French Please

Bring the sound of French into your life, in as many ways as you can! Ideas, resources, and all our favorite audiobooks and podcasts, listed below:

French at Home: a Conversation (be ready for your next trip, practice now, together, never with a screen.):

French with Kids: Bring the joy of French into your family's day the fun, quick and easy way (screen-free).

Don't miss another episode, video, blog post or special offer on French Please. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Feedback? Requests? We would love to hear from you! Send letters here: [email protected]

Books for families:

Le Club des Cinq, Enid Blyton (young sleuths solving mysteries out on their own in the 1950’s-60’s)

Le Petit Nicolas, Jean-Jacques Sempé, about the adventures at school and at home of the little Nicolas, who is mostly in trouble and often cannot figure out just why. Set in France of the 1950’s. Hilarious.

Les Misérables, Victor Hugo, especially if you want to get your money’s worth in French: it is a rather long 56 hours in length. And if you like detailed description.

Harry Potter is still a delight in French, and as you know the story, easy to follow.

And for adults:

Claudine à l’École, Colette, and all of the other Claudines; a Paris, etc. Colette was a giant of French literature and changed the way language is used in writing.

Chanson Douce, Leila Slimani, a true horror story.

On la trouvait plutôt jolie, Michel Bussi, the south of France, Africa, the game and perils of immigration from one to the other, a real thriller.

Candide ou l’optimisme, Voltaire, in my series of classic literature

Et moi, je vis toujours, Jean d’Ormesson on history as an entity

Les oubliés du dimanche, Valérie Perrin, a charming tale of a young CNA, love, death, betrayal and loyalty beyond all barriers.

Le talisman, Janine Boissard, a story of friendship, becoming adults together, love and mystery.

Tous les hommes n’habitent pas la terre de la même façon, Jean-Paul Dubois, it is France meets Canada, the wilderness and the most extreme of closed-in spaces; a penitentiary.

John Grisham translated into French; it is easy to follow and always entertaining.

The beauty of Audible is that, like a podcast, you control the speed of narration. You can hike it up to twice the pace or slow it down to 0.5, with every increment in between now: 1.7, 0.6, …

Podcasts for families:

For adults: 

Christophe Hondelatte in Hondelatte Raconte, who is telling us all about courage and daring when he is not recounting a murder story, all based on real life accounts.

Boomerang, Augustin Trapenard; interviewing poets, artists, singers and actors in a show about culture and perspective.

Le Coin du Crime, a Canadian podcast all about, you guessed it, crime, mainly murder.

Historiquement Votre, Stéphane Bern et Matthieu Noël, all sorts of anecdotes from history that weave together to tell us about three individuals linked by some sort of theme but not by time nor relation.

One last phrase: bonne semaine! have a great week!

Today we take a look at ways of learning to pronounce all the words you want to say in your target language...French included here! 

If you know you will not take the plunge alone, but this lifestyle of  the two of you, hanging out and speaking together in French is what you  desire, let us make it easy, fun and immediate for you with our French at Home: a Conversation or French at Home: a Debut offerings. Start now, today, and fill your day with the French you've  always dreamed you would speak again...or for the first time.

An additional resource, just in from my peeps: call your friend who speaks Norwegian, Italian, Japanese, French to request a Marco Polo video saying that very phrase you were looking for to perfect your day!

French expressions for today:

Maman, où est mon cartable? (Mama, where's my school bag?) Où est-ce que se trouve mon cartable? Où se trouve mon cartable? 

Il est à côté de la chaise. (It's next to the chair.) Il est sous l'arbre. (It's under the tree.) Il est sur le toit. (It's on the roof.)

Regarde, Papa, j'ai trouvé le lapin. (Look, Dad, I found the bunny.) Oh, je vois ma chérie. C'est très bien. (Oh, I see sweetie. That's great!)

Would you like your lessons all laid out, stress-free for you, audio, written and all?

Learn more about French with Kids and French at Home: a Conversation below:

French at Home: a Conversation (be ready for your next trip, practice now, together, never with a screen.):

French with Kids: Bring the joy of French into your family's day the fun, quick and easy way (screen-free).

Don't miss another episode, video, blog post or special offer on French Please. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Feedback? Requests? We would love to hear from you! Send letters here: [email protected]

One last word: bonne semaine! have a great week!

Today...I propose a well-worn method with a twist; label it all in your target language. Here are ideas for making this an evolution instead of a one-day blast, to make it stick...in more than one way. 

If you know you will not take the plunge alone, but this lifestyle of  the two of you, hanging out and speaking together in French is what you  desire, let us make it easy, fun and immediate for you with our French at Home: a Conversation or French at Home: a Debut offerings. Start now, today, and fill your day with the French you've  always dreamed you would speak again...or for the first time.

French phrases from the episode: "l'objet du jour" (the object of the day) "la porte (door) "la fourchette" (fork) "le machin-truc" (whatchamacallit), "Qu-est-ce qu'il manque?" (What's missing?), "Il manque la cuillère" (the spoon is missing), "Il manque le pince-a-linge" (The cloths-pin is missing), "Qu-est-ce qui n'est pas là?" (What is not there?), "Le couteau n'est pas lá." (The knife is not there.) "Le fil n'est pas là." (The spool of thread is not there.) Below is the link for a blog post with 100 words in French for your home.

Blog Post: Label in French

Would you like your lessons all laid out, stress-free for you, audio, written and all?

Learn more about French with Kids and French at Home: a Conversation below:

French at Home: a Conversation (be ready for your next trip, practice now, together, never with a screen.):

French with Kids: Bring the joy of French into your family's day the fun, quick and easy way (screen-free).

Don't miss another episode, video, blog post or special offer on French Please. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Feedback? Requests? We would love to hear from you! Send letters here: [email protected]

One last word: bonne semaine! have a great week!

