Cultivate your French - Slow French
Laetitia Perraut
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Do you want to improve your listening skills and comprehension of the French as it is spoken in France?
You’re right, it’s very motivating to understand well when someone talks to you.
With Cultivate Your French podcast, things go smoothly.
First, I, Laetitia, read the text that I have chosen from One Thing in a French Day slowly, with clear articulation.
Then I read the text to you at a normal speed.
Available episodes
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2 days ago
CYF 190 — La colère de Rachilde et André Breton — mercredi 29 novembre 2023
Last week, Anne-Laure and I had spent our day out in the rain. We also met this week to record some episodes in the same neighbourhood, the weather forecast were clear : no rain ! Well, it was only a forecast, unfortunately. But we may have found the reason why we kept on being under the rain. Maybe someone was unhappy about what we had said about her or him?
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you some expressions that express the fact that you are unhappy with a situation. And I’m afraid, you will also learn your first « gros mot », your first swear word if you had not learnt any before this episode.
So to Cultivate Your French, receive the text by email each time an episode is release, and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com.
The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.
Oh, before I forget, on Friday starts the new December Calendar : a short email is sent everyday. This new calendar will be about a Parisian Quartier and its artistic life. To receive it, please enter your email address on the home page of my website onethinginafrenchday.com . It’s free and it’s in French !
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Nov 22, 2023
CYF 189 — Le couple doubleur — mercredi 22 novembre 2023
Last Thursday was a very rainy day in Paris. My friend Anne-Laure and I spent the day under the rain to record some episodes to come on the podcast. Our feet were wet, we were tired and cold when we started the queue at the museum. I won’t tell you which one not to reveal the subject of the coming episodes. The exhibit that we had planned to visit was supposed to be the best moment of our day, but an incident happened in the queue. This is what this episode is about.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you some little expressions that come naturally in French, we will also stop on a specific sentence to repeat aloud, I will tell you why this one, and you will have to guess the infinitive of a verb.
So to Cultivate Your French, receive the text by email each time an episode is release, and enjoy all the positive effects of having the exact text of the episode, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com. The subscription costs 4 euros a month and each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Nov 15, 2023
CYF 188 — La Frasnée — mercredi 15 novembre 2023
We were in the Jura during the Toussaint holidays, during one week. We love that region that is on the road to the Alps. Its foothills and woods are very nice when you like walking. And there are also lakes and waterfalls.
There is a crêperie in Pont-de-Poitte where we love to have an early dinner or lunch : it’s a warm place and the owner Laurence has a wonderful voice. There is something special about that place. We were having lunch there when we met another family : the grands-parents, their daughter, her husband and their little boy. They were from the region and suggested that we go to La Frasnée where there is a wonderful waterfall. This episode is about us going there.
Do you know that the transcript is a very powerful tool to improve your comprehension? And also to see things that are not obvious when you only listen to the text. Things like : — how the verbs are conjugated : it’s easier then to identify a tense, notice an agreement, etc, — you can see how the words are written and get used to the French spelling, — you can take the time to understand how the sentences are built, — you can take notes, — you can make the link between the text of the episode and a grammar lesson from your textbook. In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on how we talk about the rain in French, also I will highlight for you a specific sentence to repeat aloud and tell you why I have chosen this one in particular.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript and receive it by email each time an episode is released . The subscription costs 4 euros a month. Each new subscriber receives the 10 latest episodes. www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Nov 8, 2023
CYF 187 — Avec Micaela dans les transports — mercredi 8 novembre 2023
Since September, Micaela, my eldest daughter, takes the train every day to go to Paris. She has classes either near Cité Universitaire or near Luxembourg. Both stations are on the line of the RER B. One morning, I took the train with her and ask her about her journey and what was going to be her day.
In the notes that come with the transcript, you will find some info about the text, but also 2 very natural French expressions that are very interesting to focus on. I will also give you a list of useful sentences to use when you take the train.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript. The transcript is a very useful tool to enjoy many ways of working with the text and this way improve your listening skills.
