Topic: Roulette and Makedha: French for begginers

Hi all,

Some members have expressed their interest in learning French. Inspired by Faiza Foxy interactive Arabic class and encouraged by AshaDii, Mtambuzi, Azimio Jipya and other members, I said to my self: why not?

French shares some similarity with English in many regards but one of the main difference lies in the pronunciation. To overcome this challenge I encourage whoever is interested to register for free at Livemocha. It provides pictures and sounds for a complete lesson.
I will try to post two or three lessons per week and respond to some questions.

As much as I want this to be a fun and enjoyable experience, please let's stay focus and avoid our usual distractions. This is not Chit Chat.

The teaching language will be English and Swahili, but as time goes I will progressively switch to French so that new members will have to go through the old lessons first. We would not want them to ask questions that have already been addressed, would we?

There will be some didactic pictures as well, and a lot of links to Google translate.

I believe 100 lessons should be enough for a beginner's level, I will update the curriculum progressively

Lesson One to Ten:

1. Introduction (A)
2. Introduction (B)
3. Numbers (A: Cardinal)
4. Usual objects in the office
5. Numbers (B: Ordinal)
6. Family members and pets
7. Verbs for "survivors"
8. Professions
9. Places
10. Parts of the body
11. A French poem
12. Recap of lesson One to Ten

I will link each lesson to its post so that members can jump to the lesson just by clicking it, as I believe there will be a lot of post in between lessons. For french chit chat, please visit the french playground
Que la fete commence! (listen to it on Google Translate)

By Roulette

Update:
Dear members, Makedha has generously proposed precious assistance to continue these lessons where we left them. I will work with him from the background. Makedha is taking over the lessons from here. I will assist him in this thread but will be more active in the French Playground where we do our chit chat in French! Bienvenue Makedha!

By The Finest

Il a étéun moment depuis quej'ai appris le français, quandj'étais à l'écolemais au moins jeme souviens encore dece toique jen'ai pas souventquelqu'un à qui parler.

You see RR? Actually we need a beginners course ok but also intermediate course as well. It'll be damn boring for people like The Finest and a few others, I am sure, to sit through the beginners course.Possible and convenient for you madame? ou madamoiselle? C'est moi. Je m'apelle hygeia.c'est un nom j'aime beaucoup

By RussianRoulette

Azimio Jipya, Mimi nilisema naitwa La Roulette Russe sababu ni neno la kifaransa lililo geuzwa kua la kingereza, so nilipo jitambulisha kwa kifaranza ilikua ni sahihi kujitambulisha kwa kifaransa.
Ila kwako, sio lazima useme La Azimio jipya sababu ni neno la kiswahili.
Kwa hiyo kila mtu aseme jina lake kama lilivyo tu (kwa sasa).
Merci

Bonjour Roulette Russe Merci!

... And its lunch time so ... Bon appitit!

By HYGEIA

You see RR? Actually we need a beginners course ok but also intermediate course as well. It'll be damn boring for people like The Finest and a few others, I am sure, to sit through the beginners course.Possible and convenient for you madame? ou madamoiselle?

Madame...
I cannot fully concentrate on the biginners AND the intermediate. What I suggest is for you to join us hivo hivo, and to wait in the French Playground. Just be patient...
If you stay with us, as time goes, you will discover new things and you will catch up. I think we will finish the beginner level in 4 month (or so) and then we will all move to the intermediate (unless there is a volunteer to start the next level).

By Azimio Jipya

Bonjour Roulette Russe Merci!

... And its lunch time so ... Bon appetit!

Merci.

By Preta

masculin et feminine.........lakini tusubiri mwalimu aje kwanza......

Kwa hisani ya watu wa kule kule,

nakuomba kabisa kabisa uachane ni sie wanafunzi wa cheke chea!!

Babu DC!!

Bonjour, je m'appelle Mwafrika Halisi.

Roulette nimeshangaa saana Iko page ya 3... I hope wanafunzi ni wengi na sio kwamba watu wachakachua.... Please!

By RussianRoulette

Madame...
I cannot fully concentrate on the biginners AND the intermediate. What I suggest is for you to join us hivo hivo, and to wait in the French Playground. Just be patient...
If you stay with us, as time goes, you will discover new things and you will catch up. I think we will finish the beginner level in 4 month (or so) and then we will all move to the intermediate (unless there is a volunteer to start the next level).

