Lundi matin, le roi ... (French Song to Learn the Days of the Week + words in IPA)

The days of the week in French. Notice how only English uses capital letters (Monday = lundi).

lundi	mardi	mercredi	jeudi	vendredi	samedi	dimanche
lε̃di	mɑʁdi	mεʁkʁədi	ʒødi	vɑ̃dʁədi	samdi	dimɑ̃ʃ
Mon.	Tue.	Wed.	Thu.	Fri.	Sat.	Sun.

You can learn the days of the week in French by singing this children's song:

lε̃di matε̃,	[On] Monday morning	Lundi matin,
lə ʁwɑ, la ʁεn	The king, the queen	Le roi, sa femme
e lə pti pʁε̃sə	And the young prince	et le p’tit prince
so͂ vəny ʃe mwa	Came to my house	Sont venus chez moi,
puʁ mə sεʁe la pε̃sə	To shake my hand	pour me serrer la pince.
kɔm ʒetε paʁti,	Since I was gone	Comme j’étais parti,
lə pti pʁε̃sεs a di	The young prince said	Le p’tit prince a dit :
pɥiskə sε tε̃si	Because of this	“Puisque c’est ainsi
nu ʁəvjε̃dʁo͂ mɑʁdi !"	We'll return on Tuesday	nous reviendrons mardi.”

 

French Cheese; I (DON'T) like it = NE ... PAS

France is famous for its cheeses.In fact, there are more than 300 different kinds of cheese in this country. You can see some pictures here:

Why is cheese called "fromage?" Because cheese is made by pouring milk into a mold (also called a form (form ~ from + -age  fromage) pressing it to take out water. In Italian, the word fromage is formaggio.

Talking about cheese:

1 J'aime bien ce fromage

   /ʒɛm bjɛ͂ sə fʁɔmaʒ/

     I like this cheese

2 Je n'aime pas ce fromage

    /ʒə nɛm pa sə fʁɔmaʒ.

    I don't like this cheese

Le Corbeau et le Renard (IPA, French phonetics)

『烏鴉與狐狸』是法國詩人 Jean de la Fontaine 寫的寓言詩。其中最有名的一句是：Tout flatteur vit aux dépens de celui qui l'écoute. （總要有人愛聽，拍馬屁者才活得成）

Le Corbeau et le Renard is a famous French poem about a crow (un corbeau) and a fox (un renard). The crow is sitting in a tree, holding a piece of cheese in its mouth. The fox praises the crow so much that the crow opens its mouth and drops the cheese. The fox explains that this was a trick: you shouldn't trust people who flatter you. Jean de la Fontaine was a French poet who lived from 1621 to 1695. Here are several versions of his poem.

1. First, a slow version, with English and French side by side

 

Here are the words to Le Corbeau et le Renard in phonetic script (IPA):

ʒɑ̃ də la fo͂tεn (1621-1695)

lə kɔʁbo e lə ʁənaʁ

mεtʁə kɔʁbo  sy ʁɛ͂ naʁbʁə pεʁʃe

tənε tɑ̃ so͂ bεk  ɛ͂ fʁɔmaʒ.

mεtʁə ʁənaʁ paʁ lodœʁ aleʃe

lɥi tε̃ ta pø pʁε sə lɑ̃gaʒ

e bo͂ʒuʁ məsjø dy kɔʁbo

kə vu zεtə ʒɔli  kə vu mə sɑ̃ble bo

sɑ̃ mɑ̃tiʁ si vɔtʁə ʁamaʒ

sə ʁapɔʁ ta vɔtʁə plymaʒ

vu zεtə lə feniks de zotə də se bwa.

a se mo lə kɔʁbo nə sə sɑ̃ pɑ də ʒwa

e puʁ mo͂tʁe sa bεlə vwa

il uv ʁɛ͂ laʁʒə bεk lεs to͂be sa pʁwɑ

lə ʁənaʁ sɑ̃ sεzi e di mo͂ bo͂ məsjø

apʁəne kə tu flatœʁ

vi to depɑ̃ də səlɥi ki lekutə

sεtə ləso͂ vo bjε̃ ɛ͂ fʁɔmaʒ, sɑ̃ dut

lə kɔʁbo o͂tø e ko͂fy

ʒyʁa mε zɛ͂ pø taʁ ko͂ nə li pʁɑ̃dʁε ply

  
Another slow French version is available here (Text, MP3, French and English explanation).

