUS

Activities no. 8 & 9 deal with the pronoms compléments directs (me, te, se, nous & vous)
which were introduced through the invitations printed on page 56 and subsequently used in the
exercises that followed. Activity 8 allows us to discover the exact usage of these pronouns while
Activity 9 helps us use them ourselves in sentences.

Activity 8. Observe the sentences below and say what m’, t’, se, nous and vous
replace.

Begin by reading the sentences in the exercise. You shall observe that in the 3rd sentence –
Regarde la jolie carte, Agathe m’invite à son anniversaire – m’replaces Laura in her sentence.
Find out what does se & vous replace in the following sentences.

Answers

M’ = Laura
T’ = Laura
Se = Patrick, Murielle, Betty
Nous = Dom, Murielle, Patrick
Vous = Murielle, Patrick

Activity 9. Complete with me (m’), te (t’), se (s’), nous or vous.

In order to attempt this Activity, kindly read the table titled Les pronoms compléments
directs (1) in the green box on the right of the page. This explains how a noun or pronoun
88

(Rajeev, Srinivas, Samira) maybe replaced in a sentence to avoid repetition. For example, if
Samira wishes to say a sentence such as He likes Samira very much, she shall naturally replace
her own name in the sentence by a pronom complément direct in English such as me. Thus the
sentence should read as He likes me very much. It is along the same lines that the Activity no.
9 is designed.

Also, you may know already that me shall be written as m’, te as t’ etc. in case the
following word in the sentence begins with a vowel. This is called an élision in French. Hence,
a sentence like je te aime shall be transformed into je t’aime.

Finally, please note the place of the pronom complément direct in each sentence: it is
before the verb. If there are two consecutive verbs in a sentence, it is between the two verbs –
example, tu vas me trouver – since vas (aller) and trouver are both verbs.

Answers
1. te ; me, me
2. vous, nous
3. t’
4. se

INDIQUER LA DATE
Here, one learns to tell the date in French; and the two yellow tables on the right of the
page allow us to a) learn the months of the year and b) learn the days of the week as well as the
format for telling the date.

Activity 10. Listen to the recordings and match the two columns in this exercise.

Try to listen carefully and find the answer.

The current exercise allows us to learn to tell the date. So please listen to the recordings,
and identify the diverse indicators of time, i.e. the day of the week, the month, the year and the
time. While matching the left and the right columns, please also pay attention to the format of
the date etc., for example, le samedi 2 décembre. You shall notice that in French, one begins
with the article le, followed by the day of the week – le samedi – then the exact date in digits –
le samedi 2 – and then the month – le samedi 2 décembre – which is followed by the year, i.e.
 89

le samedi 2 décembre 2018. Please also observe the various others forms discussed in this
section to understand the different nuances of the French language, for example, the difference
between Vous êtes libres mercredi ? And Vous êtes libres le mercredi ? In the first case, the
person is asking if you are free this Wednesday, while in the second case, he would like to
know if you are free every Wednesday.

11. Read the section titled La date in the yellow box on the left of page 59 and transform
the sentences as follows:

Example: (8 mars) Karine arrive à Paris le 8 mars.

You would have noticed that the 8th of March is written as le 8 mars (please note that the
date is preceded by an article – le – and also that the m in mars is in small as opposed to capital
letters in English).

Now let us see in how many ways we can tell the date in French:

· Karine arrive le 8 mars.

· Karine arrive le 8 mars 2018.
· Karine arrive le jeudi 8 mars.
· Karine arrive le jeudi 8 mars 2018.

Also, please note that one always places the article en before the months. For ex:
· Karine arrive à Paris en janvier.

Finally, note that one can also say

· Karine arrive à Paris au mois de janvier.

Answers

1. Le bébé de Micha et Anne est né le 5 janvier 2008

2. Je vais chez mon médecin mardi à 14 heures.
3. L’exposition commence le lundi 4 juillet..
4. Mon grand-père est mort en 2006.
5. En décembre, je vais voir mes parents à Nice

p. 60
90

PRENDRE ET FIXER UN RENDEZ-VOUS – TAKE AND FIX AN

APPOINTMENT
C’est clair?

You may have deduced from the two pictures on page 60 that from the next two pages of
the textbook (pp. 60-61), we learn to fix a meeting.

Activity 12. Listen to the telephone conversation and answer the questions that
follow.

In order to respond to the questions in this exercise, please listen to the conversation a
few times and identifying key words such as names of people, of cities, key events beings
discussed, the time etc. Listen a few times to confirm the information provided in the conversation.

Now read the green box on the right of the page (Pourquoi ? Parce que…). This discusses
the notion of ‘why’ and ‘because’, i.e. cause and consequence, which is fundamental to
communication in any language.

Answers

1. Fabio
2. A Paris, à la gare du Nord
3. Aiko
4. Pour fixer un rendez-vous avec Aiko
5. Ils vont voir une exposition de photos
6. A 15h30 devant le café Beaubourg
7. C’est un photographe japonais

Comment dit-on?

Activity 13. Listen to the conversation between Aiko and Fabio and then study the
sentences in the green box on the right of the page in the textbook (Quel, quels, quelle,
quelles). Now fill in the blanks in the sentences provided in this exercise.

We have already learnt to ask questions in an earlier chapter (Unité 2, Quelle est ton
adresse ? as well as Quel est ton numéro de telephone ?). The current exercise draws attention
 91

to the various forms of the interrogative, which vary as per singular/plural and also masculine/
feminine. Please see the examples below:

· Quel âge as-tu ? (Since âge is masculine and singular, Quel is masculine & singular,
too, and spelt with a single l).

· Quelle est ta nationalité ?(Since nationalité is feminine and singular, Quelle is

feminine & singular, too, and spelt as -lle).

· Quels sont les jours de la semaine ?(Since jours is masculine and plural, Quels is
masculine & plural, too, and spelt as -ls).

· Quelles sont les sources de l’énergie?(Since sources is feminine and plural, Quelles
is feminine & plural, too, and spelt as -lles).

Answers

1. quel
2. quelle
3. quels
4. quelles

Activity 14. Please listen to the dialogue and complete the sentences given in this
exercise.

This is an oral exercise designed to improve your listening comprehension as well as to

help you perceive the structure of sentences used to make an appointment. So, please listen to
the dialogue a few times, and also see the adjacent pink box. You shall find these structures are
also used in the conversation. Now please fill in the blanks. Once you have completed the
exercise, please study the page carefully to revise the structures you have just learnt.

