_Alice, tu as été en Angleterre, et tu parles bien le langage._
Alice, you have been to England, and you speak the language quite well.
Alice, you've been to England, and you speak really good English.
alice you speak english well
_Un peu, madame._
A little, madam.
Just a bit, madam.
barely
_Je te prie, m’enseignez; il faut que j’apprenne à parler.
Comment appelez-vous la main en anglais?_
Please teach me; I must learn to parley. How do you name the hand in English?
Come on, teach me—I need to learn English. What's the word for hand?
teach me english how do u say hand?
_La main? Elle est appelée_ de hand.
The hand? It is called 'de hand'.
The hand? We call it 'de hand'.
hand = de hand
De hand. _Et les doigts?_
De hand. And the fingers?
De hand. What about the fingers?
fingers?
_Les doigts? Ma foi, j’oublie les doigts; mais je me souviendrai. Les
doigts? Je pense qu’ils sont appelés_ de fingres; _oui_, de fingres.
The fingers? My word, I forget the fingers; but I will remember. The fingers? I think they are called 'de fingres'; yes, 'de fingres'.
The fingers? Goodness, I'm blanking on the fingers; but I'll remember. The fingers? I believe we say 'de fingres'; yes, 'de fingres'.
forgot fingers but i remember de fingres
_La main_, de hand; _les doigts_, de fingres. _Je pense que je suis le
bon écolier; j’ai gagné deux mots d’anglais vitement. Comment
appelez-vous les ongles?_
The hand, de hand; the fingers, de fingres. I think I am a good student; I have learned two English words quickly. How do you call the nails?
So the hand is de hand; the fingers are de fingres. I think I'm doing pretty well as a student; I learned two English words super fast. What do you call the nails?
im a good student learned two words fast nails?
_Les ongles? Nous les appelons_ de nails.
The nails? We call them 'de nails'.
The nails? We say 'de nails' for those.
nails = de nails
De nails. _Écoutez; dites-moi, si je parle bien:_ de hand, de fingres,
_et_ de nails.
De nails. Listen; tell me, if I speak well: de hand, de fingres, and de nails.
De nails. Okay, listen to me and tell me if I'm saying this right: de hand, de fingres, and de nails.
de hand de fingres de nails
_C’est bien dit, madame; il est fort bon anglais._
That is well said, madam; it is very good English.
You said that really well, madam; that's excellent English.
thats great good english
_Dites-moi l’anglais pour le bras._
Tell me the English word for the arm.
What's the English word for the arm?
arm in english?
Scene 3-4 sits between the fall of Harfleur and the French court's reaction to it — two scenes of high political drama. Placing a comedy about a vocabulary lesson between them is a deliberate structural choice. First, it gives the audience a breath. Second, it introduces Katharine at exactly the moment she becomes relevant: Henry has just taken a French town, and the audience begins to understand that France itself is within reach. Third, it establishes Katharine as a character with intelligence and agency before she becomes the prize of the negotiations in Act 5. If we only met her in 5-2 as the princess being handed over, the scene would play differently. Having met her here, we already like her.
De arm, _madame._
De arm, _madame._
De arm, _madame._
De arm, _madame._
_Et le coude?_
And the elbow?
And how about the elbow?
the elbow?
D’elbow.
D’elbow.
D’elbow.
D’elbow.
D’elbow. _Je m’en fais la répétition de tous les mots que vous m’avez
appris dès à présent._
D'elbow. I am practicing the repetition of all the words you have taught me just now.
D'elbow. I'm going over and repeating all the words you just taught me.
im practicing all the words
_Il est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense._
It is too difficult, madam, I think.
I think it's too hard, madam.
thats hard
_Excusez-moi, Alice. Écoutez:_ d’hand, de fingres, de nails, d’arm, de
bilbow.
Pardon me, Alice. Listen: d'hand, de fingres, de nails, d'arm, de elbow.
Sorry, Alice. Listen: d'hand, de fingres, de nails, d'arm, de elbow.
d'hand de fingres de nails d'arm de elbow
D’elbow, _madame._
D’elbow, _madame._
D’elbow, _madame._
D’elbow, _madame._
_O Seigneur Dieu, je m’en oublie!_ D’elbow.
_Comment appelez-vous le col?_
Oh God, I forget myself! D'elbow. How do you call the neck?
Oh man, I'm blanking! D'elbow. What's the word for the neck?
duh forgot d'elbow neck?
De nick, _madame._
De nick, _madame._
De nick, _madame._
De nick, _madame._
De nick. _Et le menton?_
De nick. And the chin?
De nick. What about the chin?
chin?
De chin.
De chin.
De chin.
De chin.
De sin. _Le col_, de nick; _le menton_, de sin.
De sin. The neck, de nick; the chin, de sin.
