Coucou les French learners,

As you may know already, we, in France, can wish “happy new year” during the whole month of January. So…

Bonne année 2022 et bonne santé !

Last week, we celebrated la fête des Rois or l’Epiphanie. We put the three Kings, Melchior, Balthazar & Gaspard around Baby Jesus and we ate une délicieuse galette.

Far away, across the pond, in Louisiana, one of our dear members Jean Duplant sent me pictures of the King cake he made with the three colors of Mardi Gras. Purple is for justice, green means faith, gold represents power. But it could be different, read about the story behind the colors!

Ce gâteau a l’air délicieux, n’est-ce pas ?

This is the power of having a strong community: sharing our love for the French language and its culture and traditions.

QUOI DE NEUF ?

Comment rester motivé ?

To help you start well into the year, we have designed a new series of videos. These videos will motivate to acquire French toute l’année, all year long.

Each video focuses on one tip or trick to keep acquiring French no matter what!

And the first advice is to ENJOY. If you enjoy doing something, chances are you will keep doing it. The same applies to French. You need to enjoy the French language to be able to come back at it everyday.

Appreciate the process, enjoy the French words and sounds, enjoy the ride! C’est le plaisir d’acquérir !

Share you favorite French words or expressions in the comments!

I love what Christine shared:

Your advice truly helps. Some of my favorite words in French are… le pamplemousse, le crépuscule, dégoûtant, and especially since seeing you demonstrate the word…”minuscule” in Vidéo 5 of le Baby Stage, and the word…”ronfle” in Vidéo 7 of le Baby Stage.

I also appreciate what Dejan Jovanovic wrote:

Ma phrase préférée…. Je ne sais pas. Il y a beaucoup des mots et de phrases qui sont beaux est intéressants. Quand j’ai commencé à acquérir le Français, j’ai trouvé ça très amusant. Par exemple dans vos vidéos, j’ai appris le mot “pomme”, et aussi “pomme de terre”. Vous avez mentionné ici le mot “ouvrage”. C’est très intéressant, comme le verbe “ouvrir”. Et aussi ce son est similaire au Louvre, L’ouvrage, L’ouverture…

The word un ouvrage is another word for un livre, a book. It comes from une oeuvre which is a piece of work. Une oeuvre d’art est an artwork and un chef d’oeuvre is a masterpiece.

2022 live classes

The live classes start this week and we already had so much fun in the beginner class on Monday. I told a tale from Sweden about elves and trolls and we talked about our Christmas presents.

Just after the class, Pam sent me this kind message:

I just wanted to say how much fun I had today! I really think I liked this story the best of any I have heard! I guess I just like folk tales of any sort, and magical beings are a plus. I am so looking forward to this year! I hope this is the year the veil parts, and I begin to really comprehend.

Choose from three weekly classes for three different levels

All classes are recorded, so you can watch at your leisure if you need to miss a class.

Can’t make it LIVE? You can purchase the recordings and readings only and go through them at your own time.

Happy French acquisition!

P.S. Got friends, family, colleagues or clients who want to become fluent in French? Share this with them, they’ll thank you for it!

P.P.S Our Fridays discussions about paintings and sculptures start again on Friday, January 21. Russian writer, Dostoïveski wrote ” La beauté sauvera le monde “, beauty will save the world.