Welcome to French Essentials

Bienvenue! I’m thrilled that you have begun learning French and chose this tool to help you achieve fluency. As the 5th most
learned language to learn worldwide, there is a tremendous amount of value in it. In my view, it’s a gateway language to
understanding the 8 romance languages of the world. Before going into the first few lessons I want to stress a few important
things about learning French.

● Be patient, this language will at some points confuse you with it’s exceptions, pronunciations, and sentence structure
but do not fear. This language is a very easy one to understand once you get consistent with it.
● Spend time listening to French music, podcasts, and YouTube videos at a slow pace. Native French can be spoken very
fast and since you’re starting out you don’t want to overwhelm yourself by trying to match that speed.
● Much of this e-book is based in context, so it’s important to consume French in contexts that are interesting to you.
Example: if you are into cooking, watch French cooking shows, read French recipes, etc. (Email me for suggestions on
these)
● Lastly, French is rhythmic by nature...so it is CRUCIAL for you to practice speaking and learning daily. It does not
have to be 1-2 hours a day, but start with a small amount of time and build up from there. Whether it’s through apps, my
courses, I recommend starting with 10mins a day and bumping it up 5 mins more each week

I made this e-book to “donne la valeur” or give real value to people who could benefit from it, so I truly hope you do. Don’t
hesitate to reach out for any questions about any of this content and use this toolkit for additional resources that will help you
along your journey! subscribe to the blog HERE for more French travel tips, cultural insiders, merch discounts and more
language lessons.

Cousteaux

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 Monthly Planner
(30day French Challenge)

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

Lesson 1 Break Lesson 2 Break Lesson 3 15mins of Break

Duolingo

15mins of Break Lesson 4 French Lesson 5 Break Lesson 6

Duolingo Podcast

Lesson 7 Break Lesson 8 French Break French Music Lesson 9

Podcast (15mins)
(15mins)

Lesson 10 15mins of Break French Lesson 11 French TV Lesson 12

Duolingo Podcast Show/Movie
(15mins) (15mins)

Use this tool to plan out your month to make sure you stay on track with your lessons. Mixing in all kinds of
media is important to making learning as diverse and immersive as possible. Print this out and try to commit
to this schedule for 30days straight and see how much progress you can make. You can do this!

Join my FREE private Duolingo group class to follow along HERE

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Table Of Contents
1. Monthly Planner
2. Table Of Contents
3. Press Start (The French Alphabet)
4. How to Meet & Greet (+the modern way)
5. The Most Important French verb (sans blague:no joke)
6. This, That and The 3rd (+best situations to use them)
7. The 10 Verbs You Actually Need (survival pack + master the tenses)
8. Words That Build (+easy sentence builders)
9. One Verb To Rule Them All (+this verb is clutch for small talk)
10. What The F*** Do These Accent Symbols Mean?
11. Distinguish Singles vs Couples (+one easy sound trick to get it right)
12. The 6 Ways to Ask Questions (+responses to go with it)
13. Cultural Quick Phrases Pt.1 (native phrases to blend in)
14. Don’t Be So Possessive! (establish ownership)
15. Why Masc vs Fem Doesn’t Matter (+don't learn these rules)
16. Sometimes, Always, Maybe, Who Knows? (learn frequencies)
17. Words Are Like Legos, Build Them! (+easy retention method)
18. 7 days in Paris (+word associations)
19. You Only Need 9 French Numbers (+unlock 20-100)
20. Who Needs A Watch When You Got Time (+secret accent rule)
21. A French Person Walks Into A Bar (+quick phrases)
22. Become One With You Surroundings (+directions & locations)
23. Home Sweet Home (+get cozy vocab)
24. Directions (+know where to go)
25. Past vs On-Going Past (+spot the diff easily)
26. Back To The Past Tense (+1 rule to master)
27. Meet The “Ments” (+define time, add finesse to sentences)
28. Be French Chef (+cooking dictionary)

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29. Build Your Grocery List (+eat like a Frenchie)
30.The 3 Types Of Needs (+how to use them)
31. Where You At? (+sentence building with location)
32. Le Futur(e) !(+how to use it properly & avoid mistakes)
33. Cultural Phrases Pt. 2 (+sound like a Parisian)
34. Test Your Present Reflexes (+top 8 most useful ones)
35. Flirting In French (+pick up lines)
36. Proceed With Caution: Cursing Pt. 1 (+scales of vulgarity
37. French Community (+tech, modern language)
38. Essential Adjective Care Pack (+top 30 useful ones, retention trick)
39. FIN
40. To go further into French and get close to fluency of the language, pre-order “French Essentials” audio+ebook
HERE which releases 6/1/2021. Only 10 copies are available for this deal!
41. See more below!

For more help and guidance with French

(Sign up for virtual classes with me!)

● Free Consultation (30min call)

● Weekly Group Intermediate French Class
on Sundays
● 90day French Fluency ( 7day FREE trial)
● 6 Month French (30day money back
guarantee)

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 1. Press Start (The French Alphabet)

Here’s how to approach the alphabet. I strongly believe that memorizing the alphabet has very little value in helping you become fluent in
French. However, I recommend using this as a tool to practice pronunciation. The individual letter sounds here will definitely change and
morph into new sounds when pronouncing words in French. This will start to make more sense as you learn and build up vocabulary. Even
though the more difficult accent sounds will take more time to master...they repeat themselves often. This will make learning French very
easy going forward!

