La voiture: the ten phrases you'll use every day

Cartime in French

Audio for this is coming. The phrases work now.

On attache la ceinture. Seatbelt on. The opening line, every trip.

C'est parti ! Off we go! Momentum. Kids love this one.

Regarde, un camion rouge. Look, a red truck. Regarde plus anything is half of cartime.

Tu vois le chien ? Can you see the dog? Answerable by pointing.

On tourne à gauche. We're turning left. Narrate the drive itself.

Il pleut. It's raining. Weather is free vocabulary.

On est presque arrivés. We're almost there. The answer to the eternal question.

Encore cinq minutes. Five more minutes. Encore, plus counting.

On est arrivés ! We're here! The closing marker.

On descend, doucement. Out we get, gently. Ends the ritual.

Print the la voiture card Keep it in the door pocket or clipped to the visor, so the script is there at every red light

The car is the easiest place to start. No eye contact needed, nowhere to go, and a window full of things to name. If speaking French out loud to your child feels exposing, start here.

Why la voiture works

No eye contact makes it the lowest-pressure ritual, for you and for them.

The world outside the window is an endless picture book of things to name.

It's dead time turned into input time, with zero added minutes.

When they answer in English

"are we there yet"

On est bientôt arrivés ? Presque ! Encore cinq minutes.

"I saw a digger"

Tu as vu une pelleteuse ? Elle était grosse !

Don't correct. Don't ask them to repeat. Just say the thing back in French and carry on. That's a recast, and it's the single most effective move in parent-led bilingualism. More on La Reprise.

By age

18 months – 3 years

Narrate what passes. One noun per sighting, regarde, un bus.

3 – 5 years

Play spotting games. Tu vois quelque chose de rouge ? Accept English finds and recast.

The full la voiture module is coming. Start with Le Dodo, complete now, with audio on every line.

See Le Dodo