Coucou les French learners,
En mai fais ce qu’il te plaît, En mai fais du Français !
In May, do what pleases you!
We were talking about what pleases us in the intermediate live class with Express Fluency ,simple things like jardiner, lire, faire du vélo, danser, écouter une histoire, voir des amis…
Lire un bon livre me plaît;
voir une comédie musicale me plaît;
jardiner dans mon potager me plaît;
passer du temps avec ma famille me plaît…
We also looked at a sweet poem le muguet, the lily of the valley written by Belgian poet, Maurice Carême.
I already wrote about how le muguet is a lucky charm in France and is offered on the 1st of May.
Follow the poem’s verses here. This method of memorizing a poem has been developed by Christian Jacomino, who I interviewed for la pause café.
Christian Jacomino who was a primary school teacher in France was looking for another way to help children who struggled with reading. He developed les moulins à paroles (words mills) to have children and migrants become literate. His idea is that to want to read and acquire a language, you also have to find the beauty in the text. C’est si vrai, n’est-ce pas ?
Ignite the French in you!
Enjoy a French story every day of the month by following my two playlists on YouTube: En mai fais du Français Challenge 2018 & En mai fais du Français Challenge 2019
Sit back, relax and enjoy! #inputaloneissufficient
QUOI DE NEUF ?
Ecrire librement en français
We continue the series of videos to motivate YOU to acquire French toute l’année, all year long. Each video focuses on one tip or trick to keep acquiring French no matter what!
Our last video helps you to write freely in French. Writing is another way (along with speaking) of outputting without stress because when you write, you are on your own with your pen and paper. You don’t have the stress of having to respond to someone else. Writing is a great way of starting to produce!
To write librement, freely means you don’t worry about the spelling or the grammar. Let it flow. #trusttheprocess
In the Teen Stage, you get to write a diary in French, how exciting!
In each session, I answer a question about myself like where I live, what I do during the day, things I love and things I hate… I type my answer on a document and comment it as I go along. When I type the sentences, you can copy them in your most beautiful handwriting. Your hand is the extension of your brain so handwriting will help you develop fluency.
When the session is over, you can write down your own answer about yourself. You will be impressed at how much you can write in French already.
There are already 10 sessions with videos, scripts and audio. More are coming!
Graham commented after completing the first session about my day:
Thank you, Alice. I wrote the story of my day and did as you said, writing with a pen and not worrying about spelling and grammar, although I did look up 3 or 4 words in a dictionary as I had no idea what they were in French.
I was amazed at how much I could write!
Let’s imagine a story together!
This coming Friday May, 13
5pm UK / 6pm France / 12pm EST / 9am PST
We will spend the first 30 minutes co-creating a character and plot together. We will then write and discuss. This will get the story in written form, and through the process we will read the story again and maybe even embellish it!
Gain New Friends and Get Involved with the French Learners Community #youarenotalone
Increase your vocabulary and comprehension #storyispower
Reduce your stress #relax
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!