French the natural way: Election Day

French presidential election day, the first round

Coucou les French learners,

today is the first round to vote for the next French president and in my mailbox, I received the programs of each of the eleven candidates along with their names printed on a piece of white paper.

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acquirefrench76 acquisition process41 advanced french93 candidates1 comprehensible input36 demagogy1 election1 election day1 french acquisition12 french citizen2 french government1 french songs6 frenchelections1 fun413 glasses4 language acquisition229 next french president1 personal13 political songs1 recital1 repertoire1 story46 story listening19 story script6 story telling4 stressfree43 target structures13 targeted input1 teaching42 TPRS71 uplifting1 upper intermediate414 vote1 voting1 voting day1 where9

French the natural way: Joyeuses Pâques !

Joyeuses Pâques ! Happy Easter!

Today is Lundi de Pâques in France and it is a bank holiday. Children have been told that the bells from Rome flew all the way to France to deliver chocolate eggs and they are now happily hunting chocolates in their gardens.

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acquisition65 acquisition process41 bell4 catholic12 celebrate26 celebration20 chocolate cake4 chocolate eggs2 chocolates1 christian33 church bells1 compelling39 compelling input31 comprehensible100 Easter6 easter eggs5 Easter Monday1 easter treats2 fluent in French7 France221 French art2 french artists3 French history41 French King1 French monarchy8 french painters3 french traditions7 jesus9 jesus christ5 language acquisition229 languagelearning9 Lent2 Louis IX1 Louis XIV3 painter9 painting33 resurrection2 Saint Louis1 story listening19 story telling4 TPRS71 tradition57 traditions2

French the natural way with the one essential ingredient: comprehensible input

Coucou les French learners,

today I want to share with you my own experience with teaching and learning another language and why facilitating French input which is comprehensible is so dear to my heart.

My personal story and why I teach French the natural way

I have always loved grammar.

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acquirefrench76 acquisition process41 advanced french93 article46 beginner french28 compelling input31 comprehensible input36 doctor8 experience15 french input13 french videos6 health5 hiccups1 illness9 input47 input hypothesis3 intermediate707 language acquisition229 language learning9 language teaching5 learnfrench20 natural approach59 newsletter5 personal story2 remedies1 santé2 Spanish33 Stephen Krashen11 story46 story asking15 story building8 story listening19 TPRS71 understand67 understanding22 video350 weekly input15 weekly videos55 youtube67

Language game to provide more comprehensible input: Guess Who?

https://goo.gl/photos/JPio26rjA9UosKXR7

As I mentioned in my previous post about story listening, I am part of an amazing group on Facebook called “CI Liftoff” where educators around the world are discussing about how to use pure comprehensible input in the language acquisition process.

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acquire50 acquisition65 adults1 children28 comics7 communicate9 communication10 communicative7 compelling39 comprehend52 comprehensible100 comprehensible input36 comprehension250 content6 culture246 describe37 describing40 description96 Education20 engaging10 foreign language35 France221 French41 fun413 game21 guess who1 high frequency217 high interest7 input47 interest10 interesting23 language45 language learning9 learner217 learners6 message4 online38 physical10 play27 playing3 reading252 story46 story asking15 story building8 TPRS71 tutor3 tutoring2 unconscious3 unconsciously3 understand67 understanding22 write59 writing55

Story listening is powerful!

To me, developing listening skills are vital in life, yet not practiced enough. As teachers, we are told to let students learn by doing (which is valuable too in some cases) and that classrooms should be students led. As a consequence the skill of listening is being put aside,

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acquire50 acquisition65 brain61 Canada24 comprehend52 comprehensible100 comprehension250 content6 culture246 demo5 Education20 engage150 Facebook4 film41 focus36 free13 French41 ghost12 group4 intent3 language45 learn10 learner217 legend78 liberate1 liberating1 listen283 listening52 message4 mind3 powerful6 practice33 skill4 skills26 story46 story listening19 technique3 tool8 TPRS71 unconscious3 unconsciously3 understand67 understanding22 useful7 valuable1 video350 vocabulary256

From story-telling to story-asking

I am reading TPRS with Chinese characteristics: making students fluent and literate through comprehensible input by Terry Waltz and I am learning a great deal! I definitely recommend this book if, like me, you want your learners to truly develop fluency and proficiency in another language and on the other hand you do not consider yourself advanced in TPRS and comprehensible input,

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acquire50 acquisition65 animals97 Ben Slavic2 circling5 complex2 comprehensible100 confidence92 confident8 content6 contribute1 contributing1 contribution1 creative13 creativity4 easy300 Education20 engage150 engaged138 finger1 fluency107 fluent57 fun413 ideas7 image4 input47 intent3 interest10 language45 learner217 learning15 one word image2 ownership2 proficiency12 proficient9 puppets1 simple15 story46 story asking15 story building8 story script6 storyasking15 storytelling39 target9 target language12 target structure20 Terry Waltz1 TPRS71 understand67 understanding22 word5

Let’s celebrate success!

https://goo.gl/photos/ZvJ23xgZM28AiXo58

Today as we enter the month of September and we slowly start to wave goodbye to summer, let the sun shine and let me share a success story using TPRS and comprehensible input online!

Back in April an ex Spanish student of mine contacted me because he wanted to learn French.

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acquire50 acquisition65 advanced course1 answer1 answering11 celebrate26 celebration20 circling5 comprehend52 comprehensible100 comprehension250 customized2 edmodo3 Education20 fluency107 fluent57 free writing37 immerse2 immersion93 improve19 input47 languages13 listen283 listening52 Martina Bex11 online38 personalized16 PQA8 proficiency12 proficient9 progress101 reading252 ressources40 share17 Skype6 story46 storyasking15 storytelling39 success17 successful2 teaching42 understand67 understanding22