Getting started with French 3
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Getting started with French 3 This item contains selected online content. It is for use alongside, not as a replacement for the module website, which is the primary study format and contains activities and resources that cannot be replicated in the printed versions.
About this free course This free course is an adapted extract from the Open University course developed from extract parts of LXF003 - Beginners French 3: absolument! - http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/short-courses/lxf003. This version of the content may include video, images and interactive content that may not be optimised for your device. You can experience this free course as it was originally designed on OpenLearn, the home of free learning from The Open University – Getting started with French 3 There you’ll also be able to track your progress via your activity record, which you can use to demonstrate your learning. Copyright © 2021 The Open University Intellectual property Unless otherwise stated, this resource is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Licence v4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en_GB. Within that The Open University interprets this licence in the following way: www.open.edu/openlearn/about-openlearn/frequently-asked-questions-on-openlearn. Copyright and rights falling outside the terms of the Creative Commons Licence are retained or controlled by The Open University. Please read the full text before using any of the content. We believe the primary barrier to accessing high-quality educational experiences is cost, which is why we aim to publish as much free content as possible under an open licence. If it proves difficult to release content under our preferred Creative Commons licence (e.g. because we can’t afford or gain the clearances or find suitable alternatives), we will still release the materials for free under a personal end- user licence. This is because the learning experience will always be the same high quality offering and that should always be seen as positive – even if at times the licensing is different to Creative Commons. When using the content you must attribute us (The Open University) (the OU) and any identified author in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Licence. The Acknowledgements section is used to list, amongst other things, third party (Proprietary), licensed content which is not subject to Creative Commons licensing. Proprietary content must be used (retained) intact and in context to the content at all times. The Acknowledgements section is also used to bring to your attention any other Special Restrictions which may apply to the content. For example there may be times when the Creative Commons Non- Commercial Sharealike licence does not apply to any of the content even if owned by us (The Open University). In these instances, unless stated otherwise, the content may be used for personal and non- commercial use. We have also identified as Proprietary other material included in the content which is not subject to Creative Commons Licence. These are OU logos, trading names and may extend to certain photographic and video images and sound recordings and any other material as may be brought to your attention. Unauthorised use of any of the content may constitute a breach of the terms and conditions and/or intellectual property laws. We reserve the right to alter, amend or bring to an end any terms and conditions provided here without notice. All rights falling outside the terms of the Creative Commons licence are retained or controlled by The Open University. Head of Intellectual Property, The Open University 2 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Contents
Introduction 4
Introduction 4
Open Centre for Languages and Cultures 5
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for
directions in town 7
Introduction 7
1 Places in town 8
2 Asking questions about directions 11
2.1 Asking for directions in town 12
3 Finding a location 14
3.1 Prepositions with du, de la, de l’, and des 16
4 Pronunciation: un / une 19
5 Pronunciation: the letter ‘h’ 21
6 Asking for directions and discovering more vocabulary 23
7 This week’s quiz 27
8 Summary of Week 1 28
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
31
Introduction 31
1 Understanding and giving instructions 32
1.1 Giving instructions using the imperative 34
2 Listening for detail 38
3 Giving instructions using devoir and il faut 43
4 Pronouncing the sound [R] 47
5 Expressing a series of events 49
6 This week’s quiz 52
7 Summary of Week 2 53
Next steps 54
Acknowledgements 54
3 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Introduction Introduction Introduction Introduction Bonjour. This two-week course offers you the opportunity to learn how to ask for directions. Starting with the basic vocabulary you’ll progress towards being able to say more and more, ask questions and understand replies. Little by little you will improve your ability to have more complex conversations and to understand more language in a variety of different scenarios. Each week comprises 3–4 hours of interactive activities, explanations, exercises and tips about language learning. It’s a good idea to keep notes either in a notebook or on your preferred digital device; each week you’ll be encouraged to add to your own personal phrase book and decide how you can best go about memorising and practising key phrases and vocabulary. At the end of each week you will have a quiz to revise what you have been learning. To start with, consider how you’ll organise your studies. Learning languages is a gradual process and, if possible, it is best to spread your 3–4 hours over the week, rather than studying the whole week’s work in one go. You then get the opportunity to revise vocabulary and language structures, to review quickly what you did last time and above all to practise and consolidate. For example, by listening several times to the same recording, you will learn vocabulary and perfect your accent for the speaking activities. After completing this course, you will be able to: ● ask for directions to key places in French-speaking towns ● use the main prepositions of location ● understand and give directions using a variety of phrases including devoir and il faut ● pronounce un, une and the letters ‘h’ and ‘r’ ● use vocabulary to indicate the sequence of events. 4 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Introduction
Open Centre for Languages and Cultures
Open Centre for Languages and Cultures
This course has been developed from extract parts of
LXF003 - Beginners French 3: absolument!. The Open University has launched a
dedicated learning centre called The Open Centre for Languages and Cultures.
OpenLearn is supporting this project and is providing extracted units of all courses on The
Open Centre in our dedicated Language and Cultures Hub.
The Open Centre for Languages and Cultures is the exciting new home for non-
accredited language and intercultural communication short courses. You can study a wide
range of language and language related subjects with us anywhere in the world, in any
time zone, whatever your motivation – leisure, professional development or academic.
