Feelings and opinions
🎯 Say what you like, what you think, and how you feel — where a language becomes your own.
🗣️ Say these out loud
- J'aime la musique. 🔊 ZHEM la mew-ZEEK I like music. J'aime + the = 'I like [in general]'. Keep the la; French needs it where English drops it.
- Je n'aime pas attendre. 🔊 zhuh nem pah a-TONDR I do not like waiting. After j'aime the next verb stays in its plain form.
- Je préfère lire. 🔊 zhuh pray-FAIR LEER I prefer to read. Préférer, lire, écrire, écouter — four verbs that describe a student's whole day.
- Je pense que c'est vrai. 🔊 zhuh PONS kuh say VRAY I think that it is true. Je pense que… lets you say anything at all. It is the most powerful phrase in this lesson.
- Je suis fatigué. 🔊 zhuh swee fa-tee-GAY I am tired. Fatiguée with an extra e for a girl. Also: content (happy), triste (sad), inquiet (worried).
- C'est magnifique ! 🔊 say ma-nyee-FEEK That is magnificent! The gn is the ny of 'canyon'.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
🔍 Describing words follow the noun — and agree with it
English puts the adjective first: a red book. French usually puts it after: un livre rouge. And the adjective changes to match the noun's gender and number.
- un livre intéressant → une histoire intéressante
- un petit garçon → une petite fille (a few short, common adjectives do come first)
- des livres intéressants — plural adds an s that is written but not said.
🌍 Among the people
The French argue about ideas at dinner tables for pleasure, not from anger. Je pense que… followed by a reason is the whole art.
🔁 Practise today
- Write five things you like and five you do not, using j'aime and je n'aime pas.
- Finish this ten times: je pense que ___.
- Describe three objects in your room with the adjective in the right place.
