French - Greetings Openings

Lesson 2 of 159

A friendly welcome scene for French learners: two people greeting at a doorway, illustrating lesson on greetings and openings.

Goal: Quick phrases to welcome people and start a chat

Free French lessons with guided practice, audio, and speaking support.

Welcome back — nice to see you on Lesson 2! This short lesson helps you open conversations smoothly with simple, natural phrases. Listen, repeat, and try them out aloud.

Level A1: In this lesson you'll practice six friendly opening phrases in French: welcoming someone, a weather comment, saying how you want to be called, asking if someone speaks English, greeting someone you know, and returning a question with “And you?”. CEFR-aligned and focused on real openings you'll use right away.

After this lesson you'll be able to:

  • Recognise and say common opening phrases (Level A1).
  • Use a simple weather comment to start small talk.
  • Tell someone what name to use and ask about language ability.
Two learners meeting outside on a sunny day, showing how to start a conversation with weather and a welcome.

Ready? Let's go!

When you tap play on phrases, we track your progress through this lesson.

1. Reading + Listening Practice

Hear core phrases, repeat aloud.

Bienvenue.

Welcome.

Meaning: Welcome.

When to use: Use to greet someone arriving at a place, event, or group.

Bienvenue chez nous !
Welcome to our home!
Bienvenue à la réunion.
Welcome to the meeting.

Il fait beau aujourd'hui.

Nice weather today.

Meaning: Nice weather today.

When to use: Say this as a simple opening comment to start small talk.

Il fait beau aujourd'hui, non ?
Nice weather today, right?
Il fait beau aujourd'hui, parfait pour une promenade.
Nice weather today, perfect for a walk.

Appelle-moi ___.

Call me ___.

Meaning: Call me ___.

When to use: Use this to tell someone the name or nickname you prefer (informal: Appelle-moi ; formal: Appelez-moi).

Tip: Don't mix formal and informal forms; use 'Appelez-moi' in polite situations.

Appelle-moi Marie.
Call me Marie.
Si c'est trop long, appelle-moi Jo.
If it's too long, call me Jo.

Tu parles anglais ?

Do you speak English?

Meaning: Do you speak English?

When to use: Ask this early in a conversation if you want to know whether you can switch to English.

Tip: Remember the polite form 'Vous parlez anglais ?' for people you don't know well.

Excusez-moi, tu parles anglais ?
Excuse me, do you speak English?
Tu parles anglais ou préfères-tu parler français ?
Do you speak English or prefer French?

Ça fait plaisir de te voir.

Good to see you.

Meaning: Good to see you.

When to use: Say this when you meet someone you already know and are happy to see them.

Tip: Use 'vous' instead of 'te' in formal situations ('Ça fait plaisir de vous voir').

Ça fait plaisir de te voir après tout ce temps.
Good to see you after all this time.
Salut ! Ça fait plaisir de te voir.
Hi! Good to see you.

Et toi ?

And you?

Meaning: And you? / How about you?

When to use: Use to return a simple question (informal). For polite/formal situations, use 'Et vous ?'.

J'aime ce café. – Et toi ?
I like this café. – And you?
Je suis fatigué aujourd'hui. Et toi ?
I'm tired today. And you?

2. Conversational Listening Practice

Hear phrases in a real mini-conversation.

A short meeting between two acquaintances at a small event.

Anna and David exchanging short French greetings and asking about language and names during a casual meeting.

Who asks if the other person speaks English?

Portrait of Anna in a French lesson dialogue

Anna

Bienvenue.

Welcome.

Portrait of David in a French lesson dialogue

David

Merci. Il fait beau aujourd'hui.

Thanks. Nice weather today.

Portrait of Anna in a French lesson dialogue

Anna

Ça fait plaisir de te voir.

Good to see you.

Portrait of David in a French lesson dialogue

David

Appelle-moi David.

Call me David.

Portrait of Anna in a French lesson dialogue

Anna

Tu parles anglais ?

Do you speak English?

Portrait of David in a French lesson dialogue

David

Et toi ?

And you?

3. Guided Practice

Quizzes and matching to lock in meaning.

Which French phrase means 'Welcome.'?

You want to tell someone what name to use for you. Which phrase do you choose?

Which phrase is a weather comment you can use as small talk?

How do you ask 'And you?' informally in French?

We have arrived at the party. - Welcome!

Nous sommes arrivés à la fête. - ___ !

The sun is shining and everyone is outside. - Nice weather today.

Le soleil brille et tout le monde est dehors. - ___

I prefer that my friends use my nickname. - Call me Marc.

Je préfère que mes amis utilisent mon petit nom. - ___ Marc.

Match the core phrases

Match the extra phrases

4. Speaking Practice

Say phrases yourself (mic/recording).

Recording stays on your device only. Check speech uses your browser's speech tools when available.

Say this phrase out loud:

Bienvenue.

Welcome.

Say this phrase out loud:

Il fait beau aujourd'hui.

Nice weather today.

Say this phrase out loud:

Appelle-moi ___.

Call me ___.

Say this phrase out loud:

Tu parles anglais ?

Do you speak English?

Say this phrase out loud:

Ça fait plaisir de te voir.

Good to see you.

Say this phrase out loud:

Et toi ?

And you?