Latest / Learn French with Fexingo / French at the Zoo – Animal Basics
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, ready for another episode? Luna: Yeah, let's do it! I've been practicing my numbers. Lucas: Awesome. Today, we're going to the zoo! Luna: Oh, I love the zoo. What animals will we learn? Lucas: We'll start with five animals: le lion, l'éléphant, le singe, le serpent, and l'oiseau. Luna: Okay, let me try. Le lion. That's the lion, right? Lucas: Exactly! Le lion. Repeat after me: le lion. Luna: Le lion. Lucas: Perfect. Next, l'éléphant. The elephant. Luna: L'éléphant. That's a big animal. Lucas: Yes, it is. And le singe, the monkey. Luna: Le singe. Monkeys are so funny. Lucas: They are. Now, le serpent, the snake. Luna: Le serpent. I'm not a huge fan of snakes. Lucas: That's okay. And finally, l'oiseau, the bird. Luna: L'oiseau. That sounds pretty. Lucas: Great! Now let's put them in a sentence. If you want to ask 'What is this?' you say: Qu'est-ce que c'est? Luna: Qu'est-ce que c'est? Lucas: And to answer, you say: C'est un lion. It's a lion. Luna: C'est un lion. So if I see an elephant, I'd say C'est un éléphant? Lucas: Careful, because éléphant starts with a vowel, so it's C'est un éléphant, but the 'n' links: C'est un éléphant. Luna: C'est un éléphant. Got it. Lucas: Let's practice. I'll ask Qu'est-ce que c'est?, and you answer with the animal I'm thinking of. First: it's big and gray. Luna: C'est un éléphant. Lucas: Yes! Next, it roars. Luna: C'est un lion. Lucas: Perfect. Now it swings from trees. Luna: C'est un singe. Lucas: Awesome. And it slithers. Luna: C'est un serpent. Lucas: Last one, it flies. Luna: C'est un oiseau. Lucas: You nailed it! Now let's imagine we're at the zoo. I'll be you, and you be the zookeeper. I point and ask: Qu'est-ce que c'est? Luna: C'est un lion. Lucas: And what about that tall one with a long neck? Luna: Oh, that's not in our list! But I can guess: c'est une girafe? Lucas: Close! Girafe is feminine, so it's C'est une girafe. But good try. Luna: Ah, right. So we need to know the gender of each animal. Lucas: Exactly. For today's animals, lion and singe are masculine, serpent is masculine, éléphant is masculine but starts with a vowel, and oiseau is masculine too. So we always say un. Luna: That makes it easier. Lucas: Yeah. Let's do a quick recap of all five: le lion, l'éléphant, le singe, le serpent, l'oiseau. Luna: Le lion, l'éléphant, le singe, le serpent, l'oiseau. Lucas: You've got them. Now, you know, if Fexingo has been helping you make actual progress with French, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it really helps. And we love making these. Lucas: Okay, back to the zoo. Imagine we're looking at the monkeys. You say: Regarde le singe! Luna: Regarde le singe! Look at the monkey! Lucas: Exactly. And the monkey is climbing. Le singe grimpe. Luna: Le singe grimpe. The monkey climbs. Lucas: Now you try: describe the bird. Luna: L'oiseau vole. The bird flies. Lucas: Perfect! And the snake? Luna: Le serpent rampe. The snake crawls. Lucas: You're a natural. Listeners, practice these animals and the question Qu'est-ce que c'est? See you next time!