French the natural way: to dare is to do

Coucou les French learners,

Today, I have received the most uplifting message from Christine, a dear member and committed learner:

On this day of thanksgiving (USA), I especially thank you for your special companionship on my French language acquiring journey. I wouldn’t be where I am without your presence in my life on my journey. 

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abisproduction212 accountability179 accountable179 acquire50 acquiring18 adultstage1 advanced beginner454 authentic168 autonomouslearner213 bandedessinnée6 bd6 becomeamember210 cicommunity102 comic book2 comics7 community166 comprehensiblefrench252 comprehensibleinput242 comprehension261 course124 dailyfrench201 dailyreading32 fle280 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity238 frenchculture295 frenchfluency19 frenchforall204 frenchjourney20 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 inputaloneissufficient234 intermédiaire588 intermediate718 journey177 keepgoing27 keepmotivated184 language45 language acquisition240 learner228 lefrancaisensemble217 lisenfrançais193 listen294 massiveinput10 motivated154 motivation212 motiver4 natural176 online learner198 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress112 read40 reading263 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french322 speakfrench199 tips50 total physical response14 tpr19

French the natural way: become a joyful reader

Coucou les French learners,

Last week was full of events as we commemorated the end of la Grande Guerre, the Great War. The 11th of November is un jour férié, a bank holiday in France and it celebrates l’Armistice which happened in 1918,

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abisproduction212 accountability179 accountable179 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner454 authentic168 autonomouslearner213 bandedessinnée6 bd6 becomeamember210 cicommunity102 comic book2 comics7 community166 comprehensiblefrench252 comprehensibleinput242 comprehension261 course124 dailyfrench201 dailyreading32 fle280 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity238 frenchculture295 frenchfluency19 frenchforall204 frenchjourney20 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 inputaloneissufficient234 intermediate718 journey177 keepgoing27 keepmotivated184 language45 language acquisition240 learner228 lefrancaisensemble217 lisenfrançais193 listen294 massiveinput10 motivated154 motivation212 motiver4 natural176 online learner198 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress112 read40 reading263 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french322 speakfrench199 teenstage16 tips50 total physical response14 tpr19

French the natural way: keep it up!

Coucou les French learners,

To be honest, watching and hearing my own children speaking Portuguese fluently and sounding like natives, makes me feel discouraged sometimes. I struggle to speak Portuguese fluently, to let it flow!

I was reading this interesting article about the best age to learn a language.

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abisproduction212 accountability179 accountable179 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner454 authentic168 autonomouslearner213 becomeamember210 cicommunity102 community166 comprehensiblefrench252 comprehensibleinput242 comprehension261 course124 dailyfrench201 dailyreading32 fle280 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity238 frenchculture295 frenchfluency19 frenchforall204 frenchjourney20 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 inputaloneissufficient234 intermediate718 journey177 keepgoing27 keepmotivated184 language45 language acquisition240 learner228 lefrancaisensemble217 listen294 massiveinput10 motivated154 motivation212 motiver4 natural176 online learner198 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress112 reading263 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french322 speakfrench199 teenstage16 tips50 total physical response14 tpr19

French the natural way: give yourself a productive French hour!

Coucou les French learners,

Le mois de novembre est là !

“November is beautiful month. But one has to like grey. And the eye has to catch its light.” Gilles Vigneault is a poet from Québec.

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abisproduction212 accountability179 accountable179 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner454 authentic168 autonomouslearner213 becomeamember210 cicommunity102 community166 comprehensiblefrench252 comprehensibleinput242 comprehension261 course124 dailyfrench201 dailyreading32 fle280 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity238 frenchculture295 frenchfluency19 frenchforall204 frenchjourney20 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 inputaloneissufficient234 intermediate718 journey177 keepgoing27 keepmotivated184 language45 language acquisition240 learner228 lefrancaisensemble217 listen294 massiveinput10 motivated154 motivation212 motiver4 natural176 online learner198 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress112 reading263 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french322 speakfrench199 teenstage16 tips50 total physical response14 tpr19

French the natural way: when to start producing French stress-free?

Coucou les French learners,

The best feedback always come from our Dear Members. This week, Angus commented in the Community Chat:

I do think that it is funny that I can understand much more fluently than I can speak,

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abisproduction212 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner454 authentic168 autonomouslearner213 babystage24 becomeamember210 beginner french28 beginnercourse68 cicommunity102 community166 comprehensiblefrench252 comprehensibleinput242 comprehension261 course124 dailyfrench201 dailyreading32 fle280 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity238 frenchculture295 frenchfluency19 frenchforall204 frenchjourney20 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 inputaloneissufficient234 intermediate718 journal53 journaling46 journey177 language45 language acquisition240 learner228 lefrancaisensemble217 listen294 massiveinput10 natural176 novice168 novice high252 novicehigh337 online learner198 process22 produce12 production44 progress112 reading263 selftaught48 slow french322 speak85 speakfrench199 speech9 teenstage16 tips50 total physical response14 tpr19 translate7 translating6 upper beginner449 write59

French the natural way: is it OK to translate?

Coucou les French learners,

This week, I got a good question from a new member who struggles to acquire French. This new member wants to remain anonymous and he is a total French beginner. He commented in the Chat:

I’m struggling to understand anything without translating every single word.

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abisproduction212 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner454 authentic168 autonomouslearner213 babystage24 becomeamember210 beginner french28 beginnercourse68 cicommunity102 community166 comprehensiblefrench252 comprehensibleinput242 comprehension261 course124 dailyfrench201 dailyreading32 fall17 fall lessons2 fle280 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity238 frenchculture295 frenchfluency19 frenchforall204 frenchjourney20 improve19 improvement15 inputaloneissufficient234 intensive158 intermediate718 journey177 language acquisition240 learner228 lefrancaisensemble217 listen294 live62 liveclass98 natural176 novice168 novice high252 novicehigh337 online learner198 process22 produce12 production44 progress112 reading263 reboot89 selftaught48 slow french322 speak85 speakfrench199 teenstage16 tips50 tpr19 translate7 translating6 translation4 upper beginner449 write59

French the natural way: 5 tips to improve your French pronunciation

Coucou les French learners,

Two weeks ago, I posted Antony’s question about having the correct pronunciation in French. The challenge of the French language is pronunciation. It is challenging to read in French because spelling does not match pronunciation.

There are also all those “weird”

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abisproduction212 advanced beginner454 authentic168 autonomouslearner213 babystage24 becomeamember210 beginner french28 beginnercourse68 cicommunity102 comprehensiblefrench252 comprehensibleinput242 comprehension261 course124 dailyfrench201 dailyreading32 expressfluency71 fall17 fall lessons2 fle280 freewrite50 frenchcommunity238 frenchculture295 frenchforall204 improve19 improvement15 inputaloneissufficient234 intensive158 intermediate718 language acquisition240 learner228 lecture28 lefrancaisensemble217 lisenfrançais193 listen294 natural176 novice168 novice high252 novicehigh337 online learner198 progress112 prononcer5 pronounce31 pronunciation11 reading263 reboot89 selftaught48 slow french322 speak85 speakfrench199 storyasking15 summercourse8 teenstage16 tips50 upper beginner449 write59