French Introductions: Greet, Say Where You're From, Share an Interest

Step 1: Greet and give your name

A casual French greeting is short and warm. The recorded line «Salut, moi c'est Alex.» means "Hi, I'm Alex." The word salut is a friendly hello for people your age, classmates, or friends. The phrase moi c'est literally means "me, it's" and works like "I'm" when you give your name. To keep the conversation going, add et toi ?, which means "and you?" The recorded exchange «Salut, moi c'est Alex. Et toi ?» shows this full opening: a greeting, a name, and an invitation for the other person to speak. When you answer, you can copy the same pattern with your own name. Notice that the other speaker in «Salut Alex ! Moi c'est Camille. Je viens de Lyon.» replies with a greeting, repeats the name, then gives her own name before moving on. That is a natural rhythm: greet, name, return the question.

Step 2: Say where you are from

To say where you are from, French uses the phrase je viens, which means "I come" or "I'm from." The recorded line «Je viens du Canada.» means "I'm from Canada." Here du is used before a masculine country name that starts with a consonant. The recorded line «Je viens de Montréal.» means "I'm from Montreal." With many city names, you use de instead, and before a vowel it shortens to d'. These are patterns to learn with each place name, not a single rule for every country or city. In the recorded exchange «Salut Alex ! Moi c'est Camille. Je viens de Lyon.», the speaker says her name and then immediately gives her city. That order feels natural: name first, origin second. When you practice, say your name, then your country or city, and keep the same short rhythm.

Step 3: Name something you like

To share an interest, the recorded line «J'adore la randonnée.» means "I love hiking." The phrase j'adore is strong and very common for hobbies, and it is followed by a noun such as la randonnée, la musique, or le cinéma. In the recorded exchange «Enchanté ! J'adore la randonnée. Et toi, tu aimes quoi ?», the speaker says "Nice to meet you!" and then shares that he loves hiking before asking the other person what she likes. The recorded reply «Moi, j'aime beaucoup cuisiner.» means "Me, I really like cooking." Here the speaker uses j'aime beaucoup, which is a little softer than j'adore but still positive. Both patterns are useful: j'adore plus a noun for something you love, and j'aime beaucoup plus a verb for an activity you enjoy doing. Choose one interest and keep your sentence short.

Listen once, then say the phrase yourself. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.

Checking available voices…

Read one side aloud, then answer in your own words. The goal is to make the exchange yours.

Common questions