Bilan 1 : Faire connaissance
Chapter Objectives
This chapter introduces no new grammar. By the end of it, you will be able to:
- Integrate practiced greetings, name formulas, origin, age, and family information into one connected first-meeting exchange.
- Select correctly between the practiced forms of être and avoir covered in Chapters 1–4.
- Ask and answer using the taught fixed questions, including d'où es-tu ? / d'où êtes-vous ? and quel âge as-tu ?
- Maintain either tu or vous consistently within a single supplied interaction, and recognize that plural vous is not the same as formal singular vous.
- Use mon, ma, and mes accurately to introduce a family member or friend with voici.
- Select one or two practiced adjective forms to describe a person, matching gender correctly.
- Complete a short, supported personal profile using a supplied sentence frame.
- Perform a short first-meeting exchange using only Unit I material, with the reference tables available for consultation.
Communication Scenario
Amina and Thomas meet a new student, Léa, at a café. The three of them get to know one another: they greet each other, introduce themselves, ask where everyone is from, and talk about family. This chapter asks you to combine everything from Chapters 1 through 4 into one connected set of tasks, rather than to learn anything new.
- Every task in this chapter uses vocabulary and grammar introduced in Chapters 1–4, supported by the Unit I Assessment Reference below for place names, nationalities, and numbers.
- Pay attention to keeping tu or vous appropriate and consistent within the interaction, while selecting the correct practiced verb for each communicative function.
Cumulative Vocabulary Review
No new productive vocabulary is introduced in this chapter. The table below reorganizes the productive forms from Chapters 1–4 by communicative function. Where a form was only ever practiced in a fixed question, or was reference-only, that status is marked clearly rather than grouped in with fully productive material.
| Function | Key French forms | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting and leave-taking | bonjour, salut, comment allez-vous ?, comment vas-tu ?, au revoir, à bientôt | Productive (Ch. 1) |
| Giving your name | je m'appelle..., comment tu t'appelles ?, comment vous appelez-vous ? | Productive fixed formulas (Ch. 1) |
| Introducing another person | voici, c'est | Productive (Ch. 1, 4) |
| Origin | d'où es-tu ?, d'où êtes-vous ?, je viens de/du/des... | Productive (Ch. 3) |
| Residence | j'habite à/en/au/aux... | Productive (Ch. 3) |
| Family vocabulary | le père, la mère, le frère, la sœur, un ami / une amie | Productive (Ch. 4) |
| Age | avoir + number + ans, quel âge as-tu ? | Productive (Ch. 4) |
| Possessive: mon/ma/mes | mon frère, ma sœur, mes parents | Productive (Ch. 4) |
| Possessive: ton/ta/tes | ton frère, ta sœur | Supported only in supplied questions (Ch. 4) |
| Possessive: son/sa/ses | son frère, sa sœur | Reference/recognition only — not assessed here |
| Description | grand/grande, petit/petite, sympathique, jeune | Productive (Ch. 3, 4) |
Reference-only and question-supported forms are shown here for transparency, but only the items marked "Productive" are required for independent production in this chapter's tasks.
Unit I Assessment Reference
Use this box during every task in this chapter. No task in this chapter requires a place name or number that is not listed here.
| Category | Supported items |
|---|---|
| Countries | la France, le Canada, le Sénégal, les États-Unis |
| Cities | Paris, Montréal, Dakar |
| Nationalities | français/française, canadien/canadienne, sénégalais/sénégalaise, américain/américaine |
| Ages | quinze, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt, vingt et un |
Pronunciation Review
This chapter reviews and connects pronunciation features from Chapters 1–4 rather than introducing a new one.
The main productive liaison patterns assessed here are vous êtes and vous avez. Other plural liaison forms, such as nous avons or ils ont, may appear in listening for recognition only; they are not independent production requirements in this chapter.
Listen for and practice producing:
- Liaison in vous êtes and vous avez.
- Elision in je m'appelle, j'ai, and j'habite, where je loses its vowel before another vowel sound.
- Silent final consonants made audible by feminine agreement, as in grand versus grande, and français versus française.
Language Focus: Bringing the Systems Together
Purpose: use greetings, name formulas, origin, age, family, and description together in one realistic exchange, selecting correctly among the forms already practiced.
5.1 Être and avoir side by side
By this point you have practiced specific uses of two irregular verbs that do different jobs. In the Unit I patterns assessed here, use avoir for age and for sentences such as j'ai un frère. Use être for the practiced patterns of student identity, nationality, and description. This is not a claim that one verb always covers a whole category in French generally — it describes only the patterns this course has practiced so far.
| Use | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Nationality or student identity | être | Je suis étudiante. Je suis canadienne. |
| Description with a practiced adjective | être | Mon frère est grand. |
| Possession or family relationship | avoir | J'ai un frère. |
| Age | avoir | Elle a vingt ans. |
5.2 Register within one exchange
5.3 Asking with the taught fixed questions
This chapter recycles the question strategies and fixed questions introduced so far: intonation questions, and the taught question-word patterns from Chapters 1, 3, and 4. Combining them lets you build a complete first exchange with a new person, using questions you have already practiced rather than newly generated ones.
