Hello Fred, I really enjoyed your videos. Would you mind to make another one explaining the various use of "Alors" and "Voila", please? Also, I guess we could use some exemples of "Quoi" at the ending of a sentence... Many thanks!
In (now archaic) spoken English, the more refined people in society would say things like: Fine weather today, what? Excellent dinner, what? as a way of saying "isn't that so, don't you agree?" I must say I find your teaching of everyday French quite superb, you go into the fine detail of all the nuances, which completely suits my way of learning, although I'm only at the very elementary stage of trying to string simple sentences together! I have a long way to go but I do like to learn what real French talk is like !
Defintely agree re quoi. I had thought I would remember quoi in that way although I could only imagine an upper class English man doing it in days gone by. eg. ´That was a great meal, what!´ What being used for emphasis to the original idea rather than as a question.
I'm a native English speaker and I was aware of this usage of 'what' but I'd never experienced it. Then some time last year I was talking to an older English fellow (who was certainly not posh) who kept on appending 'what' to his sentences. The first few times he said it really threw me off, but I soon realized what he was up to. Anyway, I wanted to say I find these videos of yours very useful. I'd actually read (on the internet, not textbooks!) that this kind of contraction is rampant in spoken French, so I wasn't completely unprepared. Hearing it spoken this way in real life is something else entirely though - I've met some French people recently whom I couldn't even begin to understand!  Language teachers are doing their students a huge disservice by neglecting this aspect of the language.  I would have much preferred to be drilled in these contractions AS I was learning the formal version, rather than now having to go back and relearn everything.
Daniel Mladen well said. I couldn't agree with you more. After many years of learning French, I have only recently discovered this. I feel pretty ripped off that my language teachers didn't teach this aspect of spoken French to me. This should definitely be given more importance in language classes.
*arriesone1* ...YES! i'd been thinking along those very same lines!! And (...Again), YES! You WILL get it (...French); it really isn't THAT difficult (...??)...just DO keep AT It!!! He really IS Good, no...?!
I would love it if you made a video where you give a lot of examples of using quoi and là at the end of sentences. My French boyfriend does this all the time but it always goes by so fast that I don't know how to ask him about when to use them. Your videos are amazing and they answer so many of the questions I have been having.
Contractions like ''I'm'', ''you're'',... in English, though they're official but still restricted for spoken English and informal English writing only. In formal writing, such as in formal essays, you're not supposed to write them, contractions aren't allowed. For words like ''gonna'', ''wanna'', etc., it's just like in French when you speak fast, certain phrases fuse together, and they are in spoken language only. Well, I know this video is kinda old so perhaps you might've known this info by now. And, I've almost forgot to say your videos are great and really helpful.
Merci beaucoup!!! cette vidéo était très très utile pour moi. car je pense que les trucs qui sont expliqués par vous seront très utile pour améliorer mon Écoute de l'oral. Merci Encore....
Hi Fred! Thanks for the explanantion. It's really helpful. It's true that for me (beginner in french), understanding french people conversation in the street or in the metro is soooo difficult. Now I understand that I have to pay attention to the contraction and the discussive signals. Merci à vous! But if you can give more example using "quoi" it would be great.
Bonjour Fred, profitant Vraiment vos vidéos; sentir mal, il m'a fallu si longtemps pour vous trouver. Vous pouvez probablement dire que mon français est très formelle, même quand je vous écris. "Quoi" continue d'être un mystère pour moi, mais votre explication a été très utile. Je veux sortir de ma tête quand je parle français et vos vidéos sont très utiles pour permettre de le faire. Je trouve toujours à me demander francophones à ralentir un peu quand ils parlent. Je sais que la même chose est vraie pour les anglophones que pour les francophones est; nous parlons tous parfois entièrement à la restauration rapide que les autres nous comprennent. (Je préfère vos chemises, par la manière. Vous regardez toujours bon dans vos présentations.) Je vous remercie de prendre le temps pour produire ces vidéos! + Pere Phillippe
Hey Fred, nice videos. I moved to Paris a few years ago and because I have to work in English all day, my French has not progressed nearly as much as I would. Your approach is very helpful and I hope you'll make more.