Now, play out the situation on telephone, in French, with a friend.

p. 61

INTERROGER AVEC EST-CE QUE

Activity 15. Kindly observe the questions on the left and complete the exercise.
92

There are many ways of asking a question, some polite, some casual, some formal and
others informal. A question can also begin with Est-ce que or may contain the expression in the
sentence. The current exercise allows us to ask the same question formally or informally. For
example, it is more polite, polished or formal to say Quand est-ce qu’on se voit ? Compared to
On se voit quand ? Now please attempt the questions asked in the exercise.

Answers

1. On se voit quand?

2. Tu as envie de voir une exposition?

3. Vous partez où en vacances?

4. Tu connais Sugimoto?

Activity 16. Observe the table and then answer the questions using est-ce que.

Read the sentences in the green table. You shall observe that the questions on the left
are definitely shorter than the ones on the right. They are actually mere statements that can be
pronounced as questions by a simple change of intonation, using an interrogative tone. They
are also rather informal compared to the ones of the left. Also, you shall observe that any
informal question can be made more formal by adding est-ce que to it such as où est-ce que,
quand est-ce que, comment est-ce que etc. Now please answer the questions along the same
lines.

Answers

1. Est-ce que tu connais mon frère?

2. A quelle heure est-ce que tu vas à ton cours de français?
3. Où est-ce qu’Emmanuel habite?
4. Comment est-ce que vous vous appelez ?

5. Pourquoi est-ce que tu veux changer de l’argent ?

 93

Activity 17. Imagine the questions using an interrogative intonation or using est-ce
que.

In the five sentences that follow, one has to use one’s imagination to formulate a question.
Many questions maybe asked to arrive at the same answer. For example, for the first question,
we could ask, Il arrive quand ? Or Quand est-ce qu’il arrive ?

Hint: Since the chapter is on fixing meetings, this dialogue could possibly be about a
rendez-vous!

Please study the verb savoir, conjugated in the green box on the right of the page. Observe
the conjugations of this 3rd group verb.

Now look at the usage of this verb:

o Je sais chanter.

o Je sais comment il s’appelle.

o Je sais qu’aujourd’hui, il revient de Londres.

Now observe the following sentences using the verb connaître:

o Je connais Jean-Michel, il est acteur.

o Elle connaît son adresse.

o Rahul et Simran connaissent la Suisse.

You may have noticed that while both verbs have a similar meaning, savoir is usually
followed by a verb while connaître is followed by a noun or pronoun. Connaître is also used for
a person.

Sample answers (several questions are possible.)

1. Tu pars à quelle heure ?

2. Où est-ce que tu habites ?

3. Vous venez au cinéma avec nous ?

94

4. Pourquoi tu n’es pas venu à la gym ?

5. Quel est votre nom ?

p. 62.

DEMANDER ET INDIQUER L’HEURE – ASK AND TELL TIME

Activities 18, 19, 20 & 21 help us tell the time. So please study the timeline given at the
top of page 62 in the book. As you can see, the day is divided into le matin, l’après-midi, le soir
and la nuit. You would have guessed that these divisions correspond to morning, afternoon,
evening and night. Also, please notice that they are separated by midi (noon), 18 heures, i.e.
6:00 p.m. since, as discussed earlier in this chapter, in French, we tell the time in 24 hours, and
22 heures, i.e. 10:00 p.m.

Activity 18. Read the table on page 62 and then listen to the recording no. 55. Identify
the time that you hear.

As you read the table, you shall observe that the day is divided into 12 hour slots. As
mentioned already on two occasions, one tells the time in 24 hours in French, as opposed to
a.m. and p.m.. Thus, 1:30 p.m. is usually indicated at 13 heures 30 but one may also say une
heure et demie. Similarly, 2h40 could be indicated as deux heures quarante or trois heures
moins vingt or, quite literally, 3 hours minus twenty (or 20 minutes to 3). Now listen to the
recordings a few times and indicate on the page the time announced.

Please note also that quinze (15) can also be indicated as quart (quarter past) and that
trente (30) is often indicated as demie (half past).

Finally, please look at your own watch or the clock in your room and tell the time in
French.

Answers

1. deux heures quarante

2. quatre heures quinze
3. sept heures et demie
4. onze heures moins le quart
 95

5. midi
6. deux heures vingt-cinq
7. trois heures et quart
8. minuit

Activity 19. What time is it?

Here, we must simply rewrite the time, given in the exercise in figures, in words. Thus,
16h10 must be written as seize heures dix. The last question in the exercise is of particular
importance. As a hint, one may only indicate that 12:00 noon is called midi and midnight is
called minuit. But you possibly know that already!

Another hint: Please refer to the table studied in Activity 18 above to answer the current
set of questions.

Answers

1. Il est dix-huit heures vingt / six heures vingt.

2. Il est douze heures et demie / midi et demi.

3. Il est dix-neuf heures cinquante / huit heures moins dix.

4. Il est vingt-deux heures quanrante-cinq / onze heures moins le quart.

5. Il est zero heure quinze / minuit et quart.

Activity 20. Read the adjoining table. Listen to the recording and complete the
dialogues given in this activity.

The adjoining table in pink on page 62 refers to the various ways of asking for and telling
the time. For example, quelle heure est-il ? Is the same as il est quelle heure ? But owing to the
inversion (est-il), the first version is considered more formal than the second. Similarly, vous
avez l’heure ? is another informal way of asking somebody the time. The third example is
equally interesting since we find here the use of the expression à quelle heure ? But we have
already come across this expression in Activity no. 14 (cf. the pink box adjacent to the dialogue).
The next example demonstrates the use of the expression de… à… (from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m.). And the last expression uses the term, jusqu’à (upto).
96

Now please listen to the recording and fill in the blanks in the dialogue. You may listen to
it a few times, should you not be able to understand the recording the first time.

Answers

1. à quelle heure ; à
2. Tu as l’heure ; il est
3. de 6 heures à 17 heures
4. jusqu’à ; 20 heures
5. Une minute

Activity 21. Please phone your doctor to fix an appointment. The doctor’s secretary
proposes a few slots for the appointment but you are not free since you are extremely
busy. You have a long conversation with her, discussing the various options, and then,
finally, accept a particular date and time. Please play out the scene with a friend.

The current oral activity, designed to facilitate communication in French in a real-life situation
allows the learner to revise all structures learnt through this Unit so as to independently fix an
appointment over the phone. Before undertaking this activity, the learner could make a note of
the various stages of the conversation, i.e., the opening lines (Bonjour, le cabinet du Nellam ?...)
followed by the reason for the call (Je voudrais un rendez-vous, s’il vous plait.) and then a short
discussion on the date and time (à 15h30, le lundi 25 juin ?)

Now, it would be judicious to note some vocabulary pertinent to such a situation: malade ;
aujourd’hui ou demain ; le plus tôt possible : je suis désolé, je ne suis pas libre ; oui à 18 heures
etc.

Once you have made short notes on what needs to be said, please play out the situation
with a friend.

