THE BERLITZ SELF-TEACHER: FRENCH THE BERLITZ SELF-TEACHER: FRENCH BY TKE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE BERLITZ SCHOOLS OF LANGU~EES OF AMERICA, INC. GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS NEW YORK COPYRIGHT @ 1949 by THE BERUTZ SUiOOLS OF LANGUAGES OF AMERICA, MC. ISBN: 0-448-01421-1 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or meciianical, induding photo- copying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from The Berlitz Schools of Languages of America, Jnc. 1976 Printing PRINTED IN THE UNTTEU STATES OF AMERICb. The oldest man in the United States undoubtedly remembers the time-worn joke about the tourist who returned from a trip to France amazed at the extremely high IQ of the French people. "Why," he exclaimed, "even little tots of three and four speak Frenchl" This ancient witticism points up the very profound principle of language teaching upon which the Berlitz Schools of Languages have based a 71-year growth-from a one-room studio in Providence, Rhode Island, to a globe-circling institution with over 300 branches. In a word, you learn to speak a language by speaking it-and in no other way. That is how French tots do it, and that is how you learned English. You will succeed with the BERLITZ SELF-TEACHER to the extent that you speak. Do not deceive yourself into thinking you have "arrived" when you find yourself able to read or translate the French text. You master French only in the degree to which you can express your ideas in it. The ability to interpret the thoughts of others is only the first step. One way of using the BERLITZ SELF-TEACHER is to pair off with someone else, or to organize a small group. After reading over the lesson in advance for meaning and pronunciation, each student then reads aloud, direct from the French text. The lesson is divided into convenient portions by agreement among the students. After eacb vi T H E B E R L I T Z S E L F - T E A C H E R : F R E N C H student has practiced reading aloud, one of them assumes the role of instructor and questions the others from the exercises called "Thinking in French." When all can answer these questions with- out hesitation, each student should invent ten or twelve new ques- tions, based on the same or preceding lessons, and then put these questions to the others. Afterwards, answers to the exercise questions should be written out and corrected from the keys in the appendix. When a group of you are learning together, do not succumb to the "community-sing" temptation. Each student must speak indi- vidually, so that he can hear himself and the others, and profit thereby. Make no mistake, however1 This book is designed primarily for the student working alone. He must do exactly what pairs or groups do, covering each operation for himself. If you are embarrassed by the sound of your own voice, hide in the pantry! Put a sack over your head! No matter what form of defense mechanism you set up, see to it that you speak out! Do not mumble or whisper. The authors have enjoyed preparing the BERLITZ SELF-TEACHER, because they are confident: that, properly used, it can provide you with a flying start toward a warking knowledge of French-and an extra dividend of good, dean fun. ROUES OM PRONUilWCiATNON HAVE YW NOTICED that many foreigners, particularly Frenchmen and Italians, have some difficulty in learning to pronounce the English th? They say tink for think and dis for this. The reason is mat the ih sound does not exist in French or Italian. Until he sees and hears an English speaking person pronounce th, he cannot know how to arrange his tongue, teeth, and jaws to reproduce the sound. You may expect a similar experience in dealing with French pronunciation. In developing a phonetic system for this book, we have sometimes compromised with strict accuracy to gain simplicity, because, no matter how many symbols we dream up to indicate shades and tones of sound, you can still not be sure until you have heard the sounds spoken. Here are some tips on the more important French sounds: VOWELS: A E ~ I O U ah ay uh eh eh ee oh ew The ew is arbitrary; the sound of U is made by pursing the lips as if to whistle and saying EE. It may sound a bit "cute" at first, but you will get used to it. vii viii T H E BERLITZ SELF-TEACHER: FRENCH NASALS: Our phonetics for the nasals are arbitrary and purely suggestive. Practice them now, being careful to keep your mouth open and your tongue motionless. Then: for AWNG-try to say AHN as in English; for AHNG-try to say AN as in English; for OHNG-try to say OWN as in English; for UHNG-try to say UN as in English. THE FRENCH R: This is best described as a dry gargle. THE LIQUID L: LL after I is what we call liquid. With only a few exceptions, pronounce the "ill" (sometimes "il") like the Y in G (before "e" and "i") and J: Pronounce like the "a" jn "ieisure"' or "pleasure". We represent it as ZH. Qu'est-ce que c'est? Kess kuh seh? What is this? Le crayon le livre le papier la plume Luh kreh-yohng luh leew Iuh pahp-yay lah plewm The peadl the book the paper the pen la boite la c16 lah bwaht lah klay the box the key Est-ce le crayon? Ess luh kreh-yohng? Is this the pencil? Oui, monsieur, c'est le crayon. Wee, muss-yuh, seh luh kreh-yohng. Yes, Sir, it is the pencil. Est-ce la boite? Ess lah bwaht? Is this the box? Non, monsieur, ce n'est pas la boite, c'est le crayon. Nohng, muss-yuh, suh neh pah lah bwaht,seh Iuh kreh-yohng. No, Sir, it is not the box, it is the pencil. REMEMBER: The difference between LE and LA. Tho= words that take LE are said to be masculine, and those that take LA are called feminine. 