It’s the one stop shop for engaging with languages, professional communication and
intercultural dialogue.
Our short courses allow us to be agile and responsive to the needs of learners who want
to be part of a global society. We offer non-accredited short courses in a range of subjects
including modern languages and languages for business and the workplace. We are also
leading the way in developing short courses for academic research methods and pre-
sessional English with IELTS, which will be available for registration in due course.
The Open Centre for Languages and Cultures is an international leader in online
language learning and intercultural communications, built on our pioneering pedagogy
and research.
What makes the Open Centre different?
● The OU is the leader in online learning and teaching with a heritage of more than 50
years helping students achieve their learning ambitions.
● The short courses are underpinned by academic rigour and designed by native
speakers experienced in producing engaging materials for online learning of
languages and cultures.
● The graduating nature of the courses means that learners can build up their
language and skills over time.
● Learners will also gain a better understanding of the culture(s) associated with the
language(s) they study enabling the development of intercultural communication
skills.
● Learners can mix and match the short courses and study more than one course at a
time.
Once this course is complete you will be directed to OpenLearn’s hub for language
content where you will be able to build on your newly found language skills.
Now that you’re fully prepared, it’s time to start on Week 1.
Bonnes études! (Enjoy your studies!)
5 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Introduction Open Centre for Languages and Cultures 6 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town Introduction Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town Introduction This week you will learn how to ask for directions to key places in French-speaking towns. You will also practise basic questions in French and revise prepositions of location. This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course LXF003 - Beginners French 3: absolument!. 7 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 1 Places in town 1 Places in town To begin with, you will test your knowledge and vocabulary of French public buildings and spaces. Activity 1 Interactive content is not available in this format. Le commissariat, l’office de tourisme, l’hôtel de ville will all normally be found in large towns or cities. You will usually see la gendarmerie, le syndicat d’initiative and la mairie in smaller towns or villages, although this distinction is becoming less pronounced. La police nationale and la gendarmerie are both police forces, but they serve different government ministries and in theory have different areas of responsibility. In reality, the areas of competence of la police and la gendarmerie often overlap and there have been proposals to merge the two forces. Watch out for faux amis (‘false friends’) in the names of French public buildings. A railway station is la gare, and a bus station is la gare routière, but an underground station is une station and a taxi rank is une station de taxi. A library is une bibliothèque, but une librairie is a bookshop. 8 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 1 Places in town Activity 2 Imagine you are walking around a French town and you hear some people asking questions and receiving answers. Listen to the recording and then complete the sentences that follow. Audio content is not available in this format. The six dialogues are taking place: ¡ in the street ¡ in the office ¡ at the restaurant ¡ at the hospital The speakers are: ¡ meeting and greeting ¡ buying goods ¡ asking for directions ¡ ordering food Now listen to the recording again and decide which of the following places people ask for directions for in each dialogue. Audio content is not available in this format. Dialogue 1 ¡ la cathédrale ¡ la gare ¡ l’office de tourisme Dialogue 2 ¡ le stade ¡ l’hôpital ¡ le parc Dialogue 3 ¡ l’hôpital ¡ la bibliothèque ¡ le musée Dialogue 4 ¡ le théâtre ¡ la cathédrale ¡ le parc 9 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 1 Places in town Dialogue 5 ¡ la mairie ¡ la piscine ¡ la poste Dialogue 6 ¡ la gare ¡ la mairie ¡ le cinéma 10 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
2 Asking questions about directions
2 Asking questions about directions
In Activity 2 you heard various ways to ask for directions. In this section you will look at
these questions – and the responses given – in more detail.
Activity 3
Read the following questions and then match them with the correct response by
dragging the answer beside it.
Alors, la gare… C’est tout droit, à côté de l’office de tourisme.
Euh… Oui, madame. Ici, à droite et le parc est en face du stade.
Euh… Voyons… C’est là, tout droit et à gauche, c’est en face de la bibliothèque.
Alors… ben… ici, la cathédrale Saint-Nazaire est juste là à droite, devant le parc des
Poètes.
La poste?… Voyons… Oui, elle est à côté de la mairie. C’est tout près d’ici.
Oui, le cinéma, c’est tout droit, en face de la gare.
Match each of the items above to an item below.
Excusez-moi, monsieur. Où est la gare, s’il vous plaît?
Pardon, madame. Est-ce qu’il y a un parc près d’ici?
Bonjour, messieurs-dames. Où est l’hôpital, s’il vous plaît?
Pardon, monsieur. Je cherche la cathédrale s’il vous plaît.
Excusez-moi, madame. Pour aller à la poste, s’il vous plaît?
Pardon, madame. Il y a un cinéma par ici?
Look at the transcript of the dialogues (repeated below) and make two lists of the
various phrases people use to attract attention and ask for directions.
Audio content is not available in this format.
Phrases to attract a passer-by’s attention:
Exemple: Excusez-moi, monsieur
Provide your answer...
Discussion
● Excusez-moi, monsieur
● Pardon, madame
● Bonjour, messieurs-dames
● Pardon, monsieur
● Excusez-moi, madame.
Phrases to ask for directions:
11 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
2 Asking questions about directions
Exemple: Où est…
Provide your answer...
Discussion
● Où est la gare, s’il vous plaît?