Should a friend not be available immediately, the same activity could be performed with a
person over the telephone or skype.

p. 63
 97

TÂCHE FINALE - FINAL TASK

’! SORTIE CINÉ

Please telephone a friend and discuss a plan to go to the movies. Mention to him/her the
films, the time, and then fix a meeting. Study the schedule printed on page 63 along with your
friend, and then, imagine a dialogue and act it out.

Now write an email to another friend inviting him/her to go to see the film with you.

Note: The two activities mentioned above test our linguistic skills acquired during the
course of this lesson, i.e. inviting someone to an event and answering the invitation, making an
appointment, asking and telling the time orally as well as in writing. Having already practiced
the use of many of the same elements in Activity 21, you may now attempt this Activity as
follows:

Study the three pictures adjacent to the text titled Sortie Ciné. While two of them represent
film posters, the third is a schedule of a cinema hall comprising of names of films as well as the
time of the show. Identify a film you may wish to watch, then confirm the time of the show on the
schedule. Subsequently, call a friend (using the usual sentence structures already learnt in
Activity 21), then ask questions using the sentences read at the very beginning of the lesson
(cf. invitations on p.56), followed by those learnt in Activity 4 (je sous invite à, tu es libre…). This
shall be followed by other formulations acquired from the pink box on page 58 (proposer/accepter/
refuserune invitation). Finally for the date, refer to Activity 11, and then for the time, to Activity
18.

So, as they say in French, Bonne chance !

pp. 64-65

LES FRANÇAIS CULTIVENT LEUR TEMPS LIBRE…

While learning French, it is important to know the various facets of life in France, and to
see how the French spend their time and their money. Pages 64 and 65 of Latitudes 1 are
dedicated to the various pastimes of the French people as well as their spending patterns; and
at the same, dovetail with the various themes in the current Unit (inviting someone to an event,
accepting or refusing the invitation, telling the day, date and time etc.). Also, the activities
98

associated with these pages not only help us to revise the linguistic structures associated with
the present Unit, but also help us acquire some vocabulary to have a conversation on pastimes.
Finally, one also learns to read in French.

Activity 22. Please look at the documents and complete the table.

Look at the three posters on page 64 and then at the three photos on page 65. Each one
of the images represents an event – an exhibition, a concert etc. – that one can visit. Identify
the event associated with each poster / ticket and fill in details in the table.

· Paul Cézanne was a painter, as was Picasso. The first poster talk about an exhibition
on the evolution of Modern Art beginning with Cézanne and ending with Picasso,
held at one of the most important museums in France, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

· Le Cirque Plume is a famous modern circus in France which specialises in jugglery

as well as acrobatics.

· Le château de Chaumont-sur-Loire: The region of the Loire is in Central France

which is watered by a river by the same name. This is a beautiful region, green and
warm, and the French royalty have built many palaces, surrounded by lovely gardens
here over time.

· Le Festival Rock en Seine is a rock festival held in Paris since about 15 years.

· Le théâtre du Rond-point is a famous theatre in Paris. It is over a hundred years

old and has showcased some of the very best plays in the history of French theatre.

· UGC Gobelins is a cinema hall in Paris.

 99

Activity 23. Read the text and study the table on spendings on culture and pastimes.
What are the preferred pastimes of the French?

Please read the text on page 64 and observe the structure of the article. Identify the
content of each paragraph from the its title (le plaisir avant tout !, Environ 100 € par mois pour
la culture…). Now look at the table on expenses at the bottom of the page. Having got a general
idea about the content of the article, you can now read it and make a note of the words you do
not understand. Needless to say, it is not important to understand each and every word. As long
as you get the gist of the text, you can continue reading the article. However, if you feel a certain
word is particularly important, youmay consult a dictionary to arrive at its meaning. Having
arrived at the general meaning of the article, you can now answer the question asked in this
activity by writing a few simple sentences in French.

Answer

Les loisirs préférés des Français sont: Spectacles, cinéma, voyages ; Presse, livres et
papeterie ; Jardinage, animaux de compagnie ; TV, hi­fi, vidéo, photo

ET VOUS ?
Activity 24. Organise a discussion among friends on the various pastimes in your
own country. Also state what you do when you do not work. How much do you spend on
leisure activities?

This activity is designed to help you talk about your pastimes and leisure activities in
French. Please refer, once again, to the text on page 64 and see if, in your own country, people
have the same pastime activities as in France. Else, talk about our hobbies, cultural activities,
festivals, sports etc. In order to do so, please make a note of all activities that are of interest to
you and your friends. Remember to state also the time of the year or the day when one participates
in these activities. For example, we go swimming in summer, and to music concerts in winter.

It is best to perform this activity in a group or at least have a dialogue with one friend. One
could also organise this activity over skype, should it not be possible to meet friends immediately
to hold the discussion.
100

Some questions on Civilisation

1. Combien ont dépensé les Français pour les produits et services culturels en 2004?
Ans : Ils ont dépensé en moyenne 1250 € pour les produits et services culturels.
2. Qui est Cézanne ?
Ans : Cézanne est un peintre français.
3. Dans quelle se trouve le Musée d’Orsay ?
Ans : Le Musée d’Orsay set trouve à Paris.
4. Comment les Français essaient-ils de comprendre le monde ?
Ans : Ils essaient de comprendre le monde grâce à la culture
5. Qu’est-ce qui ont une place centrale dans les dépenses des Français ?
Ans : L’image et le son ont une place centrale dans les dépenses des Français.
 101

UNIT 6
BONNE IDÉE !
1. Introduction
This unit entitled Bonne idée! (Good idea !) corresponds to pp.66-75 of Latitudes 1.

The learner is advised to devote approximately 15-20 hours to this lesson.

The learners are advised to refer to the textbook Latitudes 1 for better understanding of
the study material provided.

2. Plan of Study
To express my point of view
· I find that...I am pleased...

To express quantity
· How much? / How many?
· To find the price
· To know the quantity
· Tell the quantity
· Negation : ne...pas de
· Direct object pronouns : le, la, les

Final Task

We choose among many of us, a gift we wish to offer a friend. Then I write a letter to a
French friend to ask him to suggest a gift along with us.

3. Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you will learn the following:
102

4. Thematic introduction
In this unit, we will learn to express an opinion, how to tell quantity.

So, let us glance at the texts and pictures on page 66, and ask ourselves the following
questions:

i. What sort of documents are these?

ii. How are the two documents related?

iii. What do the two pictures on the right of the page represent?

Now look at page 67 and Activity no. 1, under the section titled

C’est clair?

Activity 1. Read the documents on page 66 and provide oral answers to the questions
in this activity.

