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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abisproduction237 accountability204 accountable204 acquire50 acquiring18 adultstage1 advanced beginner479 authentic168 autonomouslearner238 bandedessinnée6 bd6 becomeamember235 cicommunity115 comic book2 comics7 community191 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput272 comprehension286 course124 dailyfrench226 dailyreading32 fle305 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity264 frenchculture297 frenchfluency19 frenchforall229 frenchjourney20 frenchreaders66 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 intermédiaire613 intermediate743 journey202 keepgoing27 keepmotivated209 language45 language acquisition265 learner253 lefrancaisensemble242 lisenfrançais218 listen319 massiveinput10 motivated179 motivation237 motiver4 natural201 online learner223 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress137 read40 reading288 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french347 speakfrench213 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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abisproduction237 accountability204 accountable204 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner479 authentic168 autonomouslearner238 bandedessinnée6 bd6 becomeamember235 cicommunity115 comic book2 comics7 community191 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput272 comprehension286 course124 dailyfrench226 dailyreading32 fle305 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity264 frenchculture297 frenchfluency19 frenchforall229 frenchjourney20 frenchreaders66 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 intermediate743 journey202 keepgoing27 keepmotivated209 language45 language acquisition265 learner253 lefrancaisensemble242 lisenfrançais218 listen319 massiveinput10 motivated179 motivation237 motiver4 natural201 online learner223 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress137 read40 reading288 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french347 speakfrench213 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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abisproduction237 accountability204 accountable204 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner479 authentic168 autonomouslearner238 becomeamember235 cicommunity115 community191 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput272 comprehension286 course124 dailyfrench226 dailyreading32 fle305 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity264 frenchculture297 frenchfluency19 frenchforall229 frenchjourney20 frenchreaders66 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 intermediate743 journey202 keepgoing27 keepmotivated209 language45 language acquisition265 learner253 lefrancaisensemble242 listen319 massiveinput10 motivated179 motivation237 motiver4 natural201 online learner223 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress137 reading288 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french347 speakfrench213 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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abisproduction237 accountability204 accountable204 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner479 authentic168 autonomouslearner238 becomeamember235 cicommunity115 community191 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput272 comprehension286 course124 dailyfrench226 dailyreading32 fle305 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity264 frenchculture297 frenchfluency19 frenchforall229 frenchjourney20 frenchreaders66 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 intermediate743 journey202 keepgoing27 keepmotivated209 language45 language acquisition265 learner253 lefrancaisensemble242 listen319 massiveinput10 motivated179 motivation237 motiver4 natural201 online learner223 process22 produce12 production44 productive9 progress137 reading288 rester-motive23 selftaught48 slow french347 speakfrench213 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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abisproduction237 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner479 authentic168 autonomouslearner238 babystage24 becomeamember235 beginner french28 beginnercourse68 cicommunity115 community191 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput272 comprehension286 course124 dailyfrench226 dailyreading32 fle305 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity264 frenchculture297 frenchfluency19 frenchforall229 frenchjourney20 frenchreaders66 iceberg6 icebergimage6 improve19 improvement15 intermediate743 journal53 journaling46 journey202 language45 language acquisition265 learner253 lefrancaisensemble242 listen319 massiveinput10 natural201 novice168 novice high277 novicehigh362 online learner223 process22 produce12 production44 progress137 reading288 selftaught48 slow french347 speak85 speakfrench213 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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abisproduction237 acquire50 acquiring18 advanced beginner479 authentic168 autonomouslearner238 babystage24 becomeamember235 beginner french28 beginnercourse68 cicommunity115 community191 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput272 comprehension286 course124 dailyfrench226 dailyreading32 fall17 fall lessons2 fle305 fluency107 freewrite50 frenchacquisitionforall34 frenchcommunity264 frenchculture297 frenchfluency19 frenchforall229 frenchjourney20 frenchreaders66 improve19 improvement15 intensive183 intermediate743 journey202 language acquisition265 learner253 lefrancaisensemble242 listen319 live62 liveclass98 natural201 novice168 novice high277 novicehigh362 online learner223 process22 produce12 production44 progress137 reading288 reboot101 selftaught48 slow french347 speak85 speakfrench213 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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abisproduction237 advanced beginner479 authentic168 autonomouslearner238 babystage24 becomeamember235 beginner french28 beginnercourse68 cicommunity115 comprehensiblefrench277 comprehensibleinput272 comprehension286 course124 dailyfrench226 dailyreading32 expressfluency83 fall17 fall lessons2 fle305 freewrite50 frenchcommunity264 frenchculture297 frenchforall229 frenchreaders66 improve19 improvement15 intensive183 intermediate743 language acquisition265 learner253 lecture28 lefrancaisensemble242 lisenfrançais218 listen319 natural201 novice168 novice high277 novicehigh362 online learner223 progress137 prononcer5 pronounce31 pronunciation11 reading288 reboot101 selftaught48 slow french347 speak85 speakfrench213 storyasking15 summercourse8 teenstage16 tips50 upper beginner449 write59