● Est-ce qu’il y a un parc près d’ici?
● Où est l’hôpital, s’il vous plaît?
● Je cherche la cathédrale, s’il vous plaît.
● Pour aller à la poste, s’il vous plaît?
● Il y a un cinéma par ici?
2.1 Asking for directions in town
To ask for directions, you can use any of the following:
● Je cherche + le/la/les + noun
Je cherche la poste I am looking for the post office.
Note: In French je cherche is followed directly by its object, unlike the English ‘I am
looking for’.
● Où est/Où sont + le/la/les + noun
Où est la gare? La gare, c’est où? Where is the station?
Où sont les toilettes? Les toilettes, c’est où? Where are the toilets?
Note: C’est où? is another, more informal, way to ask ‘Where is/Where are …?’
● Il y a/Est-ce qu’il y a + un/une + noun + près d’ici/par ici?
Il y a un cinéma près d’ici? Is there a cinema nearby?
Est-ce qu’il y a des toilettes par ici? Are there any toilets around here?
● Pour aller + au / à la /à l’/aux + noun
Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît? The museum, please?
Pour aller à la mairie, s’il vous plaît? The town hall, please?
Pour aller à l’office de tourisme, s’il vous plaît? The tourist office, please?
Pour aller aux grands magasins, s’il vous plait? The department stores, please?
à + le is always shortened to au (au musée) in front of singular masculine nouns
à + la is used in front of feminine singular nouns (à la gare)
à + l’ is used in front of nouns which start with ‘h’ or a vowel (à l’hôpital, à l’école)
à + les is always shortened to aux (aux toilettes) for plural nouns.
Activity 4
Look at the photos and ask for directions to each place, using the different question
structures (given in brackets) and your own choice of words to attract a passer-by’s
attention.
12 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 2 Asking questions about directions Ask each question out loud and record yourself speaking. Listen to your recording and then listen to the model given in the feedback. The phrases used in the model to attract the passer-by’s attention may, of course, be different to yours. Exemple Exemple: (où est / cathédrale)? Question: Excusez-moi, monsieur, où est la cathédrale, s’il vous plaît? Interactive content is not available in this format. Interactive content is not available in this format. Interactive content is not available in this format. Interactive content is not available in this format. Interactive content is not available in this format. Activity 5 Now listen to the recording below. Ask for directions to these places aloud in the gaps (you can pause the recording if necessary). You should use the structure supplied in each prompt. Use any opening phrase of your choice to attract attention. Exemple (You hear) un parc / est-ce qu’il y a…? (You say) Pardon, monsieur, est-ce qu’il y a un parc près d’ici? Audio content is not available in this format. Discussion Listen again to the recording to check your answers. 13 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 3 Finding a location 3 Finding a location In this section you will focus on the prepositions that allow you to express where things are located. Activity 6 Match the English words with their French translation. You may need a dictionary. on the left of on the right of next to at the end of in in front of behind Match each of the items above to an item below. à gauche de à droite de à côté de au bout de dans devant derrière You will now hear these prepositions used in conversation. Activity 7 Listen again to the audio from Section 1 (repeated below). Drag the names of the places mentioned to the number corresponding to their position on the map. The first one (la gare = number 3) has been completed for you as an example. 14 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
3 Finding a location
Figure 1 A street map of a French town showing key places.
Audio content is not available in this format.
la poste
l’hôpital
la gare
la cathédrale
le parc
le cinéma
Match each of the items above to an item below.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Discussion
1 la poste; 2 l'hôpital; 3 la gare; 4 la cathédrale; 5 le parc; 6 le cinéma
Listen to the recording again and identify where the following places are in relation to
each other. Using drag and drop, fill in the gaps with the correct expressions.
Interactive content is not available in this format.
15 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
3 Finding a location
3.1 Prepositions with du, de la, de l’, and des
Now have a go at Activity 8.
Activity 8
Read the following expressions and write down whether the nouns in bold are
masculine or feminine, singular or plural. What do you notice about the spelling of the
nouns which follow de l’? If necessary, check in your dictionary the meaning of the
prepositional phrases used.
en face des toilettes
Provide your answer...
Answer
en face des toilettes (feminine, plural)
à gauche de la mairie
Provide your answer...
Answer
à gauche de la mairie (feminine, singular)
à côté du musée
Provide your answer...
Answer
à côté du musée (masculine, singular)
au coin de l’avenue
Provide your answer...
Answer
au coin de l’avenue (feminine, singular, starts with a vowel)
près de l’hôtel
Provide your answer...
16 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
3 Finding a location
Answer
près de l’hôtel (masculine, singular, starts with the ‘silent’ letter ‘h’)
à droite de l’école
Provide your answer...
Answer
à droite de l’école (feminine, singular, starts with a vowel)
loin de l’hôpital
Provide your answer...
Answer
loin de l’hôpital (masculine, singular, starts with the ‘silent’ letter ‘h’)
en face du lycée
Provide your answer...
