Coucou les French learners,
There is une vague de chaleur, a heatwave going on here, in Europe and we are enjoying the beautiful weather!
Le printemps, spring is really blossoming. It is beautiful out here! Actually, Spring and the blossoming nature is a bit like language acquisition.
Many of my learners are blooming too. They keep listening and reading comprehensible and compelling French input. It is a bit like watering a plant or looking after them.
Des pavots dans mon jardin.
During our sessions, they listen to me with the intent to understand me. When I ask them a question in French, they understand it but they usually answer in their mother tongue.
It is OK! They will answer in French when they are ready. I do not push them to speak in French, I wait patiently and keep giving them input. I keep providing French input which interests them and at the same time, input which they understand. And at one point, they blossom. In French, we use the word éclore. They comprehend more and more input, they can read more complicated stuff. And then, to my amazement they speak French, output comes out effortlessly!
Un parterre de fleurs !
My best feedback this week is from a young boy I meet weekly. We talk about what he enjoys playing with, mostly we talk about Lego and we invent stories involving cars and trucks. He usually answers me in English but from time to time, he speaks in French. His Mum wrote: “J. is reading right now “ Brandon Brown dit la verité ” and he loves it. Before he started classes with you he could not read at that level and understand the story. He read the first Brandon book, but this one was too advanced for him.”
Le mois d’avril
Although it is warm and sunny, there is a popular French saying “ en avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil “. Thomas from Français immersion explains what this dicton means in a short video here.
There is also this beautiful poem by Gérard de Nerval entitled ” Avril “. It describes the transition between l’hiver, winter and le printemps, spring. Read it, as well as the analysis and the life of the poet in this document I compiled just for you!
Le cerisier depuis la fenêtre de ma cuisine.
What is avril, April for you? I asked my small group of girls learning French and they came up with: le barbecue, le vélo, le trampoline, les fleurs, le soleil, la glace…
What about you? Leave your French words in the comments below.
Le jardin
At the start of the month, I was in Bretagne, France and I did a tour around the beautiful garden of my parents in law. My mother in law has la main verte and she loves gardening. She even won a prize for the prettiest garden in her village!
I hope you enjoy learning about the plants and also about this traditional cure people drink from le bouleau, the birch!
Happy French acquisition!
P.S. My Dear Man & I are still working hard at the moment to bring you the best French resources online via stories and podcasts! So there will be ONE new video weekly every weekend from now one.
P.P.S. Be sure to watch me reading the authentic fable by Jean de La Fontaine about le rat de ville et le rat des champs. And watch the simplified version here.