- Tu es étudiante ? Are you a student? (intonation question)
- D'où es-tu ? Where are you from? (taught fixed question)
- Quel âge as-tu ? How old are you? (taught fixed question)
Model Dialogue: Au café, entre amis
Context: Amina and Thomas meet Léa, a new student, at a café for the first time.
Notice that Léa uses être for description (elle est sympathique) and avoir for family and age (j'ai une sœur, elle a dix-huit ans, j'ai vingt ans) within the same short exchange, and that every place name and number used appears in the Unit I Assessment Reference above.
Listening Practice
If no audio recording is available, ask a partner, instructor, or text-to-speech tool to read the script below aloud, or read it aloud to yourself slowly.
- Where is Farid from, and where does he live?
- How old is Farid?
- Who is in his family?
- How old is his sister, and what is she like?
Speaking Practice
Pratique contrôlée — Controlled practice: your own profile
Say five sentences aloud, in this order, using the Unit I Assessment Reference as needed: (1) say your name using the taught formula; (2) say where you are from; (3) state your age; (4) introduce one family member or friend with voici; (5) describe that person with one practiced adjective.
Tâche communicative — Communicative task: meet someone new
With a partner, act out a first meeting using this fixed exchange frame: greet each other and give your names; ask d'où es-tu ? and answer; ask quel âge as-tu ? and answer; introduce one family member or friend with voici and one adjective; say goodbye. Use tu throughout, since you are meeting as peers, and consult the reference tables as needed.
Pratique individuelle — Solo alternative
Record yourself playing both roles of the fixed exchange frame above: greetings, names, origin, age, one family member with voici and one adjective, and a leave-taking.
Reading Practice
Une nouvelle amie — A new friend
Bonjour ! Je m'appelle Camille. Je viens du Canada. J'habite à Montréal. J'ai vingt ans. Voici mon père, Marc. Il est grand et sympathique. Voici ma mère, Sophie. Elle est petite. J'ai un frère, Hugo. Il a dix-huit ans. Il est jeune.
Tâche de lecture — Reading task:
- Where is Camille from, and where does she live?
- How old is Camille?
- Name each family member mentioned.
- Match one adjective to each described person.
- Find one example of mon and one example of ma in the passage.
Writing Workshop
Complete the following linked writing tasks in order. This workshop combines material from Chapters 1–4 into a single short connected profile.
Tâche 1 — Complete the sentences: For each blank below, decide whether être or avoir is required, then supply the correct conjugated form. Every sentence uses only productive forms.
Tâche 2 — Connected profile: Write a short personal profile (five to seven short sentences) using the supplied frame below. Every required function has a model; you may substitute your own details using only items from the Unit I Assessment Reference.
- Complete the être/avoir sentences first. Confirm each verb choice against the Language Focus table above.
- Review the six-part sentence frame. Identify which items from the Unit I Assessment Reference you will use.
- Draft your profile. Follow the frame in order, keeping every verb form, article, and adjective within Chapters 1–4.
- Read your profile aloud once. Listen for the liaison and elision patterns from the Pronunciation Review.
- Check every être and avoir form against the Language Focus table. Correct any verb that does not match its practiced function.
Liste de révision — Editing checklist:
- I used a practiced form of être.
- I used a practiced form of avoir.
- I used a taught origin or residence formula.
- I used mon, ma, or mes to introduce a person.
- I selected an adjective from the practiced table.
- I used voici to introduce another person.
- I kept tu or vous consistent throughout.
- I checked every place name and number against the Unit I Assessment Reference.
Culture and Communication
A first conversation between new acquaintances in French, as in many languages, typically moves through a predictable sequence: greeting, name, a bit of personal background such as origin, and a polite leave-taking. Recognizing this pattern helps learners anticipate what information is likely to come next in a real exchange.
People may describe birthplace, residence, nationality, family background, and language in different ways, and these categories should not be assumed from one another. In this unit, learners practice asking and answering only the information a speaker chooses to share.
Common Mistakes
Error: Je suis vingt ans.
Correction: J'ai vingt ans. In the Unit I patterns assessed here, use avoir for age.
Error: J'ai du Canada.
Correction: Je viens du Canada. Use the practiced form of venir for origin, habiter for residence, and selected forms of être for nationality and description: Je viens du Canada. (origin) · J'habite au Canada. (residence) · Je suis canadienne. (nationality) · Je suis sympathique. (description).