1 2 T H E B E R L I T Z SELF-TEACHER: FRENCH THAT the word "not" is expressed by ne.. . .....p as, and that the verb is placed between them. Before a vowel, n' is used instead of ne. THAT c'est means "it is", "this is", or ''that is". la chaise la Iampe la table Est-ce la lampe? lah shez lah Zawmp lah tahbl Ess lah lawmp? the chair the I m p the table Is this the lamp? Non, madame, ce n'est pas la Iampe, mais la table. Nohng, mah-dahm, suh neh pah lah lawmp, meh lah tahb'i. No, Madam, it is not the lamp, but the table. le tableau luh tah-bloh the picture le mur luh mewr the wall la porte lah pohrt the door la fen6tre lah fuh-nehtr the window le plafond le plancher luh plah-fohng luh plawn-shay the ceiling the floor Qu'est-ce que c'est? C'est le tableau, la porte, le mur, eti. Kess kuh seh? Seh luh tuh-bloh, lah pohrt, luh mewr, etc. What is this? It is the picture, the door, the wall, etc. Trks bien, monsieur. Treh b'yahng, muss-yuh. Very good, Sir. un deux vois quatre *q uhng duh tnuah kahtr sank one two three four five Y HINTS on pronunaation: Words like non, plafond, crayon, uave a nasal sound; i.e., the on syllable is pronounced as though you were holding your nose. The nasal sound is suggested by adding "g" in the phonetic spelling. Do not pronounce it full-gr. The u between two consonants, as in plume and mur, is pronounced like "ee" with the lips plused as in whistling. We suggest this sound by "err", T H E BERLITZ SELF-TEACHER: FRENCH S - --- THINKING IN FRENCH Answer the following questions aloud; then write the answers and check them in the key beginning on page 248. I. Est-ce le Iivre? I. Est-ce le crayon? 3. Est-ce la table? 4. Qu'est-ce que c'est? 5. Est-ce la baste? 6. Est-ce la fenetre? 7. Est-ce la porte? 8. Qu'est-ce que c'est? 9. Est-ce la clk? 10. Est-ce la chaise? 1 1. Est-ce la lampe? 12. Qu'est-ce que c'est? 1% Est-ce le crayon? 14. Est-ce la bofte? 15. Est-ce la clU 16. Qu'est-ce que c'est? 17. Est-ce la table? 18. Est-ce la chaise? 19. Est-ce la porte? 20. Qu'est-ce que c'est? Les v%tements Lay veht-mawng Clothing Qu'est-ce que c'est? C'est le chapeau. Kess kuh seh? Seh luh shah-poh. What is this? It is the hat. la chemise le mouchoir le veston iah shuh-mea luh moosh-wahr luh vehs-tohng the shirt the handkerchief the coat de pantalon la robe iuh pawn-tah-lohng lah rawb the trousers the dress re manteau le soulier luh mawn-toh luh soot-yay Cie overcoat the shoe le gant tulr gawng the glove l'argent lahr-zhawng the money le sac luh sahk the handbag la montre lah mohntr the watch la aavate lah krah-vaht the necktie - < THE B E R L I T Z S E L F - T E A C H E R : F R E N C H 5 - .--- v . -.. -- Est-ce le mouchoir? Ess luh rnoosh-wahr? Is this the handkerchief? Non, monsieur, ce n'est pas Ie mouchoir, mais le chapeau. Nohng, muss-yuh, suh neh pah Zuh moosh-wahr, meh luh shah-poh No, Sir, it is not the handkerchief, but the hat. Est-ce la robe ou le sac? C'est la robe. Ess la rawb oo Euh sahk? Seh lah rawb, Is this the dress or the handbag? It is the dress. Est-ce le manteau ou le veston? Ess luh mawn-toh oo luh vehs-tohngf Is this the overcoat or the coat? Ce n'est ni le manteau ni le veston, c'est la chemise. Suh neh nee luh mawn-toh nee luh vehs-tohng, seh lah shuh-meez. It is neither the overcoat nor the coat, it is the shirt. Est-ce Za robe ou Ie sac? Ess lah rawb oo 2uh sahk? Is this the dress or the handbag? Non, madame, ce n'est ni la robe Nohng, mah-dahm, suh neh nee lah rawb No, Madam, it is neither the dress ni le sac, mais le manteau. nee luh sahk? meh luh mawn-toh. nor the handbag, but the overcoat. NOTE: When a noun begins with a vowel, as in the case of argent, the article, le or la, preceding it becomes simply I. Y Therefore, you cannot tell from the article whether a word is masculine or feminine. There is, however, another way to tell, as we shall see in the next lesson. HINT on pronunciation: G (before e or i) and are pro. nounced like the "s" in leisure or pleasure. We indicate the sound by "zh". 6 THE BERLITZ S E L F - T E A C H E R : F R E N C H THINKING IN FRENCH (Answers on page 249) 1. Qu'est-ce quc c'est? 2. Est-ce Ie soulier ou le gant? 3. Est-ce la cravate ou le mouchoir? 4. Qu'est-ce que c'est? 5. Est-ce le mouchoir on k gant? 6. Est-ce le crayon? 7. ' ~u'est-ce que c'est? .8. Est-ce la robe? 9. Est-ce Ie manteau? 10. Est-ce le vesron ou le pantalon? 11. Est-ce la uavate? 12. Est-ce le chapeau ou le manteau? rouge roozh red rouge roozh red De quelle couleur est-il? Duh kell koo-luhr eh-teel? What color is it? jaune zhohn yellow jaune zhohn yellow Masculine: bleu bluh blue Feminine: bleue bluh blue Masculine: brun bruhng brown Feminine: brune brewn brown I noir nwahr black nwahr black blanc blawng white blanch blawnsh white