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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lesson Plan 8: WHERE AM I? .......................................................... 2

Fast Forward! ........................................................................ 2 Major Direction and Location Words ............................................. 2

Direction and Location Words......................................... 2 Asking Direction Questions......................................................... 3

Par Exemple ............................................................. 3 Answering Direction Questions .................................................... 3

Par Exemple ............................................................. 4 Going Places.......................................................................... 5

Pour Aller .......................................................................... 5 At, ................................................................................ 5

Par Exemple ............................................................. 6 Putting It All Together.............................................................. 6 Action Replay! ....................................................................... 7 More Audio!........................................................................... 8

Extra Words .............................................................. 8 Les Activits.......................................................................... 9

Word Match ........................................................................ 9 Where is it? .......................................................................10 Under or Over? ...................................................................11

Les Rponses ........................................................................13 Word Match .......................................................................13 Place the Accent!................................................................13 Where is it? .......................................................................13 Under or Over? ...................................................................14

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Lesson Plan 8: WHERE AM I?

Fast Forward! Lesson Plan 8 focuses on directions and talks about where you are and where things are located. Direction and location are essential to find your way around.

In the previous Lesson Plan we looked at asking questions and you learnt about the main formulas for changing statements into questions. We can now look at how to answer the question Where am I?.

Major Direction and Location Words If you want to reply to the question Where am I? or find the answer to Where is it? you need to learn some basic direction and location words! This first list covers the major words related to location. It is worth bearing in mind that the words used to describe direction and location is not exhaustive, and that more direction words will come into use as the Lesson Plans develop.

Direction and Location Words 8.1 gauche On the left 8.2 L bas Over there 8.3 droite On the right 8.4 En haut At the top 8.5 Au milieu In the middle 8.6 Au bas At the bottom 8.7 Au centre At the centre 8.8 Par l That way 8.9 cot de Next to 8.10 Ici Here 8.11 L There 8.12 L bas Over there 8.13 Prs de Near 8.14 Devant In front 8.15 Par dessus On top of 8.16 Sur On/over 8.17 Derrire Behind

L bas

Devant

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8.18 Par dessous Underneath 8.19 Sous Under 8.20 Loin Far 8.21 Au bout At the end 8.22 la fin At the end 8.23 Vis a vis Opposite 8.24 Lautre cot The other side 8.25 Entre In between 8.26 En In 8.27 Dans In

Asking Direction Questions The most common way of asking the location of an object, person or place is: O est? This means, Where is? Lets look at the following five questions using o est before we move on to answering them.

Par Exemple 8.28 O est la salle de bains? Where is the bathroom?

8.29 O est la voiture Where is the car?

8.30 O est le restaurant? Where is the restaurant?

8.31 O est lhtel? Where is the hotel?

8.32 O est le cinma? Where is the cinema?

Answering Direction Questions Remember that the word de means of and that each time we use of in French, we need to ask if the noun or pronoun is masculine, feminine, plural or whether it begins with a vowel.

Also remember that when de (of) is used with le (the) it becomes du because two vowel sounds together dont work in French.

When used with direction words, de transforms itself once again. When using de with direction words, de means from. Except for, entre, and en, all the major direction words require de if they are followed by an object. For example, from the right becomes de la droite, as in this case, right is the object of the sentence.

Entre

O est la salle de bains?

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Another formula to remember here is the translation for it is, cest. In French it= ce, and we will be explaining this in detail in the next Lesson Plan. For now, use it with est to make it is. You will know that using two vowels sounds together dont work in French! So it+is= ce + est, becomes cest.

When used with direction words, from = de It is or its = ce + est = cest Lets use these principles in context now, and bring all these words together.

Par Exemple 8.33 O est la salle de bains? Where is the bathroom?

8.34 Cest au bout du couloir Its at the end of the corridor

8.35 O est la voiture? Where is the car?

8.36 Elle est l bas! It (she) is over there

8.37 O est le restaurant? Where is the restaurant?

8.38 Cest gauche de la rue principale Its to the left of the main street.

8.39 O est lhtel? Where is the hotel?

8.40 Cest de lautre cot Its on the other side

8.41 O est le cinma? Where is the cinema?

8.42 Cest prs du parc Its near (of) the park

O est la voiture?

Elle est l bas!

O est lhtel?

Cest de lautre cot

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Going Places Now that we have looked at asking direction questions and answering them, how do you ask for directions themselves? You can ask Ou est?, Where is?, but how would you ask How do I get there from here?