+avafrav also the problem with using "quoi" at the end of the sentence is that if you use it slightly wrong it sounds like you are trying really hard and failing lol!!
Hello Fred. I appreciate greatly your prompt reply. Fascinating thoughts from you. You hit it on the nail. Motivation to learn the language is very very important. Although I can understand basic conversations in French I don't have the real motivation to take it any further. I wish you luck in your future choices in life. Paul from London.
Extremely useful. I'd love to hear you do rapidly spoken conversation samples as you did in the first video, but with subtitles. I pay FluentU $30 monthly for that.
Tu m'as bluffé ! Je tombe sur un vidéo et je pense que t'es Grec. Ensuite je me dis, non, le gars, il est Anglais...là je pense, mais je suis pas sûr, que t'es Français...ou Belge...je sais plus...tu viens d'où au fait?!!! En tout cas, t'es l'un des meilleurs polyglottes ever...ton niveau de Grec...ahlalal !! SUperbe !bravo!!
the main function of the discursive feature discussed is to signal to your interlocutor that you're not finished talking and that you're not "yielding" the floor
Hey..Fred...i love the way you teach...do you think you could gear your conversations to literally the very new French speaker who would be traveling to France? You just gave an example at 11;02 on bref; instead of selling your house...could you gear it towards what a tourist might have to speak? Sorry for the suggestions...it's just that you are the first person I actually understand...so now I'm just trying to get it geared towards the beginner who wants to communicate their needs/wants when traveling in France. :) Thank you. You're great :) quoi...do you mean ...the way we say in conversation...when at the end of trying to express ourselves...we say..."you get it?"...meaning do you get what I'm talking about? Or..."you understand right?"
tout abord, ton anglais est superbe bravo ! j'apprend beaucoup a cause tes videos. je te remercier pour ce travail bien fait. perhaps you could display the text on the screen when you are giving examples in french ?
I'm a native English speaker and I have no idea what this guy is talking about putting what at the end of a sentence like that, I think he is pulling your leg. I would also be interested in more videos and some kind of teaching or cd's by you, I really enjoy your videos and they are very helpful.
in English we also don't write many of these forms: for example, muna (short for I'm gonna). muna do it later. (although native speakers aren't aware they speak like this)
I just read that çà is used as either an interjection or a filler word, but I'm not familiar with it. When and where would it be used? (If you talked about it in another video, I'll find the answer as I progress through the playlist.)
I noticed Parisians use "bon" on all sorts of negative things, usually with a loud puff, like "-i have no money -ah, bon!" "the metro was all packed, I had to take off -ah, bon!" etc.
from what i understand from u, "quoi" is used like how us canadians say "eh" we add it at the end of a sentence while raising our voice so we would state something and add eh at the end to see if they agree with whats been stated or to emphasize it, like saying "its cold eh?" both people know its cold but its stated with eh making it true. if that makes any sense lol but "eh" is pronounced "ay" or "ei" in french
moi je suis quelqu'un qui habite en inde ah bon après de regarder vos video ca me aide pour comprendre bien mais quand j'essaie de parler en même façon que vous avez dit ca ne marche pas avec moi désolé bro xD
The English equivalent to quoi is "savvy" which can mean very broadly "understanding" or "'grasp" of something. So ending a question with it, would be like abbreviating "taking all of this into account, do you understanding what I'm saying?" A modern modern and hip way of saying this is "ya feel me?" often abbreviated "yfm?"
Excellent video. If you are searching for the proper English terms for "cutting" words, they are the verb "to reduce" and the noun "reduction." The adjective is "reduced." As an example of this usage we could say spoken English often reduces "going to" and want to" to the reductions "gonna and "wanna." and are reduced forms of and
I am writing in English since your English is superb. Many thanks for your explanation of the rules of 'mute' e. As we all know contractions in French is nothing unusual in any language. But could you confirm the following. English is a 'world language' which is pervasive in probably all cultures of the planet. Does this means that French youngsters would have less difficulty in learning English than say English youngsters learning French? Paul
Your explanations are the best I have ever heard. Now...back to learning...when you first say a word/sentence...and you print in in French...could you please add the english. I actually forgot what the word mean (00;50) but understood what you meant :P ha! :)
Hi Fred...I like your idea...but beware...you will have to speak very slowly ...like crazy slowly so that people like me can catch on. You guys normally speak fast...:) So where are you over in France? I went for my first time and fell in love :)
+Fred Grün, Perhaps videos with both fast and slow speech would be useful because there are so many videos with slow speech out there....but when someone comes up to me in France and starts up a conversation I often can't respond because I am not used to training myself to understand fast speech.