The subscription is available at cultivateyourfrench.com, it costs 4 euros a moth. The transcript is sent by email each time an episode is released. Last but not least, each new subscriber receives the transcript of the 10 latest episodes.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Oct 25, 2023
2291 — La crêperie électorale (avril 2012) — mercredi 25 octobre 2023
This episode comes from the past : it was written and recorded in April 2012 for One Thing In A French Day poscast, Cultivate Your French’s big brother. My grils were little girls at that time. That day, we had invited a friend of ours to have lunch with us at a crêperie. She was a nice woman, always keen on joking with the grils as you will see.
In the notes that come with the transcript of this episode, I will give you the crêpes recipe and also show you a very commun word that we don’t write the same way nowadays than when I was a teenager.
So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript and receive the transcript by email each time an episode is released. The subscription costs 4 euros a month and when you subscribe, you receive the 10 latest transcript. To discover why the transcript is as good as a French lesson, please have a look at the website www.cultivateyoufrench.com
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Oct 18, 2023
CYF 185 — Un petit goûter à Paris chez Leonie Bakery — mercredi 18 octobre 2023
After spending the afternoon at the hammam, my friend Geraldine and I did not feel like taking the metro back to Saint-Lazare. The weather was nice so we decided to walk instead. It was a nice walk because Paris is a city that changes a lot, and as you walk, you can really feel the change from one neighborhood to another. We stopped to eat a little something in a boulangerie.
In the notes that come with the transcript, we will study how to talk about a place, un endroit in French.
So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript, enjoy the written text, read it in your mind or aloud and discover what I wished to higltit for you. . The subscription costs four euros a month. When you subscribe, you receive the transcript of the 10 latest episodes.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Oct 11, 2023
CYF 184 — Tu connais Hans Zimmer? — mercredi 11 octobre 2023
On Friday evenings, after the kung fu class, we often stay longer together just talking, the kung fu team. Of course, we talk about kung fu, but not always. There are different ages in our group, sometimes it leads to funny conversations. For example, we had a talk about famous movie soundtracks.
In the notes that come with the transcript, we will take a close look at specific verbs, how they are used and conjugated, though they are very frequently used verbs.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript. The subscription is available at cultivateyourfrench.com, it costs 4 euros a moth. The transcript is sent by email each time an episode is released. Last but not least, each new subscriber receives the transcript of the 10 latest episodes.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Oct 4, 2023
CYF 183 — Rencontre à la marche nordique — mercredi 4 octobre 2023
Every week-end, on Sunday morning, I join a group of nordic walkers. The walk takes place in Rueil Malmaison’s wood : le bois de Saint-Cucufa, supervised by our coach Philippe. Last Sunday, at the end of our walk, Philippe decided to challenge us a little bit. He wanted us to climb a slope in different stages. It means going down each time you reach a stage. After this intense effort, we stayed a moment down the slope. And we met someone. You are going to discover who in this episode.
In the notes that come with the transcript, this week I will highlight for you 3 sentences that you could add to your collection of fRench sentences. I will aslo give you some examples of how you can play with them. So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript. The subscription is available at cultivateyourfrench.com, it costs 4 euros a moth. The transcript is sent by email each time an episode is released. Last but not least, each new subscriber receives the transcript of the 10 latest episodes.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Sep 27, 2023
CYF 182 — Si j’étais une œuvre d’art, je serais — mercredi 27 septembre 2023
Micaela is going to have a penfriend from an American University. It’s part of her English course at University.
To present herself she had to publish a short text, on an online board, startiting with this sentence : Si j’étais une œuvre d’art, je serais. The answer is in today’s episode, of course. But, have you noticed in this sentence the use of the conditionnel?
In the notes that come with the transcript, I share with you a short study of how we use the conditionnel in everyday life. Because, we don’t only use it in sentences starting with « Si ». There are different uses that can be very helpful to sound French.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript. The transcript is a very useful tool to enjoy many ways of working with the text and this way improve your listening skills. The subscription is available at cultivateyourfrench.com, it costs 4 euros a moth. The transcript is sent by email each time an episode is released. Last but not least, each new subscriber receives the transcript of the 10 latest episodes.