You will need to know two very useful words.

Here = Ici

There = L Note that in order to differentiate between La as in the in the feminine and L as in there, an accent is used on the latter.

Its important for you to look at the two following principles so that you can talk comfortably about going places. These principles show you how to use at and ask how do I get to.

Pour Aller Pour aller is the short cut which means,

how do I get to?

How do I get there? = Pour aller l How do I get here? = Pour aller ici

At, The principle of differentiation with an accent also applies to a, has as in the verb avoir, and as in at. In other words, every time you see you will know (in theory) that this means at, and is not a conjugated form of the verb to have. Whilst this does not affect the pronunciation it affects the written meaning. Remember to check for meaning: if the a does not stand for an action, then it means at.

It can get confusing when mentally translating the French into English, and the temptation is to read it as a or an which it isnt!

At = He has = Il a (from Lesson Plan 4) She has = Elle a (from Lesson Plan 4)

Using what you learnt about de as a reference point, and how it changes to agree with gender, plural and vowels, lets look at how changes form in a very similar pattern:

At = At + masculine noun = a + le = au

At + feminine noun = a + la = la At + noun beginning with a vowel = a + l = l At + any plural = a + les = aux

Pour aller ici?

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Par Exemple 8.43 Pour aller la banque sil vous plait? How do I get to the bank please?

8.44 Pour aller au cinma, sil vous plait? How do I get to the cinema please?

8.45 Pour aller lautre bout de la ville, sil vous plait? How do I get to the other side of town please?

8.46 Pour aller aux puces, sil vous plait? How do I get to the flea markets please?

Putting It All Together As you come to the end of Lesson Plan 8 and prepare to complete Les Activits, remember that there are various ways of putting the principles you have learnt together.

This means that when we say at in English, it wont always be used in French in the same way. In French, the context of the sentence may use in or on instead. Some translations will be literal and others wont. What we recommend is that you keep the general guide lines in mind, and at the same time, be prepared to learn expressions as they come up in examples, exercises and conversation.

Very often, its a case of getting it wrong so you can get it right!

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Action Replay! Asking Directions

O est? = Where is? Answering Direction Questions

When used with direction words, de means from It is or its = Ce + est = cest

Going Places How do I get there? = Pour aller l? How do I get here? = Pour aller ici? At =

At + masculine noun = a + le = au At + feminine noun = a + la = la At + noun beginning with a vowel = a + l = l At + any plural = a + les = aux

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More Audio! These audio tracks are for all the words in this Lesson Plan that you havent heard yet! Most of them will be used in the following exercizes.

Extra Words 8.47 La gare The station 8.48 La gare de chemin de fer The railway station 8.49 Le muse national The national museum 8.50 La cuisine The kitchen 8.51 propos Talking of which, by the way 8.52 Le frre The brother 8.53 combien? (At) how much? 8.54 Le pain de seigle Rye bread 8.55 Le lait The milk 8.56 Ltagre The shelf 8.57 La bote The box 8.58 Le concert The concert 8.59 Le mtro The underground 8.60 Lglise The church 8.61 Lcole The school 8.62 Gar Parked 8.63 La chauss The road, the roadway 8.64 Lappartement The apartment 8.65 Conduire To drive 8.66 La conduite droite Right hand drive vehicle 8.67 La conduite gauche Left hand drive vehicle 8.68 Le camion The truck 8.69 Le mcanicien The mechanic 8.70 Le thtre The theatre 8.71 Le village The village 8.72 La piscine The swimming pool 8.73 La voiture de police The police car 8.74 Lhomme court The man is running 8.75 Courir To run

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Les Activits

Word Match Match the French word with its English meaning!

Q.1

Place the Accent In this exercise you can review the principles about at. Can you tell which sentence is using at and which sentence is using the verb avoir in the third person singular? When you know which is which, add an accent `on the right a! Complete the spaces to the right with the English translation.