De sin. So the neck is de nick; the chin is de sin.
got it now neck = nick chin = sin
The English lesson scene works because Shakespeare was writing for an audience with at least some French. The obscenity joke depends on the audience hearing 'de foot' and 'de coun' with French ears — understanding both why the words sound acceptable in English and why they sound appalling in French. It's a rare piece of linguistic comedy that requires bilingual understanding to land properly. Modern productions often have to work around this, either trusting the audience's French or having Alice and Katharine react so strongly that the joke is clear even without the linguistic background. The scene is also notable for being entirely in French (with scattered English words), making it the only scene in the play set in a world where English is the foreign language.
_Oui. Sauf votre honneur, en vérité, vous prononcez les mots aussi
droit que les natifs d’Angleterre._
Yes. Saving your honor, truly, you pronounce the words as correctly as native speakers of England.
Yes. With all respect, you really do pronounce the words as correctly as actual English people.
youre pronouncing like native speakers
_Je ne doute point d’apprendre, par la grâce de Dieu, et en peu de
temps._
I make no point of doubt about learning, by God's grace, and in little time.
I have no doubt I'll learn it quickly, God willing.
ill learn it fast no doubt god willing
_N’avez-vous pas déjà oublié ce que je vous ai enseigné?_
Haven't you cast into the oubliette everything I taught you?
You've completely forgotten everything I just taught you?
u forgot already? what i just taught u??
_Non, je réciterai à vous promptement:_ d’hand, de fingres, de mails,—
No, I will recite to you promptly: d'hand, de fingres, de nails,—
No, I'll say it back to you right now: d'hand, de fingres, de nails,—
no i remember d'hand de fingres de nails
De nails, _madame._
De nails, _madame._
De nails, _madame._
De nails, _madame._
De nails, de arm, de ilbow.
De nails, de arm, de elbow.
So it's de nails, de arm, and de elbow.
nails arm elbow
_Sauf votre honneur_, de elbow.
With respect, de elbow.
If I may say, de elbow.
de elbow
_Ainsi dis-je_, d’elbow, de nick, _et_ de sin. _Comment appelez-vous le
pied et la robe?_
Thus I say, d'elbow, de nick, and de sin. How do you call the foot and the dress?
So that's d'elbow, de nick, and de sin. What do you call the foot and the dress?
d'elbow de nick de sin foot and dress?
De foot, _madame; et_ de coun.
De foot, madam; and de coun.
We say de foot, madam; and de coun.
foot and coun
De foot _et_ de coun! _O Seigneur Dieu! ils sont les mots de son
mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et non pour les dames
d’honneur d’user. Je ne voudrais prononcer ces mots devant les
seigneurs de France pour tout le monde. Foh!_ le foot _et_ le coun!
_Néanmoins, je réciterai une autre fois ma leçon ensemble:_ d’hand, de
fingres, de nails, d’arm, d’elbow, de nick, de sin, de foot, de coun.
De foot and de coun! Oh God! Those are words that are very bad, corrupt, gross, and indecent, and not suitable for respectable ladies to use. I would not want to say these words in front of French lords for anything in the world. Ugh! the foot and the coun! Nevertheless, I will recite my lesson one more time altogether: d'hand, de fingres, de nails, d'arm, d'elbow, de nick, de sin, de foot, de coun.
De foot and de coun! Oh my God! Those are really vulgar, disgusting, gross, and indecent words, and a respectable lady should never say them. I would never want to say these words in front of French noblemen for anything. Gross! the foot and the coun! But anyway, let me go through my whole lesson one more time: d'hand, de fingres, de nails, d'arm, d'elbow, de nick, de sin, de foot, de coun.
de coun?? oh god thats nasty indecent word i shouldnt say it but im practicing all: de foot de coun
_Excellent, madame!_
_Excellent, madame!_
_Excellent, madame!_
_Excellent, madame!_
_C’est assez pour une fois. Allons-nous à dîner._
That is enough for one lesson. Let us go to dinner.
Okay, that's enough English for today. Let's go eat.
enough for today lets go eat
The Reckoning
This scene is a complete tonal break from the siege and battle. We've just watched Henry threaten to spike infants on pikes; now we're in a sunlit room with a princess who can't say 'elbow' without forgetting it again. It's funny, it's charming, and it's doing serious structural work. We're meeting the woman Henry will marry at the end of the play — and Shakespeare makes sure we like her before we see her as a prize. Katharine is quick, self-correcting, unabashed at her mistakes, and genuinely delighted by language. The scene is also one of the rare moments in the play where women exist in their own space, talking about something other than men.
If this happened today…
The princess who's quietly downloading Duolingo because she's figured out that whoever wins this war is going to end up in her life, and she'd rather be able to talk to him. 'De hand. De fingres. D'elbow — wait, I keep forgetting elbow.' Taking screenshots of the vocabulary list for later.