RR,

Naomba sana kwa heshima kubwa tena...wewe ukiwa teacher wetu...hakikisha adabu inakuwepo class....Hawa wanaotaka kuchokonoana wakati sie tunasoma deal nao perpendicuallarly!!

Kwani huko chuoni hukufundishwa kudeal na wanafunzi watundu kama TF? Kama bakora yako imepotea, naomba kesho nikuletee mzigo wa kuni kabisa!!

DC!!

By Dark City

RR,

Naomba sana kwa heshima kubwa tena...wewe ukiwa teacher wetu...hakikisha adabu inakuwepo class....Hawa wanaotaka kuchokonoana wakati sie tunasoma deal nao perpendicuallarly!!

Kwani huko chuoni hukufundishwa kudeal na wanafunzi watundu kama TF? Kama bakora yako imepotea, naomba kesho nikuletee mzigo wa kuni kabisa!!

DC!!

Bonjour Dark City,

Merci beaucoup (Google Translate )

Bonjour, je m'appelle daughter.

By Azimio Jipya

Bonjour Dark City,

Merci beaucoup (Google Translate )

Bonjour Jipya Azimio

Merci

By Mzalendo80

Ces personnes ont formé la bande de roulement RussianRoulette profondeur de l'intimidation sont plus de personnes contribuant à cette sœur non-sens.

Ndugu,

Hili ni darasa la cheke chea,

Hiyo nayo ni salamu?? Is it another way of saying "bonjour"???

DC

Bonjour,

I have added Introduction (B) to the curriculum. This lesson aims at teaching you to say if you are male or female.
First, let's say that Male et femelle (male and female in French) only apply to animals. They don't apply to human beings. Human beings can be:
- Un homme ou une femme (man or woman)
- Un Garçon ou une fille (a boy or a girl)
Unatamkaje?
- Male: MAL
- Femelle: FEMEL
- Un Homme : EN-NOM (almost)
- Une Femme: IN-FAM (almost)
- Un Garçon : EN-GARSON (almost) ila hii ON ni nasal sound, na ile N haitamkwi. Ipo kwa kuipa O nasal sound.
- Une Fille: IN-FIY (almost)
Exemple:
The Finest est un homme: The Finest is a man
The Boss est un garçon: The Boss is a boy (it is just an example... lol)
Preta est une femme: Preta is a woman
Mwali est une fille: Mwali is a girl.

Unatamkaje?
Est: tamka E, na hiyo T ya mwisho unganisha na neno linalo fata kama ni vowel. Itakua ETEN (for men and boys) au ETIN (for women and girls)
To close off this lesson (B), I will say:
Bonjour, je m'appelle La Roulette Russe, je suis une femme. (je swizin fam)
Bonjour, je m'appelle Azimio Jipya, je suis un homme (Je swizen nom)
Bonjour, je m'appelle Saint Ivuga, je suis un garçon (je swizen garson)
Bonjour, je m'appelle Kabakabana, je suis une fille (je swizin fiy)

Bonjour, je m'appelle Akili Kichwani...................je suis un homme..................

By Akili Kichwani

Bonjour, je m'appelle Akili Kichwani...................je suis un homme..................

Bravo! I am so proud of you!
I am sure we will get somewhere...

By Preta

enchate.....moi aussie je ma'appele Preta......ou habite vous..?
que es que vous manger....?

Je suis désolé chérie, je ne comprenais pas ............... hahahaaaa ........... Grâce à Google!!..........

hapo umenipa za uso tupu................. kwa french mie ni lilaza wa kutupwa ............ ndo nafatilia hapa kiti cha mbele darasani kwa mwalimu RR walau siku moja nami niweze kuombea maji ya kunywa..................

By RussianRoulette

Bravo! I am so proud of you!
I am sure we will get somewhere...

merci professeur de .......... Je suis à la réception qui suit la leçon ..................

Bonjour, je m'appelle Azimio Jipya, je suis un homme !

Merci beaucoup for the lesson B!

Ready for next lesson!

Merci.

By Akili Kichwani

Je suis désolé chérie, je ne comprenais pas ............... hahahaaaa ........... Grâce à Google!!..........

