Coucou les membres de la communauté,
This week is particularly special as we approach an important French holiday. On Friday, November 1st, the French will be celebrating La Toussaint, or All Saints’ Day. This Catholic holiday honors all saints, known and unknown.
It’s a time when many French families visit cemeteries to pay respects to their deceased loved ones, often placing chrysanthemums on graves.
The following day, November 2nd, is known as “Le jour des morts” or All Souls’ Day. While not a public holiday, it’s traditionally a day to remember and pray for all departed souls.
I invite you to explore this theme further by reading and listening to “Le Festin des Morts” (The Feast of the Dead), an intermediate-level story available on our site.
This tale is from the Gascogne region, which is in the Southwest of France. The French playwright, Molière, was inspired by this tale to write the play, Don Juan. The character of the Commander is inspired by this tale.
Listen and read to this gripping tale. Click here!
Community Question of the Week
I love hearing from our community members, and this week, I’d like to highlight a question from @3Wonders who asked in the Community Chat:
I am just beginning the Teen Stage videos and am wondering how most people go about the dictation/ copy work for the lessons. Do you recommend pausing the video from time to time as needed to catch up, or do you recommend listening to the whole thing and then coming back to transcribe while reading aloud, or even other ideas? Merci !!
The main purpose of this exercise is to develop free writing abilities in French. This means you have a couple of options:
Write your own answer: After watching the video, listening, and reading as usual, you can try to write freely in French about the topic or question presented. Don’t worry about perfect spelling or grammar at this stage. The goal is to let your thoughts flow naturally in French.
Copy the provided answer: If you’re struggling to come up with your own response, it’s perfectly fine to start by copying the answer I provide. This can help you get comfortable with French sentence structures and vocabulary.
The key is to write without focusing too much on errors.
Just let your writing flow in French.
This approach helps build confidence and fluency over time.
A Word of Gratitude
My Dear Man & I deeply appreciate your participation in our program and community.
Your dedication to acquiring French inspires us to continually improve our offerings.
If you’ve found value in our resources, please share your experience by posting a review on Trustpilot.
Your feedback helps us grow and also assists other language learners in discovering our community.
In fact, Sebstian shared on Trustpilot:
Alice Ayel’s videos make it really easy to learn french. I am progressing really fast using her Comprehensible Input Videos.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and Happy French Acquisition!
Cordialement,