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Sep 20, 2023
CYF 181 — Une journée à Londres, Islington — mercredi 20 septembre 2023
Do you know that London is only two hours from Paris by train? My friend Sylvie and I went to London for a day, two weeks ago. The temperatures were very high that day. But it was nice to enjoy London under the sun. We had planned our day : a lunch at Pophams, a bakery that is also a restaurant (I was very curious about it), then a visit to the Bank of England museum’s and then, the inevitable Foyles.
But we were a little bit early for lunch, so we decided to enter the little church of Saint James that was very close to the bakery. And we had an adventure there as would say Eleanor Lavish in A room with a view.
This is what this episode is about.
In the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are vey natural in French. Those expressions might not seem noticeable, but there are part of the way we speak French. It’s those expressions that make a sentence sounds French.
The transcript is also a very useful tool to work on French, with the text you can do so many things : you can read what I say, obviously, you can see how the sentences are built, how the verbs are conjugated and you can also use it to repeat the text on your own.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com
The subscription costs 4 euros a month. The transcript is sent by email each time an episode is released and each new subscriber receives the transcript of the 10 latest episodes.
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Sep 13, 2023
CYF 180 — La rentrée des filles : université et lycée — mercredi 13 septembre 2023
The big question these days that young people ask each other is : when do you go back to school? Going back to school after summer holidays is what we call in French la rentrée ! La rentrée is when you discover your new classmates, new teachers, or new school. This is what this episode is about regarding my daughters Micaela and Felicia.
As usual, in the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are natural in French with some examples, so you too could use them in your own French conversations,
The transcript is a very useful tool to work on your French. Here are a few examples of what you can do : you can read what I say, obviously, you can see how the sentences are built, how the verbs are conjugated and you can also use it to repeat the text on your own.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com
The subscription costs 4 euros a month. The transcript is sent by email each time an episode is released and each new subscriber receives the transcript of the 10 latest episodes.
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Sep 6, 2023
CYF 179 — Bari Vecchia : un petit tour en Italie — mercredi 6 septembre 2023
Summer holidays are over for us and I’m happy to be back with you dear listeners. I hope those of you who are subscribers have enjoyed the special episodes during the holidays about being at a French café.
Now, before going back to France, let me share with you a few words about our Summer trip to Italy. We were staying in Puglia, in the deep South of Italy were my husband Pietro has family. During the Ferragosto period, around the 15th of August, beaches were crouded with people a 8 in the morning, so we stopped going to the sea and decided to visit Bari, Puglia’s capital. This is what this episode is about.
As usual, in the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are natural in French with some examples, so you too could use them in your own French conversations, and, of course, I will share some photos.
The transcript is a very useful tool to work on your French. Here are a few examples of what you can do : you can read what I say, obviously, you can see how…
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Aug 2, 2023
CYF 178 — Le luthier japonais — mercedi 2 août 2023
To cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyoufrench.com The transcript is a very powerful tool because you can read what is said, you can see how the sentences are built, you can see how verbs are conjugated, how words are written. You can also use it to repeat aloud some parts of the texts and improve your spoken French. You can also read the text before to hear it, so you’ll understand it better. The subscription costs 4 euros a month.
For the third year, Felicia took part in a course of baroque music. During 10 days, she trained with orthers to play in an orchestra for a concert. The theme this year was the German musician Haendel. The course took place in Brittany in Ploërmel a small town between Rennes and Vannes. The four of us went to see her, so we drove to Brittany on Friday the 21st of July. We spent the night in a lovely guesthouse, a former flour mill by the river. Our hosts were lovely and the breakfast was incredible. Saturday was…
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Jul 26, 2023
CYF 177 — Bryce Bianconi, vitrailliste à Paris (Studio Vitrail) — mercredi 26 juillet 2023
Last week, we listened to Bryce Bianconi talking about His job as an artisan. Have you guessed his does for a living? He works with glass, he makes stained glass, vitraux in French. France has the largest surface of stained glass in the world, mainly because of our cathedrals, but stained glass was also à la mode in the 19 th century, in nice houses, building or hotels. Bryce restores stained glass but also creates some for home interiors. Today we are going to hear him talking about the part of his job that he likes the most. My friend Pauline, who was with me when we met with Bryce, asked him the question.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will stop on 3 expressions that are very natural in French that Bryce uses when he speaks, and that you too could use in your own French conversations.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
The subscription costs 4 euros a month.