Answer
en face du lycée (masculine, singular)
The phrases expressing location (à droite, à gauche, en face, à côté, au coin, près, loin)
can be used on their own, but if they are followed by a place, they need to be followed by
de. This becomes du, de la, de l’ or des according to the gender and number of the word
which follows:
● Masculine: à côté du musée (masculine, singular)
● Feminine: à gauche de la mairie (feminine, singular)
● Masculine or feminine starting with a vowel or a ‘silent’ letter ‘h’:
au coin de l’avenue (feminine, singular, starts with a vowel)
près de l’hôtel (masculine, singular, starts with the ‘silent’ letter ‘h’)
● Plural: en face des toilettes (feminine, plural)
Activity 9
Using drag and drop, fill in the gaps with the correct form: du, de la, de l’ or des.
Interactive content is not available in this format.
Combining what you have learnt so far in this course, now have a go at Activity 10.
17 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
3 Finding a location
Activity 10
Listen to the recording. You will hear a question and a prompt, say your answers aloud
in the gaps (you can pause the recording if necessary). Then listen to the model
answer.
Exemple
(You hear) La cathédrale, c’est où?
(You hear) (in front of the library)
(You say) La cathédrale est en face de la bibliothèque
Audio content is not available in this format.
Discussion
Listen again to the recording to check your answers.
18 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 4 Pronunciation: un / une 4 Pronunciation: un / une In this section you will listen to the difference between un and une. Activity 11 Part 1 Listen to the audios and identify the sound (un/une) you hear in each utterance. Try to avoid using the transcripts until after you have answered the question. Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une 19 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 4 Pronunciation: un / une Audio content is not available in this format. ¡ un ¡ une Part 2 Now listen to the audio and repeat each word with its article. Audio content is not available in this format. Discussion Listen to the audio again to check your pronunciation. Pay particular attention to the liaisons: un␣ hôtel, une␣ école. 20 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
5 Pronunciation: the letter ‘h’
5 Pronunciation: the letter ‘h’
You will now look more closely at the letter ‘h’ in spelling and sound.
Activity 12
Listen to the audio below and identify the letter in the following words that is not
sounded, other than the letter e.
Audio content is not available in this format.
Provide your answer...
Answer
1 le théâtre; 2 l’hôtel de ville; 3 la cathédrale; 4 la bibliothèque; 5 l’hôpital
Listen to the audio again and repeat each word.
Audio content is not available in this format.
Discussion
Listen to the recording to check your pronunciation. Note that the letter ‘h’ is not
normally pronounced when it is the first letter of the word. Note also that ‘th’ anywhere
within a word is pronounced as ‘t’ (i.e. the ‘h’ is silent).
The letter ‘h’ does not correspond to a sound in French. Words that are spelt with the
initial letter ‘h’ are pronounced as if they begin with the vowel that follows it. Definite
articles preceding these words are usually reduced from le and la to l’.
l’hôtel (m.) hotel
l’herbe (f.) grass
Words spelt with ‘th’– in whatever position – are also pronounced as if the ‘t’ were the only
letter present.
le thé tea
la bibliothèque library
When words beginning with the letter ‘h’ are preceded by the indefinite article, un or une,
the two words run together and it sounds like the second word starts with ‘n’. Here are
some examples:
un␣ hôtel hotel (Sounds like ‘un_nôtel’)
21 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 5 Pronunciation: the letter ‘h’ une␣habitation residence (Sounds like ‘une_nabitation’) un␣hôpital hospital (Sounds like ‘un_nôpital’) 22 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
6 Asking for directions and discovering more vocabulary
6 Asking for directions and discovering
more vocabulary
Based on what you have learned so far in the course, have a go at Activity 13 where you
will ask for directions in Bordeaux.
Activity 13
You are at the tourist office in Bordeaux and you want to go to the four places shown in
these photos. Look at the photos and ask questions in four different ways to practise
the structures you have learnt to ask for directions.
Figure 2 (1) Bordeaux railway station, (2) Bordeaux town hall, (3) one of the
universities in Bordeaux and (4) a cinema in Bordeaux
Provide your answer...
Discussion
This is one possible answer. You could have used different structures with each of the
destinations.
Où est la gare, s’il vous plaît?
Je cherche l’université, c’est où, s’il vous plaît?
Pour aller à l’hôtel de ville, s’il vous plaît?
23 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
6 Asking for directions and discovering more vocabulary
(Est-ce qu’) il y a un cinéma près d’ici, s’il vous plaît?
In the next activity, you will read about the town of Béziers.
Activity 14
Part 1
You are in the tourist office in the French town of Béziers. Read the leaflet and then
answer the following questions in English.
Figure 3 Béziers…La cathédrale Saint-Nazaire, Les 9 écluses sur le canal du Midi,
Église de la Madeleine
You are interested in old churches. What are you most likely to visit in Béziers?
Provide your answer...
24 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
6 Asking for directions and discovering more vocabulary
Discussion
Saint Nazaire cathedral; the Romanesque church of Saint Mary Magdalen.
Where can you find out about Béziers and its heritage?
Provide your answer...
Discussion
At the museum.
What kinds of eating places does the brochure mention?
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Michelin-starred restaurants and those offering regional specialities.
Where should you go to find out about sports and leisure?
Provide your answer...
Discussion
At the town hall or tourist office.
Part 2
Read the leaflet again and find the French for:
the amphitheatre
the concert halls
the vineyards
the beaches
watersports.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
the amphitheatre = les arènes (f.pl.)
the concert halls = les salles de concerts (f.pl.)
the vineyards = les vignobles (m.pl.)
the beaches = les plages (f.pl.)
watersports = les sports aquatiques (m.pl.)
