French news: celebrating small victories (and join me live!)

Coucou les membres de la communauté,

Today, I want to start by celebrating a small victory with you all. Elena, who joined us in April this year, recently shared that she listened to La Pause Café avec Elodie Caussé and she was able to understand the gist of it.

[read more…]

accountability191 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner466 advanced french93 amusing47 beginner318 celebrate26 circomlocution2 classesdefrançais40 conversation311 feedback53 feelgood30 frenchclass96 frenchclasses67 frenchculture295 frenchhistory88 frenchnews27 frenchsong14 guidance35 infolettre35 interact206 interaction47 interactive43 intermediate730 lessons36 live session100 liveclass98 motivation224 novice168 novicehigh349 observe25 online teaching29 progress124 speak85 speakfrench205 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 success17 teaching42 train29 training56 upper beginner449 victory4 youcandoit70 youcandothis44 zoomclass83

French the natural way: from words to meaning, use circumlocution

Coucou les French learners,

Have you ever found yourself struggling to find the right words in French, only to resort to using English or relying on gestures to get your point across?

You’re not alone.

As a language learner, you know that speaking spontaneously in French can be a daunting task,

[read more…]

abisproduction224 accountability191 advanced beginner466 autonomouslearner225 becomeamember222 beginnerplus155 boost207 booster202 classes39 comprehensiblefrench264 comprehensibleinput254 comprehension273 consistency159 consistent160 dailyfrench213 determined155 discipline151 disciplined166 engage173 engaged161 enjoytheride169 event79 fle292 french for fun44 frenchbeginner158 frenchcommunity250 frenchforall216 fun436 inputaloneissufficient246 intensive170 interact206 intermediate730 journey189 keepmotivated196 language acquisition252 learner240 lefrancaisensemble229 lisenfrançais205 listen306 live62 live event55 liveclass98 motivate174 motivated166 motivation224 motivationbreak171 natural188 novice high264 novicehigh349 online learner210 partnership52 pleasure147 pleasurereading136 reading275 reboot96 reward36 slow french334 speakfrench205 upper beginner449

French news: focus on the meaning rather than the form

Coucou les membres de la communauté,

You know it: receiving comprehensible input is powerful. It is the key to unlocking your French fluency.

You know it too: the journey to mastering French is challenging.

The good news is that input alone is sufficient to first understand,

[read more…]

accountability191 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner466 advanced french93 beginner318 classesdefrançais40 community178 comprehension273 conversation311 feedback53 feelgood30 frenchclass96 frenchclasses67 frenchcommunity250 frenchnews27 gocommunity27 guidance35 infolettre35 interact206 interaction47 interactive43 intermediate730 lessons36 live session100 liveclass98 motivation224 novice168 novicehigh349 observe25 online teaching29 progress124 pronounciation43 questions74 research17 speak85 speakfrench205 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 study3 teaching42 train29 training56 upper beginner449 warmup43 zoomclass83

French the natural way: 3 signs you need more input

Coucou les French learners,

When I started teaching French in England (many, many years ago!), I believed that speaking was the first step toward French fluency. I was asking my students to repeat over and over again phrases they didn’t understand… As expected, most of them ended up hating French!

[read more…]

abisproduction224 accountability191 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner466 advanced french93 beginner318 classesdefrançais40 comprehensible100 comprehensible input36 comprehensiblefrench264 feedback53 fle292 freetraining2 freevideo2 guidance35 infolettre35 inputdriven1 intermediate730 lessons36 live session100 moreinput5 motivation224 novice168 novicehigh349 observe25 online teaching29 period3 phase3 progress124 pronounciation43 silence7 silent10 speak85 speakfrench205 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 train29 training56 upper beginner449 video351 warmup43

French news: maximize your French experience with the 80/20 rule

Coucou les membres de la communauté,

Today, I want to share a principle that has profoundly impacted my own language experience: Pareto’s Law, also known as the 80/20 rule.

This concept, named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, suggests that roughly 80% of results come from 20% of efforts.

[read more…]

accountability191 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner466 advanced french93 beginner318 classesdefrançais40 community178 conversation311 feedback53 feelgood30 frenchclass96 frenchclasses67 frenchcommunity250 frenchnews27 gocommunity27 guidance35 infolettre35 interact206 interaction47 interactive43 intermediate730 lessons36 live session100 liveclass98 motivation224 novice168 novicehigh349 observe25 online teaching29 progress124 pronounciation43 research17 speak85 speakfrench205 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 study3 teaching42 train29 training56 upper beginner449 warmup43 zoomclass83

French the natural way: from silence to speech – When to to start speaking?

Coucou les French learners,

This week, I want to highlight a thoughtful comment made by Sherezade in response to my recent video about reading aloud.

Sherezade suggests that reading aloud using the shadowing technique is beneficial because speaking is a physical activity.

She emphasizes the importance of physically training the tongue,

[read more…]

abisproduction224 accountability191 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner466 advanced french93 beginner318 classesdefrançais40 comprehensible100 comprehensible input36 comprehensiblefrench264 feedback53 fle292 freetraining2 freevideo2 frenchclass96 frenchclasses67 frenchnews27 guidance35 infolettre35 intermediate730 lessons36 live session100 motivation224 novice168 novicehigh349 observe25 online teaching29 period3 phase3 progress124 pronounciation43 silence7 silent10 speak85 speakfrench205 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 train29 training56 upper beginner449 video351 warmup43

French news: achieve more with less – The power of comprehensible input

Coucou les membres de la communauté,

I have some exciting news to share with you this week!

Dr Beniko Mason, who has just published groundbreaking research on language acquisition, has had the biggest impact on my way of teaching French. It is thanks to her Story Listening method that I came to build our site and provide you with comprehensible French stories.

[read more…]

accountability191 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner466 advanced french93 beginner318 classesdefrançais40 conversation311 feedback53 feelgood30 frenchclass96 frenchclasses67 frenchnews27 guidance35 infolettre35 interact206 interaction47 interactive43 intermediate730 lessons36 live session100 liveclass98 motivation224 novice168 novicehigh349 observe25 online teaching29 progress124 pronounciation43 research17 speak85 speakfrench205 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 study3 teaching42 train29 training56 upper beginner449 warmup43 zoomclass83