Coucou les French learners,
For years, I’ve been a staunch advocate of the comprehensible input approach for acquiring French.
I firmly believed that by immersing yourself in listening to and reading understandable French stories, you would naturally acquire the language and eventually speak with ease.
Many of our community members on our site, however, expressed that while this approach was beneficial, they felt something was lacking in their journey to fluent speech.
I consistently encouraged them to trust the process, assuring them that speaking abilities would emerge spontaneously.
While this remains fundamentally true, speaking is indeed the result of comprehensible input, I always sensed there was a crucial element missing from the equation.
It wasn’t until I delved into Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education late last year that I finally discovered the missing piece of the puzzle!
Narration: Your Bridge from Understanding to Speaking French
This revelation came in the form of narration championed by Charlotte Mason.
Narration is the practice of retelling what you’ve listened to or read, in your own words.
Charlotte Mason gave an interesting insight into her use of narration in A Philosophy of Education:
” But, it will be said, reading or hearing various books read, chapter by chapter, and then narrating or writing what has been read or some part of it, — all this is mere memory work…
He will not be satisfied with the result but he will find that in the act of narrating every power of his mind comes into play, that points and bearings which he had not observed are brought out; that the whole is visualized and brought into relief in an extraordinary way; in fact, that scene or argument has become a part of his personal experience; he knows, he has assimilated what he has read. This is not memory work.”
Narration serves as the bridge between comprehension and production. By engaging in narration after listening to or reading a French story on our site, you’re not just absorbing the language; you’re actively processing and reproducing it.
By narrating the story, you make it your own, you allow it to enter into your memory in a way that is equivalent to personal experience.
It’s a simple yet profound way to transition from understanding French to speaking it freely and spontaneously.
To implement narration, first watch, listen and read a story just once. It is important you read and/or hear the story just once so you really have to focus on the story. If you know that you will have several opportunities to read and listen to the story, you won’t be fully focused.
Also don’t take notes! Just listen and/or read the story.
Choose a comprehensible story you will understand. Click here!
Don’t worry about perfection; the goal is to express the main ideas and details as best you can, using the French you’ve acquired.
Ready to take your French to the next level

CLARITY: progress step by step through stages and make French become clear to you. Understand French with ease.
COMMUNITY: meet weekly and keep yourself accountable through the most caring and invested community. Think French naturally.
TRANSFORMATION: feel empowered. Be fluent in French. Transform yourself and get a new soul. Speak French freely.