Let's Watch
Communities in France are a little different than in the United States. People tend to live in town, whether that is in an apartment, townhome, or house. Certainly, suburbs exist, but they are quite different from a traditional, sprawling American suburbs with large houses and plots of land. Instead, suburbs in France often take on the same structure as a city or town, with many amenities. Whereas you might see only homes in a U.S. suburb, in France you would see a bakery, grocery store, park, school, and other shops and conveniences.
What can you do in your community? Watch the video and see if there are similarities between where you live and the French community shown.
Bonjour! Aujourd’hui, nous allons parler des lieux et des activités à faire dans notre communauté.
Today we are going to talk about places and things to do in our community.
Normally, one goes to a place to do a particular activity.
For example:
Je vais à la boulangerie pour acheter une baguette.
Nous allons au musée pour regarder une exhibition.
What do you see in the image? Correct:
Je vais à la boulangerie.
In order to go to a place, you need to use the verb
aller and the preposition à, which
you studied in your last few lessons.
Remember: je vais à l’école for example.
Remember, aller is an irregular verb.
For example:
Tu vas à la fromagerie pour acheter du fromage.
Il va au café pour boire du café.
What do you see in the image? That’s right: C’est une fromagerie.
You can also say:
Vous allez au terrain de foot pour jouer au foot.
Elles vont au centre commercial pour faire du shopping.
Once you go to a place, you can do the specific things you would do in
that place.
For example:
Je joue au football au terrain de foot.
Tu essaies un café au restaurant.
You can also talk to your different shopkeepers.
Vous parlez avec M. le Boulanger et Mme la Boulangère.
Ils discutent avec M. le Pâtissier et Mme la Pâtissière.
One can also purchase things such as:
Tu achètes un billet au musée.
Elle achète des choses au centre.
There are other activities you can do as well. For instance:
Nous regardons une exhibition au musée.
Je prie à l’église.
There are also different ways to get to a place.
For example:
Marie va à l’école à vélo.
Manu va au Louvre à pied.
What do you see in the image?
That’s right, ils vont à l’école en vélo
Some other ways to get around might be:
Sophie et Marc vont au centre en bus.
Nous allons au centre en métro.
What do you see in the image? Il est au métro.
Are you ready to talk about your community; the activities you can do
there and how to get around? Let’s get started in
la communauté.
Question
What are some structures you might find in a community?
You might find une église, une pâtisserie, une boulangerie, un magasin, un terrain, and many other things.
Are you ready to talk about your community now, or would you like to review the video? Remember, you can watch the video as many times as you wish. When you’re ready, click to the next screen.
