Learn French with Movies: Harry Potter

In this video, we'll be learning French with three iconic scenes from Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers. In our first scene, Harry has just received a mysterious package. Keep watching to find out what's inside. First, watch the beginning of the scene with subtitles, and then we'll break down the French and learn new vocabulary. We'll watch the rest of the clip and find out what's inside Harry's Christmas present during the breakdown. When you want to wish someone a Merry Christmas in French, you say Literally, joyful Christmas. And if you want to wish someone happy holidays in general, you can say is the French word for a sweater. And it might not sound like it, but this word actually comes from English. It's a shortened form of pull over sweater. This sentence is interesting because of the way it's structured. The neutral way to structure this sentence would be My mother made it for me. But by adding Ron puts emphasis specifically on the fact that it's his mother who made it for him, thereby explaining where the sweater comes from. He says Literally, it's my mother who made it for me. This emphatic sentence structure is quite common in French. Another example would be Literally, it is I who wrote this poem. Notice how saying puts emphasis on who wrote the poem compared to just saying I wrote this poem. Je crois que tu en as reçu un, toi aussi. Reçu comes from the verb recevoir, which means to receive or to get. So Ron is saying, I think you got one too. It might seem contradictory, but can actually mean there or here. In this case, it means there. Ron is saying that the presents are over there under the tree. But you could say I'm here to help you. Fortunately, context will usually help you figure out which it means in a given situation. The verb laisser means to leave. So the note is saying Your father left me this before he died. Another example of using the verb laisser would be Leave me alone. Next, ceci means this. Ceci is actually a contraction of ce and ici. So literally, it means this here. So because this is a written note, it reads But if someone were saying this to Harry in person, they might just say Be careful here, because in this context, il doesn't mean he. It actually means it. So il est temps means it's time. This is an example of an impersonal expression, because there's no person carrying out the action. Another example of an impersonal expression would be It is raining. Faire bon usage de means to make good use of something. But you might be wondering why en is in the middle of the sentence. Well, the pronoun en is replacing the subject of the sentence. In this case, the mystery present. So the author of the note could have written Make good use of this present. But instead, they wrote Make good use of it. Faire bon usage de is a pretty common expression that you could hear in lots of different contexts. For example, Make good use of your wand. Actually, speaking of wands, that reminds me of the scene where Harry Potter first holds his wand and has a strange magical connection to it. Let's check it out. There's a surprising reason that Harry has such a strong connection to this wand. Stay tuned to find out what it is. Vrai means real. So vraiment is really. So altogether, Ollivander is saying strange, really very strange. Notice that Harry says excusez-moi here instead of excuse-moi. This is because he's using the formal pronoun vous to address Ollivander. And so the verb excusez has to be conjugated accordingly. Harry and Ollivander use vous when speaking to each other because they're strangers meeting in a formal context. But in the last scene, when Harry and Ron were talking together as friends, they were using tu, the informal pronoun. comes from the reflexive verb se souvenir, which means to remember. And chaque means every or each. So altogether, Ollivander is saying I remember every wand I've sold, Mr. Potter. If you've encountered the word or before in French, it probably meant gold. But be careful. Although it looks and sounds exactly the same, it's actually a completely different word here. In this context, it's a transition word that can translate to but, well, or now in English. And this is a tricky thing about learning a language. The meaning of words always depends on context. So even if you have good resources, you can spend forever trying to figure out which definition is correct. And this is where FluentU comes in. When you're watching videos on FluentU, the interactive subtitles give you the definition of every word in context. So if we click on all, we see the correct definition for this particular setting. You also get example videos that show you how the word is used in real life situations. You can use the interactive subtitles on FluentU to learn French with thousands of authentic videos. And after each video, FluentU gives you personalized quizzes and speaking questions to reinforce everything you learn. You can try FluentU for free for two weeks using the link in the description below this video. FluentU is also currently having a sale. So if you've