| Michelle: | Oh bonjour Valérie ! |
| Valérie: | Bonjour Michelle ! |
| Michelle: | Pardon, I think I fell asleep while studying. |
| Valérie: | Pas de problème Michelle. |
| Michelle: | You see, I’ve been on this cleanse for 2 days now, and I’m just exhausted. |
| Valérie: | A cleanse? |
| Michelle: | J’aime beaucoup les cleanses. It’s a natural way to purify your body, to get rid of all the toxins. |
| Valérie: | What sort of cleanse is it? |
| Michelle: | The one I’m on right now, I am trying it for the first time. You’re not allowed to eat at all. |
| Valérie: | Not at all? |
| Michelle: | Just drinks. |
| Valérie: | It sounds a bit drastic. Is it a good idea not to eat at all? |
| Michelle: | Oui, j’ai besoin de lose some weight. I’ve indulged a bit too much recently. |
| Valérie: | Ok, Michelle. I hope you’ll be alright for the lesson. If you don’t feel good, just let me know. |
| Michelle: | D’accord. Je suis prête Valérie. Oh, wait a second, I had a question before we start. J’ai une question. |
| Valérie: | Tell me. |
| Michelle: | You remember I told you I want to move to France or, at least, live most of the year there. |
| Valérie: | Oui, oui. |
| Michelle: | I’m trying to think of practical steps I can take now to make the move easier. |
| Valérie: | You mean looking for a place to live, transportation, that sort of things? |
| Michelle: | I was thinking more of...where I can find low-fat croissants. |
| Valérie: | Low fat croissants? What’s that? |
| Michelle: | J’aime les croissants mais ils sont full of butter as you know. I can’t eat that. It’s too fattening. |
| Valérie: | I don’t think low-fat croissants exist...not in France anyway. |
| Michelle: | Non ? Il n’y a pas de croissants low fat en France ? J’ai besoin de low fat croissants ! |
| Valérie: | Besoin ? |
| Michelle: | Oui...Je suis sûre I could convince a baker to make them. That’s what I did here. |
| Valérie: | Really? |
| Michelle: | Really! My baker makes them especially for me. Les croissants low fat! |
| Valérie: | Euh... je ne suis pas sûre Michelle. You could try...I guess. |
| Michelle: | Vous êtes pessimistic. |
| Valérie: | Pessimiste ? Maybe... |
| Michelle: | J’ai une idée. If it doesn’t work, I could always have them shipped from here frozen. Ah ah, voilà la solution ! Il n’y a pas de problème. |
| Valérie: | Bonne chance Michelle. |
| Michelle: | Ok Valérie, merci beaucoup. J’aime parler with you about France. It’s helpful, really. Je suis prête. |
| Valérie: | Bien...Shall we? |
| Michelle: | Oui. |
| Valérie: | What did we learn about last time? |
| Michelle: | I learned beaucoup. I learned that il y a des Mcdonalds et des Starbucks en France, that les Français travaillent beaucoup. |
| Valérie: | Ok, what about grammar? |
| Michelle: | Oh, grammar! First group verbs. |
| Valérie: | How do you recognize them? |
| Michelle: | They finish in er in the infinitive. |
| Valérie: | For example... |
| Michelle: | Aimer, parler, écouter, regarder, étudier, habiter... |
| Valérie: | Excellent Michelle. Il y a aussi chercher, demander, travailler, trouver, détester that sounds just like the English verb to detest. |
| Michelle: | Ils sont faciles, these verbs because they’re regular. |
| Valérie: | Oui, ils sont réguliers. Vous aimez conjuguer Michelle ? |
| Michelle: | Conjugate? Oui. |
| Valérie: | Let’s conjugate in the negative form. |
| Michelle: | With ne pas? |
| Valérie: | Oui. |
| Michelle: | Je n’aime pas, tu n’aimes pas, il n’aime pas, elle n’aime pas, nous n’aimons pas, vous n’aimez pas, ils n’aiment pas, elles n’aiment pas. |
| Valérie: | No hesitation! Parfait! Voilà une étudiante sérieuse. |
| Michelle: | Ah bon ? Merci. J’aime étudier les verbes. |
| Valérie: | That’s a good thing, we have many more to learn, and they’re not all regular. |