You may possibly have guessed what the two texts are emails, and that to each mail is
attached a file containing some publicity material for a gift that one may offer to a person on
some occasion. In order to answer the questions in this activity, please read the texts on page
66 a few times and identify who writes to whom? What is the subject of the mails? What are the
two options for a gift that the two emails propose?
 103

Now, before answering the question, please refer also to the table in the green box at the
bottom of page 66, titled Offrir un cadeau, where we find the conjugation of the verb offrir (to
offer). Please go through the conjugations and also study the example of its usage in the past
tense at the end of the table (Il a offert des fleurs à Julie). Offrir is a 3rd group verb and is
conjugated like the verbs ouvrir, couvrir, découvrir, souffrir etc.

You may now attempt to answer the questions.

Answers

1. Une jolie montre ou un beau stylo.

2. Un week-end à deux dans un château ou un livre personnalisé.

3. vers les plus belles régions de France.

4. Dans un grand hôtel ou dans un vieux château.

5. Pour deux personnes.

6. Les parents ou les amis de celui qui commande sont les personnages du roman
personnalisé.

7. Le client répond à des questions et décrit les personnages du livre. Ces informations
permettent d’écrire le livre.

8. Le livre et le week-end dans un château.

Zoom

Activity 2. Read the table titled Penser à – penser de and then choose the right
word, as per the context.

When we think of someone or something in particular, we use the expression, penser à.

For example, Mon frère est aux États-Unis. Je pense à mon frère. So, I am thinking about my
brother and am possibly missing him.

Another example:

Quel film voulez vous voir demain ? – Beh… je ne sais pas? Je pense à Nayakan. SO
which film are you thinking of watching tomorrow? Nayakan.
104

And now, for a different example: Qu’est-ce que je pense de Rajinikant ? Et bien, c’est un
excellent acteur ! In other words, what do I think of Rajinikant? Well, he’s an excellent actor!
Here, I’m giving an opinion on the person.

Now please attempt the questions asked in the activity.

Answers

1. tu as pensé à mon livre

2. Tu penses de la maison

3. J’ai pensé à toi

4. Il va penser de moi

Activity 3. a) Read the sentences and answer the two questions asked in the activity.

Having read Camille’s mail on page 66, you would certainly have noticed that the same
question has been repeated here. And you would possibly have guessed from the context what
plaire à means. Yes, it means “to like”. So now, answer the questions.

Answer

Pour Marie, un week-end à deux dans un château est un bon week-end.

« Ça va plaire Marier » signifie : Marie va aimer ça.

b) What is the order of the words in the sentences? Give a number (1,2,3) to each element.

The answer lies in the two sentences quoted in Activity 3 (a).

Answer

Une chose – plaire – à une personne

c) Read the yellow table highlighting the different uses of the verb plaire on the right of
page 67 in the textbook and then, answer the questions in this activity orally using the same
verb.

Please read the yellow table carefully. These statements are similar to the answers one
would provide for the questions asked in this activity. So, using logic, what would you say if
 105

somebody gifted you two books? You would, however, understand that each question could
have multiple answers.

Answers

1. Ça me plaît beaucoup!

2. Oui, ça me plait!

3. Non, il ne m’a pas plu.

4. Non, ça ne me plaît pas.

5. Oui. L’idée me plaît bien !

p. 68

EXPIMER SON POINT DE VUE – EXPRESS ONE’S POINT OF

VIEW
Comment on dit?

Through Activities 4,5, 6 & 7, we learn to to express our point of view.

Activity 4. Observe the sentences in this activity and then fill in the answer in the
table below.

The current activity is based on the use of the verb croire (to believe). This is a 3rd group
verb and is conjugated as shown in the green table on the right of page 68 in Latitudes 1. While
going through the activity, you shall also notice that the same verb can be replaced by verbs
such as penser (to think) or trouver (to find). To answer the question asked in this activity, i.e.
what word follows the verbs croire, penser, trouver in a sentence, simply read the three examples
given at the beginning of this activity. You shall notice that in all three sentences, the same
word follows the use of the verbs in question.

Answer : que

Activity 5. Identify positive and negative sentences among those given in this activity
and place them in the table provided thereafter.

This activity merely draws attention to various ways of expressing a positive or negative
opinion on a matter. Please identify positive and negative words in each of the given sentences
106

such as adorer, bien, bonneidée etc. and fill in the table. Above all, study the sentences to see
how you, too, can use them to express your own likes and dislikes. For example, should one
ask, “Vous aimez le payasam ?”, You could possibly say, “Oui, je l’adore !” or “Non, je déteste le
payasam !”

To take a second example,should one ask, “Vous voulez manger une glace ?”, one could
answer, “Oui, c’est une excellente idée !” or “Non, je trouve que c’est une mauvaise idée : je
suis malade !” Needless to say, each question can have multiple answers.

Answers

Activity 6. Read the sentences given below, and then transform them using quel.

Read each of the sentences provided in the activity. You shall notice that Quel / Quelle is
used to express an exclamation such as Quelle horreur ! or Quel beau cadeau ! You may also
have understood that quel is masculine while quelle is feminine. The two forms are used
depending upon the gender of the noun that follows. For example, one would say, “Quel plaisir
de vous voir !” since plaisir is masculine; and “Quelle surprise de vous voir !” since surprise is
feminine. Further, one could also say, “Quels bons garcons !” since garcons is masculine and
plural; and finally, “Quelles belles photos !” as photos is feminine and plural. So, you would
observe that we have four forms here: quel, quelle, quels and quelles.

Answers

Quelle gentille invitation! Quelle grande maison !

Quel mauvais film! Quel plaisir !
Quelle horrible ville ! Quelles jolies photos !
Quel beau bébé !

Activity 7. Read the table on the right of page 68 (Latitudes 1) titled Exprimer son
point de vue and express your opinion on gifts shown in this activity.
 107

The table resumes the various ways of expressing an opinion that we have encountered
in this Unit upto this point, right from the initial emails between Camille and Nico (Latitudes 1,
page 66) to Activity 6. One can make similar sentences to express an opinion on the said items.
For example, for the watch, one could possibly say, “Une montre ? Excellente idée ! J’aime
beaucoup !” You would thus note that slight variations on the same structures also allow us to
express an opinion.

You please try the answers.

Sample answers

Un lecteur de DVD : Quel beau cadeau! Ou Je trouve que c’est un beau cadeau.
Une bougie : Quelle belle bougie ! ou Une bougie ? C’est nul !
Un porte-monnaie : Quelle bonne idée ! ou Ça ne me plaît pas.
Une montre : J’aime beaucoup ! Ou Quelle horreur !

p. 69

GRAND, BELLE ET AUTRE

We have seen many adjectives while studying French. Activities 8 and 9 are an attempt to
understand them usage in a systematic manner. You would notice that, contrary to the normal
practice in French, all adjectives used hereunder are placed before the nouns.