A B C D E F
(Ah) (Beh) (Seh) (Deh (Uh) (Eff)

G **H (Ahsh) I J K L
(Jzeh) (Ee) (Jzee) (Kah) (Ell)

M N O P Q R
(EMm) (ENn) (Oh) (Peh) (Kou) (Airr) “care”

S (Ess) T (Teh) U (OUu) V (Veh) W (Doo-Bluh Veh) X (Eeks)

Y (Ee-grek) Z (Zed) ● I’ve color coded the letter sounds that end the same way for easy retention!
● **H is silent is 100% of french words

French Tip: Never pronounce the last letter of a word in French! There are some exceptions to this but it’s a pretty consistent rule.

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 2. How to Meet & Greet (+the modern way)

Greeting in French can take on many forms but here are some important notes regarding how to use them:
● When speaking to an older person or stranger, it’s best to use the traditional greeting forms to avoid any awkward exchanges.
● When saying “au-revoir” most French people tend to mit the “re” from the word and simply say “au-voir” as one word. It directly
translates to “at the next time I see you”...so goodbye in French isn't really goodbye.
●

Traditional The Modern Way Definition

Bonjour/Bonne journée Salut Hi/Good day
Oui/Non Ouais Yes/No
Au Revoir! A plus/A bientot Bye!
Merci/S'il vous plaît Merci/S'il vous plaît Thanks/Please
Excuse-moi Pardon Excuse me

It’s important to note that most greeting questions involving “how are you” are very loose grammatically, I would recommend memorizing
these rather than try to understand the sentence structure. There are too many exceptions to explain here, but it’s important to learn both
traditional and modern (informal) greetings.

Traditional The Modern Way Definition

Comment allez-vous? Comment ça va? How's it going?/How are you?
Comme ci comme ça/Plus ou moins Ça va ça va It’s going ok
Est-que tout va bien? Tout va bien? Everything going well?
Es-tu en forme? Tu es en forme? You’re looking/doing great?

How to practice in context: “Bonne journée, comment ça va?"......“Tout va bien, merci”

French Tip: For the love of Jean Claude Van-Damme...please do not ever respond with “comme ci comme ça” It is outdated and almost
never used/said.

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 3. The Most Important French verb (sans blague:no joke)

This book’s theme may seem anti-traditional French learning, but there are some necessary academic teachings like “verb conjugations”
that are needed to move forward with sentence building. Granted, we aren’t going to conjugate all verbs and tenses known to man...but the
verb etre is one we must master! It’s a very common verb because it’s used to describe: state of being, origin of country,personality,
physical location, etc.

● The pronoun il can refer to a thing or a he!

● **Vous has 2 functions:
○ it’s an informal pronoun of il that can be used to in place of “you” - ex: Comment allez vous? (How are you?)
○ It can be used to refer to 2 or more people at a time (“you all”) - ex: Vous venez tous avec nous? (You all are coming with
us?)

“Etre”- (present) full conjugations here

Pronoun Conjugation Definition In Context Definition
je suis I am Je suis un homme I am a man
tu es You are Tu es là? You are here
elle/il* est He/She/It ‘s Il est làbas It’s over there/He’s over there
ils sont They are Ils sont très fatigués They are really tired
on/nous est/sommes We are Nous sommes prêts! We are ready!
vous** êtes You all are Vous n’êtes pas sérieux You guys aren't serious

French Tip: In French, all syllables are pronounced at the same pitch, except for the final syllable in each rhythmic group, which is
pronounced at a higher pitch. Play this video at 0.75 playback speed

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 4. This, That and The 3rd (+best situations to use them)

Learning how to use the French versions of “this, that, etc” can be tricky because it can be used to describe anything that’s abstract and
most things that are unspecific. Most of the time it’s used with the verb “etre” so before you move onto this lesson, get very familiar with
the previous one.

Spelled Definition Spelled Definition

Ce This (masc) Cette This ( fem)
C’est (il est) It is (+verb etre) Ces These (plural)
Ça that Cet This (when a vowel follows)

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Ce n'est pas possible! It’s not possible

Il n’aime pas ça He doesn’t like that

Cet après midi...il fait beau This afternoon it’s nice out

Cet homme est intelligent This man is smart

Ces enfants sont trop mignons These kids are too cute

French Tip: When switching to the plural form of “ces” the accent changes from “suh” to “say”

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 5. The 10 Verbs You Actually Need (survival pack + master the tenses)

There are about 300 French verbs in existence, so do not waste time trying to learn all of them or even half of them. The truth is you really
only need 10 to get conversational and here are the ones I’ve selected based on my personal French experience. Even till this day, I use
these verbs in all kinds of conversational context. As you grow with the language you will collect more verbs to expand your vocabulary. For
now don’t overwhelm yourself and just master these! P.S. I’ve added a cheat code below to understand the different tenses quicker!
Spelled Definition Spelled Definition
être To be vouloir To want
aimer To like aller To go
acheter To buy manger To eat
boire To drink savoir To know
devoir To “have to”/must faire To do

Past Present Future

● Accent:ais (EH) ● Accent: varies, but most times take off the “r” ● Accent:rais (REH)
● Example: Je mangeais ● Exemple: Je mange (manger) v.s. Je sais (savoir) ● Example: Je mangerais

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Tu aimes boire du vin? Do you like drinking wine?

Je dois acheter ça I should buy this

Il mange tout le temps He eats all the time

French Tip: Pronunciations of French verbs do not change when switching from je and tu and ils! (for the most part)

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 6. Words That Build (+easy sentence builders)

Learning your first French sentence is great, but you will definitely hit a “language wall” at some point.These are 8 of the most useful
connecting words to help build a longer, more descriptive sentence and also add the next one. These walls are unavoidable but are so
important in helping you get to the next step. So don’t get discouraged, it’s a part of the process to struggle a bit.