This is part of our promised "Ways to make French come alive in your household" series. It is the first step to finding what it is that you need to say to your partner, your children, your loved ones, before turning it into French. 

If you know you will not take the plunge alone, but this lifestyle of  the two of you, hanging out and speaking together in French is what you  desire, let us make it easy, fun and immediate for you with our French at Home: a Conversation or French at Home: a Debut offerings. Start now, today, and fill your day with the French you've  always dreamed you would speak again...or for the first time.

French notes for today: "Je vous souhaite une semaine formidable!" (Have a fantastic week!)

Would you like your lessons all laid out, stress-free for you, audio, written and all?

Learn more about French with Kids and French at Home: a Conversation below:

French at Home: a Conversation (be ready for your next trip, practice now, together, never with a screen.):

French with Kids: Bring the joy of French into your family's day the fun, quick and easy way (screen-free).

Don't miss another episode, video, blog post or special offer on French Please. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Feedback? Requests? We would love to hear from you! Send letters here: [email protected]

One last word: bonne semaine! have a great week!

This week we take our French moment out for some fresh air as we observe wild life, play the car color game and more. 

If you know you will not take the plunge alone, but this lifestyle of  the two of you, hanging out and speaking together in French is what you  desire, let us make it easy, fun and immediate for you with our French at Home: a Conversation or French at Home: a Debut offerings. Start now, today, and fill your day with the French you've  always dreamed you would speak again...or for the first time.

French phrases from today: Regarde! (look!) (repeated each time), un écureil (a squirrel), où ça? (where?), là-bas, sous l'arbre (over there, under the tree), le chat (the cat), là-bas, sur le toit (over there, on the roof), une voiture bleue (a blue car), verte (green), jaune (yellow), rouge (red), noire (black), blanche (white), and one last note; mais non can mean a number of things; no, no way, of course not, uh-uh, not happening. 

Would you like your lessons all laid out, stress-free for you, audio, written and all?

Learn more about French with Kids and French at Home: a Conversation below:

French at Home: a Conversation (be ready for your next trip, practice now, together, never with a screen.):

French with Kids: Bring the joy of French into your family's day the fun, quick and easy way (screen-free).

Don't miss another episode, video, blog post or special offer on French Please. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Feedback? Requests? We would love to hear from you! Send letters here: [email protected]

One last word: bonne semaine! have a great week!

Make the language of your dreams part of the rhythm of your day...specifically French with French Please! but if the hints we have for you help you with your Mandarin or your Greek, that is just fine by us. Pick a time and remain faithful to it for a while; a week or maybe two, and see how French becomes a habit and begins to stick when you stick to using it each day at that time. 

If you know you will not take the plunge alone, but this lifestyle of  the two of you, hanging out and speaking together in French is what you  desire, let us make it easy, fun and immediate for you with our French at Home: a Conversation or French at Home: a Debut offerings. Start now, today, and fill your day with the French you've  always dreamed you would speak again...or for the first time.

We explore two potential moments you could start with in this episode, and on a cultural note; we dive into meals, how many times a day the French really kiss hello and good-bye, how many bisous to offer, and more.  

The French expressions from Episode Two: Passe-moi le plat, s'il te plaît. (Pass the dish please.) Tiens, mon petit. (Here, sweetie.) Bonjour, ça-va? (Hi, how are you?) Ça c'est bien passé? (Did it go well?) Oui, c'était super! (Yes, it was fantastic!)

Would you like your lessons all laid out, stress-free for you, audio, written and all?

Learn more about French with Kids and French at Home: a Conversation below:

French at Home: a Conversation (be ready for your next trip, practice now, together, never with a screen.):

French with Kids: Bring the joy of French into your family's day the fun, quick and easy way (screen-free).

Don't miss another episode, video, blog post or special offer on French Please. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Feedback? Requests? We would love to hear from you! Send letters here: [email protected]

One last word: bonne semaine! have a great week!

Bring French into your life, the fun, fast and effective way! Angela and Thierry, a Franco-American duo who have raised a family of five in two languages, share the secrets of learning to speak French. In our podcast, we give you progressive ways to add French to your day through dialogs, chosen moments, games and more.

If you know you will not take the plunge alone, but this lifestyle of  the two of you, hanging out and speaking together in French is what you  desire, let us make it easy, fun and immediate for you with our French at Home: a Conversation or French at Home: a Debut offerings. Start now, today, and fill your day with the French you've  always dreamed you would speak again...or for the first time.

Notes from this episode: there was just one tiny bit of spoken French in this intro. À bientôt! See you soon! Tune in next time for exchanges to use in real life, as we expand your world through a French lens, adding beauty and joy to votre journée.

Check out our lessons for families: French with kids,  to learn, prepare for your dream trip and simply bring the joy of  French into your life. Don't wait: speak today, the way that makes it  natural and useful like your native tongue! You are already having a  blast with French with Kids? Add in one of the following to bring your  couple into full French communication too. Fill chez vous with French!

French at Home: a Conversation  Be ready for your next trip, do not wait one more day to "be ready".  Now is the time: learn and practice request and response together the  screen-free way. For those who perhaps spoke French once upon a time and  need to refresh and reinvent the language.

For beginners: French at Home: a Debut We walk you through it, request and response, short, to the point and  always relevant, building confidence, vocabulary and the thrill of  another language.

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Feedback? Requests? We would love to hear from you! Add to the comments below or send questions and comments here: [email protected]

You can find us on Facebook and Instagram at commence_le_dream

My blog on learning French: https://www.commenceledream.com/blog

And on France, homeschooling, language learning and life: http://www.ahomeschoolstory.com/

One last word: bonne semaine! have a great week!