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 ApprendreLeFrançais8 BrainHealth4 charlottemason128 ClassicalEducation2 ClassicalRhetoric1 CMHomeschool2 comprehensibleinput297 fables22 fle307 frenchfluency20 frenchlearning7 FrenchListening5 frenchstories15 homeschoolfrench44 homeschooling113 lafontaine17 learnfrench39 LearningAfter501 LeCoqEtLaPerle1 LifelongLearning13 LivingBooks7 NeverTooLateToLearn7 Progymnasmata1 retelling5 SeniorLearners2 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 ApprendreLeFrançais8 bernardfriot4 charlottemason128 CMHomeschool2 CommonplaceBook1 comprehensibleinput297 FrenchChildrensBooks1 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchInFiveStories1 FrenchLanguage9 FrenchOver501 frenchstories15 FrenchVocabulary2 histoirespressees2 homeschoolfrench44 HomeschoolLife3 learnfrench39 LearningAtAnyAge3 LearnThroughStories1 LifelongLearning13 LivingBooks7 NeverTooLateToLearn7 SeniorLearners2 storylistening193

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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AdultLanguageLearning2 charlottemason128 charlottemasoneducation4 comprehensibleinput297 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchForSeniors13 FrenchImmersion17 frenchlearning7 frenchstories15 FrenchStoryListening12 homeschoolfrench44 HomeschoolLanguages2 KnowAndTell1 learnfrench39 LearnFrenchAfter501 LearnFrenchThroughStories1 LifelongLearning13 LivingEducation1 NarrationMatters1 NeverTooLateToLearn7 storylistening193

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 ApprendreLeFrançais8 ApprentissageNaturel1 bernardfriot4 charlottemason128 comprehensibleinput297 fle307 Français Langue Étrangère1 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchLanguageLearning3 frenchlearning7 FrenchStoryForBeginners1 FrenchStoryListeners9 HistoiresMinute1 languageacquisition54 learnfrench39 Mamie1 NarrationMethod4 NewMemberResource1 NouvelleRessource1 storylistening193 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 charlottemason128 CharlotteMasonLanguage1 comprehensibleinput297 ÉcouterEnFrançais1 FrançaisNaturellement1 FrançaisPourTous1 frenchacquisition138 FrenchAtHome1 FrenchForAdults8 FrenchForSeniors13 frenchhabit4 FrenchListening5 HabitudesFrançaises1 HistoiresEnFrançais2 LanguageRelationship1 learnfrench39 ListenInFrench1 LivingLanguage2 NarrationMethod4 NarrationNotATest1 RaconterEnFrançais1 SlowLanguageLearning1 StoryBasedLearning3

This Is How Your Brain Picks Up French, One Little Story at a Time

To our circle of French Story Listeners,

Something wonderful arrived in our Telegram group this week!

Nadya shared the most delightful photograph of her handmade crochet cats, all in shades of violet and lavender, settled cosily among a little stack of French books.

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AdultLanguageLearning2 AfricanFolktale1 charlottemason128 comprehensibleinput297 Crochet1 CrochetAndFrench1 frenchacquisition138 frenchcommunity266 FrenchForAdults8 FrenchForBeginners14 FrenchLanguage9 frenchlearning7 frenchresources2 frenchstories15 FrenchStoryListeners9 homeschoolfrench44 languagelearning16 LanguageThroughStories2 learnfrench39 LearnFrenchNaturally6 LearnFrenchOnline15 ListenAndLearn5 PurpleCats1 slowfrench81 StoryBasedLearning3 UnAmiPourLeChat1

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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