When you meet someone in France, you don’t need long speeches. A few simple sentences are enough.

Note: Use the audios to help your with pronunciation and repeat them to assimilate.

1. Say your name and ask someone's name

• Je m’appelle… → My name is… /JEUMAPEL/
  Example: Je m’appelle Kaylie.

• Et vous (formal) / toi (informal) ? → My name is… /éVOO/ /éTOA/
  Example: Je m’appelle Kaylie.

• Comment vous vous appelez ? (formal) / Comment tu t’appelles ? (informal)→ What’s your name? /COMAN-VOOVOO-ZAPLé/ /COMAN-TU-TAPEL/

👉 Pronunciation tip:
In “Je m’appelle”, the L is never heavy.
It’s not “je m’appellllllle”, just “je m’appelle” smooth and light. /JEUMAPEL/ or /JMAPEL/

Remind: Using “And you?” - Et toi / Et vous ?

👉 Among young people who use tu, you say et toi. With strangers, elders, or in formal situations, use et vous.

👉 You can also offer tu to break the barrier and make the conversation more relaxed. You’ll see how to do this in the next modules.

👉 Avoid saying Je suis Kaylie (I am Kaylie). It’s not wrong, but je m’appelle Kaylie is the natural way. Otherwise use: Moi, c'est Kaylie. Or even Kaylie, enchantée.

Enchanté(e)→ Nice to meet you /ANSHANTé/

👉 “Joli prénom !” → Nice name!

French people sometimes say this after hearing your name to give a small compliment and make you feel welcome. Reply "Merci, c'est gentil" (Thank you, that's kind of you) /CéJANTI/

2. Say where you are from

The first one is masculine, the second, feminine (with an "e"):

• Je suis américain / américaine. → I am American.

• Je suis canadien / canadienne. → I am Canadian.

• Je suis anglais / anglaise. → I am English.

• Je suis allemand (final D is a silent letter) / allemande. → I am German.

👉 Add -e for the feminine form. Example: américain (male), américaine (female). You'll see more nationality adjectives and explanations in the following modules.

3. Say your nationality or origin

• Je viens de New York. → I come from New York.

• Je viens de Birmingham. → I come from Birmingham.

• Je suis d'origine italienne. → I'm of Italian origin.

Example talking about where you’re from:

• Moi, je viens de New York → 👉 Or simply: Je suis New-Yorkais /NOOYORKé/

Cultural Tip: In France, when talking about your country of origin, you can just say:

• Je suis italien, algérien, portugais, etc
  Even when we are born and raised in France, no need to say “Je suis d’origine italienne/algérienne/etc” or "Je suis franco-italien ...", the short form is enough.

4. Say where you live now

• J’habite à Paris. → I live in Paris. | J’habite à Marseille. → I live in Marseille.

👉 ALWAYS use "à" before the city name.

5. Say if you're single or in couple, etc...

• Je suis célibataire. → I'm single. /CéLIBATERR/

• Je suis marié(e). → I'm married.

• Je suis en couple. → I’m in a relationship. /ANCOOPL/ not /ANCOOPLEH/, final E is silent.

👉 (e): feminine, but same pronunciation for masculine and feminine in this case.

Others: Séparé(e), divorcé(e), veuf: widower, veuve: widow, fiancé(e): engaged (a nice word to end on a positive note!)

Mini dialogue

• A: Bonjour ! Je m’appelle Alex.

• B: Salut Alex, moi c’est Marie. Tu es américain ?

• A: Oui, je suis américain. Je viens de New York. Et toi ?

• B: Moi, je suis française. J’habite à Marseille.

👉 With just these phrases, you can introduce yourself, say where you’re from, and ask the same question back. This is enough to start a friendly conversation.

6. French Alphabet: A foretaste

Here’s the alphabet you need to spell your name, address, etc.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A → /AH/
B → /BÉ/
C → /CÉ/
D → /DÉ/
E → /Euh/
F → /EFF/
G → /GÉ/
H → /ASH/
I → /IH/ like /EE/
J → /JI/ JEE/
K → /KA/
L → /ELL/ not heavy
M → /EMM/
N → /ENN/
O → /OH/
P → /PÉ/
Q → /KU/
R → /ERR/
S → /ESS/
T → /TÉ/
U → /U/
V → /VÉ/
W → /DOO-BLeu-VÉ/
X → /IX/ like /EEKS/
Y → /IGREK/ like /EE-GREK/
Z → /ZED/

Tips:

• Letters mostly sound like in English, but watch out for:

  • H is always silent, except with C: CH = /SHH/ like "cheval" (horse)

  • R is pronounced at the back of your throat.

  • E can sound like “uh” in many words. Not "eh".

• Use this mini-section just to recognize letters and spell words, not to learn all pronunciation rules yet. You'll see them later in part 4.

Example:

• Moi, c'est Clare

• "Comment ça s'écrit ?" (How do you spell it?) → C L A R E (/Cé – EL – A – ERR – EU/)

• Avoid confusion, if your name is expected to be Claire or Eric for example but it’s Clare or Erik, say: Sans I (without I) or avec un K, pas un C (with K, not C). Pronounce sans /SAN/ and avec /AVEC/

• The person might say “Oh pardon” → You can reply “C’est rien.” (It’s okay.)

• Anyway, in less than 10 minutes they’ll probably have forgotten your name too!

• Then they'll ask: “C’est quoi ton prénom déjà ?” → What’s your name again?

• Pro Tip: Don’t confuse the letters E /EU/ and I /EEH/ it’s the opposite of English. K is pronounced /KA/ not /KEH/ or /KAY/.

Voilà. On continue ?