Activity 8. a) Observe the expressions below and say whether the words are
masculine or feminine.

Please observe the various expressions. You shall notice that all adjectives re placed
before the nouns, and often, while they look similar, there is a small variation in their spelling.
For example, the book says, “un joli cadeau” and “une jolie montre”.

You would thus understand that the same adjective sometimes takes an e. Can you
guess the reason for this change?

Answers
Une jolie montre – féminin
Un joli cadeau –masculin
108

Un grand hôtel – masculin

Une grande école – féminin
Une bonne idée – féminin
Un bon gâteau – masculin
Un autre personnage – masculin
Une autre rue – féminin
Un beau stylo – masculin
Une belle fille – féminin
Un vieux château – masculin
Une vieille maison - féminin

b) How shall we write the adjectives given below in their masculine form?

The answer to this activity is already provided in the previous one, i.e. Activity 8 a. Please
go through the twelve examples given in the above-mentioned activity and identify the answers
to the questions asked herein.

Answers

Jolie – joli bonne - bon

Grande – grand autre - autre

c) What is the feminine of beau?

What is the feminine of vieux?

This activity is designed to draw the attention of the learner to the variations of adjectives
owing to the gender of the noun that follows.

Once again, the answer to this activity is given in Activity 8a. So please read again the
examples provided in 8a and answer the questions.

Answers
Beau – belle
Vieux - vieille
 109

Activity 9. Read the adjoining table titled Les adjectifs : masculin et féminin and
provide the correct form of the adjectives given in this activity.

The adjoining table clearly provides the rules that allow the transformation of adjectives
from masculine to feminine. You would have understood that the feminine is marked by an e at
the end of the adjective, for example, grand (masculine) becomes grande (feminine). Some
adjectives, however, do not change. For example, autre remains the same, whether followed
by a masculine or a feminine noun. So we say un autre garcon or une autre fille. It does all the
same take an s to indicate plural. For example, Un autre personnage (pl. see Activity 8a) shall
transform into des autres personnages. You ay now attempt the activity.

Answers

1. une jolie photo

2. C’est nul
3.une grande maison
4.les autres étudiantes
5.exercices sont faciles
6. Quelle bonne idée
7. Elle est vielle

BLEU, BLANC, ROUGE

The next two activities allow us to study adjectives related to colours. You shall notice that
adjectives pertaining to colours are usually placed after a noun. Please note also that bleu,
blanc, rouge are the colours on the flag of France. Can you identify the colours?

Activity 10. Read the three sentences and study the table titled Les couleurs. Now
listen to the recording and fill in the blanks with the colours you hear.

This is an attempt to familiarise a learner with the names of colours in French. So please
study the table titled Les couleurs carefully. Kindly note that the spelling and pronunciation of
same colours change with the gender of the noun while others remain unchanged. We thus
notice that rouge remains unchanged for masculine or feminine nouns, but bleu, vert, blanc
and various others on this table change when placed alongwith a feminine noun. For example,
110

we say un cheval blanc, since cheval is masculine, but une rose blanche, as rose is feminine.
Now please attempt the questions in the activity.

Answers

1. noire
2. vert
3. bleue
4. blanc
5. verte
6. blanche

Activity 11. Name the colours on the flags given in this activity. Name the colours
found on your own national flag.

Please refer to the colours in the table titled Les couleurs on the right of page 69 (Latitudes
1). All the colours present on the flags in this activity have been names in the table on colours
discussed above. Please identify each colour by matching the one on the flag to the one in the
table. As for the Indian flag, the colour you probably cannot name is safran.

Answers

La Belgique : noir, jaune, rouge – le Canada : blanc, rouge – la Côte d’Ivoire : orange,
blanc, vert – la France : bleu, blanc, rouge – le Japon : blanc, rouge

Notre pays : safran, blanc, vert

p. 70

EXPRIMER LA QUANTITÉ – TO EXPRESS QUANTITY

The next two pages of Latitudes 1, i.e. page 70 & 71, help us understand how to express
a quantity in French. So, before we go any further, please study the two images on page 70.
You shall notice that the first photo represents a French bistrot, a small café-restaurant actually,
called Le bistrot de l’Échanson. An échanson was a person who served drinks at the royal table.
The second picture shows Aiko, Fabio and a friend possibly enjoying a meal or drinks in the
same bistrot. You would understand that in a bistrot, a restaurant, a café or a bar, one must
 111

know how to express a quantity. Also, please study the table on the right of the page entitled
Boire. This is a 3rd group verb, meaning “to drink”. You have here the conjugation of the verb in
the present tense as well as its past participle, i.e. bu. You shall certainly need to know this verb,
should you visit a restaurant or a bar in France.

C’est clair ?

Activity 12. Listen to the recording and answer whether the statements in this activity
are true, false or we do not know.

You must begin by listening to the dialogue. Once you have got a general idea what the
conversation is about, please read the questions asked in this activity and identify the words
you do not know. Attempt to determine their meaning as per the conytext. Else you could even
ask someone or, as a last resort, consult a dictionary. Now listen to the dialogue once again and
try to answer the questions. In case you cannot determine whether the answer is true or false,
you can listen to the recording a few more times.

Answers

1. Faux
2. Faux
3. Vrai
4. On ne sait pas.
5. Vrai
6. On ne sait pas.

COMBIEN ?

Activities 13 & 14 allow us to discover and to use different expressions generally used to
talk about a quantity.

Activity 13. Listen to the recording and match the columns.

In this activity, the learner must listen to the dialogue to discover how a certain expression
is used to express quantity. For example, in the first dialogue between Aiko and Fabio, Aiko
asks, “C’est combien ?”, i.e. how much? So that’s one way of talking abut quantity. Now please
listen to the dialogues and identify other ways and how they are used. You may already have
112

noticed that the third column in this activity represents expressions concerning quantity, for
example C’est combien ?, combien de, etc.. Please pay close attention to these expressions as
you shall use them soon. Also please note that the verb coûter (meaning to cost) is also used in
its conjugated form to talk about the price of something for a particular quantity.

Answers

Dialogue 1 – Aiko et Fabio – C’est combine?

Dialogue 2 – Une vendeuse et un client – Combien de...
Dialogue 3 – Deux amies – Ça coûte cher?
Dialogue 4 – Un enfant et sa mère – Combien ça coûte ?

Activity 14. Play out the situation given below in groups of two.