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Jul 19, 2023
CYF 176 — Quel est le travail de Bryce? Devinette— mercredi 18 juillet 2023
This episode is a little bit different than the others, I won’t tell you something. In this episode, you will try to guess what is my guest’s job. He is an artisan, his name is Bryce, but what does he do exactly? You will get some clues in this small interview. Then if you wish to tell me what you think Bryce’s job is, then send me an email at frenchday @ gmail.com Next week, you will listen to Bryce talking about his job, a very interesing one.
In the notes that come with the transcript, we will stop on 3 subjects that appear in the text : telling about your job, talking about a period of history and telling where is located a specific builing. I will share with you some natural sentences that you could use or ear in your own French conversations.
So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Jul 12, 2023
CYF 175 — Le jeudi à Poitiers — mercredi 12 juillet 2023
Last week, Micaela and I were attending a kung-fu week with our team and our teacher in Poitiers. We were staying in a regional sport resort; The place was lovely and had a nice Renaissance castle.
Xie Han our teacher was also taking care of a Taiji group and had a particular eye on Josepha’s training as she is going to participate to the Kung-fu Word Championships in China this summer.
On Thursday, Xie Han asked us to be cautious with ourselves, to not get hurt because we were getting tired. That day we had a running session in the woods at 6 in the morning and a first training at 9h45. I took three naps that day.
This episode starts after lunch on Thursday.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are very useful in French. Also, we are going to notice the use of imparfait and passé composé in this text. So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Jul 5, 2023
CYF 074 (rediffusion) — mercredi 19 mai 2021 — Une belle table pour un brunch entre amies
A few weeks ago, my friend Pauline showed me a book that she got for Christmas, a book about nice table settings, Chez eux. this book gave us the idea to build a podcast episode about setting a table. If we were to set a table, we might as well have a lunch or a brunch on it! We took our agenda and decided about a date. Then we imagined our menu : something simple but nice, with flowers on the table. That day, we first did some shopping. We bought some gariguetes (early strawberries), we bought some renoncules (buttercups in English says the dictionary) and a cherry tree branch. At the bakery, we bought a few croissants because you can’t imagine a brunch without any. For this episode, Pauline and I are in her kitchen. Everything is almost ready, it’s time to choose what plates to put on the table. Follow me in her cupboard!
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Jun 28, 2023
CYF 174 — Alors Micaela, qu’est-ce que tu vas faire après le bac ? — mercredi 28 juin 2023
So there we are : the baccalauréat is over for Micaela. She doesn’t have the result yet, but she took the latest exam last Tuesday. It was « le grand oral » : you must speak for 5 minutes on a subject that you have prepared.
And since the beginning of June, she also knows what she’s going to do next year. But before that she had to choose between the different universities where she was accepted. Suddenly, choosing seems so difficult and you only have 3 days to make your choice. This is what the episode is about.
In the notes that comes with the transcript, I will highlight for you those typical expressions that Micaela uses when she speaks. It’s very interesting because it’s very natural for us, though it may seems wrong when you learn to speak French. Noticing those expressions is also very useful to understand modern French.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript. The subscription costs 4 euros a month. www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Jun 21, 2023
CYF 173 — Sennelier, Paris : acheter du matériel de beaux-arts — mercredi 21 juin 2023
My friend Pauline is taking drawing classes and she is starting a new technique : watercolour, aquarelle in French ! Her teacher suggested that she could buy her own watercolour set. She gave her the name of a famous shop in Paris where you can buy art supplies : Sennelier. Sennelier is located Quai Voltaire, just in front of le Louvre, on the over side of La Seine. The shop was created in 1887 by French colour passionnate and chimist Gustave Sennelier who devoted his life to creating paintings for artists. Cezanne or Gauguin were among his customers. Guillaume works at Sennelier and greeted us in the shop. He gave some advices to Pauline regarding watercolours, the choice of a sketchbook and finally the choice of paintbrushes. In today’s episode you will hear Guillaume’s advices regarding a watercolour set.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Jun 14, 2023
CYF 172 — Compétition à Strasbourg — mercredi 14 juin 2023
Last Friday, I travelled to Strasbourg with my kung-fu team. Sixteen of us were participating to the National Kung-fu open of Schiltigheim. I arrived a little bit earlier than the others to visit the beautiful city of Strasbourg. The competion was on Saturday the 10th. It was a great moment for all of us and we were so happy to spend this day together. It’s different when you meet for breakfast with your sleepy eyes ! In this episode I will tell you about both my performances and about Micaela’s first competition. In the notes that come with the transcript, you will get some photos taken in Strasbourg (it was a hot and very sunny day). Of course, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are very natural in French and that you could use in your own French conversations. Oh, and I will tell you if we had or not some flammekueche, one of the good Alsacian specialities. Suspens !
