School gate chit chat: Typical phrases and vocab
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Key Phrases
Vous attendez votre enfant ?
Are you waiting for your child?
Votre enfant est dans quelle classe ?
Which class is your child in?
À tout à l'heure à la sortie.
See you at pickup time.
Skills You'll Learn
Greet other parents and say goodbye politely at school.
Saluer d'autres parents et dire au revoir poliment à l'école.
Ask and answer simple questions about children and their class year.
Poser et répondre à des questions simples sur les enfants et leur classe.
Talk about school pickup, daily routines, and basic practical situations.
Parler de la sortie de l'école, des routines quotidiennes et de situations pratiques simples.
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
Bonjour !
bohn-zhoor
Hello!
Salut !
sa-loo
Hi!
Ça va ?
sah vah
How are you?
💬 [Ça va ?] asks and answers. Reply [Ça va] and you are done.
🇫🇷 At the school gate this is a passing hello, not a real question. A long answer reads as odd.
See breakdown →Ça va bien, merci.
sah vah bee-ehn mehr-see
I'm fine, thank you.
À plus tard.
ah ploo tar
See you later.
À demain.
ah duh-mahn
See you tomorrow.
Bonne journée.
bun zhoor-nay
Have a good day.
Vous attendez votre enfant ?
voo ah-ton-day voh-truh ahn-fahn
Are you waiting for your child?
🇫🇷 At a school gate, starting with [vous] is the safe default with other adults unless you already know each other well.
See breakdown →J'attends au portail de l'école.
zh ah-tohn oh por-tie duh l ay-kol
I'm waiting at the school gate.
💬 [J'] is just [je] squeezed before a vowel, so it always needs the next word: [j'attends], [j'arrive], [j'habite].
See breakdown →Learn this vocabulary list the easy way
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Guides for French learners
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