In this episode, I sit down with Julie who is my niece. She has just turned 16 and she explains how she spends her summer vacation and her school year ahead. She also speaks about the special bond she has with her dog, raven and what she does to train her to obey. At the end of the extract, she tells us about the way she views life and how important it is to embrace whichever opportunity life brings us.

In this new episode, I sit down with my mum during our holidays together to discuss her retirement. She explains how she fills her time with different hobbies like painting, gardening and walking with her walking group. She also tells us about her plan with my father to open a bed and breakfast in the fall. The link for their holiday rental will appear below. 

In this episode, I speak with my father about his vocation as a chef and his passion for food. We revisit traditional recipes such as clafoutis which I have included the link for the recipe below. We also talk about the French eating habits (baguette, cheeses, apéritif) and the new trends. 

https://www.clafoutis-aux-cerises.com/recette-clafoutis.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMj2MiB-bvM

In this episode, I tell you all about my summer plans, starting by my trip to France with my children to reconnect with my parents and my sister. I speak about a place I have never visited before (le Pont du Gard). I also talk about what we will do there during our week at the campsite. I feel lucky that we will have access to kayaks and canoes as there is a heatwave right now in France. Heat wave is called la canicule in French. 

Here is a news article related to the heatwave:

https://www.tf1info.fr/meteo/canicule-en-france-5-chiffres-impressionnants-sur-cette-vague-de-chaleur-2223784.html

In this episode, I talk about my husband's birthday. I explain where we went to celebrate him: an escape room! This was a new concept for us and I wanted to share my thoughts on that evening . We went with 6 other people (our friends) and as well as solving clues, we discovered new traits about our close circle. Some are very pragmatic while others are day-dreamers. The conclusion is that we need everybody to solve mysteries as we see each situation with a different perspective and that's exactly what makes the world so interesting. 

During my podcast, you will hear me read a story which was taken directly from the website of the place where I booked the escape room. Here is the link:

https://www.x-cape.ca/fr/nos-scenarios/death-row/

In this episode, my husband talks about travelling to Israel for his work. He explains the differences he noticed during his 5 days over there, the different types of landscape he discovered while driving through Israel, his last night in Tel Aviv and travelling first class to get there. You will notice that Bill makes some mistakes about the verbs of movement in the past, such as aller or revenir which should both be conjugated with the auxiliary être. It's a common mistake learners make and it takes practice to correct it. Example: we don't say j'ai allé but je suis allé when we want to say I went in French. The same applies to the verbe revenir: we don't say j'ai revenu but we say je suis revenu. To practice these verbs, you can click on the link below: 

https://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-9508.php

I apologize also for the sound quality. I will make sure to rectify it for our next podcast.

In this episode, I talk about food having grown up in a rural part of France and having later immigrated to different countries where food is viewed differently. I share my experiences and what I noticed living abroad. Here are some expressions I use in this podcast: 

- mettre les petits plats dans les grands = préparer une belle table et élaborer un menu délicat

- prendre un pot = prendre un verre

In this episode, I share with you my thoughts on sports and which place they have in my life. I also talk about the verbs JOUER and FAIRE which are both used when it comes to talking about sports depending on which sport you are referring to. Here is a link to consolidate this grammatical notion, including how to conjugate them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dyx7Q_ouVY

To expand you vocabulary on sports, here is also a useful link with a little quiz at the end. 

https://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-9374.php

In this episode, I share some thoughts about the cultural differences I noticed when it comes to talking about the weather. I also talk about my experience as a French person living in Quebec where winters are known to be very cold and what to expect if someone wants to immigrate in this part of the world. I also explain why spring has become my favorite season. In terms of grammar, you will notice  in this podcast how I use a variety of verb tenses (past, present, future) but I rarely talk using the conditional tense as this is not an hypothetical situation. Here is a vocabulary list to enrich your vocabulary regarding springtime. 

Le printemps

Today, I have the pleasure to introduce you to my neighbour and friend, Andrée. Were will discuss her recent purchase: her new electric car. In this episode, we will address the advantages and disadvantages of owning an electric car. She will share her experience and her tips to get used to this new mode of transportation. She will also speak about what she does on a daily basis to contribute to a better environment. Happy listening!