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 →
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 006 : Historical Heritage of Le Perche, a French Territory
Discover a former French province, Le Perche, and the richness of its historical heritage. Joël Lenoir is the president of Bellême Heritage Association (l’Association du Patrimoine de Bellême) and he is very involved in the restauration project of “le porche de Bellême”, which used to be the main gate to the small town and is now in danger. Listen to find out what the problem is and also how you may be able to help save this historical building! Episode Timeline [04 min 37 sec]Le Perche, a former French province [06 min 16 sec] Geography: where Le Perche sits on the map of France [07 … 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 →
How to Use Your French Dictionary Efficiently
A dictionary is a great tool and even a great bedside book. I love exploring it, flipping through to discover complicated or funny words, in English or in French. However, you should not cling to your dictionary as you would cling to a lifebuoy. Dictionaries can be so big and heavy that they would make you drown – quite the opposite of what you would expect from them. When I teach, I want my students to take the habit of not using a dictionary during our lessons (unless specifically asked to do so for a given task or activity). I must have said it over so many times that I once found out … Read More →
FV 004 : Cycling Around the World – An Inspirational Journey (Part 2)
Eric and Christine are an amazing couple who have been cycling around the world for ten years, and they’re still going! But what happens when bad luck strikes? And not just once, but multiple times? Can you pick yourself up, or do you give up? Eric really opened his heart to share some vivid, hard memories that he and his wife went through while on their adventure. Note: this is the second episode of Eric and Christine’s story. If you haven’t heard the first part yet, I suggest you start by listening to episode 3 of French Voices. Episode Timeline [04 min 07 sec] A very unfortunate series … Read More →
The 7 Most Common French Tenses Made Easy (Recipes)
French verbs and their conjugation seem to be the most exasperating part of French grammar for students. There are quite a number of French tenses and moods (I will write about those in a future article) and it is very easy to feel overwhelmed. As a result, many students buy dictionaries specifically dedicated to French verbs. Honestly, if I were a French student, the mere sight of these dictionaries would discourage me! Do I have to learn all that??! Good news : the answer is NO. There is an easy way you can dramatically reduce the amount of memorisation (and headaches!) to learn the … Read More →