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.

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ActiveAging7 BrainHealth5 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 comprehensibleinput303 ForeignLanguageHomeschool1 FrenchBookClub17 frenchcommunity267 frenchculture301 FrenchFolklore2 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchLegend2 FrenchListening7 FrenchNaturally1 frenchstories17 homeschool108 homeschoolfrench46 jourdesmorts2 learnfrench41 LearningAfter502 lefrançaisnaturellement94 LifelongLearning15 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.

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ActiveAging7 AdultLanguageLearning3 ApprendreLeFrançais9 Béarn1 boulangerie7 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonHomeschool7 Chouquettes1 CommonplaceBook2 comprehensibleinput303 FrenchBakery1 FrenchImmersion20 FrenchLanguage10 frenchlearning8 FrenchLifestyle1 FrenchListening7 FrenchPastry2 frenchstories17 frenchstory8 FrenchVocabulary4 homeschool108 homeschoolfrench46 HomeschoolLanguages3 ImmersionWeekend1 learnfrench41 LearningAtAnyAge4 LeVoleurDeChouquettes1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 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,

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AdultLearners1 ApprendreLeFrançais9 BrainHealth5 charlottemason130 ClassicalEducation2 ClassicalRhetoric1 CMHomeschool2 comprehensibleinput303 fables22 fle307 frenchfluency20 frenchlearning8 FrenchListening7 frenchstories17 homeschoolfrench46 homeschooling113 lafontaine17 learnfrench41 LearningAfter502 LeCoqEtLaPerle1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 NeverTooLateToLearn8 Progymnasmata1 retelling5 SeniorLearners4 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).

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AdultLanguageLearners1 ApprendreLeFrançais9 bernardfriot4 charlottemason130 CMHomeschool2 CommonplaceBook2 comprehensibleinput303 FrenchChildrensBooks1 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchInFiveStories1 FrenchLanguage10 FrenchOver501 frenchstories17 FrenchVocabulary4 histoirespressees2 homeschoolfrench46 HomeschoolLife3 learnfrench41 LearningAtAnyAge4 LearnThroughStories1 LifelongLearning15 LivingBooks8 NeverTooLateToLearn8 SeniorLearners4 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.

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Small Steps, Big Heart: Your New Story Awaits

To our circle of French Story Listeners,

This week, seven brave beginners spent five days living in French together.

An intensive crash course, held daily over Zoom, small enough (just 7 learners!) that no one could hide, and gentle enough that everyone found their footing.

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AcquisitionNotMemorization1 ApprendreLeFrançais9 ApprentissageNaturel1 bernardfriot4 charlottemason130 comprehensibleinput303 fle307 Français Langue Étrangère1 FrenchForBeginners15 FrenchLanguageLearning3 frenchlearning8 FrenchStoryForBeginners1 FrenchStoryListeners9 HistoiresMinute1 languageacquisition54 learnfrench41 Mamie1 NarrationMethod4 NewMemberResource1 NouvelleRessource1 storylistening194 TotalPhysicalResponse1 tpr20

Narration Isn’t a Test, it’s a Relationship

To our circle of French Story Listeners,

There is a quiet truth at the heart of narration that is easy to miss when we are focused on vocabulary lists and grammar rules.

Narration is, first and foremost, a relationship-building practice.

When we use it as a way to acquire French,

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BuildingHabits1 charlottemason130 CharlotteMasonLanguage1 comprehensibleinput303 ÉcouterEnFrançais1 FrançaisNaturellement1 FrançaisPourTous1 frenchacquisition138 FrenchAtHome1 FrenchForAdults8 FrenchForSeniors13 frenchhabit4 FrenchListening7 HabitudesFrançaises1 HistoiresEnFrançais2 LanguageRelationship1 learnfrench41 ListenInFrench1 LivingLanguage2 NarrationMethod4 NarrationNotATest1 RaconterEnFrançais1 SlowLanguageLearning1 StoryBasedLearning3