All 24 chapters, and the pronunciation point each
one teaches. Read the sound column down the page and it is a system for decoding
written French — which is the part most courses leave to the end.
Part One · HierColette tells Claire what happened yesterday. The past arrives in the first chapter, exactly as Book One promised it would.
- 1
Hier, j'ai parlé à Claire
Yesterday I spoke to Claire
· sound: -er and -é
- 2
J'ai fini, j'ai pris, j'ai fait
I finished, I took, I did
· sound: the endings you hear, and the ones you don't
- 3
Je suis allée à la gare
I went to the station
· sound: liaison inside je suis allée
- 4
Nous sommes sortis
We went out
· sound: the agreement you can hear, and the one you can't
- 5
Je n'ai rien vu
I saw nothing
· sound: the ne that isn't there
- 6
Révision 1
Hier
· sound: Part One in one place
Part Two · AvantTwo women remember the town when they were young — and the second past tense arrives to describe it.
- 7
Quand j'étais jeune
When I was young
· sound: three endings, one sound
- 8
Il pleuvait, il y avait du monde
It was raining, there were people
· sound: *-ait* against *-é*, honestly
- 9
Tous les samedis, on allait au marché
Every Saturday we'd go to the market
· sound: the hidden y in *-ions* and *-iez*
- 10
J'ai vu, je voyais
I saw, I used to see
· sound: hearing the change of tense
- 11
Je dormais quand le téléphone a sonné
I was asleep when the phone rang
· sound: running the words together at the join
- 12
Révision 2
Avant
· sound: Part Two in one place
Part Three · Tous les joursLéo is in the house. Getting a seven-year-old up, washed and dressed is the best reason there is to learn the reflexives.
- 13
Je me lève à six heures
I get up at six
· sound: the swallowed *me*
- 14
Je me suis levée tôt
I got up early
· sound: *je me suis*, said as one word
- 15
Assieds-toi ! Ne bouge pas !
Sit down! Don't move!
· sound: where the weight falls in an order
- 16
Je le connais
I know him
· sound: *le* and *la* vanishing before a vowel
- 17
Je lui ai téléphoné
I phoned her
· sound: *lui* and *leur*
- 18
Révision 3
Tous les jours
· sound: Part Three in one place
Part Four · Raconte-moiWeighing things up — then and now — and finally telling the whole summer as one story.
- 19
Plus grand que moi
Taller than me
· sound: the *s* of *plus*
- 20
Le plus beau village de France
The prettiest village in France
· sound: *le plus*, *le moins*, *mieux*
- 21
Plus de pain, moins de sucre
More bread, less sugar
· sound: *autant*, *tant*, and two nasals in a row
- 22
Depuis, il y a, ça fait
Since, ago, for
· sound: *depuis* and *puis*
- 23
D'abord, ensuite, tout à coup
First, then, all at once
· sound: the tune of a story
- 24
Révision 4
French in Conversation
· sound: the whole listening system