88 - How to Ask For & Give Directions in French (Part I)

 
 

In this episode, part I, you're going to learn how to ask for directions, and in next week's episode, part II, you're going to learn how to give directions in French. 🧭

If you’d prefer to listen on the go, listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Links & Cheat Sheet

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!

Bonjour à tous! 🧡

Welcome back to the French Made Easy Podcast. This is episode number 88, numéro 88!

I've divided this lesson called How to Ask for & Give Directions in French into 2 parts. 

In this episode, part I, you're going to learn how to ask for directions, and in next week's episode, part II, you're going to learn how to give directions in French. 

If you're new here, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet in front of you so you can see the words while listening to the lesson. The download link is in the episode notes on the podcast platform you're listening to. After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy library to download your lesson's exercises. It's free.

Now just another quick note, for this episode, it's best if you know how to ask simple questions in French. So I recommend you first listen to episodes number #75 & #76, where I'll teach you the three main methods to ask questions in French.

In this lesson, we're going to use method #2, with "est-ce que." That seems to be the method that most students prefer to use! And again, if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's all good; please go back to episodes 75 & 76. 

Now, there are many ways to ask for directions in French, but at this stage of your learning, we're going to keep it simple, and we will simply focus on three easy and polite ways to ask.

So let's take the scenario where you're on the street, asking a stranger where is the train station is, for example.

First, we're going to start by grabbing the stranger's attention by saying: 

"Bonjour, excusez-moi." (Hello, excuse me.)

Way #1: 

"Bonjour, excusez-moi. Est-ce que vous savez où est la gare, s'il vous plaît ?" (Hello, excuse me. Do you know where the train station is, please?)

I like to ask whether or not they actually know the way by saying "est-ce que vous savez ?" (do you know?) but you can also just say: 

"Bonjour, excusez-moi. Où est la gare, s'il vous plaît ?" (Hello, excuse me. Where the train station is, please?)

Short and to the point. 

Way #2: 

"Bonjour, excusez-moi. Est-ce que vous pouvez m'indiquer le chemin pour aller à la gare, s'il vous plaît ?" (Can you show me the way to go to the station please?")

Way #3: 

"Bonjour, excusez-moi, je cherche la gare. Est-ce que vous pouvez m'aider, s'il vous plaît ?" (Hello, excuse me, I'm looking for the train station. Can you help me, please?)

So there you have them, three simple ways to ask for directions in French. And that's now the end of today's episode; I hope you enjoyed it! I'll chat with you next week for part II. 

Merci beaucoup, et à bientôt. 💋

 
Mathilde Kien3 Comments