Spelled Definition Spelled Definition

mais But vraiment really
et And tellment so
avec With ou or
pour For/To très/trop very

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

J’adore les tomates, mais pas le ketchup I love tomatoes but not ketchup

C’est vraiment génial That’s really great

Tu aimes les gauffres ou les beignets? You like waffles or doughnuts?

French Tip: When speaking French timing is everything! Use these words to take longer pauses between phrases , it will create a much
more fluid rhythm.

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 7. One Verb To Rule Them All (+this verb is clutch for small talk)

There is one verb that has A LOT of power in the language, in fact it can replace over 10 different verbs depending on context and how it’s
used. Faire means “to do” and due to it’s vague meaning, itit functions in many ways. This is one you will HAVE to master in order to get
over that fluency wall.

● Faire can be used in almost EVERY conversational context because it can replace these verbs and it’s used in combination
○ cook, prepare, perform, build, make up, take, play, do,work3
● Strategy: Use this verb to describe general day to day actions but replace this verb when your conversation get’s more specific

“Faire”- (present) full conjugations here

Pronoun Conjugation Definition In Context Definition
je fais I do Je fais la cuisine I’m cooking
tu fais You do Tu fais quoi ici? What are you doing here?
elle/il* fait He/She/It does il fait beau non? It’s nice out, no?
ils font They do ils font beaucoup de travail They do a lot of work
on/nous faisons We do nous faisons des courses We are running errands
vous faites You all do Vous faites du sport You play sports

French Tip: I consider faire very useful but it’s also a lazy verb that covers a lot of groups. So I would use this verb whenever you are
searching for a specific action and come up empty. This verb is exclusively used to small talk current weather situations, we LOVE to talk
weather over the phone and in person.

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 8. What The F*** Do These Accent Symbols Mean?

I for one, have only recently been educated on what these accents/symbols meant to the language. Most of my learning has been spent
speaking continuously & repetitively (most effective). However there is always some value in grammatical knowledge which can be useful
down the road. I would not recommend memorizing this or using these to practice speaking French, the written French is very different
and if you try to learn them at the same time...you might go crazy!

● ç – the cedilla (la cédille)

○ Indicates an “s” sound, you’ll only see it before an a,o,u letter. FYI most c French sounds are going to be
pronounced that way. Examples: merci, garcon
● é – the acute accent (l'accent aigu)
○ One of the easier ones to recognize because it will convert the ever changing e sound into the “ay” sound. Most
past tense verbs will have this accent to indicate the change in sound. Examples: passé, mangé sauté
● â/ê/î/ô/û – the circumflex (l'accent circonflexe)
○ Use mainly for decoration, but changes the accent sound for a,e,i but not o or u
○ Some words are spelled the same but adding the accent will change the meaning. Example: mur = wall but mûr =
ripe
● à/è/ì/ò/ù – the grave accent (l'accent grave)
○ This accent changes the sound over the e, however. E might be the most varied accent sound and this one
will indicate the “eh” vs the “ay” sound of the l’accent aigu. Example:très (which means:very).
● ë/ï/ü – the trema (l'accent tréma)
○ This is a rare one but useful for some words. It’s used to stop you from blending the previous letter’s sound with
it. It creates a pause between each letter, so will the word noel (christmas) there is a pause between no- and el-
that is said.

Reminder: With all of these accent rules,they are only going to be understood once you begin speaking. Save the reading once
you get to an intermediate level.

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 9. Distinguish Singles vs Couples (+one easy sound trick to get it right)

When changing from singular to plural, you must change the pronunciation of the “e” in “le & les”. Since the “s” is silent, it serves no
purpose in differentiating the two verbally. This is something you must train your ear to hear so that you can recognize when someone is
referring to a plural subject. French is split into 2 languages, the written and the spoken. The spoken language has far less rules, which
makes it easier to learn but as many different iterations. While the written has a lot of rules, it can impair you from speaking “on your
feet”. Don’t get addicted to learning grammar, she can’t save you in real life!

Le (luh) -> Les (Lai)

Examples: le ami -> l’ami - > Il est l’ami de mon père | le etudiante -> l’instructeur-> l'étudiante et le instructeur
**Great examples of knowing when something is Feminen vs Masc

Spelled Definition
Le (LUh) The (masc)
La (LAh) The ( fem)
Les (Lay) The (plural masc/fem)

Francais L’Anglais

Tout le temps All the time

La chose que je n’aime pas The thing I don't like..

Les enfants sont trop bruyants! The kids are too loud!

French Tip: In French when vowels are back to back or the le/la turns into l’.

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 10. The 6 Ways to Ask Questions (+responses to go with it)

Asking questions in French is honestly very easy to understand and use. Most of the sentence structures are pretty familiar to English, with
some exceptions. However...learning how to ask the right questions can be tricky because depending on the context. For example, because
quelle/quel = which & what...you can use the same word to mean two different things. Once you get more familiar with asking questions you
will notice the differences.

Quel est ton nom? = What is your name?

Quelle chemise préfères- tu? = Which shirt do you prefer?
Spelled Definition Spelled
Comment? How **Quelle/Quel? Which/What
Pourquoi? Why Quand? When
Où? Where Qui? Who
**fem/masc

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Où est l’hôtel? Where is the hotel?

Qui est ton ami? Who is your friend?

Pourquoi as- tu fait ça? Why did you do that?

French Tip: It is absolutely crucial to ask questions with exaggerated tone, nothing is more confusing to a listener if your tone is flat or
without breath. Go for it, don't be shy!

