The French legend meant for today (we didn’t plan it!)

Dear French Story Listeners,

I have a little confession. This week’s story has been sitting quietly in our files for a while… we simply forgot to publish it.

And yet, here it is, arriving today, November 2nd, le jour des Morts, the day after la Toussaint.

[read more…]

ActiveAging7 BrainHealth5 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 comprehensibleinput303 ForeignLanguageHomeschool1 FrenchBookClub17 frenchcommunity267 frenchculture301 FrenchFolklore2 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchLegend2 FrenchListening7 FrenchNaturally1 frenchstories17 homeschool108 jourdesmorts2 learnfrench41 LearningAfter502 lefrançaisnaturellement94 LifelongLearning15 narration126 NeverTooLateToLearn8 RetirementGoals6 SeniorLearners4 toussaint5

Have you ever tasted a chouquette?

Dear French Story Listeners,

Last week I told you about Vladimir, and how we are building his spoken French one small step at a time with the progymnasmata.

We started with a simple fable and kept going from there.

Nothing rushed and nothing forced.

[read more…]

ActiveAging7 AdultLanguageLearning3 ApprendreLeFrançais9 Béarn1 boulangerie7 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 Chouquettes1 CommonplaceBook2 comprehensibleinput303 FrenchBakery1 FrenchImmersion20 FrenchLanguage10 frenchlearning8 FrenchLifestyle1 FrenchListening7 FrenchPastry2 frenchstories17 frenchstory8 FrenchVocabulary4 homeschool108 HomeschoolLanguages3 ImmersionWeekend1 learnfrench41 LearningAtAnyAge4 LeVoleurDeChouquettes1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 narration126 NeverTooLate9 Over501 pau20 PauFrance6 RetirementGoals6 SeniorLearners4 SlowTravel1 storylistening194 TravelFrance1

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 ApprendreLeFrançais9 BrainHealth5 charlottemason130 ClassicalEducation2 ClassicalRhetoric1 CMHomeschool2 comprehensibleinput303 fables22 fle307 frenchfluency20 frenchlearning8 FrenchListening7 frenchstories17 homeschooling113 lafontaine17 learnfrench41 LearningAfter502 LeCoqEtLaPerle1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 narration126 NeverTooLateToLearn8 Progymnasmata1 retelling5 SeniorLearners4 speakfrench214 storytelling40

The 3-minute French habit that works while you rest

Dear French Story Listeners,

Before you read on, take a breath with me. Shoulders down. A cup of coffee or tea nearby, if you have one. ☕

This week I want to remind you that you don’t learn French by pushing.

You learn it by showing up gently,

[read more…]

AliceAyelFrench15 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 comprehensibleinput303 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchImmersion20 FrenchLanguage10 FrenchStoryListeners9 learnfrench41 LearningFrenchAt501 pau20 PauFrance6 pyrenees6 SlowTravelFrance1 storylistening194

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 ApprendreLeFrançais9 bernardfriot4 charlottemason130 CMHomeschool2 CommonplaceBook2 comprehensibleinput303 FrenchChildrensBooks1 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchInFiveStories1 FrenchLanguage10 FrenchOver501 frenchstories17 FrenchVocabulary4 histoirespressees2 HomeschoolLife3 learnfrench41 LearningAtAnyAge4 LearnThroughStories1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 narration126 NeverTooLateToLearn8 SeniorLearners4 storylistening194

“Put It Away”: Freshened Wits for Your French Journey

Dear French Story Listeners,

Have you ever noticed that around the fifteen-minute mark of anything — a lesson, a podcast, a task you’re not thrilled about — your mind quietly starts to wander?

You’re not doing it wrong. Your brain is just doing what brains do.

[read more…]

ApprendreLeFrançais9 BrainHealth5 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 CMEducation1 comprehensibleinput303 EaseIntoFrench7 FrenchForAdults8 FrenchForSeniors13 FrenchImmersion20 FrenchLearningJourney1 FrenchPractice1 FrenchWithoutGrammarDrills1 HomeschoolLanguage5 HomeschoolLife3 HomeschoolMom3 InputBasedLearning1 KeepYourBrainYoung1 learnfrench41 LearnFrenchOnline19 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 NaturalLanguageAcquisition3 NeverTooLateToLearn8 RetirementGoals6 SmallStepsBigProgress1 storylistening194

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…]

AdultLanguageLearning3 charlottemason130 charlottemasoneducation4 comprehensibleinput303 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchForSeniors13 FrenchImmersion20 frenchlearning8 frenchstories17 FrenchStoryListening16 HomeschoolLanguages3 KnowAndTell1 learnfrench41 LearnFrenchAfter501 LearnFrenchThroughStories1 LifelongLearning15 LivingEducation1 narration126 NarrationMatters1 NeverTooLateToLearn8 storylistening194