Error: mon sœur
Correction: ma sœur. Check the possessive against the noun's gender: mon frère, but ma sœur.
Error: ma sœur est grand
Correction: ma sœur est grande. The adjective must agree with the person it describes.
Chapter Review
Partie A — Compréhension (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- Where is Léa from, and where does she live?
- How old is Léa, and how old is her sister?
Partie B — Écriture (Writing)
1. Complete the sentence with the correct form of être or avoir: Elle ______ quinze ans.
2. Write one sentence introducing a friend with voici, followed by one separate descriptive sentence. Example pattern: Voici mon ami Karim. Il est sympathique.
Partie C — Lecture (Reading)
1. Return to "Une nouvelle amie," and name Camille's family members with their ages or descriptions.
Partie D — Oral (Speaking)
1. With a partner, use the supplied first-meeting frame from the Speaking Practice section to greet each other, ask each other's origin and age, and about family, then say goodbye, using tu throughout.
Practical Performance Task
Chapter 5 Practical Check — Unit I Assessment
Faire connaissance : A Complete First Exchange
Complete the following connected tasks, in order, treating them as one integrated assessment of Unit I. The Unit I Assessment Reference and Language Focus tables may be consulted throughout.
- Read the model dialogue and "Une nouvelle amie." Answer the comprehension questions above before continuing.
- Listen to the Farid script and answer the listening questions.
- Act out or record the supplied first-meeting exchange with a partner. Include a greeting, names, origin, age, one family member or friend introduced with voici, one description, and a closing. Use tu throughout, following the supplied first-meeting frame.
- Complete the être/avoir sentences from the Writing Workshop. Confirm each verb choice.
- Write your five-to-seven-sentence personal profile using the supplied frame. Apply the editing checklist from the Writing Workshop.
- Read your profile aloud once. Listen for liaison, elision, and adjective agreement.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Communicative completeness | The learner includes a greeting, name, origin or residence, age, one family member or friend, one description, and a closing. |
| Selected verb use | The learner selects correctly among the practiced forms of être, avoir, and habiter covered in Chapters 1–4, and uses the practiced je viens de/du/des formula for origin. |
| Question use | The learner uses the supplied Unit I questions rather than generating unrestricted new question structures. |
| Register | The learner uses tu consistently throughout the supplied peer interaction. |
| Family identification | The learner uses mon, ma, or mes accurately with voici. |
| Description | The learner selects a practiced adjective form and matches gender correctly. |
| Pronunciation | The learner demonstrates intelligible production of the practiced liaison and elision patterns and adjective gender contrasts. |
This checkpoint assesses only forms productively taught in Chapters 1–4, using only the place names and numbers listed in the Unit I Assessment Reference. It does not assess object pronouns, independent son/sa/ses, third-person reflexive forms, or reference-only verb forms such as nous avons or ils ont.
Answer Key
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- Léa is from France; she lives in Paris.
- Léa is twenty; her sister is eighteen.
Listening
- Farid is from Canada; he lives in Montréal.
- Farid is twenty years old.
- His family includes one sister.
- His sister is eighteen years old and is described as short (petite) and nice (sympathique).
Writing — Chapter Review
- a (Elle a quinze ans.)
- Sample answer: Voici mon ami Karim. Il est sympathique. Other accurate combinations using voici plus a separate descriptive sentence are acceptable.
Writing Workshop — Complete with être or avoir
- suis (Je suis canadienne.)
- ai (J'ai vingt ans.)
- est (Elle est sympathique.)
- avez (Vous avez des frères ou des sœurs ?)
- est (Mon père est grand.)
Reading
- Camille is from Canada; she lives in Montréal.
- Camille is twenty years old.
- Her father, Marc; her mother, Sophie; her brother, Hugo.
- Marc: grand et sympathique; Sophie: petite; Hugo: jeune.
- mon appears in mon père; ma appears in ma mère.
Chapter Review — Reading
Camille's father is Marc; he is tall and nice. Her mother is Sophie; she is short. Her brother is Hugo; he is eighteen and young.
Personal Profile — Model Response
Bonjour ! Je m'appelle Amina. Je viens du Sénégal. J'habite au Canada. J'ai vingt ans. Voici mon frère. Il est grand et sympathique. À bientôt !
Other profiles that follow the six-part frame, use only forms from the Unit I Assessment Reference, and maintain accurate agreement are equally acceptable.
Looking Ahead
Ce que vous savez déjà faire — What you can do now
You can complete a short supported first-meeting exchange using practiced greetings, name formulas, origin and residence expressions, selected forms of être and avoir, mon/ma/mes, supported ages, and a small set of descriptive adjectives. This completes Unit I: Premiers contacts.