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 11. Cultural Quick Phrases Pt.1 (native phrases to blend in)

One thing to really appreciate, is how often the language evolves to become easier and more current. Over the years I’ve learned and
understood more cultural phrases than grammar rules. This has enabled me to build a stronger connection to French people and without
needing much context or explanation, these can do the same for you. These are a few popular phrases to sum up full sentences in 2-4
words, but there are many more to learn and use.

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

Ça marche! That works! Comme d'hab Per usual/like normal

Dis donc I mean / Oh! Je m'en fous I could care less
C’est ma faute That’s my bad Tout ça pour rien? All that for nothing?
Tant pis! Too bad San blague No joke

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Tu veux sortir ce soir?...Oui ça marche! Do you want to go out tonight?....Yes that works!

Je n'aime pas manger ici...Tant pis! I don't like eating here...Too bad!

Dis donc, c’est pas ma faute Well look, it’s not my fault.

French Tip: These are all informal, so please do not use these with complete strangers or older people (it can get weird). Make sure
you’ve established a relationship before using these.

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 12. Don’t Be So Possessive! (establish ownership)

Claim it! You’ll end up using these in conversation pretty often, especially in the context of items, family, preferences,etc. Do not get caught
up in memorizing when to use fem vs masculine, that’ll come with time and repetition.When pronouncing possessive vocabulary, make sure
to rhythmically combine the possessive with the following subject as one word. The z sound in the plurals should blend in with the next
word and not be pronounced separately or with pause between them.

Ex: Mes(z)-amis (pause) sont-trop-gentils...My friends are too nice

Singular Plural* Definition

Mon | Ma Mes(z) My

Ton | Ta Tes (z) Your

Son | Sa Ses (z) His | Hers | It’s

Notre Nos(z) Our

Leur Leurs(z) Their

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Notre famille est vraiment grande Our family is really big

Où sont tes affaires? Where are your things?

Mon film préféré est My favorite movie is

French Tip: The other change is in the pronunciation of the plural possessives is the “e” sound, switching to the “ai” sound.

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 13. Why Masc vs Fem Doesn’t Matter (+don't learn these rules)

This is controversial, but hear me out! I grew up learning French with 0 understanding of when something is masculine vs feminine as a
kid. I just got used to hearing the matching article (le/la) with the word I wanted to use. This allowed me to focus solely on conversational
vocabulary, keeping me focused on what I needed to know. Rules can be helpful, but in the long run they can be very limiting and
distracting when it comes to speaking French (see my previous lessons on grammar rules for more). So when you are learning new
vocabulary, make sure that it’s relevant to lifestyle ONLY. Learning all the names of zoo animals along with their appropriate articles, is not
going to provide you short term or long term value. The great thing about them is that it’s a 50% chance you could be right when you guess
them

Article Gender L’Anglais

Le | La Masc | Fem the

Un | Une Masc | Fem a | an

Du | De la Masc | Fem some

20 Essential Lifestyle Nouns You’ll Need…(click here for full list)

Masc L’Anglais Fem L’Anglais

Le travail The job La maison The house

Le jour The day La voiture The car

French Tip: Almost all nouns that end with a consonant will be mascunline
P.S.. body parts are mostly feminine! All of this is NOT always true and don’t even THINK about memorizing this

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 14. Sometimes, Always, Maybe, Who Knows? (learn frequencies)

As we move closer to learning numbers and time, let’s start with some basics on how you can specify the frequency of an action or routine.
Using these regularly in conversation will create better conversation flow and unlock the next part of your French journey. Most of this
vocabulary does not have any English comparisons/roots so it might be challenging to remember these. Don’t freak out, just learn one or
two at a time! These will enable you to start your sentences off in really unique ways, so take them head on!

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

jamais never Des fois? Quelquefois sometimes

toujours always autrefois Other times
la prochaine the next…(time) Avant, après before, after
chaque fois Each time Des fois quelquefois sometimes

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais
la prochaine fois The next time
J’irai avant le travail I’ll go before work
ça arrive à chaque fois It happens everytime
parfois j'oublie! Sometimes I forget!
Je ne mange jamais ici I never eat here

French Tip: “fois” is the recurring word to emphasize the “time”, in the context of: “my first time”...“ma première fois”

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 15. Words Are Like Legos, Build Them! (+easy retention method)

Remembering the different forms of sentences and vocabulary can get very complicated and overwhelming with French. So I thought of a
great sentence building method to help you practice pronunciation and retention. Start with a subject + verb of your choosing. I’d pick one
of the essential verbs from the previous lesson and start with that.

After, you will add another verb and practice saying it a few times...once it sounds good, add the next word in the sequence. Feel free to use
Google translate to plug in any words you don't know, BUT practice looking at your sentence and then looking away to see if you got it all.
This is going to help you comprehend French speakers faster, thus you’ll respond at a quicker, more conversational rate. So many French
sentences are repetitive structures, once you start recognizing the patterns...ça va tout changer!

Formula: subject + verb 1 + verb 2 +location + frequency + time of day + why/reason + subject + verb 1 + reason +
location (optional)
________________________________________________________________

Francais: J' + aime + manger + a ce restaurant + tout + le matin + parce que + je + préfère + le service + ici!

L’Anglais: I like + to eat + at this restaurant + every + morning + because + I +prefer + the service here!

French Tip: Don’t modify your sentence once you’ve made it. Keep it with you in a separate doc and practice saying it everyday when you
wake up. Make it something easy to remember, related to your daily routine or favorite hobby.

