Your first real French conversation, four lines long: say your name with je m’appelle, ask someone theirs, ask how they are with ça va and answer it. Every line comes with its respelling, and the whole exchange works for a child in a playground or an adult in a café.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Je m’appelle… | My name is… | zhuh mah-PELL |
| Comment tu t’appelles ? | What is your name? (friend-form) | koh-MAH(n) tew tah-PELL |
| Ça va ? | How is it going? | sah VAH |
| Ça va bien, merci. | It is going well, thank you. | sah vah BYA(n), mehr-SEE |
| Et toi ? | And you? (friend-form) | ay TWAH |
| Enchanté / Enchantéeadd the extra -e when the speaker is female — the sound stays the same | Pleased to meet you | ah(n)-shah(n)-TAY |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
— Bonjour ! Je m’appelle Léo. Comment tu t’appelles ? — Je m’appelle Emma. Ça va ? — Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ? — Ça va ! Read it aloud twice, then swap roles.
With a rising voice it is the question "how is it going?"; said flat, it is the answer "it goes fine". One phrase, both directions — listen for the melody.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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