This activity is designed to help you practice the use of the expressions that you have
learnt so far to express quantity and enquire about the cost of an object in a real-life situation.
So, before you go any further, please revisit Activities no. 12 & 13 above, and listen to Recording
no. 61 (Activity 13) to revise the expressions used therein. Having made a mental note of these
expressions, you must now imagine that you are interacting with a person in a shop for the
purchase of a pendrive. The pink table on the right of the page, adjacent to this activity, give us
expressions related to enquiries about the cost of an object. These must be used in the
conversation. So, alongwith a friend, please invent a dialogue portraying this situation.

p. 71

DE L’EAU, UN PEU D’EAU, BEAUCOUP D’EAU

Activities 15 & 16 help us discover the article partitif (used for uncountable nouns like
water, wine, sand etc.). You may remember having already come across some of them in Unit
3 with faire du, faire de la… when talking about a sport or an activity. For example, je fais du
sport tous les dimanches or je fais de la cuisine. The current activities help us go a step further
by drawing our attention to more rules governing their usage.

Activity 15. Listen to Aiko (Recording no. 62) and answer the questions.

The sentence, Tu veux boire du vin ? is present in the recording. Once you have heard
this sentence, please look at the subsequent four questions. Each one talks about wine, the
 113

only significant difference being in the use of the article associated with the drink (du vin, le vin,
mon vin and je n’aime pas le vin).

Please understand that the first question (du vin) discusses wine but without any precision
on the quantity (un verre, une bouteille etc.).

The second question talks about a particular wine, the one served by the restaurant, and
thus, le vin du restaurant.

The third response again talks about a particular wine, i.e. mon vin, or the one found in
my own cellar.

As for the fourth answer, every time we use the verb aimer, we only use the article le or
one of its variations (l’, la, les).

Answers

Tu veux boire du vin: du expresses a quantity of wine. The quantity is not specified.

Tu veux boire le vin du restaurant? : le expresses a definite quantity, well specified.

Tu veux boire mon vin ? : Mon expresses a defintie, precise qauntity and also the
possession.

Tu n’aimes le vin ? : le expresses a generality.

Activity 16. Please choose the right answer.

In order to answer the questions asked here, we must visit Activity 15 again to see the
explanation for each of the answers to the four questions asked therein. The very same reasons
shall dictate our response to each of these questions.

At the same time, you must study the green box at the right of the page titled Indiquer une
quantité. You shall see here that for general cases or in cases where we are talking about a
precise item, we use le, la or les. So the person informs us that lelait est dans le frigo, i.e. a
precise amount of milk is in a particular refrigerator. But when the quantity is unknown or
uncountable, we use the article partitif, du, as in Tu veux du café ? Here, you would understand
that we do not know how much coffee is being offered: one cup, ten cups or a barrel?
114

So, to answer the very first question in this activity, we must ask ourselves if vin is countable
or uncountable? Similarly, in the response to question 1, we must, once again, ask ourselves if
water is countable or uncountable? And which article do we use in such cases?

In question no. 2, the person is being asked if he has (some) money, i.e. an imprecise
amount. The exact amount (5 Euros) comes later. So the answer shall be l’argent or de l’argent?

Question 3 talks about cards in general or a particular card? Please answer the question
accordingly.

Answers

1. Fabio aime le vin; On va boire de l’eau

2. Tu as de l’argent

3. Vous avez reçu la carte de Louise

Activity 17. Read the sentences in this activity and match the two columns.

This activity is designed to draw our attention to a few expressions related to quantity. So
please go through the sentences in the left column and see if you find the following expressions:
beaucoup de, assez de, trop de and un peu de. You would possibly be able to guess the
meanings of each of these expressions by matching the columns since you may have already
come across words such as trop, beaucoup, assez and peu. These can be explained pictorially
as follows:

Answers
1. - d
2. - b
3. - f
 115

4. - c
5. - e
6. - g
7. – a

Activity 18. Complete the sentences in this activity using peu de, un peu de, assez
de, beaucoup de or trop de.

This activity merely helps us practise the use of the expressions learnt above. Please be
advised that each expression can only be used once in this exercise. The answers to the
questions above help us attempt these questions. Suffice to note that all the above-mentioned
expressions are followed by de article de. For example, un peu de, beaucoup de, assez de, trop
de, etc. Here you may have a query regarding the use of two similar expressions, i.e. peu de
and un peu de. Please look at the following examples of their usage:

Example 1

- Tu m’achètes une glace ?

- OK, mais j’ai peu d’argent.

- Oh, cela ne coûte que 20 roupies !

- -Ça va, j’ai 30 roupies, je vais t’acheter une glace.

Example 2

- Tu veux acheter une maison ? Tu peux acheter celle de Mme Khan. C’est pour 1 million
de roupies.

- Oh non, j’ai peu d’argent.

You may have understood that in the second example, the person did not declare exactly
how much money she had, simply signifying that she does not have enough to buy the house.

You may please attempt the activity now.

116

Answers

1. trop de

2. peu de

3. beaucoup de

4. assez d’

5. un peu de

p. 72

PAS DE TRAVAIL, PAS D’ARGENT

Activities 19 & 20 are designed to understand the rules governing the use (and
transformation) of anarticle(du, de la, un, le, la…) in a negative sentence.

Activity 19. Please observe the sentences in this activity and then complete the rule.

Kindly read the six dialogues. You shall notice that in each sentence, the verb is followed
by an article. For example, in Tu veux boire du vin, the verb boire is followed by the article du.
Similarly, in Tu as une voiture, the verb avoir (in its conjugated form, as) is followed by the
article une. Now let us take a third example: In Elle a des amis, non ?, the verb avoir (a) is
followed by yet another article, i.e. des.

Now please observe the answers to all the three questions carefully. Since all the answers
are negative, they employ the normal negative structure NE + VERB + PAS.

Finally, please note in each of the answers which article follows the pas. Observe the
answer to the first question: Je ne veux pas de vin. Now the answer to the second question: Je
n’ai pas de voiture. And now, a third: Non, elle n’a pas d’amis.

So please understand that in any negative sentence, the pas is followed by the article de.

There is only one exception to this rule: the verb aimer is always followed by an indefinite
article such as le, la or les. These do not change form even in a negative sentence, which
explains why the sentence Non, je n’aime pas de café carries the article le and not de.
 117

Answers

A la forme négative : un, une, du, de l’, beaucoup de, un peu de, des ’! de / d’

Activity 20. Match the questions with their correct answers.

This activity is a mere extension of the one above, and allows us to revisit the rule regarding
negation to see how it is applied in diverse situations. So please read each of the statements in
the left and the right columns, and look for key words that allow us to narrow down the possible
responses to each question. For example, since question 1 as well as question 5 speak about
coffee, we must also find two answers in the right column regarding coffee; and we arrive at
answer (a) or (c). Now, you may remember that we’ve learnt above that with the verb aimer, we
always use the article le, la or les (article défini), including during negation. Thus, the answer to
question no. 5 (Vous aimez le café ?) can only be (a) (Pas le café. Le thé, oui.). Hence, the
answer to question no. 1 is (c) (Non, pas de café pour moi, merci). This is also justified by the
rule we have already studied that dictates the following structure regarding negation: NE + verb
+ PAS + DE, learnt in Activity 19. The same rule is also stated in explicit terms in the green box
on page 72 (Latitudes 1) below Activity no. 20.

