Welcome to French. Over this course you will learn to understand French when you hear it and read it, and to speak and write it yourself, about the people, places and things in your everyday life. Every conversation starts with hello, so that is where you start today.
Picture the gate of a French collège on a Monday morning. Greet your teacher the way you would greet a friend. Now greet them the way you would greet the principal. Should those two greetings sound the same?
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Choose the right French greeting for a friend or an adult
- Open a short conversation with a greeting and a reply
- Explain why French has two ways of saying "you"
Here are today's eight greetings, in two short waves.
Wave 1 (core): the first five in the table. Tap each one, listen, then say it back together. Listen for the soft zh sound in Bonjour, like the s in treasure. Sort as you go: which suit a friend, and which suit a teacher?
Wave 2 (add-ons): the last three in the table, Bonsoir, Enchanté and Bienvenue. Listen and repeat, then we are ready to match.
Watch the board. When a classmate picks a French word, say it with them, then help the class decide how it is used: friend, adult, evening, first meeting, or welcome. If a card is missed twice, we all say it together before moving on.
Stand-and-greet break: after a few matches, everyone stands, greets the person beside them with a friendly or formal hello, then sits and keeps matching.
Keep looking at the greetings on the board while you write. Open your copy and write two greetings you have already said today: one friendly and one formal. Beside each one, write who you would say it to and who you would not.
Example shape on the board: Salut: friend ✓ / principal ✗
- Bonjour — Hello / Good morning
- Salut — Hi (informal)
- Bonsoir — Good evening
- Comment ça va ? — How are you? (informal)
- Comment allez-vous ? — How are you? (formal)
- Je vais bien, merci — I'm fine, thank you
- Enchanté — Nice to meet you
- Bienvenue — Welcome
Morning at the gate of a French collège. Follow the partner prompts on screen: Partner A greets, Partner B answers, then swap.
Run one classmate round (friendly) and one principal round (formal). Before pairs begin, watch each exchange once, then read it aloud together.
To finish, you will hear a situation, and the whole class answers together.
💬 Discussion time
French has two useful ways of saying "you". Notice the pair you already practised:
- tu (friends, family, people your age) goes with Comment ça va ?
- vous (adults, teachers, people you do not know well) goes with Comment allez-vous ?
English has one "you" for everyone. Something to think about:
- Is one "you" simpler, or does it lose something?
- When would you most want a special polite form in English, if we had one?
After today you can:
- Pick a friendly greeting for a classmate and a more formal one for a teacher
- Open a short exchange and answer when someone asks how you are
- Explain why French has two forms of "you" and when each one matters
Next time we will practise ending a conversation just as carefully as we open one.
That was a sample lesson from French for 6th Class
Every lesson in the course is ready to teach like this one. See what else comes with it, and how to order it.
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