LESSON NOTES

Lower Intermediate S2 #5
Would You Like To Live in a French
Share House?

CONTENTS
2 French
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
5 Grammar
8 Cultural Insight

# 5
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 FRENCH

1. Charlène : Je suis à la recherche d’un appartement, mais une maison en

colocation me conviendra.

2. Agent Immobilier : J’ai un appartement avec deux chambres et une cuisine équipée,
pour cinq cent euros mensuels.

3. Charlène : Ce n’est pas très cher, mais je vais devoir me serrer la ceinture.

4. Agent Immobilier : On peut vous proposer une colocation en maison dont le loyer est
de trois cent cinquante euros.

5. Charlène : Oh, c’est intéressant. Puis-je la visiter ?

6. Agent Immobilier : Bien évidemment, quand cela vous conviendrait-il ?

7. Charlène : Vendredi matin sera très bien.

ENGLISH

1. Charlène: I’m looking for an apartment, but a shared house could suit me.

2. Real estate: There's an apartment with two rooms and a kitchen for five
hundred euros per month.

3. Charlène: It's not really expensive, but I will have to tighten my belt.

4. Real estate: We can propose a shared house to you that is three hundred and
fifty euros a month.

5. Charlène: Oh, that's interesting. May I visit it?

6. Real estate: Of course. When will suit you?

CONT'D OVER

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7. Charlène: Friday morning would be fine.

VOCABULARY

Fr e nc h English C lass Ge nde r

proposer to propose verb NA

être à la recherche de to look for verb NA

se serrer la ceinture to tighten one's belt expression NA

flat-sharing, house-
colocation sharing noun feminine

convenir to suit verb NA

loyer rent noun masculine

mensuel monthly adjective NA

intéressant interesting adjective masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

La banque nous a pr oposé une car t e J e suis à la r echer che de la per le

de cr édit . r ar e !

"T he bank offered us a credit card." "I’m looking for a real gem."

J e ne gagne pas beaucoup d’ar gent , Les colocat ions sont t r ès r epandues
donc je dois me ser r er la ceint ur e en Fr ance.
t ous les mois.
"Shared houses are very common
I don’t earn so much money, so I in France."
have to tighten my belt every
month."

Est -ce que cet t e r obe noir e vous Mon loyer mensuel est de quat r e
conviendr ait ? cent s eur os, sans les char ges.

"Would this black dress suit you?" "My monthly rent is four hundred
euros, without maintenance
charges."

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J ’ai r et r anché t ous t es bonus C’est un livr e t r ès int ér essant .
mensuels pour fair e le calcul.
"It’s a very interesting book."
"I subtracted all your monthly
bonuses to make the calculation."

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

Se serrer la ceinture

Se serrer la ceinture is a common expression used to express a lack of money and some
sacrifices one must make to avoid personal bankruptcy. It literally refers to the fact that if you
don't have enough to eat, you'll lose weight and so be able to tighten your belt. Some
synonymous words:

Se priver - "To deprive oneself"

Faire ceinture - "To go without"

Colocation (coloc)

La colocation is the practice of sharing an apartment or a house with friends or strangers. It's
really common in France among students, but also among young people in their thirties who
are already working, because they live in an expensive city such as Paris.

In colloquial French, we simply say coloc to express the practice of flat-sharing:

1. Je suis en coloc avec...

"I share a flat/house with..."

It's also used to describe the people you share with:

1. J'ai trois colocs.

"I have three roommates."

Loyer (mensuel)

Loyer is a unique word, which translates as "rent." To express "to rent" in French, we use the
verb louer.

This is a tricky word, even for French people, since it means-in the context of real estate-both
"to rent" and "to rent out/to hire out."

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1. Je loue un appartement en centre-ville.
"I rent a dowtown apartment."

2. Je lui loue un appartement à bas prix.

"I rent him out an apartment at a low price."

GRAMMAR

T he Focus of t his Lesson Is Lear ning t he Pr onunciat ion of t he Fr ench Nasal

Sounds on, en, and in
Bien évidemment, quand cela vous conviendrait-il?
"Of cour se, when will suit you? "

The nasal sounds in French are probably one of the most difficult points to get, and they are
many. In this lesson, you will learn to pronounce ON, EN, and IN.