Sorry, but I would really appreciate help on this: in the first example, why did you use ""ça que" and not "ce que"? I did a couple of google searches and can't find the rule =(
Salut Fred, my French partner of 15 years (elle s'appelle aussi Fred ;-)) tells me she's never ever heard of 'Fin' or 'Enfin' being used as an interjection like 'well'. Do you have any examples of it in a movie or something that I can show her?
Hi Fred, thank you for you videos, I'd like to say something though, please.. leave the phrases a little bit more time on the screen, any word/phrase fade out too much fast hehehe.. it could last long up to 3 to 5 times more, btw congrats about your effort, I work for one Belgian company since 2016/November, now they wanna relocate me to work on site, I was on Brussels once, now I'm trying to learn a little bit of French, who knows? hehehe... cya.
Great video. It's clear that you're a student of linguistics. Anyways, perhaps an English equivalent to the "quoi" that follows a sentence could be "or whatever" which is used to express uncertainty, either toward one's choice of words or toward the clarity of one's explanation. But perhaps not?
No, the French "quoi" at the end is no sign of uncertainty at all, it's kind of emphatic. Also lets the other people know you're done talking and not just hesitating about your next sentence. Hence the "voilà quoi".
At 8:41, to my American ears, I would say that the "well" also implies that there is going to be a "but" later. Some examples: "Well, it was good, but I didn't like the main character very much." "Well, I went, but not until it was almost already over." "Well, she's nice, but her constant use of the word "like" really annoys me." "Well, it was pretty fun I guess..." My question is if "ben" has the same connotation? Also, I would love an example sentence of how to use this majestic "quoi" you speak of.
I think better comparison is that in French actually they use “non”, “c’est bon, non? “ This is more pareille to English “it’s good, right?”. Sentence ending by quoi is affirmative, not a question.
+Fred Grün Contractions are words like I'm can't and word in French where the apostrophe is use. Things like gonnawanna, chfatigue are called reduction. I know a French teacher here in Germany who says that French people never talk like that. Dumb. Not taught enough I think.
+Fred Grün votre anglais, il est incroyablement impressionnant. Pourquoi vous avez appris "for necessity" ?? Aussi je veux vous remercier, ces vidéos sont très utiles pour moi!
English has tons of unofficial contractions: Do you have to go now? ==> D'y'af to go now? I'd like to understand it ==> I'd like t'understand it I'm gonna go to the store ==> I'm'onna go to the store Is it late? Its not that late ==> Zit late? Tsnot that late
Ok great i just finished listening to them. I'm more of a la musique classique kind of guy but i particularly liked Improvisation at 2:00 - 3:30... how long have you been playing?
I study French and I always worry about my french like, does it sound like a dictionary or old-fashioned..? so I want to say thank you for making these helpful videos.
thus the often heard quip that "Americans are lazy (with their pronunciation)" is shown to be imbecilic.... because speakers of all languages do it, and for the same reason: to speak more naturally and without having to sloooooow down ... thanks for the examples in French!
Yea french people don’t like to slow down so they decide to take a rocket speed to cut the words while other languages just take a bike or car...French people just too extreme in way of speaking...Americans cant match it up
I'm just noticing the way that you're pronouncing the 'th' sound in English as if it's a 'F' sound. In fact, there is a slight difference between these sounds but it would help if you knew how to pronounce the 'th' sound properly. You simply just the tip of your tongue below your front teeth and blow air through as if it's an 'f'. However, your accent is perfect! You just need to perfect your pronunciation of some letters.
So basically french want to talk fast so they eat or shorten a lot of words (which are useful and grammatically correct and necessary) but on the other hand, they add a lot of ben quoi alors dis donc pff all these useless meaningless sounds into the sentence...
