Nikki is an international 3-day event event judge specialising in dressage. Her job takes her to France and usually she only needs to communicate in English. But this time Nikki gets invited onto a live broadcast in French and is asked to comment on why British riders are so successful in this arena. She carries it off with amazing aplomb! She is an inspiration to anyone who doubts their ability to communicate in French!

Here's Nikki live in France!

Listening to an extract from a French Radio station RFI

This interview was with Nicky Dunn the owner of Pi Society in Exeter in 2022. Ellie talks about overcoming fear and pulling on her strengths rather than trying to make obvious weaknesses into strengths. It's a candid and personal discussion but one that resonates with many people, as we are all facing our fears all the time!

Justine is our French cookery "animatrice". Justine and I met 5 years ago when she came to England to improve her English. I was her English teacher. Since then Justine has had regular involvement with The French Room running our "cook alongs". A bunch of us were even treated to a guided tour of Nantes last year.

Nadja shares the highs and lows of using her French language skills since she moved to France a year ago. This a candid analysis of the rollercoaster ride of learning a foreign language.

David est un grand passionné du vélo et a arpenté les routes à travers la France. Son dernier tour il a fait 1200kms en 8 jours! Il a des conseils pour qu'on puisse faire pareil!

Steve has been a musician for over 50 years. He played the London scene in a band back in the 60s. He has composed music played by one of the most iconic guitarists of our era and has taught guitar to children for decades.

We talk about the similarities between learning and instrument and learning a language particularly from the point of view of the importance of rhythm in both cases.

Unfortunately, the internet connection failed at the end of the podcast so it ends quite suddenly.

Steve has been learning with The French Room for 2 years and he often shares the gems he has found in French music.

Here is the Spotify playlist that Steve mentions "Croissant Corner"

The Ted Talk referred to in the conversation is Benjamin Zander - The transformative power of classical music 

I met Thibault in 2015 when The French Room was just starting out. We did a cheese and wine evening together. He then came back to The French Room a few years later to do a hugely popular wine tasting evening. 

His company, Wine Story, has the strapline "We love wine, we love food, we love books, we love life". In this podcast, we talk about Thibault's love of books and wine with the fascinating story of May 1968 as the backdrop to the discussion. 

https://www.thewinestoryclub.com/

I chat to Gemma about how it is to live and work in France. Gemma and her young family moved to the Pyrenees 2 years ago. She has some great tips on overcoming the fear of speaking in French and shares an intriguing story of gate crashing a French wedding!

Gemma and her husband have been learning French in group classes at The French Room for 6 months.

The French Room podcast is an opportunity to chat about our connections with France. There are over 100 people learning with The French Room and they have so many interesting stories to tell about their French experiences.

In this episode, I talk to Lisa who lived and worked in Lyon for a year.