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 16. 7 days in Paris (+word associations)

Your days of the week are important and luckily, they are easy to pronounce and put into practice because we use this vocabulary everyday.
We can’t stop there because specifying is only going to help grow the fluency! So we practice speaking the days of the week, add the
context of time of day to get used to it’s supplemental vocabulary. Every morning when you wake up, practice saying

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

Lundi Monday Vendredi Friday

Mardi Tuesday Samedi Saturday
Mercredi Wednesday Dimanche Sunday
Jeudi Thursday La semaine The week

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais
Dimanche soir Sunday night
Demain matin Tomorrow morning
Jeudi prochain Next Thursday
C’est ce soir It’s tonight
Lundi et mardi, ça marche! Monday and Tuesday,that works!

French Tip: Days of the week do not need an article when used in a sentence! Check my word association guide on Instagram to learn
them quickly!

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 17. You Only Need 9 French Numbers (+unlock 20-100)

For this lesson, I don’t have any secret tricks or contextual scopes to look through. Numbers 1-20 are ones you’ll have to just memorize.
Luckily a pattern emerges after the number 9, with 11-16 containing the repeating “z” sound ending and 17-19 has the repeating “dix” to
indicate “10+number specified”. Learning and memorizing numbers 1-9 is important because it will help you learn the rest of the numbers
that exist.

1 - un 11 - onze

2 - deux 12 - douze

3 - trois 13 - treize

4 - quatre 14 - quatorze

5 - cinq 15 - quinze

6 - six 16 - seize

7 - sept 17 - dix-sept

8 - huit 18 - dix-huit

9 - neuf 19 - dix-neuf

10 - dix 20 - vingt

French Tip:
● #’s 20-60 have the same pattern! 20-29 = vingt + 1-9 | 30= trente | 40= quarante | 50= cinquante | 60= soixante
● The rest involves some math! But don’t bother trying to learn it that way. We are going to memorize the 70-100 later on.

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 18. Who Needs A Watch When You Got Time (+secret accent rule)

Telling time in French has some exceptions but once you get a good grasp on learning the numbers this should be very very easy. All you
have to do is add heure to the number. The only thing you have to do pronunciation wise is add this imaginary “z” sound between the
number and “heure”. They should flow as one word, not as two separate ones! The more you practice these, the better it’s going to sound.

(green means pronounce the “z” before “heure”)

1 oclock = une heure 7 o'clock = sept heures

2 oclock = deux heures 8 oclock = huit-heures

3 o'clock = trois heures 9 oclock = neuf heures

4 o'clock = quatre heures 10 o'clock = dix heures

5 o'clock = cinq heures 11 o'clock = onze heures

6 o'clock = six heures 12 o'clock = douze heures

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

Il est presque huit heures It’s almost 8 Midi Noon

À deux heures, on mangera! At 2 o’clock we’ll eat Minuit Midnight

C’est midi et demi It’s 12:30 Et quart Quarter of an hour or 15mins

Quelle heure est-il? What time is it? Et demie Half an hour or 30 mins

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 19. A French Person Walks Into A Bar (+quick phrases)

Time for a break from grammar rules and let’s focus on some situational vocabulary + phrases. In this lesson we are in the context of
entering a French bar/lounge. A wonderful place to meet people, talk, and have a good time...so as a learner of French this is going to come
in handy! Here are some phrases you’ll want to know and understand when visiting a French bar.

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

où est le bar Where’s the bar? Ça a vraiment bon goût That tastes really good

assieds-toi Have a seat une bière s’il vous plaît a beer please

une boisson forte A strong drink i don't like to dance Je n’aime pas danser

Que j’ai soif! The thirst I have! J’ai assez bu ce soir I had enough to drink tonight

Francais L’Anglais

Ils ont quoi comme boissons ici? What kind of drinks do they have here?

Tu as bu un verre ici? Have you had a drink here?

J’ai bu une bière hier soir I had a beer last night

Tu ne bois pas de vin? You don’t drink wine?

Je voudrais boire quelque chose I would like to drink something

French Tip: en francais, un verre has double meaning...in one context it can mean simply “a glass”. But in other situations like this one, it
can also refer to a drink + name of the drink.

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 20. Become One With You Surroundings (+directions & locations)

You get off your 6 hour flight to Paris, flying from New York and walk out of the airport looking for a taxi...do you know how to ask for
directions? Local recommendations. Etc? Don’t worry I'm here to help. Start by learning some of these travel verbs and vocab for
whereabouts in the city. Then put them in practice with some of the question & answer examples below.

Quick Phrases

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

La pharmacie pharmacy Le musée museum

Pardon monsieur/madame excuse me sir/ma’am Le magasin store

La rue The street Le restaurant restaurant

Le parc park Le quartier neighborhood

Francais L’Anglais

Comment je peux vous aider?... Je cherche un l'hôtel qui How can I help you? I'm looking for a hotel.

Vous savez où je peux trouver un café?...There’s one here Do you know where I can find a coffee shop? il y en a un ici
Où sont les taxis?...Il sont juste là bas Where are the taxis?...they are right over there

Combien temps tu restes à Paris?...Je reste ici pour une semaine How long are you staying in Paris?....I’m staying here for a week

Vous êtes arrivés quand? Je suis arrivé hier soir When did you arrive?...I got here last night

French Tip: When speaking to strangers, I highly recommend starting off any sentence with “pardon”. It's a polite and respectful way to
say “excuse me” to grab their attention.

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 21. Home Sweet Home (+get cozy vocab)

Ok so now you’re in your AirBnB or hotel, it’s time for you to start understanding what’s around you in French. You’re going to need to ask
for new sheets, towels, pillows etc. This also is a great time to remind you that memorizing masc and feminine nouns is not worth it. With
the amount of exceptions to the rules that exist...you’re better off learning as you go. Focus on sentence building for now!
Vocabulary

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

Le canapé couch La table table

La chaise chair La cuisine kitchen

La porte door La salle de bain bathroom

La fenêtre window La chambre room

Francais L’Anglais

Il est à toi le canapé rouge, non? The red couch is yours, no?