Answers

1. - c
2. - d
3. - b
4. - f
5. - a
6. - e

LE, LA, LES (PRONOMS COMPLÉMENTS DIRECTS)

Activities 21 & 22 allow us to revise the work done on pronoms compléments directs that
we studied in Unit 5. He we shall study the place of le, la and les in a sentence.
118

Activity 21. Please listen to Aiko and Fabio in the recording and say what each
pronom replaces.

Please listen to each recording and transcribe it in your notebook. You shall notice that
each of the recordings contains two sentences. The first sentence holds the key to the question.
You would understand that the pronom complément direct replaces a noun. If the noun is
masculine, it shall be replaced by le; if feminine, then by la. And if it is in plural, it shall be
replaced by les.

Answers

Est-ce que tu le connais? : le = le restaurant le Train Bleu

Je l’aime bien. : l’ = L’Echanson
Je l’adore. : l’ = Tiphaine

Activity 22. Complete the sentences in this activity using le, la or les.

The key to this exercise lies in the green box on the right of the activity on page 72
(Latitudes 1). Above all, please note, after reading the table, that the pronom is paced before
the verb.

Now, please find below a few examples of how sentences are transformed using pronoms
compléments directs:

Je vois Ganesh. ’! Je le vois.

Je regarde un film. ’! Je le regarde.
Neha mange une pomme. ’! Neha la mange.
Ramanathan achète un stylo. ’! Ramanathan l’achète.
Kannagi allume une lampe. ’! Kannagi l’allume.
Ganesh et Neha arrosent les plantes. ’! Ganesh et Neha les arrosent.

From these examples, you may have understood that all nouns in similar sentences can
be replaced by a pronom complément direct. The same logic applies to the questions in Activity
22.
 119

Answers
1. l’
2. les
3. le
4. les
5. le
6. la

p. 73

TÂCHE FINALE – FINAL TASK

’! CADEAU !

You would like to offer a gift to someone. Discuss the issue in a group of 5 learners. Who
is the recipient of the gift? What is the occasion for the gift (it is the person’s birthday, or it is to
thank the person for something…)? How many people are contributing to the purchase of the
gift? How much money do you have? What kind of gift do you have in mind? Please give an
opinion on the kind of gift proposed by the other members of the group.

Now choose a gift.

You would understand that the whole Unit and all activities therein were designed to fulfil
the tâche finale or the final task, i.e. offering a gift to someone as well as participating in all
discussions around this act. It would thus be worthwhile to use all elements that we have studies
in this Unit in order to formulate our response.

So begin by forming a group of friends and initiating a discussion around the questions
proposed above (for whom, worth how much, on what occasion etc.). Then revert to the beginning
of the current Unit (Activity 1) and see the kind of sentences that are associated with this theme
(Quels cadeaux Marie / vous) voudrait / voudriez offrir à …). Go onto Activity 2 and incorporate
in your conversation the structures learnt therein (je pense à offrir un voyage à Shimla. Qu’est-
ce que vous pensez demon idée ?). Activity 3 taught us to use the verb plaire (Cette idée ne
vous plaît pas ?). Please use it! Activity 4 teaches us the verbs croire, penser and trouver.
Please revisit the activity and see how they can be used in the current conversation.
120

You may thus notice that each activity helps us systematically build up our linguistic
competence to arrive at the conversation expected of us in the tâche finale. Please follow this
step-by-step guide to complete the final task.

pp. 74-75

QUEL CADEAU OFFRIR ? – What GIFT TO OFFER?

Since the entire unit discusses gifts, it is worthwhile to end with a short text on the gifts
one gives or receives in France and the etiquette associated with this phenomenon. The two
pages under review (pp. 74 & 75, Latitudes 1) bring to our attention the various rituals associated
with gifts: what to offer for a birthday, a marriage, at a dinner to which we are invited etc. It is
also noteworthy that in France, one opens a present in the presence of the person who has
given it to us. This is usually followed by a vigorous handshake, a hug or a kiss on the cheek,
depending upon the level of familiarity or closeness with a person.

Activity 23. Read the text on pages 74 and 75 and answer the questions in this
activity.

Please observe the photos on the double page and read the headings of all the parts of
the article. Words such as cadeau, naissance, dîner, mariage etc. help us get a general idea of
the content of the article. Now read the entire article. Do not be disheartened if you do not know
the meaning of each and every word since that can be guessed from the context. Next, please
read the questions and attempt to answer them. Read the questions as well as the text a
second time should you not be able to answer the questions. Please look for keywords in each
question and try to see if the same word in found in the text. This shall help you identify the
answers. For example, in question 4, please note the keywords such as France, amis se marient,
cadeau. You may have understood that it is about a gift for a wedding. Now please read the part
of the text devoted to marriage and you shall arrive at the answer.

Sample Answers
1. Des vêtements d’enfant
2. Oui, ils sont d’accord.
3. Des fleurs ou des chocolats
4. Un cadeau de leur liste de mariage
5. Non, c’est un cadeau trop personnel.
 121

Activity 24. Please listen to the recording no. 68 and say if the person chose the
right gift.

This activity is designed to improve your listening comprehension. The current activity
presents orally numerous conversations that one could have around the idea of a gift. Also,
each context in which the dialogue takes place shows us how people react to receiving a gift.
Please note that generally, people show appreciation for a gift, even if they may not have liked
it very much. But this is possibly a universal practice not limited to France alone. At the same
time, please go through the text on pages 74 and 75 again and see what one usually offers in
similar situations. This will help you judge if the gifts were well chosen or not. For example, the
text tells us that we offer chocolates during Christmas. Do you think it is a good idea to bring
chocolates for someone who has just had a baby?

Answers

Dialogue 1: la personne a bien choisi son cadeau. La personne est ukrainienne et elle
apporté une spécialité à manger de chez elle pour un dîner.

Dialogue 2 : la personne n’a pas bien choisi son cadeau. C’est la première fois que
Véronica, l’amie de Vinent, rencontre la mère de Vincent et elle lui offre un cadeau trop personnel.

Dialogue 3 : le cadeau n’est pas bien choisi. Le bon cadeau aurait été un vêtement pour
Yuna.

ET VOUS ?
Activity 25. And in your own country? Do you have a custom of offering gifts? What kinds
of gifts can one give to a friend or a family member on a birthday, at a dinner or at a wedding?

