INTERMEDIATE. LESSON #34. À LA PLAGE
- Moi je vais me baigner, là.- D’accord. Attends-moi. Ouh là. Elle est froide. Tu ne veux pas faire un château de sable, d’abord ? On se baignera après.
- D’accord. Où est le seau ? Il faut du sable bien mouillé.
- Moi, je veux faire aussi.
- Et bien tu n’as qu’à te trouver un seau.
- Maman, est-ce qu’il y a un autre seau ?
- Mais oui, il y a deux pelles aussi.
- Bien joué. Pas de dispute, c’est les vacances.
TRANSLATION
- I’m gonna have a swim, now.
- OK. Wait for me. Oh boy. It’s freezing. Don’t you want to make a sandcastle first ? We’ll have a swim later.
- OK. Where’s the bucket ? We need some really wet sand.
- I want to make it too.
- Well, just find a bucket.
- Mum, do we have another bucket ?
- Of course, we have one, and we have two shovels too.
- Well-played. No argument, we’re on holiday.
- I’m gonna have a swim, now.
- OK. Wait for me. Oh boy. It’s freezing. Don’t you want to make a sandcastle first ? We’ll have a swim later.
- OK. Where’s the bucket ? We need some really wet sand.
- I want to make it too.
- Well, just find a bucket.
- Mum, do we have another bucket ?
- Of course, we have one, and we have two shovels too.
- Well-played. No argument, we’re on holiday.
Ouh là is an interjection. We can also say ouh là là or oh là là. It may express admiration or surprise or a strong emotion. |
Se baigner : to have a swim, to take a bath. Château de sable (masc.) : sandcastle. Sable (masc.) : sand. Dispute (fém.) : argument. |
Let’s work today on pronunciation and slang words. Here is this same dialogue but with a few transformations. You could hear this in France — because French people really speak like that. - Moi j’vais m’baigner, là. - Ok. Attends-moi. Vache ! Ça caille ! Tu veux pas faire un château de sable, d’abord. On s’baign’ra après. - D’ac. Il est où l’seau ? Y faut du sable bien mouillé. - Moi, j’veux faire aussi. - Et ben t’as qu’à t’trouver un seau. - M’man, y’a un autre seau ? - Mais oui, y’a deux pelles aussi. - Bien joué. Pas de dispute, c’est les vacances. What do you notice ? Once again, as with Marie’s students, you see that some letters aren’t pronounced : j’vais m’baigner instead of je vais me baigner, là. T’as qu’à t’trouver un seau instead of tu n’as qu’à te trouver un seau. We also have some transformations : - Ouh là becomes Vache. We could also say La vache ! (= wow, hell). - C’est froid becomes Ça caille. - D’accord becomes D’ac. - Et bien becomes Et ben. These are very familiar expressions, almost slang for some of them. But they are really useful… |
Translate in proper French then in English : 1. Ça caille. 2. D’ac. 3. Y a deux pelles. What do you understand ? Answers |