To our circle of French Story Listeners,
Some of the most beautiful French moments don’t happen at a desk with a textbook.
They happen in an office corridor, by a colleague’s collection of dried garden herbs, when a poem you memorised quietly surfaces, and suddenly you’re having a real conversation in French.
Nadya et Barry à Lyon !
That’s exactly what happened to Nadya this week.
She was at work when a colleague brought in plants from her garden, fresh and dried, arranged to make her desk feel warmer and more alive. It reminded Nadya of a poem she had recently memorised: L’Air en conserve by Jacques Charpentreau.
She shared it with her colleague on the spot. Her colleague loved it. And what followed was an unplanned, heartfelt conversation in French about the emotions a poem can stir.
This is the kind of moment your French is being built for.
This week’s gentle invitation 🌿
Read and listen to L’Air en conserve by Jacques Charpentreau right here.
Then come to Telegram and share what the poem makes you feel.
One sentence, one word, whatever comes. There is no right answer.
Nadya showed us that a poem needs to be shared to be powerful.
👉 Share your feeling on Telegram
From our community this week 🎲
And speaking of French happening in unexpected places — have you heard of Bananagrams?
Helen, one of our newer members, spent the week with her mother in Derbyshire. Every day they played Bananagrams together, and Helen decided to make all her words in French.
It slowed the game right down, she admits!
But she also discovered something important: to find the words, she had to think only in French.
The moment she switched to English, it became impossible.
That’s not a struggle. That’s your brain acquiring a language.
Well done, Helen. 🍌
Keep going, story lovers. You’re doing more than you know.
Alice 💕
P.S. Our live community sessions are one of the warmest parts of this membership — a place to share your journey, practice your French, and feel that you belong to something real. We meet every Monday and Thursday at 4pm UK / 5pm France / 11am EDT / 8am PDT. Come as you are. Join us here.