When does a person open a present in your own country?

This activity allows us to revise and use all the elements acquired in the course of our
study of this chapter. This could be done orally, if we’re in a group or in writing in case we are
alone.

So first and foremost, we could make a note of the various occasions on which we give
presents to people. This could be during birthdays, wedding anniversaries etc. or during festivals.
122

For example, in many parts of India, we send sweets to our friends during a festival such as
Diwali. As for marriages, we often give an envelope with money.

So please discuss the question with your friends, using terms and expressions such as
Pour un marriage, nous offrons…, quelquefois, nous donnons un…, à l’occasion d’un
anniversaire… As for the second question regarding whether we open gifts before the person
who has given it to us or after his departure, we could possibly say, Chez nous, nous ouvrons le
cadeau…

Please note that each member of the group must attempt to formulate an answer and try
to participate actively in this discussion in order to acquire the language. Also, multiple answers
shall help build not just vocabulary but also competence and thus confidence!

Some questions on Civilisation

1. Combien coûtent les vêtements d’un bébé par an?

Ans : Les vêtements d’un bébé, pendant la première année, coûtent 1200 €.

2. Combien y a-t-il de spécialités en France ?

Ans : En France, il y a plus de 600 spécialités régionales comme le nougat de Montélimar,

le calisson d’Aix ou la bêtise de Cambrai.

3. Quel est le prix moyen d’un bouquet de fleurs en France ?

Ans : Le prix moyen d’un bouquet de fleurs est de 20 euros.

4. Combien de chocolat mangent les Français par an ?

Ans : Les Français mangent 7kg de chocolat par an.

5. Combien de flacons de parfums sont-ils vendus en France par jour ?

Ans : Chaque jour, 170 000 flacons de parfum sont vendus en France.

6. Combien coûte un cadeau moyen en France ?

Ans : Un cadeau moyen coûte 90 euros.

 123

MODEL QUESTION PAPER – I

B.A, B.SC., B.COM DEGREE EXAMINATIONS

TITLE OF THE PAPER: PRESCRIBED TEXT AND GRAMMAR - I

Time: THREE HOURS MAXIMUM MARKS: 75

SECTION A – (7 x 5 = 35 marks)

Answer any SEVEN questions

1. Quelle heure est-il ?

a) 17h30

b) 08h45

c) 12h00

d) 04h15

e) 13h10

2. Mettez les adjectifs à la forme qui convient :

a) Ah oui ! Quelle ________ idée. (bon)

b) Elle est ________. Elle a 80 ans. (vieux)

c) Tu as une __________ maison ? (grand)

d) Elle a pris une ___________ photo. (joli)

e) Où sont les _______ étudiants ? (autre)

3. Complétez avec le, la, l’, les, un, une ou des :

a) Tu as ____ chien chez toi ?

b) Vous connaissez ____ adresse de Carla ?

c) Il y a _____ pommes dans ____ frigo.

d) Je vais arroser _____ plantes chez Valérie.

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4. Mettez au futur proche :

a) Vous _________ Lucie ce soir ? (téléphoner)

b) Je ___________ le français à Paris en été. (étudier)

c) Il ________ une belle surprise pour ton anniversaire demain. (avoir)

d) L’année prochaine, nous ___________ Paris. (visiter)

e) Ils __________ tous ensemble vendredi prochain. (danser)

5. Choisissez le verbe et mettez-le à la forme convenable :

a) Paul ___________ 27 ans. (être / avoir)

b) Fabienne _________ éditrice. (être / travailler)

c) Maria ____________ à Varsovie. (travailler/parler)

d) Elle __________ Cristina (s’appeler/avoir) et elle _________ espagnole. (habiter/

être)

6. Complétez avec la nationalité convenable :

a) Jamal est français mais Margot est ______________.

b) Javier est __________ et Cristina est espagnole.

c) Kien est ___________ ; Lan est vietnamienne.

d) Charifa est __________ ; Yazid est marocain.

e) Eva est danoise et Lars est ____________.

7. Complétez avec c’est/il est/elle est :

a) __________ Noura. ____________ libanaise.

b) ___________ informaticien. ________ le frère d’Aiko.

c) __________ une photo de ma mère.

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8. Remplacez les mots soulignés par lui, elle, eux ou elles :

a) On va chez Julien et après on va au restaurant.

b) Nous pouvons manger avec Claire et Paul ce weekend.

c) Non, je ne veux pas travailler avec Léa et Anne.

d) Je vais à Paris avec la directrice.

e) Nadar veux aller chez Julie et Ahmed.

9. Mettez à la forme négative :

a) Ils ont parlé à la directrice.

b) On a travaillé samedi.

c) J’ai oublié.

d) Tu as téléphoné à Louise ?

e) Elle a trouvé le livre.

10. Complétez avec le, la ou les :

a) Un DVD ! Merci ! On va ____ regarder ce soir.

b) Nicolas ? Oui je ____ connais.

c) Marie vient ce soir ? Tu vas ____ inviter ?

d) Je n’ai pas les billets de train ! Tu _____ as pris ?

e) Léa ? On _____ retrouve au restaurant.

SECTION B (10 X 2 = 20 marks)

II. Answer any 10 questions

1. Quel cadeau peut-on offrir quand on est invité au diner ? Nommez deux.

2. Pour quelles fêtes peut-on offrir des chocolats ?

3. Citez deux activités culturelles que les Français aiment pratiquer.

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4. Quels sont les animaux de compagnie préférés des français ?

5. Est-ce qu’on peut voyager avec un chat en avion ? Comment ?

6. A quel âge est-ce que les hommes et les femmes se marient en France aujourd’hui ?

7. Nommez deux types de famille en France.

8. Dans quel pays se situent les villes Berlin et Moscou ?

9. Nommez deux pays voisins de la France.

10. Comment s’appelle la mer qui se trouve au sud de la France ?

11. Nommez deux monuments qui se trouvent en France.

12. Quels jours forment le weekend ?

13. Dans quel pays se situe le Manneken Pis ?

14. Nommez deux acteurs français.

15. Nommez deux territoires d’outre-mer de la France.

SECTION C (2 X 10 = 20 marks)

III. Answer any 2 questions in detail.

1. Rédigez un dialogue entre vous et votre ami. Téléphonez à votre ami et proposez à
lui d’aller au cinéma. Discutez et fixez un rendez-vous.

2. Vous créez un blogue. Présentez-vous en détail, parlez de vous, vos intérêts et de

votre famille.

3. Vous êtes en vacances à Paris. Rédigez un e-mail à votre ami ; parlez de la ville,
des monuments que vous visitez et de vos activités.

4. Quelles sont vos loisirs préférés ? Présentez-les en détail.