Well done! ningependa msitumii Google Translate kwa sasa, tumieni kwa kuskia pronunciation tu.
Si mnajua hizo online translators zinachanganya sana, na sisi bado tunajifunza. It could corrupt our frail progress.

hapo umenipa za uso tupu................. kwa french mie ni lilaza wa kutupwa ............ ndo nafatilia hapa kiti cha mbele darasani kwa mwalimu RR walau siku moja nami niweze kuombea maji ya kunywa..................

Polepole tu, tutafika. bado 98 lessons...

French lesson number 3 is about number.
We will learn Les chiffres cardinaux (Numbers A) and then Les chiffres ordinaux (Numbers B) but before that, a little vocabulary, and a little grammar:

Vocabulary:
In french the noun number is translated by:
"chiffre" (Tamka shifr)when it is a single digit, and
"Nombre" (tamka nombr)when it is more than one digit.
Ex: 1 is a chiffre and 10 is a nombre. (in french example is ex, and non e.g., and it makes sense to me...)
Please think of a chiffre, then think of a nombre, to help you make the difference. you can practice it in the playground.

Grammar:
One cardinal number is said Un Chiffre cardinal or Un nombre cardinal when it is one number (e.g. 1 or 5, or 10, or 14)
Many cardinal numbers are said les Chiffres Cardinaux or les nombres cardinaux (ex: 1 and 5 and 10 and 14 together)
So the plural of cardinal is cardinaux, and the plural of ordinal is ordinaux.
(Tamka Shifr kardinal, Shifr cardino, Nombr kardinal, nombr kardino)

This form is a rule (it has exceptions that we will see later). Any french word ending in -al will turn in -aux when in plural:
Oral-Oraux (tamka oral-oro)
Occidental-occidentaux(oksidantal-oksidanto)
Floral-Floraux (floral-floro)
Other names in -al include: oriental, mental, hopital, moral, facial, anal. practice their plural in the french playground.

Now, let us see how to count in french, from one to ninety nine.
A. Les Chiffres Cardinaux
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: zero, un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq (Tamka zero, ukipandisha sauti kwenye o, en, de, trwa, katr, senk)
6, 7, 8, 9, 10 : Six, Sept, Huit, Neuf, Dix (sis, set, wit, nef, dis)
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16: onze douze, treize, quatroze, quinze, seize (onz, duz, trez, katorz, kenz, seize)
17, 18, 19, : Dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, (diset, dizwit, diznef) hapa ni machanganyiko wa neno dix na chiffre husika.
20, 21, 22, 23 etc: Vingt, vingt et un, vingt-deux, vingt-trois (vent, vente-en, vende,vintrwa etc).
Hapa, 21 peke yake ndio inakua na et katikati zingine zinakua ni repetition ya nombre na chiffre husika e.g. 28: vingt-huit.
Itakua hivo kwa nombre zote zenye kufata.
30: trente (trent). wa hiyo tutakua na trente et un, trente-deux, trente-trois etc.
40: Quarante (karant)
50: Cinquante (sinkant)
60: Soixante (swasant)
70: Soixante-dix (swasan-dis) this is a tricky one! it is the contraction of 60+10. so 71 becomes soisante onze, 72=soixante douze etc. please make sure you get this right!!!
80: Quatre-vingt (katreven) this is also tricky as it means 4X20: 81 is quatre vingt et un, 82 is quatre vingt-deux etc
90: quatre-vingt dix, quatre vingt onze, quatre vingt douze (almost as you did for soixante onze, soixante douze)
For more number, please visit this page.

When using google translate, hakikisha unatoka french kwenda english. Spanish numbers na French numbers zimefanana sana hasa from 11 to 16, zinaweza kukuchanganya kwenye pronounciation.

Using a number in a sentence:
J'ai sept ans (je-setan): I am seven (years old)
Il a un garÇon (ila en garson) : He has a boy
J'ai deux filles : I have two girls
Lizzy a deux amis (Lizzy a de-zami): Lizzy has two friends
Azimio Jipya a dix-huit ans, une femme et quatre chevaux
Azimio Jipya is 18, he has a wife and 4 horses (mind the plural of cheval)

Hapa tunakula break kwanza, watu wote playground for a day or two.