Vous avez une belle cuisine You all have a beautiful kitchen
Ouvre la porte s'il te plaît? Open the door please

Combien de fenêtres il y a? How many windows are there?

Cette chambre est trop petite pour moi This room is too small for me

French Tip: Most home vocabulary is feminine! A great way to practice this is to print this (laminate if you can) post it in your living room
and name as much of it as you can

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 22. Directions (+know where to go)

The session is going to give you descriptive vocabulary to communicate where you are, where you want to go, and where you’ve been! Most
of this vocabulary is going to be useful when communicating with native speakers. But this should also be practiced when discussing your
commute to work,trips, family visits etc.

Quick Phrases

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

c'est juste là It's right over here à côté de moi Next to me

tourner à gauche ici turn left here l'adresse est correcte The address is correct

c'est tout près It’s close by On est dans quelle rue ? Which street are we on?

Nous prenons la route We are taking the highway Je cherche la voiture I’m looking for the car

Francais L’Anglais

où je peux trouver le musée? Il est à côté du supermarché Where can I find the museum? It’s next to the supermarket

Prenez à droite après la rue s’il vous plaît Take a right after the street please
Elle habite pas loin d’ici. sa maison est proche She doesn’t live far from here, her house is close

Pour aller chez toi, nous allons prends la voiture To go to your house we will take the car

French Tip: In French we tend to use the verb “prendre la voiture” to indicate that we are driving somewhere in the context of traveling.
We use the verb “à conduire” as a skill like “I will learn to drive” “I drive very well” etc.

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 23. Past vs On-Going Past (+spot the diff easily)

In French there are two types of “past”, so please don’t get caught up with memorizing the names. It is more important to know when and
how to use them so that you can speed up your response time. This lesson is going to need a few reads to get really confident with
understanding how to use it. In short, one past tense is used to define 1 particular specific moment in time and the other is used to
describe an ongoing past tense action (weird I kno). You will most likely use the reg past conjugations vs the passe imparfait.
Example below!

Passe Compose (Reg Past) | 90% usage Passé Imparfait (Ongoing ) | 10% usage

J’ai mangé hier soir = I ate last night Je mangeais des pâtes pour un moi = I was eating pasta for a month
● General past completed action ● Ongoing incomplete actions
● Specific ● Vague
● Recalling a story/event ● Describing past habits

Which ones are passé composé ET passé imparfait?

Francais L’Anglais

Un fois j’ai lu un livre très intéressant One time I read a very interesting book

Je savais que tu étais quelqu’un de bien I knew that you were a good person

Il a travaillé toute la journée He worked all day

Tu as fermé la porte? Did you close the door?

French Tip: Don’t freak out and over think this rule in conversation...when in doubt pick the “passé composé”. You’re most likely to be
correct!

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 24. Back To The Past Tense (+1 rule to master)

This tense might be the MOST SIMPLE one to master. There is one rule that is consistent throughout: most past-tense verbs come
attached with the present tense verb avoir. Past tense is a two verb combo, the first part is the avoir verb and then the intended verb right
after. You must include avoir in that order, as shown below. It’s also a reminder of how old the French language is, the past tense is directly
translated as: You have read, I have walked, They have jumped etc.

Conjugation: manger

Subject Avoir Avoir + Past Tense

Je J’ai J'ai mangé

Tu Tu as Tu as mangé

Il | Elle Il a Il a mangé

Ils | Elles Ils ont Ils ont mangé

Nous | On Nous avons | On a Nous avons mangé | On a mangé

Vous Vous avez Vous avez mangé

French Tip: Notice how consistent the verb “mangé” is throughout each conjugation. Keep in mind, there are other past tense forms that
won’t use this. But this form is one of the most common!

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 25. Meet The “Ments” (+define time, add finesse to sentences)

Let’s add some finesse to our sentences when referencing time/frequency of an action! For retention practice, you should associate any
English word ending “-ally” with “ment”. These are mostly used at the beginning of a sentence & are great words to describe:

● Routine
● Preference
● Culture
● Politics
● Expertise

Vocabulary + Use

Francais L’Anglais Example

normalement normally Normalement, je brosse mes dents avant de partir la maison

habituellement usually Mais, habituellement les magasins sont fermés le dimanche

généralement generally C’est généralement inapproprié de mettre vos main sur la table
communément commonly McDonald’s est communément appelé "McDo" en France

French Tip: To pronounce these correctly, mimic the ending of “comment” (from comment ca va?”)

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 26. Be French Chef (+cooking dictionary)

For all my cooking and general food lovers, we are going to practice learning our French kitchen & practice food shopping in French. I’ll
even throw in some classic French recipes that are so worth trying out or picking out at restaurants. As always,it’s not enough to just learn
vocabulary, we NEED to practice using them in sentences. Here is a great dictionary of French cooking terms if you want to get serious!

Kitchen Vocabulary

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

La casserole pot Le couvert silverware ( forks,knives,spoons)

Le frigo fridge l'assiette plate

Une tasse cup Les boissons drinks

Le bol bowl Le pot pot

Le couteau knife Le micro microwave

La poêle Pan le four - oven Les placards cabinets

Verb Cheat Sheet

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

bouillir To boil couper To cook chauffer To heat

faire To make/cook mésurer To measure Cuire To bake

French Tip: When you want to say you cooked a meal/baked a pastry...most French people will use the verb to faire (to do) instead of
cuisiner/cuire. Faire is an EXTREMELY important verb to master for conversational French, it has 10+ meanings and can be used to
replace a lot of them. Click here to jump to that lesson!

