First Words: Greetings, Numbers and Colours
Learn greetings, goodbye, please and thank you, numbers from one to ten, and names for colours or everyday things. Practise hearing, saying and remembering the words. The lesson uses Spanish examples and a French greeting. Extra readings offer French and German counting practice.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Greet someone and say goodbye in the new language without being prompted
- Count to ten in the new language from memory
- Name five everyday objects or colours in the new language without help
1 · Read
You have copied a spoken model. Use that skill for first words. Here are Spanish examples: hola means hello; adiós means goodbye; por favor means please; gracias means thank you. Hear each word or phrase, then copy it. Practise with someone you know.
Amir visits a French shop during the day. He says bonjour before asking a question. Bonjour is a polite daytime greeting. In the evening, bonsoir means good evening. Hear these greetings spoken before you copy them.
Spanish counts from one to ten like this: 1 uno, 2 dos, 3 tres, 4 cuatro, 5 cinco, 6 seis, 7 siete, 8 ocho, 9 nueve, 10 diez. Hear the words and copy them in order. When counting objects, say one number word for each object. The last word tells you how many you counted.
Here are five Spanish colour words: rojo means red, azul means blue, verde means green, amarillo means yellow, and blanco means white. Hear each word spoken. Point to that colour on something nearby and say its name. Learn a few names at a time.
A word list helps you practise. To check what you remember, put it away. Try a greeting and goodbye, the count from one to ten, and five colour names. If a word does not come to mind, hear it again and try it later.
Hear and use greetings, number words and colour names. Practise with a model, then try remembering the words without a list.
Original lesson, questions and cards written for this learning dataset. wikiHow greeting and counting articles informed the factual study.
Five original reading activities written for this learning dataset, with six vocabulary practice cards. wikiHow greeting and counting articles informed the factual study.
More to read
Practise a short visit
Make a pretend visit with someone you know. Use Spanish words at different points in the visit.
Hola means hello. Adiós means goodbye. Por favor means please, and gracias means thank you.
Ask your helper to say each word or phrase for you to copy. Act out the visit with the words in view. Later, put the words away and try the visit again.
Choose a French greeting
Bonjour is a French greeting for the daytime. Bonsoir means good evening.
Imagine entering a shop during the day. You can say bonjour before asking your question. Now imagine meeting someone in the evening. Practise bonsoir for that meeting.
Hear a speaker or teacher say each greeting before copying it. Written words can help you remember, but they do not let you hear the sounds.
Match Spanish numbers to objects
These Spanish words count from one to ten: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.
Put ten blocks where you can reach them. Listen to the count. Then move one block for each number word you say. Keep the words in order and move each block once.
The last word tells you the total. If you stop at diez, you have counted ten blocks.
Try counting in German
For German practice, use these words for one through ten: eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn.
Ask a teacher or speaker to model a few words at a time. Copy what you hear with comfortable mouth movements. Pause when you need another model.
Then try the words together in order. Eins starts the count at one. Zehn is ten.
Try counting in French
For French practice, the words for one through ten are un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix.
Hear the count before trying it. A teacher can say a few words, pause for your copy, then continue. Join the parts when you are ready.
Follow the sounds you hear. French six looks like English six on the page, but the two words sound different. Dix is the French word for ten.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.