While vocabulary and grammar are essential, equally essential (but less emphasized) is intonation, pronunciation, and other conventional ways the language — outside of the textbook — is actually spoken.
In French, a textbook will introduce the following phrases:
- Je ne sais pas.
I don’t know. - Je ne peux pas.
I can’t / I am not able.
“Je” is pronounced like the “-ge” in “corsage”. “Sais” is said like “say”, and “pas” like “pa”.
-ge ne say pa