Speak French more freely: start with a fable

Dear French Story Listeners,

This week I began a new adventure with Vladimir, whom I’m coaching to speak French with more ease and spontaneity. Maybe that sounds familiar? 😊

We started with an exercise that has shaped good speakers for over two thousand years: the Mythos,

[read more…]

AdultLearners1 ApprendreLeFrançais8 BrainHealth4 charlottemason128 ClassicalEducation2 ClassicalRhetoric1 CMHomeschool2 comprehensibleinput297 fables22 fle307 frenchfluency20 frenchlearning7 FrenchListening5 homeschoolfrench44 homeschooling113 lafontaine17 learnfrench39 LearningAfter501 LeCoqEtLaPerle1 LifelongLearning13 LivingBooks7 narration124 NeverTooLateToLearn7 Progymnasmata1 retelling5 SeniorLearners2 speakfrench214 storytelling40

The French word that means both “suspicion” and “a pinch of salt”

Dear French Story Listeners,

Let’s begin with one small French word, un soupçon.

It means a suspicion, that little feeling that something isn’t quite what it seems.

It also means a tiny bit, as in un soupçon de sel (a pinch of salt).

[read more…]

AdultLanguageLearners1 ApprendreLeFrançais8 bernardfriot4 charlottemason128 CMHomeschool2 CommonplaceBook1 comprehensibleinput297 FrenchChildrensBooks1 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchInFiveStories1 FrenchLanguage9 FrenchOver501 FrenchVocabulary2 histoirespressees2 homeschoolfrench44 HomeschoolLife3 learnfrench39 LearningAtAnyAge3 LearnThroughStories1 LifelongLearning13 LivingBooks7 narration124 NeverTooLateToLearn7 SeniorLearners2 storylistening193

Telling It Back: A Gentle Way Into French

Dear French Story Listeners,

Think about the last time you told someone about a movie you loved.

You didn’t recite it word for word. You told it, in your own way, and in doing so, you understood it a little more deeply. You made it yours.

[read more…]

AdultLanguageLearning2 charlottemason128 charlottemasoneducation4 comprehensibleinput297 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchForSeniors13 FrenchImmersion17 frenchlearning7 FrenchStoryListening12 homeschoolfrench44 HomeschoolLanguages2 KnowAndTell1 learnfrench39 LearnFrenchAfter501 LearnFrenchThroughStories1 LifelongLearning13 LivingEducation1 narration124 NarrationMatters1 NeverTooLateToLearn7 storylistening193

This Is How Your Brain Picks Up French, One Little Story at a Time

To our circle of French Story Listeners,

Something wonderful arrived in our Telegram group this week!

Nadya shared the most delightful photograph of her handmade crochet cats, all in shades of violet and lavender, settled cosily among a little stack of French books.

[read more…]

AdultLanguageLearning2 AfricanFolktale1 charlottemason128 comprehensibleinput297 Crochet1 CrochetAndFrench1 frenchacquisition138 frenchcommunity266 FrenchForAdults8 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchLanguage9 frenchlearning7 frenchresources2 FrenchStoryListeners9 homeschoolfrench44 languagelearning16 LanguageThroughStories2 learnfrench39 LearnFrenchNaturally6 LearnFrenchOnline15 ListenAndLearn5 narration124 PurpleCats1 slowfrench81 StoryBasedLearning3 UnAmiPourLeChat1

You Don’t Need a Good Memory to Learn French

Dear French Story Listeners,

I’ve been a little quiet lately, and I’ve missed you.

After more than a month away from YouTube, My Dear Man (behind the stage) & I are  back!

Not with a story this time, but with something I felt called to share.

[read more…]

ActiveAging5 AgingGracefully2 aliceayel75 charlottemason128 comprehensibleinput297 FrenchFor50Plus3 FrenchForAdults8 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchImmersion17 GrowthMindset1 LanguageThroughStories2 LearnAtAnyAge6 learnfrench39 LearnSomethingNew1 LifelongLearning13 ListenAndLearn5 LivingBooks7 LivingIdeas2 LivingStories1 NarrativeEducation1 NeverTooLate8 NeverTooLateToLearn7 NoGrammarDrills1 NoMemorizationRequired1 RetirementGoals4 SeniorLearning4 storylistening193

When a Story Stays With You

Dear French Story Listeners,

Have you ever read something — years ago, perhaps decades — and found that a line, an image, a character, has never quite left you?

That’s not an accident. That’s a living story at work.

Charlotte Mason,

[read more…]

charlottemason128 charlottemasoneducation4 comprehensibleinput297 frenchculture299 FrenchFables2 FrenchForBeginners14 frenchlearner61 FrenchTeacher4 homeschoolfrench44 homeschooling113 lafontaine17 languageacquisition54 languagelearning16 LanguageLover1 languageteaching2 LearnFrenchNaturally6 LeFrançais1 LifelongLearning13 LivingBooks7 storylistening193

Understanding Is the Key, The Moment a Word Becomes Yours

Dear French Story Listeners,

There’s a little secret hiding inside the French language, and once you see it, you’ll never think about learning the same way again.

The French word for “to learn” is apprendre. The French word for “to understand” is comprendre.

[read more…]

aliceayel75 ApprendreLeFrançais8 charlottemason128 CharlotteMasonHomeschool5 comprehensibleinput297 FrenchForAdults8 FrenchLanguage9 frenchlearning7 FrenchTeacher4 FrenchYouTube2 GreekMythology2 HomeschoolLanguage5 languageacquisition54 languagelearning16 learnfrench39 LearnFrenchOnline15 LearningAtAnyAge3 LifelongLearning13 ListenAndLearn5 NaturalLanguageLearning2 NeverTooLate8 Over50Learning4 pygmalion2 RetirementGoals4 storylistening193