Jacques Bernard is the founder of Le Forum bookstore, the only bookstore exclusively and entirely dedicated to French in Australia. He is also the president of the French Books on Wheels, an initiative which allows him to spend several months each year on the road surrounded with books, travelling through Australia to meet the French speaking and French students community and promote French language. If like me, you love travelling and reading, you will also love this episode! Episode Timeline [4 min 30 sec] How Jacques arrived in Australia [06 min 05 sec] A carrier change [07 min 05 sec] … Read More →
FV 011 : Being a Primary School Teacher in Rural France
Elodie is a young, energetic and very creative primary school teacher in rural France. She started teaching in a very small village school where she had to manage pupils of different levels all within the same classroom. We will also talk about the different ideas and projects that she has implemented to help children become more independent and finally about how she talked with her pupils about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and at Charlie Hebdo. Episode Timeline [06 min 37 sec] “Professeur des Ecoles”: a description of the profession [08 min 10 sec] What her pupils call Elodie [08 … Read More →
Schtroumpfez-vous français?
Have you ever read an album of “Les Schtroumpfs” (The Smurfs) in French by Belgian cartoonist Peyo? If not, you are really missing the opportunity to both entertain yourself (after all, there’s a reason why Les Schtroumpfs have been so popular since 1958) AND to work on your French skills! (keep reading, I've designed some worksheets for you.) By the way, my favourite album has to be "La Soupe Aux Schtroumpfs" (you can read through the first pages) : it's fun from page one and it's very representative of the series: the album shows the dangers the Smurfs have to face as well as the smart, … Read More →
FV 010 : Pop-Up Crepes – A Delicious Growing Adventure
This episode is about authentic French crepes, made by an authentic French man, in Melbourne! I met Cedric, the owner, during the last Melbourne Paris to Provence French festival, where I got to eat a few of his truly delicious crepes. We’ll be discussing crepes making and flavours, but also languages and the issues that we sometimes face as expats, forgetting our native language sometimes! Episode Timeline [04 min 23 sec] How Cédric arrived in Melbourne [06 min 02 sec] The birth of Pop-Up Crepes [07 min 30 sec] Why pop-up? [08 min 44 sec] From a part-time to a full-time venture ? [09 … Read More →
FV 009 : Hotel Particulier de Suhard: Tasteful Interior Design and History
Featured in many French interior design magazines, this 16th century hotel particulier in the Normandie region was renovated, tastefully decorated, then turned into a welcoming guest house by owner Josiane Lenoir. Travel back in time and learn about the characteristic interior design features of the past few centuries! Staying at a guest house is a great way to discover France, because you get to meet the hosts : they make your breakfast and tell you about the region / make recommendations of places to visit. Episode Timeline [05 min 27 sec] How Josiane became the owner of Hotel de … Read More →
FV 008 : Yoga in French with Alex
Alex is a French yoga teacher based in Melbourne. She offers yoga lessons in French, a great way to enjoy the benefits of yoga while brushing up on your French! Episode Timeline [03 min 34 sec] From Paris to Melbourne [04 min 54 sec] How Alex became a yoga teacher [06 min 44 sec] Atha yoga [07 min 12 sec] What’s in a yoga session [08 min 21 sec] Physical prerequisites to start yoga? [09 min 40 sec] Alex’s Yoga in French [13 min 00 sec] Yoga: a lifestyle [14 min 24 sec] Health benefits of yoga [16 min 16 sec] Travel to the motherland of yoga: India [17 min 27 sec] More about … Read More →
Irregular French Plurals : Masculine Words Ending in “_al”
Here is a common mistake I see among students of all levels of French, so I thought this short article would be useful, whether it is only a reminder or new to you ;-) Nouns Nouns ending in “_al” are masculine. Ex: un journal (= a newspaper) un cheval (= a horse) un animal un festival un carnaval, etc. These nouns have an irregular French plural.The plural form of these masculine nouns is generally “_aux”. Ex: un journal → des journaux un cheval → des chevaux un animal → des animaux There are a few exceptions of course : bal (= ball, dance), carnaval, chacal (= jackal, wild … Read More →
FV 007 : Comme une Française: Fun Videos to Understand French Culture
Geraldine, founder of Comme une Francaise, releases weekly videos which are free, fun and packed with information to help you understand popular French culture and avoid embarrassing mistakes. This interview will take you through the making of Comme une Francaise’s episodes and will tell you more about this very interesting concept. Episode Timeline [04 min 07 sec] Comme Une Française, a success story [04 min 45 sec] What is Comme Une Française and who is it for ? [05 min 28 sec] How the idea came [06 min 25 sec] An example of cultural difference : bise vs hug [07 min 57 sec] The making … Read More →
Practice Worksheets to Help You Build Correct Sentences in French
The following activity is to help you implement what you have learnt (or brushed up) in my article “Introduction to French Grammar: what type of word is it?”. The aim is to help you build correct sentences together by reflecting on how the words relate to each other and how a sentence is structured. The activity is done in 3 stages: Translate a text into French. Implement and identify: What type of word is it ? Identify all articles, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and prepositions. When I was in primary school, we would do a more in depth version of this … Read More →
FV 005 : Choukette – A Traditional French Patisserie in Melbourne
This is a mouth-watering interview with Nans, a young and talented chef patissier in Melbourne, Australia. His pastries are very traditional: they are exactly the same ones, the same flavours and the same taste as the pastries you would find in any city or village in France… I love them! For Christmas, Nans is also making the “bûche de Noël”, THE traditional French Christmas dessert. Episode Timeline [04 min 22 sec] Nans’s experience and background [06 min 45 sec] About Choukette’s staff [07 min 15 sec] A French library in Choukette! [08 min 00 sec] Choukette’s specialties [08 min 56 … Read More →