Discovery
Unit 1 · L'arrivée — Read the French text beside its English translation. No memorising — just meet the language.
Agent
Bonjour, madame. Bienvenue au Canada. Comment vous appelez-vous ?
Hello, madam. Welcome to Canada. What is your name?
Katia
Bonjour. Je m'appelle Katia Cruz. Je suis colombienne.
Hello. My name is Katia Cruz. I am Colombian.
Agent
Enchanté. Vous parlez français ?
Pleased to meet you. Do you speak French?
Katia
Un peu. J'apprends le français chaque jour.
A little. I learn French every day.
Agent
Très bien ! D'où venez-vous exactement ?
Very good! Where exactly do you come from?
Katia
Je viens de Bogota. J'habite maintenant à Halifax.
I come from Bogota. I live in Halifax now.
Agent
Parfait. Voici vos documents. Bonne journée, madame.
Perfect. Here are your documents. Have a good day, madam.
Katia
Merci beaucoup. Au revoir !
Thank you very much. Goodbye!
Key vocabulary
Grammar in context
Être and s'appeler in the present
Two verbs carry almost every introduction. Notice the pronoun before the verb; French almost never drops it.
- Je suis colombienne. — I am Colombian.
- Il est canadien. — He is Canadian.
- Elle s'appelle Marie. — Her name is Marie.
Asking a question three ways
Rising intonation, est-ce que, or inversion. All three are correct; inversion sounds most formal and appears often in the exam.
- Vous parlez français ? — You speak French?
- Est-ce que vous parlez français ? — Do you speak French?
- Parlez-vous français ? — Do you speak French?