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 27. Build Your Grocery List (+eat like a Frenchie)

As a disclaimer this grocery list is French based, these are items that you would most likely find in a French person's fridge. I left a
challenge for you at the bottom of the lesson to help you retain all this vocabulary. For any other specific items that are not here…look
them up here!

Grocery List Vocabulary

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

L’eau water Le jus juice La sauce sauce

Le riz rice La glace ice cream Les oeufs eggs

Les pâtes pasta Les patates/les potatoes Le café coffee

pommes de terre

Les légumes vegetables Le fromage cheese Les céréales cereal

La viande meat Le vin wine l’huile oil

Le poulet chicken Le pain bread Le chocolat chocolate

Les fruits fruits Le yaourt yogurt Les assaisonnements seasonings

La farine flour La biere beer Les aromatiques aromatics

My challenge to you: Create a handwritten or typed grocery list, and only use French words. Take the list with you and practice
pronouncing it as you put it in your basket. Do this once more as you unload the groceries. This will help you glue the French to your times.
Here are some delicious French recipes (in French) to try out!

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 28. The 3 Types Of Needs (+how to use them)

There are 3 verbs to communicate “need”, they all have different tones but figuring out which one to use can be decided by style. This
grants YOU some freedom in how you want to sound. I personally prefer using “il faut” because growing up, most of the adults around me
used it. Even though it’s a bit more formal.

● Devoir
○ The most common/informal one
○ Equivalent to “supposed to/have to”
○ Context Example:
■ Je dois faire des courses, - I have to do some errands
■ Tu dois manger le petit-déjeuner - You have to eat breakfast
● Falloir
○ More intense, definitive & formal
○ Never conjugated and used in one form: ll faut que je, Il faut que tu
○ Equivalent to “must/it’s necessary that”
■ Il faut que je prends l’avion ce soir - I must catch a flight
● “Avoir” + Besoin de
○ Used for the need of something specific like an object,quantity etc.
○ Ex: I need some rest, bottle of water, money
○ Avoir is conjugated and besoin is consistent
■ J’ai besoin de quelque-chose sucre - I need something sweet
■ il a besoin d'un ami - He needs a friend

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 29. Where You At? (+sentence building with location)

This lesson is about prepositions, but instead of getting into grammar rules let’s talk about how this is used in conversation. When you want
to specify location whether it’s a store, street, or even a city. In French we use the letter “à” + fem/masc article to mean at the or to the.

Rule:
● When referring to a mascualine location we fuse à + le = au cinema and for fem locations we keep the rule à
+ la = à la poste.
● This can also be used in the context of speaking to someone. Remember this phrase has double meaning of
“at the” and “to the”
● No matter what tense we use, this always stays the same! So easy right?

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Je vais acheter quelque chose au magasin I want to buy something at the store

Tu habites où? A New York? You live where? In New York

Il parle aux enfants tout le temps He talks to the kids all the time

French Tip: Saying “a le” is incorrect, I’ll let some things slide but this won't. When using this for a plural article “aux” (which
is rare) the accent/pronunciation stays exactly the same!

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 30. Le Futur(e) !(+how to use it properly & avoid mistakes)
In my opinion the future tense is far less tricky than most tenses, a lot of the times they can be used interchangeably. Like with all grammar
rules, don’t try to memorize them. Focus on the context of usage...rather than knowing the rules by heart. Imagine yourself planning out
your week and practice speaking those plans out loud.

Futur Simple (“I will”) | 90% usage Futur Proche (“Going to” ) | % usage

● Used for future plans, career goals, polite commands, etc. ● Used for near future
● Can be used in “should be” situations ● Intention of doing it is already set.
● Conjugations will vary depending on the verb but usually ● Must use aller verb
end in “rai”

Which ones are futur proche ET futur simple?

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Je voudrais prendre quelque chose à boire I would like take something to drink

Tu vas manger plus tard? You’re going to eat later on?

On va chercher des vêtements We are going to look for clothes

vous étudierez demain? You ( formally) will study tomorrow?

Je devrais travailler cette semaine This is conditional tense? I should work this week

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 31. Cultural Phrases Pt. 2 (+sound like a Parisian)

My favorite lesson is BACK! This time we got more cultural phrases to make you sound like a true Parisian . Try and incorporate them into
your sentence builders, these are so useful and can bail you out in situations where you lose your French!

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

Tu fais la tête You got an attitude Tu m’as balancé You snitched on me

Je suis beau gosse I’m pretty handsome/ plutôt que Rather than..

C’est comme vous dites It’s how you say... T’es pénible You’re annoying/a lot

lorsque tu parles français When you speak French... Tais-toi Hush up/Shut Up

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 32. Test Your Present Reflexes (+top 8 most useful ones)

Reflexive verbs hold a lot of VALUE! In French, whenever you are looking to describe an action that involves you and yourself or any other
person, you will use these. It’s not as confusing as it sounds and I’ll go over some case examples of when you’ll need to use it. Most of the
verbs are perfect to describe your daily routine or reciting a personal story to others! The

How-To Present Tense:

3 step order: the subject pronoun (I,you, him, they etc.) + the subject pronoun that the action is being done to + the verb itself.

