Coucou les membres de la communauté,
Lately, My Dear Man & I have been working behind the scenes to bring you a variety of new resources designed to provide optimal input for your French language acquisition.
We’re thrilled to share these with you today!
Understanding Optimal Input
Before we dive into the new materials, let’s briefly discuss what we mean by “optimal input.” According to Dr. Beniko Mason, optimal input is comprehensible input that is also rich with a mix of frequent and less frequent words.
Click here to watch, read & listen about Dr. Beniko Mason.
This approach to language acquisition offers numerous benefits. It allows you to naturally absorb vocabulary and grammar structures in context.
It also enhances your overall language proficiency without the need for rote memorization or tedious drills.
New for Intermediate Learners
If you have reached an intermediate level, we’re excited to introduce “Pour ou contre la solitude?”
Click here to read and listen to this argumentative text!
This resource is designed to help you understand how to construct arguments in French and prepare you for expressing opinions.
It comes complete with comprehension questions and answers to reinforce your understanding.
Advanced Level Materials
If you are an advanced learner already, you have 2 new stories to explore. These authentic texts come with comprehension questions and answers, as well as open-ended questions for deeper reflection.
The first story is an extract from the novel “Pêcheur d’Islande,” a classic French novel about Breton fishermen and their perilous journeys to the waters of Iceland.
Pierre Loti was a French naval officer and novelist who lived from 1850 to 1923. Loti joined the French navy at a young age and traveled extensively around the world. His experiences during these voyages greatly influenced his writing, allowing him to vividly depict exotic locations and cultures in his novels.
Despite not being a professional writer by training, Loti became a prolific author. One of Loti‘s most famous and popular novels was “Pêcheurs d’Islande” published in 1886.
Click here to read and listen to an extract from this famous French novel.
The second text is an informative article discussing the benefits of singing, providing both rich language and interesting content.
Click here to read and listen to this interesting article!
For Advanced Beginners
If you’re an advanced beginner feeling ready to start speaking a bit of French, there is a new pronunciation video for you.
It focuses on two common French expressions: “n’importe quoi” (meaning “whatever” or “nonsense”) and “c’est vrai” (meaning “it’s true”).
This video will help you perfect your pronunciation of these frequently used phrases.
Click here to watch it!
A Heartfelt Thank You
Your enthusiasm and dedication inspire us to continually improve and expand our offerings.
If you’ve found our program helpful, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to leave a review on Trustpilot.
Your feedback helps us grow and also assists other French learners in discovering our program.
In fact, John shared this week on Trustpilot:
Alice Ayel’s program of acquiring French is the core of my learning the French language. She leads you through stages during which you are exposed to many many stories in French – and the great majority have French-language explanation of words and phrases. Also, grammar is presented tangentially to the stories; you learn vocabulary in context. She projects her love of teaching with great warmth. I have been with the program for 9 months. It is a great investment!
Thank you for your continued support, and Happy French Acquisition!
Cordialement,