French the natural way: 3 signs you need more input

Coucou les French learners,

When I started teaching French in England (many, many years ago!), I believed that speaking was the first step toward French fluency. I was asking my students to repeat over and over again phrases they didn’t understand… As expected, most of them ended up hating French!

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French news: maximize your French experience with the 80/20 rule

Coucou les membres de la communauté,

Today, I want to share a principle that has profoundly impacted my own language experience: Pareto’s Law, also known as the 80/20 rule.

This concept, named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, suggests that roughly 80% of results come from 20% of efforts.

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French the natural way: from silence to speech – When to to start speaking?

Coucou les French learners,

This week, I want to highlight a thoughtful comment made by Sherezade in response to my recent video about reading aloud.

Sherezade suggests that reading aloud using the shadowing technique is beneficial because speaking is a physical activity.

She emphasizes the importance of physically training the tongue,

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abisproduction235 accountability202 accountable202 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner477 advanced french93 beginner318 classesdefrançais40 comprehensible100 comprehensible input36 comprehensiblefrench275 feedback59 fle303 freetraining2 freevideo2 frenchclass101 frenchclasses72 frenchnews27 guidance35 infolettre35 lessons36 live session100 motivation235 novice168 novicehigh360 observe25 online teaching29 period3 phase3 progress135 pronounciation43 silence7 silent10 speak85 speakfrench211 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 train29 training56 upper beginner449 video351 warmup43

French news: achieve more with less – The power of comprehensible input

Coucou les membres de la communauté,

I have some exciting news to share with you this week!

Dr Beniko Mason, who has just published groundbreaking research on language acquisition, has had the biggest impact on my way of teaching French. It is thanks to her Story Listening method that I came to build our site and provide you with comprehensible French stories.

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accountability202 accountable202 acquirefrench76 active listener94 activelistener54 activelistening78 advanced294 advanced beginner477 advanced french93 beginner318 classesdefrançais40 conversation311 feedback59 feelgood30 frenchclass101 frenchclasses72 frenchnews27 guidance35 infolettre35 interact217 interaction47 interactive43 lessons36 live session100 liveclass98 motivation235 novice168 novicehigh360 observe25 online teaching29 progress135 pronounciation43 research17 speak85 speakfrench211 stayontrack35 stepstospeaking58 study3 teaching42 train29 training56 upper beginner449 warmup43 zoomclass83

French the natural way: how should you start reading?

Coucou les French learners,

This week, I want to share a great question from Pete, one of our dear members, which I believe will resonate with many of you:

How should I read? Should I read the French words to myself (in my head like the adult I am) or will it be best to read out loud as I did as a child (70 years ago) when I was learning to read English?

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Senior Stage – Vidéo 12 – Le portrait dérobé / L’adverbe

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advanced294 adverb6 authentic168 authentictext64 author22 avancé252 conjugaison6 conjugation6 course124 culture246 culturefrancaise80 deep meaning7 encounter7 explanation14 explication12 focus on meaning26 France221 French monarchy8 frenchauthor16 frenchculture295 frenchhistory88 gender9 grammaire28 grammairefrançaise39 grammar84 histoiredefrance137 history92 intermédiaire611 intermédiaire avancé398 lireenfrançais191 literature92 littéraire84 littérature120 love story28 loveaffair23 meaning17 meaningful15 noun8 nouns8 novel51 past316 past tense214 practice33 pronoun6 relationship20 rich content105 rich vocabulary122 script201 scripts113 self french205 senior-progress21 senior-stage21 sens8 speech9 upper intermediate414 verb7 verbs7 video351 vocabulary256 words18

French news: uncover the legend of the Pont d’Avignon (and join me live!)

Coucou les membres de la communauté,

Today, during my Monday live class, I shared the legend of the Pont d’Avignon. This legendary tale captivated everyone and sparked a lot of interest in learning more about this iconic piece of French history.

New Resource: The Bridge of Avignon

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