BIENVENUE !: BIENVENUE !


Class Material: Class Material


On campus resources: On campus resources French Library: Language Center (Room 216)   French TV Channel  TV5  on AIT Network: ait.ac.th/wms   French Mailing List: AIT Francophones Mailing list (registration)   French on the Internet (our selection) languages.ait.ac.th/french/french/RESOURCESonweb.htm


WHY BOTHER: WHY BOTHER LEARNING FRENCH ? ? ? ?


Slide5: French is an official language in major international organizations : UN – EU - Olympic Commitee…


Slide6: French is spoken in many countries


French companies: French companies


Slide8: There’s one more good reason why you should learn French. A reason you probably never thought about before...


Slide9: Improve your knowledge of ENGLISH Language! How can it be?


Let’s go back in time to find out: Let’s go back in time to find out


Indo-european languages: Indo-european languages South-Asia Central Asia


Language groups in today’s worldlight green = Indo-European group: Language groups in today’s world light green = Indo-European group


Indo-European split: Indo-European split Germanic Celtic Italic Greek Slavic Iranian Sanskrit West (Centum) East (Satem) MOTHER TONGUE


Centum group (Western) : Centum group (Western) GERMANIC: German, Dutch, Scandinavian and English ITALIC: Latin and Romance languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian CELTIC: Irish, Gaelic, Breton (nearly extinguished) GREEK: Ancient & Modern Greek


Germanic languages (North): Germanic languages (North) English German Dutch Danish Swedish Norwegian


Romance languages (South)Roman empire: Romance languages (South) Roman empire From LATIN French Italian Spanish Portuguese Romanian


Remaining Celtic nations today: Remaining Celtic nations today Ireland Brittany Scotland Wales France Cornwall


Western Europe North-South Split: Western Europe North-South Split - Language split Human split Climate split Culture split


French Vs English: French Vs English Key historical facts and effects on languages


Slide20: 2 000 years ago, the Romans invaded Gaul (France) and ruled for 500 years. The native Celtic language disappeared and was replaced by a local form of LATIN.


The Roman Empire1st BC – 5th : The Roman Empire 1st BC – 5th Germanic tribes


Slide22: In the 5th century, the Franks a German tribe from the North East of Europe invaded Roman Gaul and created a new kingdom FRANCE. Lot’s of Germanic vocabulary was introduced but the language remained Latin. At the same time, other German tribes (Angles & Saxons) invaded Britain, occupied then by the Celts, and created ENGLAND. The Kingdom of the Franks


Slide23: In 1066 the Duke of Normandy William the Conqueror invaded England. Old French became England official language for 2 centuries. Old English language merged then with Old French. The Normans Invasion


Slide24: When French was the language of the rich and powerful for centuries, English remained the language of the street and was thus overlooked by grammarians. As a consequence, English went through a great process of simplification. English is unique in Europe for it has -no genders for nouns -no complex declension for nouns and verbs, -no cases (accusative, dative...) The second BIG consequence


Slide25: LATIN and GREEK have influenced both French & English continuously being the languages of science, politics, religion ... photography / telephone / acquaculture phenomena /biology /democraty /centimeter cardiovascular/homonym/diagram/economy hybrid/nanotechnology/hydrogen... Through time and up to now...


English is often called an hybrid language (half Germanic/half Latin): English is often called an hybrid language (half Germanic/half Latin) It has accumulated lot’s of vocabulary from both worlds and is thus a very rich language.


French words in the English language: French words in the English language


English & Latinate homonymeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Germanic_and_Latinate_equivalents : English & Latinate homonymes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Germanic_and_Latinate_equivalents


English is still a Germanic language: English is still a Germanic language


language: language Useful generalities for language learners And review of grammar terms


Like many other languages, French is composed of:: Like many other languages, French is composed of:


Grammatical words include…: Grammatical words include… Determiners (articles – possessive…) specify the noun: the - a - some - one - my - your - our - his - this – these – several... Pronouns replace the noun: I - she - they - it - me - you - them - us - her - him – that Prepositions link nouns together or to the verb: to - at - of - from – in - with – for – on – under – down - against – without... conjonctions link sentences together: and - or - but / that – when – if – because – though - unless …


Vocabulary words includes…: Vocabulary words includes… Nouns: table – football – region - mother... Adjectives: great – lazy – small – easy ... Verbs: to go – to do – to sleep – to learn ... Adverbs: well – often – quickly – always ...