Catching flight in French: Conversations for Beginners
Welcome to Everyday French Conversations for Beginners Week 5 Episode 5. Today, we’ll learn about catching flights in French.
Our special guest is Leanne Stanfield from Paris, who now lives in Toronto. She is a classmate in Marie Forleo’s B-School. Her unique method is called Joelette which makes conversation from the beginning, and learn everything with conversation in mind. With ten words and three verbs, you can start making conversation.
(01:45) Talking to people raises your confidence, gets you “past” making errors, and opens your mind to what you don’t know yet. You also get lots of input from native speakers, and it’s the ideal way to learn a language. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable (making mistakes) and playing with words is a great way to improve.
(03:00) In our scene, we’re traveling and we’re at the airport, where you need to know French to get your needs met. In today’s dialogue, the plane is late and Janina needs more information.
(03:55) Conversation begins.
(04:50) Breakdown of the conversation. Greetings for a woman and a man. At what time does the plane arrive from New York, please? Which company, Air France or American Airlines? The flight 800 from American Airlines.
(06:10) Let’s see… Flight 800 is late. It will arrive around 10:30. Late? But I’m a hurry! Yes, it left late from New York. Oh, like always! (Or, as usual.) Oh, no, ma’am. This flight is almost always on time. There’s fog in New York today. Oh, okay.
(08:00) You can get something downstairs in the cafeteria. That’s a good idea. Thank you, miss.
(09:00) More useful words and phrases for travelers: how to say that you are learning French and to please speak slower. It’s not natural to speak slowly, so many people will forget and pick their speed back up after a while.
(10:00) I’m learning French. Can you repeat, please? Can you slow down, please? Another easy trick: if you cannot make up the words separately in a sentence, instead of asking them to slow down, you could try to understand one word in the sentence and ask a quick question about that particular word. That will naturally slow down your conversation partner, and they will steadily slow down for you.
Some useful phrases when you are at the airport:
| Combien de bagages avez-vous ? | How many bags do you have ? |
Vous devez enregistrer ce bagage. | You need to check this bag. |
Des frais sont appliqués. | There is a fee for this. |
| Passeport, s’il vous plaît. | Passport, please. |
Je voudrais un siège côté fenêtre. | I would like a window seat. |
Je voudrais un siège côté couloir. | I would like an aisle seat. |
Franchissez la barrière. | Pass through. |
Veuillez lever les bras, s’il vous plaît. | Hands up, please. |
Veuillez poser votre ordinateur et vos clés ici, s’il vous plaît. | Place laptop and keys here, please. |
Avez-vous un sac en plastique transparent ? | Do you have a clear plastic bag? |
Bon voyage. | Have a good trip. |
| Où est/sont…? | Where is/are…. ? |
Le bar | the bar |
La boutique duty-free | duty-free |
Le magasin de souvenirs | gift shop |
Les toilettes | the toilets |
Le kiosque à journaux | the news stand |
La librairie | the book store |
| Ce siège est-il libre ? | Is this seat free ? |
| Veuillez vous asseoir. | Please sit down. |
| Écouteurs | head phones |
Magazine | magazine |
Journal | newspaper |
We learn languages most effectively in chunks–meaningful words and phrases to communicate right away.
French for Travel and Beginners free book with linked audio. Get yours here: https://reallifelanguage.lpages.co/french-phrase-book/
Are you at the beginning stages of your learning journey? Try learning some survival tasks. Get the free guide here:
https://reallifelanguage.lpages.co/survival-language-checklist/
Here you can find fun ways to learn a language!! Check out 20 ways to learn a language and have fun doing it:
https://reallifelanguage.lpages.co/20-fun-activities-to-learn-a-language/
Want to master a language in the next year? Check out the course here: https://real-life-language.teachable.com/p/the-5-week-linguist
If you want to experience these great tips to get you communicating immediately in French and with confidence, go to Leanne’s course to connect with her.
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