 The English text and explanation appear below the French:

2. Here is an excellent version of Le Corbeau et le Renard recited in beautiful French by Martin Ploderer:

Sur le Pont d'Avignon lyrics in phonetic script (IPA), Chinese and English

Chinese and English translations appear below

syʁ lə po͂ da vi ɲo͂

o͂ ni dɑ͂ sə o͂ ni dɑ͂ sə

syʁ lə po͂ da vi ɲo͂

o͂ ni dɑ͂ sə tu sɑ͂ ʁo͂

le bɛl dam fo͂ kɔm sa

e pɥi ɑ͂ kɔʁ kɔm sa

le bo məsjø fo͂ kɔm sa

e pɥi ɑ͂ kɔʁ kɔm sa

Frère Jacques lyrics in phonetic script (IPA), Chinese and English

Frère Jacques is a simple French song that is known in many countries. It is easy for beginners to learn. Chinese and English translations appear below

fʁɛ ʁə ʒa kə

fʁɛ ʁə ʒa kə

dɔʁ me vu

dɔʁ me vu

sɔ ne le ma ti nə

sɔ ne le ma ti nə

din dɛ͂ do͂

din dɛ͂ do͂

French Name Choices

#1) Please read the annotated list of men's names or the annotated list of women's names.

#2) Check your classmates' choices here.

#3) Please choose a unique name for yourself. Women's names are marked F (feminin) and men's names are marked M (masculin). Here is the complete list of 143 names to choose from. 

#4) After you choose a name, click Submit. Your name will be added to the list of classmates' choices, so nobody else will choose your name. If you don't see your name on the list (check #2), wait one or two minutes and press F5.

 

Pronunciation of Popular French Names (women)

Given Name

IPA

English         version

Some Famous People

Agnès	aɲɛs	Agnes	[FASHION DESIGNER] agnès b.
Aimée	εme	Amy
Alexandra	alɛksɑ͂dʁa		[EXPLORER] Alexandra David-Néel visited Tibet in disguise
Alice	alis	Alice
Amélie	ameli	Amelia	[MOVIE TITLE] Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain 艾蜜莉的異想世界
Anne	an	Ann
Antoinette	ɑ͂twanɛt	Antoinette	Marie Antoinette, last queen of France, supposedly said: "Let them eat cake" 瑪麗·安東娃妮特
Aurélie	ɔʁeli
Bernadette	bɛʁnadɛt
Brigitte	bʁiʒit	Bridget	[ACTRESS] Brigitte Bardot 碧姬·芭杜
Capucine	kapysin		Nasturtium: a kind of flower
Caroline	kaʁɔlin	Caroline
Catherine	katʁin	Catherine	[ACTRESS] Catherine Deneuve 凱撒琳·丹尼芙
Cécile	sesil	Cecilia
Céline, Célina	selin		[SINGER] Céline Dion
Chantal	ʃɑ͂tal
Charlotte	ʃaʁlɔt	Charlotte	Also a type of dessert
Christiane	kʁistjan
Christine	kʁistin	Christine
Claire	klɛʁ	Claire
Claudine	klodin	Claudia
Colette	kɔlɛt		[AUTHOR] Colette
Danielle	daɲɛl	Danielle
Diane	djan	Diane
Dorothée	dɔʁɔte	Dorothy	[SINGER] Dorothée
Édith	edit	Edith	[SINGER] Édith Piaf
Éléonore	eleɔnɔʁ	Eleanor
Élise	eliz	Elisa
Émilie	emili	Emily
Emmanuelle	emaɲɥɛl	Emmanuelle
Françoise	fʁɑ͂swaz	Frances
Geneviève	ʒənvjɛv		Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris
Hélène	elɛn	Helen, Ellen
Isabelle	izabεl	Isabel
Jacqueline	ʒaklin	Jacqueline	Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
Jeanne	ʒan	Joan	Joan of Arc 聖女貞德
Joséphine	ʒozefin	Josephine	Joséphine de Beauharnais, first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte
Josette	ʒozɛt
Julie	ʒyli	Julie
Juliette	ʒyljɛt	Juliet	[SINGER] Juliette Gréco
Louise	lwiz	Louise
Madeleine	madlεn	Madeline	A madeleine is a small cake named after a woman called Madeleine
Manon	mano͂
Marcelle	maʁsɛl
Marguerite	maʁgəʁit	Margaret	Daisy: a kind of flower
Marianne	maʁjan		A woman who represents France
Marie	maʁi	Mary	Marie Curie 居禮夫人
Martine	maʁtin
Maryse	maʁiz
Michèle	miʃɛl	Michelle
Monique	mɔnik	Monica
Nathalie	natali	Nathalie
Nicole	nikɔl	Nicole
Noémi	nɔemi	Naomi	A name from the Bible
Odette	odɛt
Olivie	ɔlivi	Olivia
Paulette	polεt
Renée	ʁəne	Renee
Sabine	sabin
Simone	simɔn		[AUTHOR] Simone de Beauvoir
Sophie	sɔfi	Sophia
Stéphanie	stefani	Stephanie
Suzanne	syzan	Susan
Sylvie	silvi	Sylvia	[SINGER] Sylvie Vartan
Thérèse	teʁɛz	Theresa
Valentine	valɑ͂tin	Valentina	Valentine is a song by Maurice Chevalier
Valérie	valeʁi	Valerie
Véronique	veʁɔnik	Veronica
Virginie	viʁʒini	Virginia
Zoé	zoe	Zoe