Je me couche à huit heures - I take myself to bed at 8 o’clock s’endormir is to fall asleep
Tu te couches à huit heures - You take yourself to sleep 8 o’clock
Il se couche à huit heures - He takes himself to sleep at 8 o’clock
Ils se couchent à huit heures - They take themselves to sleep at 8 o’clock
Nous nous couchons à huit heures - We take ourselves to sleep at 8 o’clock

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

Se coucher To go to bed Se laver To wash

Se doucher To shower Se mettre (a) To put

S’exercer To exercise Se raser To shave

S'expliquer To explain S’appeler To call

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 33. Flirting In French (+pick up lines)

It’s a language of love so why not equip yourself with some very useful lines you can use on the person you’re eyeing. These lines are easy
and fun to use! Keep in mind these are a bit corny and are used in a joking tone so please don’t expect to catch genuine interest from
someone. Connect on a deeper, more authentic level by achieving fluency!

Francais L’Anglais

1.Ah que t'es beau/belle You are handsome/pretty

2.Je suis amoureuse de toi I’m in love with you

3. Tu as de beaux yeux You have nice eyes

4. Tu veux sortir avec moi? You wanna go out with me?

Français Expliqué

1. Adding the “ah” is important to add an authentic French tone when speaking the language, that is intentional (watch French movies,
TV to get a sense of what that’s like.
2. The literal translation means I am a lover of you, the word for “in” would not work here because you would only use that to describe
something physical. As in “j’ai mis le téléphone dans mon sac” - I put the phone in my bag.
3. Don’t forget to add the “z” at the end of beaux and connect it to the word “yeux” this will create the proper rhythm and timing
needed. It should sound like “de-beauzyeux”
4. Sortir is a verb that can also describe relationship status, Je sors avec Elisa - I’m going out with Elisa. It’s also something that isn’t
just used romantically,it can be used when discussing group plans, family dinners etc.

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 34. Proceed With Caution: Cursing Pt. 1 (+scales of vulgarity

At this stage you must be ready for some +18 content learning, but I must give you fair warning...French cursing is very different from how
we use curse words in English. Much of French cursing really depends on context so use with caution. I will also rank these curse words
on a scale from 1-10 in terms of vulgarity

Francais L’Anglais (équivalent) Francais L’Anglais (équivalent)

Putain (8) Fuck Ta gueule (5) Shut the fuck up

Merde (6) Shit Tu me fais chier (8) Bullshit/go fuck yourself

Connard (8) Asshole Enfoire (7) Bastard (stronger)

Salau/Salope (9) Bitch Encule (10) Mother fucker

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Va te faire chier! Go f*** yourself!

Tu es un vrai salaud You are a real asshole/bitch

Ah mais merde Ah shit

Il parle comme un connard He speaks like an asshole

Ferme ta gueule Shut your ugly ass up

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 35. French Community (+tech, modern language)
French has caught up with the modern age and you as a learner must stay with the times! We are going to go over some new terminology
that will be useful when communicating with other learners and speakers via social media. Facebook groups are highly effective for
networking with people just like you who are learning at a similar pace and level. Check out some of them and start reaching out!

Francais L’Anglais (équivalent) Francais L’Anglais (équivalent)

arobase @ clavier keyboard

l’email email fichier file

abonné followers/subscriber supprimer delete

Point com Dot com commentaire comment

Reseau social Social network bloquer To block

partager To share Mettre à jour To update

Contextual Examples

Francais L’Anglais

Mais alors, tu as beaucoup d'abonnés! Well damn you got a lot of followers

J’ai partagé ton tweet la semaine dernière I shared your tweet last week

Il y a déjà un nouveau réseau social? There’s a new social network already?

Envoyez-moi un email pour le rendez-vous demain Send me an email for tomorrow’s meeting

Pourquoi tu ne me suis pas? Why don't you follow me?

French Tip: Context is key when using any of the mentioned verbs. For example, suivre means to follow and can be used literally in other
scenarios so be mindful to use these in the right social situations.

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 36. Essential Adjective Care Pack (+top 30 useful ones, retention trick)

A great way to learn all of these adjectives...is memorize each one’s opposite. Don’t use the English translation to help you associate them,
instead learn it’s French opposite. This will speed up your response time when someone is speaking French to you, it’s WAY more efficient
that making your brain go through this process:

listens in French > searches for English translation>figure out context meaning from sentence> figure out sentence response>insert best
possible French adjective.

BIG YIKES!

Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais Francais L’Anglais

gentil nice malade sick confiant confident

méchant mean en forme healthy nerveux nervous

beau Handsome, beautiful content happy fort* Loud, strong

moche ugly triste sad calme quiet

grand big vite quick intelligent smart

petit small lent slow bête dumb

pauvre poor maigre skinny vieille/vieux** old

riche rich gros fat jeune young

bien/bon* good doux soft étrange strange

mauvais bad dur hard normal normal

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 FIN
Here are some final tips to help you down the road:
● Use a schedule, I provided a monthly calendar to help you manage your time, don’t try to learn every lesson
at once. It’s a marathon...not a race!
● Become a master of 1, not a master of none. This means take your time and really understand each lesson
before moving on to the next.
● Get out of your shell, it’s easier said than done because a lot of people are self conscious of how they sound
to other people. Practice speaking with a native, teacher, French friends you meet online. There are so many
people just like you who are starting out and are nervous to speak.

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To go further into French and get close to fluency of the language, pre-order “French Essentials” audio+ebook HERE
which releases 6/1/2021. Only 10 copies are available for this deal!
See more below!

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Welcome to the end of French Essentials! Thank you so much for taking this in and hopefully using these lessons in
your everyday life. This is just the beginning of your journey to becoming fully fluent in French.

For more help and guidance with French

(Sign up for virtual classes with me!)

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