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,

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AdultLearners1 ApprendreLeFrançais9 BrainHealth5 charlottemason130 ClassicalEducation2 ClassicalRhetoric1 CMHomeschool2 comprehensibleinput303 fables22 fle307 frenchfluency20 frenchlearning8 FrenchListening7 frenchstories17 homeschoolfrench46 lafontaine17 learnfrench41 LearningAfter502 LeCoqEtLaPerle1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 narration126 NeverTooLateToLearn8 Progymnasmata1 retelling5 SeniorLearners4 speakfrench214 storytelling40

Can Your Brain Learn French While You Sleep? (It Can.)

Dear French Story Listeners,

What if the most powerful moment for learning French wasn’t at your desk with a textbook, but in those quiet minutes just before you close your eyes?

It sounds almost too good to be true.

But it isn’t.

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ActiveAging7 AgingGracefully2 BedtimeRoutine1 BrainHealth5 BrainScience1 charlottemason130 CharmmasonHomeschool1 ClassicalHomeschool2 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchForSeniors13 FrenchListening7 homeschoolfrench46 languageacquisition54 LanguageLearningOver502 LanguageLearningOver601 LearnAtAnyAge6 LearnWhileYouSleep1 LifelongLearning15 ListenAndLearn5 LivingLanguage2 MemoryAndSleep1 NarrationMethod4 NaturalFrench2 NeverTooLate9 Over60Learning2 SeniorLearning4 SleepAndLearning1 SleepScience1 storylistening194

Your Memory Is Not Fading — It Is Filtering

Dear French Story Listeners,

Let me ask you something.

Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went in? Set your glasses down and spent ten minutes looking for them?

These little moments can feel alarming, but they are in fact completely normal,

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ActiveAging7 AgingWell1 aliceayel75 BrainHealth5 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 comprehensibleinput303 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchForSeniors13 FrenchLanguage10 frenchlearner61 frenchvideo3 FrenchYouTube2 HistoiresEnFrançais2 homeschoolfrench46 HomeschoolLanguage5 languagelearning16 LanguageLearningOver502 LearnAtAnyAge6 learnfrench41 LearnFrenchNaturally6 lefrançaisavecaliceayel87 LivingBooks8 MemoryTips1 NaturalLearning2 NeverTooLate9 Over60Learning2 storylistening194

The Secret Ingredient That Makes French Actually Stick

Dear French Story Listeners,

Here’s something I want you to sit with for a moment:

You don’t acquire a language by studying it.

Léandre et Héro – Jean-Joseph Taillasson (1745-1809) You acquire it by living inside it, even briefly,

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ActiveAging7 charlottemason130 charlottemasoneducation4 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 ClassicalEducation2 comprehensibleinput303 frenchculture301 frenchstory8 FrenchTeacher4 GreekMythology2 HomeschoolEducation1 homeschoolfrench46 HomeschoolLanguage5 HomeschoolMom3 LearningAtAnyAge4 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 LivingStory1 LovingBooks1 NaturalAcquisition1 NaturalLearning2 NeverTooLate9 Over50Learning4 Over601 RetirementGoals6 SeniorLearning4 storytime12

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,

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charlottemason130 charlottemasoneducation4 comprehensibleinput303 frenchculture301 FrenchFables2 FrenchForBeginners15 frenchlearner61 frenchstories17 FrenchTeacher4 homeschoolfrench46 lafontaine17 languageacquisition54 languagelearning16 LanguageLover1 languageteaching2 LearnFrenchNaturally6 LeFrançais1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 storylistening194

What Francine and Nadya Are Teaching Us About French

To our circle of French Story Listeners,

Something wonderful happened on Telegram this week, and I didn’t want you to miss it.

Francine, our dear member from the Netherlands, responded to the Teen Progress question:

“Est-ce que je suis plutôt salée ou sucrée?”

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abisproduction237 accountability204 accountable204 advanced beginner479 aliceayel75 autonomouslearner238 becomeamember235 beginnerplus168 boost220 booster215 charlottemason130 charlottemasoninspired107 cicommunity115 communauté79 community214 communitylive119 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput303 comprehension286 connect140 connection141 consistency172 consistent173 dailyfrench226 determined168 development73 discipline164 disciplined179 easyreader119 engage186 engaged174 enjoytheride182 feedback61 fle307 frenchbeginner171 frenchcommunity267 FrenchForAdults8 frenchforall229 FrenchForSeniors13 frenchhabits129 FrenchStoryListeners9 frenchwithstories108 fun449 grammar86 groupdiscussion22 grouptalk22 habit169 habits157 homeschool108 homeschoolfrench46 immersion129 inputaloneissufficient259 intensive183 interact219 intermédiaire640 intermediate770 journey202 keepmotivated209 language acquisition265 learner253 learnfrench41 lefrançaisavecaliceayel87 lefrancaisensemble242 lire145 lireenfrançais193 lisenfrançais218 listen319 motivate187 motivated179 motivation237 motivationbreak184 narrate32 narration126 natural201 NaturalLanguageAcquisition3 novice high277 novicehigh362 online learner223 personal development72 pleasure160 progress137 reader181 readforpleasure132 reading288 reflect37 reflection40 slow french347 speakfrench214 startnew115 StoriesInFrench1 storylistener139 storylistening194 telegram22

Why Retelling a Story Changes Everything

To our circle of French Story Listeners,

I’ve been reading a book this week called How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens, and one line stopped me mid-page.

He writes that we tend to think we understand what we read — until we try to put it into our own words.

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abisproduction237 accountability204 accountable204 advanced beginner479 aliceayel75 autonomouslearner238 becomeamember235 beginnerplus168 boost220 booster215 charlottemason130 charlottemasoninspired107 cicommunity115 communauté79 community214 communitylive119 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput303 comprehension286 connect140 connection141 consistency172 consistent173 dailyfrench226 determined168 development73 discipline164 disciplined179 easyreader119 engage186 engaged174 enjoytheride182 feedback61 fle307 frenchbeginner171 frenchcommunity267 frenchforall229 frenchhabits129 frenchwithstories108 fun449 grammar86 groupdiscussion22 grouptalk22 habit169 habits157 homeschool108 immersion129 inputaloneissufficient259 intensive183 interact219 intermédiaire640 intermediate770 journey202 keepmotivated209 language acquisition265 learner253 lefrançaisavecaliceayel87 lefrancaisensemble242 lire145 lireenfrançais193 lisenfrançais218 listen319 motivate187 motivated179 motivation237 motivationbreak184 narrate32 narration126 natural201 novice high277 novicehigh362 online learner223 personal development72 pleasure160 progress137 reader181 readforpleasure132 reading288 reflect37 reflection40 slow french347 speakfrench214 startnew115 storylistener139 storylistening194 telegram22