Q.2 Il a trois frres _____________________________________________________

Q.3 Elle a trs faim _____________________________________________________

Q.4 Cest a trois heures _____________________________________________________

Q.5 Cest a gauche _____________________________________________________

Q.6 Elle est a Paris _____________________________________________________

En haut

Au milieu

Au bas

Au centre

Par l

cot de

L

Ici

L bas

Prs de

Derrire

Par dessus

Sur

Devant

Here

Over there

Next to

On top of

Behind

That way

At the top

Near

In the middle

There

At the centre

In front

At the bottom

On/over

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Q.7 Il arrive a quatre heures _____________________________________________________

Q.8 Cest a combien sil vous plait? _____________________________________________________

Q.9 A propos, cest quand le concert? _____________________________________________________

Where is it? The following exercises are questions and answers about directions. Translate the English questions and answers into French using information from the Lesson Plan and Extra Audio.

Example Where is the car? O est la voiture?

Its in the parking lot. Elle est au parking

Q.10 Where is the railway station? ____________________________

Its next to the national museum. ____________________________

Q.11 Where is the pencil? ____________________________

The pencil is in the middle of the table

________________________________

Q.12 Where is the apple? ____________________________

The apple is in the kitchen ____________________________

Q.13 How much is the rye bread? ____________________________

It costs three euros ____________________________

Q.14 Where is the chocolate? ____________________________

Its in the fridge behind the milk ____________________________

Q.15 Where is the box of toys? ____________________________

On the shelf, next to the books ____________________________

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Under or Over? Look at the scene on the following page and take some time to look at where things are in relation to one another. Then complete the following statements in French by choosing the appropriate answer from the 2 options given on the right of each statement. Finally, translate the sentence into English in the space provided.

Example Lglise est _________du thtre. droite ou cot?

Leglise est a droite du theatre.

The church is to the right of the theatre

Q.16 La piscine est _____ le toit! sur ou sous? __________________________________________________________________

Q.17 La voiture de police est gar _________ lhtel dans ou devant? __________________________________________________________________

Q.18 Le mtro est _______ la chausse. sous ou derrire? __________________________________________________________________

Q.19 En France, cest conduite _______ gauche ou droite? __________________________________________________________________

Q.20 La tlvision est ______ lappartement dans ou sur? __________________________________________________________________

Q.21 Lhomme court ________son camion aprs ou au milieu? __________________________________________________________________

Q.22 Lcole est ____ _____ de lglise par dessus ou vis vis? __________________________________________________________________

Q.23 Le caf est ____ ____ de lcole au centre ou vis vis? __________________________________________________________________

Q.24 La croix de lglise est__ _____. au bas out en haut? __________________________________________________________________

Q.25 Le mcanicien est _______ la voiture. cot de ou sous? __________________________________________________________________

Q.26 Le thtre est ___ _______ du village sur ou au centre? __________________________________________________________________

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Les Rponses

Word Match A.1 En haut At the top Au milieu In the middle

Au bas At the bottom

Au centre At the centre

Par l That way

cot de Next to

L There

Ici Here

L bas Over there

Prs de Near

Derrire Behind

Par dessus On top of

Sur On

Devant In front of

Place the Accent! A.2 Il a trois frres He has three brothers A.3 Elle a trs faim She is very hungry A.4 Cest trois heures Its at three oclock A.5 Cest gauche Its on the left A.6 Elle est Paris She is in Paris A.7 Il arrive quatre heures He arrives at 4 oclock A.8 Cest combien sil vous plait? Its at how much please? A.9 propos, cest quand le concert? By the way, when is the

concert?

Where is it? A.10 O es la gare de chemin de fer?

Cest cot du muse national

A.11 O est le crayon? Le crayon est au milieu de la table

A.12 O est la pomme?

La pomme est dans la cuisine

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A.13 Cest combien le pain de seigle? Cest 3 euros.

A.14 O est le chocolat? Cest dans le rfrigrateur derrire le lait

A.15 O est la boite de jeux? Sur ltagre, cot des livres

Under or Over? A.16 La piscine est sur le tot!

The swimming pool is on the roof.

A.17 La voiture est gar devant lhtel. The car is parked in front of the hotel.

A.18 Le mtro est sous la chausse.

The underground is under the road.

A.19 En France, cest conduite gauche. In France, its left hand drive.

A.20 La tlvision est dans lappartement

The television is in the apartment.

A.21 Lhomme cour aprs son camion. The man runs after his truck.

A.22 Lcole est vis a vis de lglise. The school is opposite the church.

A.23 Le caf est vis de lcole. The caf is opposite the school.

A.24 La croix de lglise est en haut. The church cross is at the top.

A.25 Le mcanicien est sous la voiture. The mechanic is under the car.

A.26 Le thtre est au centre du village. The theatre is in the centre of the village.

La Fin