Latest / Learn French with Fexingo / French Ordering Coffee Basics
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn French with Fexingo! It's episode 24, and I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Lucas, I'm a little tired today. I could really use a coffee. Lucas: Perfect timing — today we're learning how to order coffee in French. Let's start simple. Luna: Yes please! I've been wanting to practice that. What's the basic phrase? Lucas: The most useful one is: Je voudrais un café. That means 'I would like a coffee.' Luna: Je voudrais un café. Lucas: Great! Je voudrais un café. Let's break it down. 'Je voudrais' is 'I would like' — it's polite. Luna: Je voudrais. Un café. Je voudrais un café. Lucas: Exactly. And of course, you should add 's'il vous plaît' at the end — 'please'. Luna: Right, we learned that before. So Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. Lucas: Perfect. Now, in France, when you order a 'café', it usually means a small, strong black coffee — like an espresso. Luna: Oh, so if I want a bigger coffee with milk, I should say something different? Lucas: Yes! If you want an espresso, you can say un expresso. Same pronunciation mostly: un expresso. Luna: Un expresso. That's easy. Lucas: And if you want a coffee with milk, like a latte, you'd say un café crème. Luna: Un café crème. That sounds fancy. Lucas: It is! So let's practice all three. Repeat after me: Je voudrais un expresso, s'il vous plaît. Luna: Je voudrais un expresso, s'il vous plaît. Lucas: And Je voudrais un café crème, s'il vous plaît. Luna: Je voudrais un café crème, s'il vous plaît. Wow, I can already order my coffee! Lucas: You can! And after they give you the coffee, you say merci — thank you. Luna: Merci. Simple. Lucas: So let's imagine you walk into a café. You say: Bonjour, je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. They hand it to you, and you say: Merci, au revoir. Luna: Got it. Bonjour, je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. Merci, au revoir. Lucas: Exactly! And if you want a specific type, just replace 'un café' with 'un expresso' or 'un café crème'. Luna: Let me try a full order. Je voudrais un café crème, s'il vous plaît. Lucas: Aww, that sounds great. Now let's practice some more. I'll be the server, you be the customer. Bonjour, madame. Qu'est-ce que vous voulez? Luna: Uhh... Bonjour, je voudrais un expresso, s'il vous plaît. Lucas: Très bien! Voilà votre expresso. Luna: Merci! Lucas: You did it! Now, a little tip: when you say 'café' in French, the 'é' is pronounced like 'ay' — ca-fay. Not 'caf-ee'. Luna: Ca-fay. Un café. Lucas: Yes. And expresso — just like English but with a slight French accent. Ex-press-o. Luna: Un expresso. Lucas: And café crème — ca-fay crehm. The 'crème' is like 'cream' but shorter. Luna: Un café crème. Lucas: Parfait. Now, let's review all the phrases one more time. First: Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. Luna: Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. Lucas: Je voudrais un expresso, s'il vous plaît. Luna: Je voudrais un expresso, s'il vous plaît. Lucas: Je voudrais un café crème, s'il vous plaît. Luna: Je voudrais un café crème, s'il vous plaît. Lucas: And don't forget merci. Luna: Merci! Lucas, I'm ready for my coffee break now. Lucas: Same here! That's it for episode 24 of Learn French with Fexingo. Practice these phrases, and next time you're at a café, try them out. Luna: Yes! And don't forget to subscribe for more. À bientôt! Lucas: À bientôt! See you next time.