never tried it before, now is a great time. is an expression that means it so happens. This is another example of an impersonal expression because there's no person carrying out the action. If you remember from earlier, the first two examples we saw were it's time it's raining and finally is a feather. So the whole sentence so far is the phoenix from which they took the feather that is in your wand. The verb fournir means to provide or to supply. For example, But in our scene, it's the phoenix whose feather is in Harry's wand that provided one other feather. means one single other feather. Actually, one of my favorite Harry Potter scenes is about feathers or trying to levitate feathers anyway. It's full of unexpected twists and turns, just like the other two clips. So stay tuned. Let's see whether Hermione is actually as good as she claims to be. The verb crever means to poke out or to puncture. So Hermione is saying that Ron will end up poking someone's eye out. You'll also hear the verb crever in the phrase which means to puncture a tire or to get a flat tire. D'ailleurs literally translates to from elsewhere, but it actually means besides or what's more. For example, I don't want to watch this movie and besides, I don't have time. The word même can have a few different meanings. Often it means the same, but in this case, it means even. For example, I didn't even have time to say goodbye. So altogether, Hermione is saying and besides, you don't even know how to pronounce it. Fais-le, toi, puisque t'es si intelligente. Vas-y. Puisque means since. For example, So here, Ron is saying you do it since you're so smart. Fais-le, toi, puisque t'es si intelligente. Vas-y. Bravo is a super common way of saying well done or good job. So if a friend or a child does something impressive, you could respond by saying bravo, well done. The verb réussir means to succeed. For example, I succeeded in opening the door. Ma chère means my dear and the masculine version is mon cher. The verb falloir means to need to. It's an impersonal verb, so again, this means that you use it with the pronoun il and not personal pronouns. To give you an example, in English, you can say I need to go to the bakery. But in French, you say il faut que j'aille à la boulangerie. In our scene, Harry is saying I think we're going to need a new feather here, professor. Oh, and you're probably still wondering what was inside Harry's Christmas present in the first scene. So let's find out. Ressembler à means to look like. This is actually where the English verb to resemble comes from. So Harry is saying it looks like a cape. Vas-y means go ahead or go on. So you can use it to tell someone to do something or as encouragement. For example, Go on, you can do it. By the way, if you want to make sure you remember all these useful vocabulary words and expressions, be sure to download our free PDF review guide using the link in the description. Wow, mon corps a disparu. Now that we've discovered what the mystery present was, we also need to go back and find out why it is that Harry has such a strong connection to his new wand. Convenir à means to suit. For example, if you were arranging a get together with friends, you could say Does that suit you? So Ollivander is saying it's strange that it should be this wand that suited you. Une cicatrice is a scar. So the phoenix feather in Harry's wand is in one other wand, and that wand made the lightning bolt scar that is on Harry's forehead. Et qui possédait cette baguette? The verb posséder means to own. You'll notice that it looks a lot like the English verb to possess. Prononcer can mean to pronounce, as you would expect. But in this context, it actually just means to say. So Ollivander is saying we do not say his name. Now that we've broken down all three clips, it's time to watch them again without subtitles to test what you've just learned. Ton père m'a laissé ceci avant de mourir. Il est temps que tu en hérites. Fais-en bon usage. Qu'est-ce que c'est? Ça ressemble à une cape. Vas-y, essaie-la pour voir. Mon corps a disparu! Très étrange. Excusez-moi, mais qu'est-ce qui est étrange? Je me souviens de chaque baguette que j'ai vendue, monsieur Potter. Or, il se trouve que le phoenix, sur lequel on a prélevé la plume qui est dans votre baguette, a fourni une autre plume. Une seule autre plume. Il est étrange que ce soit cette baguette qui vous ait convenu, quand on sait que sa soeur vous a fait cette cicatrice. Et qui possédait cette baguette? On ne prononce pas son nom. Non, stop, stop, stop. Tu vas finir par crever un oeil à quelqu'un. Et puis d'ailleurs, tu ne sais même pas le prononcer. C'est Leviosa. Et pas Leviosa. Fais-le, toi, puisque t'es si intelligente. Vas-y. Wingardium Leviosa. Oh, bravo! Regardez tous. Miss Grandière a réussi. Oh, splendide! Wingardium Leviosa. Bravo, ma chère. Je crois qu'il va nous falloir une nouvelle plume ici, professeur. Click on the video right here to learn more magical French with the Lord of the Rings. And to see what happens when the dwarf Gimli tries to smash the ring with his battle axe. I'll see you over there. A tout de suite.