25 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
6 Asking for directions and discovering more vocabulary
Part 3
Now, based on what you’ve learnt about Béziers, ask for directions to three different
places which interest you, using Où est…? ‘Pour aller…? and ‘Je cherche… c’est où?
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Your response will depend on your interests. Here are some possible questions:
1. Où est la cathédrale Saint-Nazaire, s’il vous plaît ?
2. Pour aller aux arènes, s’il vous plaît ?
3. Je cherche le musée du Bitterois, c’est où, s’il vous plaît ?
26 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 7 This week’s quiz 7 This week’s quiz Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week quiz. Week 1 quiz Open the quiz in a new window or tab (by holding ctrl [or cmd on a Mac] when you click the link), then return here when you have done it. 27 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
8 Summary of Week 1
8 Summary of Week 1
You have now finished Week 1.
Remember that you’ll build your language skills little by little and it’s very important for you
to keep returning to vocabulary and structures you’ve been learning, as well as adding
new ones. Now is the time to get organised and start formalising the way you develop
your language skills.
The best way to remember new vocabulary and key phrases is to practise. What did you
score for the Week 1 Quiz? What did you find difficult? How could you manage better next
time? In Week 1, you were introduced to an important point of pronunciation which should
help with your listening and speaking skills.
Building a language notebook
This is something you can develop week by week, which is entirely personal to you. You
may find that you want to change the way you go about it in Week 2; don’t worry if that
happens. The important thing is that you find a way to note down, each week, new
vocabulary and expressions, and also tips about pronunciation, grammar, culture and
communication in general that will support you as you continue learning French.
This week you learned how to ask for directions to key places in French-speaking towns.
You also practised basic questions in French and revised prepositions of location. You
may want to attribute specific parts of your notebook to:
● vocabulary related to directions
● the different questions forms, with a specific mention of pour aller à and the changes
which occur depending whether the words which follow are masculine, feminine,
start with a vowel or h or are plural.
● the prepositions and the changes which occur with de (en face de, près de, etc.)
depending whether the words which follow are masculine, feminine, start with a
vowel or h or are plural.
Before you move on, record your reflections here.
Week 1 Reflection
What was most useful this week? Why?
Provide your answer...
What was most difficult this week? Why?
Provide your answer...
How am I going to practice what I learned this week?
28 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town
8 Summary of Week 1
Provide your answer...
You can now go to Week 2.
29 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 1: Pour aller au musée, s’il vous plaît ? Asking for directions in town 8 Summary of Week 1 30 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions Introduction Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions Introduction Last week you learned how to ask for directions in a variety of different ways, including with pour aller,which needs to be followed by au, à la, à le or aux, for example Pour aller à l’office de tourisme, s’il vous plait? You also studied several prepositions and expressions to help you understand the way: à gauche, à droite, en face, à côté, près, loin followed by du, de le de la or des. This week you’ll have the chance to practise this and learn more vocabulary and use a wider range of expressions. Last week, you also started to keep your own language notebook; this week, you’ll be adding to it. In particular, we suggest you make notes on the grammar you’ll be studying (for example, the verbs) and how you’re going to remember vocabulary. You might need to refer to a dictionary for some of the activities this week, so think about how you plan to look words up when you need to. The emphasis this week will be on learning a variety of ways to give instructions so you can understand and give directions. There will be several listening activities and you will be taught how to listen in steps and how to listen for detail. Finally, you will be practise the pronunciation of the letter ‘R’ in French, which can be quite difficult. Bonnes études! 31 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
1 Understanding and giving instructions
1 Understanding and giving instructions
To start this week, have a go at the different activities on this page. Afterwards you will
learn how to give instructions using the present tense and the imperative, and also
develop your listening skills.
Activity 1
Listen to the audio and answer the following questions:
Audio content is not available in this format.
Where are the people who are talking?
Provide your answer...
Discussion
In the street.
What are they doing?
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Asking for and giving directions.
What names of places can you recognise?
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Dialogue 1: la gendarmerie; la poste.
Dialogue 2: le musée (des Beaux-Arts).
Dialogue 3: la banque; le cinéma.
Activity 2
Part 1
Figure 1 shows a simplified street map of a French town with the following buildings
marked: poste, mairie, bibliothèque, cathédrale, parc, gendarmerie, hôpital, office de
tourisme, stade, gare, musée des Beaux-Arts, théâtre, cinéma, Banque Populaire.
32 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
1 Understanding and giving instructions
Look at the map and listen to the audio from Activity 1 (repeated below) again. Follow
the directions, starting from Vous êtes ici (‘You are here’), to the following places: la
gendarmerie, le musée des Beaux Arts, la Banque Populaire.
Figure 1 A French street map
Audio content is not available in this format.
Part 2
Now read the transcript and identify the verbs French people use to give directions.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Dialogue 1: prenez; continuez.
Dialogue 2: continuez; tournez.
Dialogue 3: continuez; prenez.
33 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
1 Understanding and giving instructions
Part 3
Listen to the audio again and complete the clauses according to what you hear.
la première rue à gauche
à gauche
la deuxième rue à droite
Match each of the items above to an item below.