T he Sound on

The nasal vowel on can be written on or om. In phonetics, it is written [ɔ̃] and it is pronounced
[on]. This vowel is quite close to the "on" in "song."

Some common words in French with this sound:

Bonbon, chanson, pantalon, garçon, onze, salon...

For example:

1. J'aime les bonbons au citron.

"I like lemon candies."

2. Onze pompons étaient accrochés dans le salon.

"Eleven pompoms were hung in the living room."

Examples fr om t his dialogue:

1. Une maison en colocation me conviendra.

"A shared house would suit me."

2. Quand cela vous conviendrait-il?

"When will suit you?"

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Sample Sent ences

1. Les garçons sont partis prendre une leçon de natation.

"The boys have gone to the swimming pool to learn swimming."

2. Ce pantalon marron est de saison.

"These brown pants are seasonal."

T he Sound en

The nasal vowel en can be written en or em, an or am, aen or aon. In phonetics, it is written [ɑ̃]
and it is pronounced [ahn].

Some common words in French with this sound:

en/aem - Présent, enfant, entrée, envoyer, envie, entrevue, emmener

an/am - Volcan, sang, éléphant, blanc, roman, ampoule

aon - Paon ("peacock"), faon ("fawn"), taon ("deer fly"), Laon (a town)

aen - Caen (a town in Normandy)

For example:

1. Les paons blancs sont rares.

"White peacocks are rare."

2. Les enfants ont envie de voir les éléphants.

"The children want to see the elephants."

Examples fr om t his dialogue:

1. J'ai un appartement avec deux chambres et une cuisine équipée, pour cinq cent euros
mensuels.
"There's an apartment with two rooms and a kitchen for five hundred euros per
month."

2. Le loyer est de trois cent cinquante euros.

"The rent is three hundred and fifty euros a month."

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Sample Sent ences

1. Quand j'étais étudiante, je vivais en colocation avec deux Allemandes.

"When I was a student, I shared a flat with two German girls."

2. Apprendre une nouvelle langue est toujours une expérience intéressante.

"Learning a new language is always an interesting experience."

T he Sound in

The nasal vowel in can be written in or im, ain or aim, ein or eim, en or em, and finally un. In
phonetics, it is written [œ̃] or [ɛ̃] and it is pronounced [en].

in/im/yn/ym - lin, thym, câlin, matin, cinq, vin

ain/aim - daim, saint, pain, faim

ein/eim - rein, peintre, frein

en/em - européen, bien, rien

un - brun

For example:

1. Le thym est souvent utilisé dans la cuisine française.

"Thyme is often used in French cuisine."

2. Je n'ai pas faim, mais je mange plein de Daim.

"I'm not hungry, but I eat a lot of Daim." (Daim is the name of a chocolate-covered
caramel.)

Examples fr om t his dialogue:

1. Bien évidemment, quand cela vous conviendrait-il?

"Of course. When will suit you?"

2. Vendredi matin sera très bien.

"Friday morning would be fine."

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Sample Sent ences

1. Je ne gagne pas beaucoup d'argent, donc je dois me serrer la ceinture tous les mois.
"I don't earn very much money, so I have to tighten my belt every month."

Pr onunciat ion T ip

Be careful about the aon vowel combination. Paon, taon, Laon and faon are the only words
pronounced this way. For example, pharaon ("pharaoh") will be pronounced "fa-ra-on," and
lycaon (African wild dog) will be pronounced "li-ka-on."

A note about en: It's pronounced in when it follows a vowel, as written in the examples.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

La colocation ("Flat -shar ing"/"House-shar ing")

Flat-sharing is quite common in France for people under 30 years old, especially students.
It's also common in big cities where the rents are expensive. It can happen in a house or in an
apartment, and only the kitchen, bathroom, and living room are shared, but in some places,
the room is equipped with a fridge or a shower. It's usually two or three people sharing the
same apartment or house, rarely more, as you maybe saw in L'auberge espagnole! This is a
very good way to get to know different people from different countries!

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