Coucou ☕️🇫🇷🥐 I'm Amélie Laurent and this is my community newsletter, where I supercharge your progress from A2 to B2 through colloquial dialogues.
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Coucou mes petits linguistes 🫶🏻
I’ve been waiting a while to send this one to you all.
Who’s your favourite athlete?
I have a lot of American readers and I’m suspecting it will be split differently depending on where you all are from. 🌎
“Y a”, which you’lll find below, is such an important part of spoken French so I’m also really pleased to be addressing it directly today!
As ever there’s lots in this short dialogue.. so get stuck in.
Gros Bisous
A x
Qui est ton athlète préféré ? ⛹🏾♂️🎾
Dialogue Audio 🎧
Slower Audio 🐢
Dialogue du Jour
Éthan : Louise, qui est ton athlète préféré ?
Louise : Oh, sans aucun doute, c'est Roger Federer. Je pense qu'il est le plus grand joueur de tennis de tous les temps.
Éthan : Pourquoi lui ?
Louise : Y a ✪ un mot pour le décrire : sublime. C'était juste un génie sur le court. Et il a gagné beaucoup de trophées, bien sûr.
Éthan : Et j’ai eu l'impression ✪… il a l'air de ✪ s'améliorer avec l'âge, comme un bon vin.
Louise : Exactement. Tu piges ✪! Et toi, qui est ton athlète préféré ?
Éthan : Pour moi, c'est Muhammad Ali. J'ai eu une photo de lui sur le mur de ma chambre quand j'étais plus jeune.
Louise : Vraiment ? Qu'est-ce qui te plait chez lui ?
Éthan : Sa façon de parler et sa confiance en lui ✪ font partie de ce qui l'a rendu grand. Il avait tellement de charisme. Oui, et il est plus grand que la boxe. Il a porté le sport à un autre niveau, à des hauteurs inédites ✪.
Louise : C'est vrai, il avait beaucoup de charisme.
Éthan : Qui plus est ✪, il était aimé et respecté dans le monde entier. Et bien sûr, sa célèbre phrase "Flotte comme un papillon, pique comme une abeille, ses mains ne peuvent pas frapper ce que ses yeux ne peuvent pas voir". Bien que cela rime ✪ mieux en anglais !
♡ 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕨 👇
✪ Notes
Y a ✨= how most French people in casual conversation will say ‘Il y a’. Again, it’s another little thing (like Ben➹) that if someone doesn’t point it out to students they miss. But once you’re told about it you’ll starting hearing it everywhere. Other examples are Chui (Je suis)➹ and Chépa (Je ne sais pas).
j’ai eu l'impression 🧩 = I had the impression / I got the impression. Very useful phrase, similar to English, so easy to remember. Add it to your toolkit.
il a l'air de = he seemed to. A little bit of review from a few weeks ago. Pat yourself on the back if you knew it!
tu piges ✨ = to understand / twig to / cotton on. very colq. (I know that’s what you guys are here for!) “Tu piges ce que je te dis ?” (Do you understand what I'm telling you?), “Tu commences à piger, fiston.” (You're starting to get it, son.) fiston = colq. for son/lad.
confiance en lui = confiance en soi = fait d'être sûr de ses capacités = his self-confidence ”J'ai confiance en toi plus qu'en quiconque” (I trust you more than anyone else)
es hauteurs inédites = unprecedented/new/ hitherto unseen
qui plus est 🧩 = en outre = what’s more / moreover. I just love how this introductory phrase sounds on the tongue.. it just sounds so French. “Et qui plus est, tu es trop jeune pour cela.” (And what’s more, you’re too young for that.)
rime = rhyme. rimer = to rhyme. “sans rime ni raison” (without rhyme or reason! 😇)
*✨ = especially ‘Frenchie’ words/phrases you should try and use more
*🧩 = ‘canned’ expressions or phrases that are best learned as a whole, like puzzle-pieces.
