En été, on est en stage !Class 9 French Chapter 5 Notes – Maharashtra Board

Summary: En été, on est en stage !

5.1 Luc is very busy: he is writing a project, searching the Internet and reading books. Rucha is surprised — it is the holidays! Luc explains that it is the first day of his summer internship (stage) with Greenpeace, a non-governmental organisation that fights to protect the environment.

Karan knows Greenpeace — it is famous and active in India too. Luc's project is about protecting forests, and he is also interested in tigers. Karan has holiday homework for the new term on renewable energy. Rucha wishes them both good luck.

5.2–5.4 Expressing agreement (Oui, bien sûr ! Bonne idée ! Je suis d'accord !), the French summer internship — university students take two weeks off and then do a training stage in a company — and school things (le cartable, la trousse, la gomme, le taille-crayon …).

5.5 Grammar: the direct object (l'objet direct) — a noun right after the verb with no preposition, found by asking qui ? or quoi ? after the verb; revision of question words où, qu'est-ce que, qui, quand, combien (de); the irregular verbs lire and écrire.

The poem 'Hep taxi' (C. Albaut) calls out to city vehicles; the exercises revise plurals, the imperative, the passé récent and prepositions with countries; 5.7 Civilisation honours Jacques-Yves Cousteau, explorer and protector of the sea.

Key points to remember

• un stage = an internship / training period; Luc does his with Greenpeace
• Greenpeace is an NGO (organisation non gouvernementale) that works to protect the environment
• Agreeing: Oui, bien sûr ! — Bonne idée ! — Je suis d'accord !
• Direct object (COD): a noun right after the verb, with no preposition — Rucha écoute la chanson
• To find it ask quoi ? (thing) or qui ? (person) after the verb: Rucha écoute qui ? → Luc
• Questions: Où habite-t-il ? = Où est-ce qu'il habite ? Quand arrive-t-il ? Combien de … y a-t-il ?
• lire: je lis, il lit, nous lisons, vous lisez, ils lisent
• écrire: j'écris, il écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils écrivent
• Prepositions with places: à + city, en + feminine country, au + masculine country, aux + plural country
• Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997): French naval officer, filmmaker ('Le Monde du silence'), defender of the oceans

En été, on est en stage ! – Notes

1. 5.1 The dialogue — a summer internship

• Luc Ledoux is very busy today: he is writing a project, doing research on the Internet and reading books. Rucha and Karan are curious and ask what he is doing.
• Luc says it is homework — the first day of his internship. Rucha is puzzled because it is the holidays. Luc explains: yes, it is the holidays, but he is doing a summer internship in an organisation.
• Karan guesses it is at the university, but no — it is with Greenpeace, a non-governmental organisation that fights to save and protect the environment. Karan knows it well: it is famous and very active in India too.
• Luc's project is on protecting forests; he is also interested in tigers, but that is another project ('Je m'intéresse à …' = I'm interested in …). Karan too has homework for the new school year (la rentrée): renewable energy (l'énergie renouvelable), such as wind energy (l'énergie éolienne).
• Rucha wishes them luck — 'Bon courage à vous deux !' Key phrases: Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? — Tu vois … (you see …) — Je m'intéresse à … — C'est très intéressant.

2. 5.2–5.4 Agreeing, French internships, school things

• 5.2 To agree with a question or a suggestion: 'C'est joli, cette robe ?' — Oui, bien sûr ! 'Allons à la plage !' — Bonne idée ! 'On va au cinéma ?' — Je suis d'accord ! (I agree!)
• 5.3 In France holidays are for fun, but also for learning practical things. University students often take two weeks off and then start a summer internship, usually in a company, as part of their training (un stage de formation).
• 5.4 School things (le matériel d'étudiant): un crayon (pencil), un stylo (pen), une gomme (eraser), un taille-crayon (sharpener), une trousse (pencil case), un cartable (school bag), un cahier (notebook), un livre, un dossier (file / folder).
• Other words: une organisation non gouvernementale (ONG / NGO), faire des recherches (to do research), la protection des forêts, la rentrée (start of the school year), Bon courage ! (good luck — for work).