Prenez
Puis vous tournez
Puis prenez
Box 1 Listening in steps
Listening involves both understanding the words that are spoken and making inferences
that are informed by context or by common knowledge. Don’t panic if you have difficulty
grasping everything the first time you listen. Listen to the whole recording first and then
work in sections, pausing the recording and replaying sections until you have found the
information you need. Work in steps.
Step 1
What is the situation?
Who are the people speaking?
Does their tone of voice (angry, affectionate, sad …) suggest anything about the
content?
Step 2
What are they talking about?
Are there any expressions that you already know or that are similar to expressions
in your own language?
Step 3
Listen carefully to the phrases that provide the information you need and
memorise the most useful ones by repeating them out loud.
In Activity 1, for instance, you focused on the context (the noise, your previous
knowledge of names of buildings), in the first section of Activity 2 you focused on
phrases that are being used to ask and give directions, and in the final two
sections of Activity 2 you concentrated on key words – verbs in this particular
case.
Listening in steps will help you to digest the whole passage in a more manageable way.
1.1 Giving instructions using the imperative
To give instructions or commands in French, you can:
● use the present tense:
Vous tournez à droite. You turn right.
34 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
1 Understanding and giving instructions
Vous allez tout droit. You go straight on.
● use the imperative:
Tournez à droite. Turn right!
Allez tout droit. Go straight on!
To form the imperative, simply use the present tense, without the subject pronoun vous:
Vous continuez tout droit. Continue straight on.→ Continuez tout droit. Continue
straight on!
Vous prenez la première rue à gauche. Take the first street on the left.→ Prenez la
première rue à gauche. Take the first street on the left!
Ne … pas is placed on either side of the verb, whether negating a statement or an
instruction.
Vous ne tournez pas à droite. You don’t turn right. → Ne tournez pas à droite. Don’t
turn right!
Vous n’allez pas tout droit. You don’t go straight on. → N’allez pas tout droit. Don’t go
straight on!
Activity 3
Look at the map in Figure 1 again (repeated below) and give written directions to the
following buildings:
● le stade
● le théâtre
● la mairie.
35 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
1 Understanding and giving instructions
Figure 1 (repeated) A French street map
le stade (use the present tense)
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Vous prenez la première rue à droite.
le théâtre (use the imperative)
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Continuez tout droit et prenez la deuxième rue à gauche.
la mairie (use either)
Provide your answer...
36 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions 1 Understanding and giving instructions Discussion Vous continuez tout droit et vous tournez à gauche (present tense). Continuez tout droit et tournez à gauche (imperative). You now have another chance to practise answering questions for directions. Activity 4 Listen to the recording. You will hear a question and a prompt. Answer the question (you can pause the recording if necessary). Then listen to the model answer. Exemple : (You hear) Pour aller à la mairie, s’il vous plaît? (You hear) (continue straight on – turn left) (You say) Continuez tout droit, puis tournez à gauche. Audio content is not available in this format. Discussion Listen again to the recording to check your answers. 37 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions 2 Listening for detail 2 Listening for detail In some situations you need to be able to understand key details of what someone is saying to you. This is the case for station announcements, safety warnings, advice received at work, or task instructions. You may not need to pay equal attention to all you hear, but you will need to distinguish what is essential in an utterance. To develop an ability to listen for detail, practice is necessary. Try transcribing a recording dealing with topics you are interested in. Leave gaps where individual words or phrases have escaped you. Then read through the transcript and try to guess what words have been omitted. The ability to make this kind of inference, and particularly to predict what is coming on the basis of what you can already hear, is an essential listening skill. A familiarity with common intonation patterns also enhances your ability to predict, by making you aware of what kind of utterance you are listening to (e.g. a question, an exclamation, a rebuke). Marking out intonation rhythms on your transcription is a good way of familiarising yourself with these patterns. Activity 5 Part 1 Listen to the recordings and indicate the words you hear in each of the four dialogues. Audio content is not available in this format. 38 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
2 Listening for detail
Dialogue 1
o la rue
o l’avenue
o le boulevard
o la place
o la route
o l’allée
o le cours
o l’impasse
o le quai
o le square
o le passage
Dialogue 2
Audio content is not available in this format.
o la rue
o l’avenue
o le boulevard
o la place
o la route
o l’allée
o le cours
o l’impasse
o le quai
o le square
o le passage
Dialogue 3
Audio content is not available in this format.
o la rue
o l’avenue
o le boulevard
o la place
o la route
o l’allée
o le cours
o l’impasse
o le quai
o le square
39 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
2 Listening for detail
o le passage
Dialogue 4
Audio content is not available in this format.
o la rue
o l’avenue
o le boulevard
o la place
o la route
o l’allée
o le cours
o l’impasse
o le quai
o le square
le passage
o
Discussion
● la rue: dialogues 1, 2, 4
● l’avenue: dialogues 1, 2, 3
● le boulevard: dialogues 1, 3
● la place: dialogues 1, 2, 3
● la route:
● l’allée:
● le cours: dialogue 1
● l’impasse:
● le quai: dialogue 3
● le passage:
Part 2
Listen to the recordings again and, using the map in Figure 3 and the instructions given
in the dialogues, write the final destination for each dialogue. Your starting point in
each case is the place du Général de Gaulle.
