We are on holidays! And I’m happy to share a few moments with you. I’m recording this episode in the garden of the house we’ve rented. This week we are in the Loire Valley region. I was dreaming to go back to Chenonceau, one the beautiful Loire Valley castles, since 2013. Chenonceau is a small Renaissance castle mainly built in the sixteenth century that the king Henri II offered to his very good friend Diane de Poitiers. When he died, his wife Catherine de Medicis took it back for herself and managed France from there. Mary Stuart was married to one of his son, Henri III and also lived in Chenonceau. This place is full of history! Micaela was surprised because she’s reading La princesse de Clèves written in the 17th century by Madame de La Fayette. The story takes places at Henri II’s court and Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medicis are part of the story. I’ve seen in the Castle shop that there is an English version of this book published by Penguin Books. Have you read it?

My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France. I have also been running the podcast One Thing In A French Day since 2006
All the information about the transcripts, notes and photos is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com

CYF 083 — Promenade nocturne au château de Chenonceau

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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A few days ago, my friend Caroline asked me to go with her to see a play at the Comédie Française: Les Démons, adapted from a novel by Dostoyevsky. The Comédie Française is our national theatre. It’s a very prestigious place. Being part of the Comédie Française company is a great honour for actors. I accepted straight away, because I’d never been there before. Caroline had got the tickets from neighbours who couldn’t make it to the show. I’m going to tell you about that evening at the theatre. 


In the notes that come with the transcript, we’ll look at three expressions that are typical of everyday French and I’ll show you how to use them with examples. 


You’ll also have a sentence to repeat. A single sentence that I’ve chosen for you and I’ll explain why I chose this particular sentence. Getting into the habit of repeating sentences is an excellent way of improving your pronunciation, but also of naturally constructing sentences in spoken French. 


So, to benefit from all the positive effects of having the exact text of the transcript and and to enjoy the notes, 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.

214 — Une soirée à la Comédie Française— mercredi 29 mai 2024

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.

CYF 083 — Promenade nocturne au château de Chenonceau

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