French the natural way: Bonne fête des rois !

Coucou les French learners,

Bonne fête des rois ! Happy Three Kings Day! In France, on the 6th of January the Wise Men figurines in the nativity scene are placed around baby Jesus; in the lead up to this date, they were being gradually moved closer and closer to the stable.

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6january1 6janvier1 acquisition65 apprendslefrançais91 bible4 biblestory1 ci145 epiphanie4 epiphany8 famille69 family164 fetedesrois4 frangipane1 french input13 french learner6 frenchcake1 frenchculture295 frenchexpressions46 frenchfamily6 frenchfood61 frenchstorytime26 frenchtraditions29 galette8 galettedesrois6 histoiredelabible3 histoires en français12 jesus9 julie andrieu1 learnfrench20 lefrançaisavecaliceayel50 lefrançaisnaturellement92 nativity1 nativityscene1 natural approach59 pureci43 recette17 recipe36 roismages2 sla123 storylistening142 storytelling39 threewisemen1 TPRS71 whatfrenchchildreneat1 youtube channel52

French the natural way: top Christmas stories

Coucou les French learners,

When I was living and teaching in England, I used to sing in a choir. Yesterday my amazing conductor, Hannah Brine posted an inspiring quote:

I hear so many people around me saying things like “I am not an expert in languages”

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acquire french11 advent20171 amateur1 autonomous reader42 avent20172 bed time stories4 calendrieravent2 choir2 christmas25 christmas spirit14 christmascountdown17 christmaspreparation7 christmastales1 ci145 communicate9 compelling input31 comprehensible100 comprehension250 compteàrebours3 contes4 contesdenoel1 countdowntochristmas6 fêtedeslumières1 fle269 free voluntary reading32 french acquisition12 french love6 french lover3 french songs6 frenchculture295 frenchsong14 frenchstorytime26 frenchtradition49 frenchvocabulaire113 Great Story Reading Project11 input47 laminutefrançaise2 language acquisition229 learnfrench20 lefrançaisnaturellement92 legend78 legends2 love81 lyon5 mother tongue2 natural approach59 nikolaus1 noël20 noelenfrance5 noelenpreparation3 pureci43 saintnicolas2 self french205 singing7 sla123 song29 spirit6 stories40 tales4 tools14 TPRS71 weekly french33 weekly videos55

French the natural way: countdown to Christmas!

Coucou les French learners,

Aujourd’hui, today c’est le premier décembre, it is the first of December! French children have opened la première porte, the first door of le calendrier de l’Avent, Advent calendar. C’est excitant,

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acquirefrench76 advent7 advent calendar2 adventure65 adventures24 avent20172 aventuresdepolo1 belleshistoires1 bilingualfamily1 bilingualism1 bilingualkid1 calendrieravent2 christmas25 ci145 comprehensible input36 countdowntochristmas6 december20171 décembre1 Education20 family164 familylife12 fluency107 fluent in French7 french immersion23 frenchculture295 frenchexpressions46 frenchfamily6 frenchinput18 frenchonline68 frenchtradition49 frenchvocabulaire113 hiver2 immersion93 learnfrench20 neige3 niece1 noël20 noelenfrance5 personal13 personal story2 polo3 pureci43 self french205 sla123 snow4 storylistening142 storytelling39 surprise6 teachfrench12 vocabulary256 weekly french33 weekly videos55 winter11 youtube67 youtube channel52

French the natural way: listen to stories!

Coucou les French learners,

Last week, I mentioned a story I co-created with a learner to help her remember a list of words she had to memorize. I strongly believe in the power of stories because when your mind listens to a story, it generates multiple connections.

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accuracy4 acquire50 acquirefrench76 active listener94 ci145 compelling39 complexstructures1 comprehend52 comprehensible100 comprehension250 confidence92 enjoyable39 fable59 fables21 fle269 fluency107 free voluntary reading32 french for free4 french input13 french stories5 frenchvocabulaire113 Great Story Reading Project11 IB9 language acquisition229 learnfrench20 lefrançaisnaturellement92 listeningfirst20 listentofrench6 listentostories41 online french22 online french tutor4 power15 powerful6 pureci43 rangeofvocabulary3 reading252 reading skills1 retell3 retelling4 self confidence54 self french205 sla123 Spanish33 spanish input3 spanish story3 stories40 story script6 storylistening142 structures7 teachfrench12 understanding22 untargeted structures1 vocabulary256 weekly french33 weekly input15 writing skills1 youtube channel52

French the natural way: the only cure is more input!

Coucou les French learners,

Last night, I was tutoring a 12 years old French student and she had to learn a list of vocabulary about all the different rooms in a school: la cantine, le gymnase, la salle des profs, le laboratoire… Instead of having the learner memorize each word and repeat them after me,

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French the natural way: watch TV series

Coucou les French learners,

My Dad shared with me this interesting article about Tomi Mester, who is a data analyst and researcher who wants to learn Swedish because he moved to Sweden six months ago. I thought this article was interesting because Tomi mentions that he watched two popular TV shows in Swedish with Swedish subtitles.

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French the natural way: voyage au Portugal

Coucou les French learners,

Je suis de retour à la maison ! I am back home! J’étais en voyage au Portugal ! I was travelling in Portugal!

Viana do Castelo au Portugal.

Portugal is such a beautiful country and les portugais sont très hospitaliers,

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