40 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
2 Listening for detail
Figure 2 Map of Brive-la-Gaillarde town centre.
Dialogue 1
Audio content is not available in this format.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Le lycée d’Arsonval.
Dialogue 2
Audio content is not available in this format.
Provide your answer...
41 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
2 Listening for detail
Discussion
Le cinéma Rex.
Dialogue 3
Audio content is not available in this format.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
L’office de tourisme.
Dialogue 4
Audio content is not available in this format.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Le musée Labenche.
42 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
3 Giving instructions using devoir and il faut
3 Giving instructions using devoir and il
faut
In this section you will learn how to give instructions using devoir and il faut.
Activity 6
Part 1
Listen to the recording below, which has been repeated from the previous section.
From the context, can you work out the meaning of the following new verbs?
1. remontez
2. traversez
3. passer devant
4. contourner
Audio content is not available in this format.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
1. remontez: go (back) up
2. traversez: cross
3. passer devant: pass in front of
4. contourner: go around
Part 2
Read the transcript of the recording and try to identify two ways of giving directions that
you haven’t yet encountered.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
● Dialogue 3: il faut (passer); il faut (traverser); vous devez (tourner).
● Dialogue 4: vous devez (contourner).
You saw earlier this week that you could use the present tense and the imperative to give
instructions. Here are two other ways of giving instructions:
43 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
3 Giving instructions using devoir and il faut
● vous devez + verb in the infinitive
Vous devez tourner à gauche. You must turn left.
Vous devez contourner l’église. You must go round the church.
● il faut + verb in the infinitive
Il faut passer devant l’hôtel de ville. You must walk past the town hall.
Il faut traverser la place. You must cross the square.
Note that devez comes from the verb devoir. Faut comes from falloir, a verb you will only
ever meet in the third-person singular (il faut in the present tense). The il does not
represent any individual person. It is impersonal.
Activity 7
Part 1
Read the following instructions, which contain factual errors. Then look at the map and
provide the correct directions.
Figure 2 (repeated) Map of Brive-la-Gaillarde town centre
44 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
3 Giving instructions using devoir and il faut
Exemple
Pour aller à la gare, prenez la rue Gambetta. (il faut)
→ Non, pour aller à la gare, il faut prendre la rue de l’Hôtel de Ville.
Pour aller à la salle Georges Brassens, passez devant le cinéma. (vous devez)
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Non, pour aller à la salle Georges Brassens, vous devez passer devant le théâtre.
Pour aller à l’hôpital, continuez tout droit dans l’avenue du 14 Juillet. (il faut)
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Non, pour aller à l’hôpital, il faut continuer tout droit dans l’avenue de Paris.
Pour aller au lycée d’Arsonval, vous traversez le boulevard Jules Ferry. (vous devez)
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Non, pour aller au lycée d’Arsonval, vous devez traverser le boulevard du Général
Koenig.
Part 2
Imagine you work at the tourist office in Brive-la-Gaillarde. Listen to the recordings
given below and then, using the map of Brive-la-Gaillarde, give directions to the
tourists, following the prompts. Use il faut + infinitive or vous devez + infinitive.
Exemple
(You hear) Bonjour, pour aller au musée Labenche, s’il vous plaît ?
(You hear) (turn left avenue du 14 Juillet – continue straight on – turn right Dr
Massénat – Turn first left – the museum – left)
(You say) Pour aller au musée Labenche, vous devez tourner à gauche dans
l’avenue du 14 Juillet, vous devez continuer tout droit, puis il faut tourner à droite
dans la rue du Docteur Massénat et il faut prendre la première à gauche et le musée
est sur votre gauche.
Interactive content is not available in this format.
45 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions 3 Giving instructions using devoir and il faut Interactive content is not available in this format. Interactive content is not available in this format. Discussion Listen again to the models to check your answers. Box 2 Names of streets Street names in France and other French-speaking countries often commemorate famous people and historical events. In most French towns, you will find, for instance, rue/avenue/ place/boulevard du Général de Gaulle or de la République or du 14 Juillet (anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, which started the French Revolution). In France, street names often appear in white letters on a dark blue background. Signs also tend to be located high up, fixed to a wall or on a post. 46 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
4 Pronouncing the sound [R]
4 Pronouncing the sound [R]
You will now look at the pronunciation of the sound [R] in French.
Activity 8
Part 1
Listen to the recording and choose the words in which the letter ‘r’ is sounded.
Audio content is not available in this format.
o Rome
o Paris
o habiter
o carrefour
o droite
o sortez
o avenue
o rue
o théâtre
o cours
o toilettes
o trois
aimer
o
Discussion
You should have ticked: Rome, Paris, Carrefour, droite, sortez, rue, théâtre, cours and
trois.
Part 2
Now listen to the recording below. You will practise the pronunciation of words
containing a sounded ‘r’ (the sound [R]). Listen to each word and repeat in the gaps.
Audio content is not available in this format.
