Many famous paintings became famous because they were scandalous. This is the case of Le Radeau de la Méduse by Théodore Géricault. The young painter, aged 27 years old, painted about the wreck of the Medusa near the cost of today’s Mauritania. 147 persons were left on a big raft on which most of them died. Only 15 people survived the 13 days before their rescue. 
The wreck happened in 1816 and it was scandalous because the French captain was incompetent. 
Géricault gets passionate about the subject; He meets two survivors, study dead bodies in the hospital, study how to paint to sea, etc. 
The painting was first shown at the Salon in 1819, only 3 years after the wreck of the Medusa. The Salon is the official art exhibition at that time.  My friend Anne-Laure will tell you how the painting had been received at that time. 


In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on the vocabulary and expressions that Anne-Laure uses to describe what people felt about the painting. 


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CYF 150 — Au Louvre, Le radeau de la Méduse de Théodore Géricault — mercredi 30 novembre 2022

Do you want to improve your listening skills and comprehension of the French as it is spoken in France? With Cultivate Your French podcast, things go smoothly. This is slow French podcast. But it’s also a podcast in which you hear about everyday life in France, in which you hear stories and meet French people.

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When I need to get from one place to another in Paris, I have an itinerary in my head by metro or on foot. I can find my way around the city quite well. I could walk from one place to another without taking too many detours. Well, it depends on the area, of course. But on Thursday morning, my phone suggested a fairly simple route that I decided to follow. I was in Place Saint-Michel and had to go to Rue Yves Toudic to pick up an order. If I had decided to follow my route, I would have got off at République. 
In the notes that come with the transcript of this episode, we’re going to imagine that we enter each of the shops mentioned in this episode and say a sentence or two. Simple phrases, but very useful if you decide to go to du Cha^teau d’eau or elsewhere. 
Of course, I’ll also point out a particularly interesting phrase for you to repeat in a loud voice, explaining why I chose it.  

So, if you want to improve your French, learn the right phrase, and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, I invite you to subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com. The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

213 — Rue du Château d’eau — mercredi 22 mai 2024

Last week, American star Taylor Swift performed at La Défense Arena, Europe’s largest indoor concert venue. She had four concert dates, the last of which was this Sunday. La Défense is a four-minute train journey from our house. Lisa and I made the trip to meet some of the singer’s fans. 
We met two very nice young women who agreed to share their impressions on the podcast. Lucie who had been to the concert the day before and Céleste who was going to attend the concert. 
You’ll hear them in today’s episode.

And in the notes that come with the transcript, we’ll focus on certain details of these conversations that are typical of natural French as it is spoken today. 


Of course, there will also be a sentence to repeat. The power of this exercise is the subject of my last article on the podcast blog. Have you read it yet? 


So, if you want to add a natural touch to your conversations in French, and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, I invite you to subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

212 — Taylor Swift : rencontre avec des fans — mercredi 15 mai 2024

I had a dream that came back often at night, a recurring dream: I was driving a car and I was afraid of being caught by the police because I didn’t have a licence. ‘I’ve got to stop driving without a licence’, I said to myself every time in this dream. But I couldn’t stop myself and I regularly found myself driving illegally. 
Now the recurring dream has disappeared and I think I’ve understood why, thanks to Ami. 


In this episode, you’ll find out who Ami is. 


And in the transcript that comes with the notes, we’re going to look at two verbs that come up several times in this episode, two verbs that we use a thousand times a day. What strategy should we adopt to learn how to conjugate them? That’s what we’re going to look at together.  We’ll also look at a sentence to repeat out loud, and I’ll explain why I chose it. 


So if you want to improve your French a thousand times over,  and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.

The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

211 —Grâce à Ami, je ne conduis plus la nuit — mercredi 8 mai 2024

Little by little, I began to hate our sofa. I used to dream of a Habitat sofa, which I tried out in the Avenue de Wagram shop in Paris. But at the end of 2023, the Habitat shops closed, taking my dream of a white sofa with curl fabric with them. 
I recently had the idea of looking for a Habitat sofa on Le Bon Coin. You can find anything on Le bon coin: furniture, tools, clothes, a job or even a home. Well, I found a Habitat sofa that might suit me, only the seller wasn’t at home in Saint-Ouen on the date. I still had the old Saint-Ouen in mind, but I discovered something completely different, but did I get my sofa? You’ll soon find out. 


In the notes that come with the transcript, we’re going to dwell on the elements of the text that speak of time and duration, because we always need to situate in time what we’re talking about. Of course, we’ll also take a look at three expressions or turns of phrase that may go unnoticed, but which are actually worth noticing. 
So, to take the time to cultivate your French at your own pace and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com. 


The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

210 — Une aventure à Saint-Ouen — mercredi 1er mai 2024

Last week we were on holiday. We needed the perfect destination for this school holiday: to be in the countryside for a change of scenery, but not too far from a big city and other tourist attractions. I didn’t know whether the girls would have a lot of work or not. So I thought about the Strasbourg area. I really liked the city last year when I went there for the kung fu competition. So I found a gîte in a village half an hour from Strasbourg. 
We were warmly welcomed by the owners.
The lady had prepared an Easter speciality for us: a kind of sponge cake with a slight lemon flavour in the shape of a lamb. 
In this episode, I tell you about our holiday in Alsace. 
 
In the notes that come with the transcript, we’ll take a look at three very natural expressions in French. These are words or turns of phrase that you don’t necessarily notice, but which are typical in French. 
I’ll also share with you my collection of photos of blue houses and we’ll talk about colours: what are the most common colours in French, what are their shades, how do we talk about colours, how do adjectives agree. 


So if you want to colour up your French and improve it at the same time, and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, you could subscribe to the Cultivate Your French transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com. The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.

CYF 150 — Au Louvre, Le radeau de la Méduse de Théodore Géricault — mercredi 30 novembre 2022

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