Translation
E: L, who's your favourite athlete?
L: Oh, without a doubt, it's Roger Federer. I think he's the greatest tennis player of all time.
E: Why him?
L: There's one word to describe him: sublime. He was just a genius on the court. And he won a lot of trophies, of course.
E: And I had the impression ... he seemed to improve with age, like a fine wine.
L: Exactly. You understand! And who's your favourite athlete?
E: For me, it's Muhammad Ali. I had a photo of him on my bedroom wall when I was younger.
L: Really? What do you like about him?
E: The way he spoke and his self-confidence were part of what made him great. He had so much charisma. Yes, and he's bigger than boxing. He took the sport to another level, to new heights.
L: It's true, he had a lot of charisma.
E: What's more, he was loved and respected the world over. And of course, his famous phrase "Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee, his hands cannot hit what his eyes cannot see". Although it rhymes better in English!
Writing Prompt ✍️ Alors, qui est ton athlète préféré ?
All answers are welcome. One word.. or one sentence.
Write me your answer in the comments. I can’t wait to read them! 👇🏼
Exercise 1 - Fill in the blank 💪
Quickly test your comprehension, accelerate your learning. 🚀
Elle a une grande ___ , ce qui lui permet de s'exprimer sans crainte en public.
She has great self-confidence, which allows her to express herself fearlessly in public.___ , il n'a pas seulement réussi à l'examen, mais il a obtenu la meilleure note.
And what's more, he not only passed the exam, but he got the highest score.___ d'être fatigué, mais il continue à travailler.
He looks tired, but he continues to work.Je n'arrive pas à ___ comment résoudre ce problème de maths.
I can't figure out how to solve this math problem.Son poème est beau, mais il ne ___ pas bien.
His poem is beautiful, but it doesn't rhyme well.
If you’re struggling the ✪ Notes section is always a good place to look. 😉 The answers are all in the dialogue or notes section.
[NO PEEKING] Answer Key: 1. confiance en soi 2. Et qui plus est 3. il a l'air 4. piger 5. rime
Exercise 2 - Translate ⚡
If you can translate each of these sentences after the lesson then you’re making real progress. They can also me used as flashcards.
Hier, en écoutant une symphonie de Beethoven, j’ai eu l'impression que je voyageais à travers le temps.
Il m'a soudainement quitté sans rime ni raison, me laissant complètement désemparée.
La découverte de cette peinture inédite de Picasso a émerveillé le monde de l'art.
C'est sans aucun doute le meilleur film de science-fiction de tous les temps; son impact sur la culture populaire est inégalé.
Fiston, n'oublie jamais que ta confiance en toi est la clé de ton succès.
1. Yesterday, while listening to a Beethoven symphony, I felt like I was traveling through time.
2. He suddenly left me without rhyme or reason, leaving me completely disheartened.
3. The discovery of this unpublished Picasso painting amazed the art world.
4. It is undoubtedly the best science fiction movie of all time; its impact on popular
culture is unmatched.
5. Son, never forget that your self-confidence is the key to your success.
👑 Comment of the week
La première chose à faire le matin Richard a répondu:
Pour être honnête, j'appuie sur le bouton snooze, je me retourne et je me rendors.
⏪ Catch Up On Recent Dialogues
Une Façon d'utiliser ce Dialogue
These dialogues are a very simple tool. Yet this allows them to be versatile and endlessly flexible to you and your learning style.
Here’s one way you could use the dialogue this week:
🏃♀️Identify each verb in the dialogue and list its conjugation and infinitives.
(this one’s a little more advanced)
Check out my quick guide🔗 for different ways you can learn with these dialogues. Perfect if you’re finding them too easy or too hard. 🙌🏻
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Vivez avec joie mes chers ! Que votre amour pour le français se bonifie comme un bon vin. 🍷🎉
Amélie x
Qui est ton athlète préféré ? ⛹🏾♂️🎾