3. 5.5 Grammar — the direct object (l'objet direct)

• Compare: 'Rucha écoute.' (subject + verb only) and 'Rucha écoute la chanson.' / 'Rucha écoute Luc.' In the second pair, la chanson and Luc are direct objects.
• A direct object is a noun (thing or person) that comes straight after the verb in an affirmative sentence, with no preposition (à, de, avec …) in between.
• To find it, ask quoi ? (for a thing) or qui ? (for a person) right after the verb: Karan lit quoi ? → un livre. Maman appelle qui ? → mon frère.
• Not a direct object: Je parle à Luc (there is à), Il va au marché (au = à + le). Verbs like regarder, écouter, chercher and attendre take a direct object in French — no 'at' or 'for': Je cherche mes clés.

4. 5.5 Revision — question words

• Où (where): Où habite-t-il ? = Où est-ce qu'il habite ? — Quand (when): Quand arrive-t-il ? = Quand est-ce qu'il arrive ?
• Qui (who): Qui parle ? — Qu'est-ce que (what): Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?
• Combien (how much): Combien coûte ce stylo ? — Combien de + noun (how many): Combien d'élèves y a-t-il dans la classe ?
• Two ways to ask: question word + inversion (Où vas-tu ?) or question word + est-ce que + normal order (Où est-ce que tu vas ?). Add -t- between two vowels: Quand arrive-t-elle ?

5. 5.5 Verbs lire and écrire; poem 'Hep taxi'

• lire (to read): je lis, tu lis, il / elle lit, nous lisons, vous lisez, ils / elles lisent. Past participle (for later): lu.
• écrire (to write): j'écris, tu écris, il / elle écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils / elles écrivent — the v appears only in the plural. Décrire (to describe) follows the same pattern.
• Both verbs take a direct object: Luc lit des livres. Karan écrit un projet.
• Poem 'Hep taxi' (C. Albaut): a child in Paris hails a taxi to go to Passy, scolds a lorry for blocking traffic, asks the metro to gallop to the Trocadéro, and tells the bus to take him to the last stop. 'Hep !' is how you call out to someone; the poem uses imperatives (Mène-moi …) and place names in western Paris.

6. Exercises, sounds and civilisation

• Prepositions with places: à Paris; en Inde, en Angleterre, en Pologne (feminine countries); au Brésil, au Japon (masculine); aux États-Unis (plural).
• Nasal vowels: [ɑ̃] as in 'blanc' — an, am, en, em (Jean, comprend, chante, enfant, éléphant, dans); [ɔ̃] as in 'bon' — on, om (répond, question, longue, chanson, ballon, lion, sont); [ɛ̃] as in 'pain' — in, ain, un (Sylvain, jardin, cousins, brun).
• 5.7 Civilisation — Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997) was an officer of the French Navy for whom the sea and oceans were life and passion.
• His film 'Le Monde du silence' (The Silent World) and his TV series on the underwater odyssey showed the beauty and mysteries of marine life.
• His most important message, in lectures, books and articles: protect the beautiful but fragile sea from pollution and destruction. Activity idea: find out about Greenpeace and other environmental groups.

Les verbes lire et écrire — au présent

Key terms

En été, on est en stage ! – Flashcards

Read the question, answer it in your head, then tap the card to check. 20 cards.

En été, on est en stage ! – MCQ Quiz

15 questions. Tap an option — you will see at once if it is right and why.

How to study En été, on est en stage !

⏱ About 1 hour 10 minutes

1. Dialogue and culture (20 min)
   Read 5.1 aloud; note what a stage is, what Greenpeace does and each person's project; learn the three ways to agree.
2. Grammar (25 min)
   Underline the direct objects in ten sentences using qui ? / quoi ?; conjugate lire and écrire; rewrite five questions in both forms (inversion and est-ce que).
3. Practise (25 min)
   Do the 'Try it yourself' exercises, take the quiz, revise with flashcards and finish with 🎮 Play.