You will have seen in this section quite a few words that contain an ‘r’-sound’: carrefour
(twice), tournez, prenez, droite, and so on. The sound [ʀ] is pronounced at the back of the
throat. To produce this sound, put the tip of your tongue against the back of your lower
teeth. Vibrate your vocal cords (as if gargling) without moving your tongue. You might find
it easier to start practising it with a vowel sound in front of it such as in the following words:
bar, mère, lire (to read), sœur, sur, pour, patinoire
47 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions 4 Pronouncing the sound [R] Then move on to practise [ʀ] followed by a vowel sound, as in the following words: rue, route, tourisme, mairie, riz, retour And finally practise with the following words where the [ʀ] is preceded by a consonant: près, prenez, très, trop, droite, cathédrale 48 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions 5 Expressing a series of events 5 Expressing a series of events In this final section of the course before the end of week quiz, you will look at how to express the order in which a sequence of events or actions take place. Activity 9 Read the brochure for the musée du Biterrois and say if the following statements are true or false. Figure 3 Brochure of the musée du Biterrois in Béziers Vocabulaire la caserne building providing communal lodging for soldiers le Biterrois the region surrounding Béziers Le musée du Biterrois est situé dans la caserne Saint-Jacques. ¡ True ¡ False Discussion Le musée est situé sur la place des Casernes. Le musée du Biterrois est un musée d’art moderne ¡ True ¡ False Discussion Le musée du Biterrois est un musée d’histoire naturelle et humaine. 49 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
5 Expressing a series of events
C’est un musée national.
¡ True
¡ False
Discussion
C’est un musée régional.
Le musée est près de l’église Saint-Jacques.
¡ True
¡ False
Discussion
True
Part 2
Read the text again and identify all the verbs that are used to give directions to the
museum.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
You will have noticed that the verbs are all in the infinitive; in writing, the infinitive is
often used to give instructions.
You should have noted: sortir; tourner; prendre; continuer; tourner; remonter; prendre.
Part 3
Read the instructions again and identify the different steps needed to get from the
station to the museum. Make a list of the words that are used to mark the sequence of
actions to be undertaken.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
d’abord, ensuite, puis, enfin
To describe a series of events or give a set of instructions in a particular sequence, you
use a number of adverbs to indicate the order of occurrence (see Table 1).
Table 1 Expressing a series of events or
instructions in sequence
d’abord / tout d’abord / premièrement first of all
ensuite / deuxièmement then, secondly
puis (ensuite) then, next, afterwards
enfin finally, eventually
50 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
5 Expressing a series of events
Activity 10
Listen to the recording and put the sequence of instructions in the right order.
Audio content is not available in this format.
Interactive content is not available in this format.
Activity 11
Imagine you are working at the tourist office of your local town and you need to compile
directions from the railway station to the town’s most popular landmark for a brochure.
Your directions should include sequencing, appropriate verbs and prepositions. You
should use the infinitive for the verbs, as these are written instructions.
Provide your answer...
Discussion
Here is a model answer.
Pour aller de la gare à la salle Georges Brassens :
Alors, d’abord, sortir de la gare, aller droit devant vous dans la rue de l’Hôtel de Ville
et traverser la place Charles de Gaulle. Ensuite, continuer tout droit dans l’avenue
de Paris puis tourner à droite dans le boulevard Anatole France, enfin tourner à
gauche dans l’avenue du 14 Juillet. La salle George Brassens est à côté de la place
du 14 Juillet, près de l’office de tourisme.
51 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions 6 This week’s quiz 6 This week’s quiz Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week quiz. Week 2 quiz Open the quiz in a new window or tab (by holding ctrl [or cmd on a Mac] when you click the link), then return here when you have done it. 52 of 55 Tuesday 9 March 2021
Week 2: Allez tout droit. Understanding and giving directions
7 Summary of Week 2
7 Summary of Week 2
This week, your language notebook will probably contain notes about how to ask for
directions, and you may also have started building up some useful vocabulary with all the
new words you’ve been learning for different places and for prepositions. Think about the
way you might group the words you learn. You might have a section for useful phrases
such as all the different ways to ask for directions. This week you can add a section on
giving instructions as you have discovered that you can use the present tense, the
imperative or the verb devoir and il faut followed by the infinitive (the verb as you find it in
the dictionary). You could also start a new section with the words you have learned for
putting a series of events or instructions in sequence (d’abord, ensuite, puis, enfin). It
takes practice and repetition to learn a language, and in order to remember vocabulary,
French expressions and structures you’ll need to revise frequently and regularly.
One good way for you to remember vocabulary is through the listening activities. Go back
to the tips on ‘Listening in steps’ and ‘Listening for detail’: listening to the whole recording
to concentrate on the context, then listening in various stages to eventually focus on key
words. Reading the transcripts out loud while listening to a recording will also help you to
memorise language and to become familiar with pronouncing the sounds. By doing the
pronunciation activities – this week it was the letter ‘r’ – you’re also adding to your store of
vocabulary and expressions. You can also improve your intonation by varying your pitch
when you imitate the voices of the speakers in the recordings.
Before you move on, take some time to check that your language notebook is up-to-date,
and reflect a little on what you’ve been doing this week.
You can record your reflections here.
Week 2 Reflection
What was most useful this week? Why?
Provide your answer...
What was most difficult this week? Why?
Provide your answer...
How am I going to practice what I learned this week?
Provide your answer...
This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University badged course
LXF003 - Beginners French 3: absolument!.
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