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Jun 7, 2023
CYF 171 —Le sourire d’Albert Camus — mercredi 7 juin 2023
Yesterday evening, I went for a walk in my neighbourhood, There is a one hour walk that I particularly enjoy, but last night I took a different direction. I passed Micaela and Felicia’s highschool, the building is under construction. But there was something to notice on the new building that is about to be finished. This what this episode is about.
In the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are very natural in French and that you could use in your own French conversations. I will also give you a list of useful sentences to talk about a book that you have read.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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May 31, 2023
CYF 170 — La fin de l’année scolaire — mercredi 31 mai 2023
The end of the year is close now for my 3 daughters. In France, students have long days at school, a lot of holidays during the year (2 weeks every 7 weeks) and long summer holidays. My daughters wished they had less holidays and shorter days at school. They often start at 8 in the morning and finish at 5 in the afternoon. On Thurdays, Micaela starts at 8 and finishes school at 6 in the evening. This represents 9 hours of class during the day. Then, at home, they have to do their homework and learn their lessons. But as I said, the end is close for this year. This is what the episode is about.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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May 24, 2023
CYF 169 — Le T’Time d’Emilie Gerardi (cheffe pâtissière du Jardin privé, Novotel Les Halles) — mercredi 24 mai 2023
It was a rainy day, two weeks ago, my friend Pauline and I were having a walk in the center of Paris, near Les halles, la bourse du commerce (now the Parisian exhibition site of François Pinault’s modern art collection) and l’église Saint-Eustache.
Place Margurite de Navarre, there is a modern building : the Novotel Les Halles. In the center of the hotel, there is an unexpected hidden garden : a patio full of plants. There you can have a very nice experience : the Tea time of the cheffe pâtissière Emilie Gerardi. She created a modern and plant and flower-based version of the tea time. I was very lucky to meet her for the podcast. Pauline and I were so happy to discover such a personal and cheering pâtisserie.
In today’s episode you are going to hear Emilie Gerardi talking about the compositon her tea-time.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that Emilie Gerardi uses to describe her cakes. You will also have the photos of the…
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May 17, 2023
168 — Maurice Béjart à l’Opéra Bastille — mercredi 17 mai 2023
Last week, my friend Caroline invited me to go with her to see a marvelous show at the Opéra Bastille : three chorégraphies by Maurice Béjart. It was a such a moment. The Opera Bastille is the modern opéra of Paris. It was inaugurated in 1989 for the bicentenary of the French Revolution. It’s a very nice place and going to the Opera is really a special moment. I guess that it’s not as charming as in the 19th Century at the Opera Garnier, but something happens when you are there. The last of the ballets that we saw was Le boléro de Ravel. This is what I share with you in this episode.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are very natural in French and show you how to use them in your own French conversations with examples.
I will also give you a list of basic mouvements that we do with our body. So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
The subscription costs 4 euros a…
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May 10, 2023
CYF 167 — Le tableau disparu : une enquête de Claire — mercredi 10 mai 2023
My friend Claire works as a librarian, archivist at the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds in Paris. This institute is a school for deaf people created by l’Abbé de l’Epée en the 18th century.
On the podcast, we have known Claire for a few years now. We first met her as an history student at La Sorbonne, then at l’Ecole des Chartes a prestigious Parisian school specialising in historical sciences. She shared with us a promenade in the Quartier Latin in 2020, then last year she told us about the discovery of an incunable (a book printed in Europe before 1501).
In today’s episode, she shares with us the strange request of a researcher that contacted the institute and was looking for a rather big painting of the 19th century specially created for the choir of the Institute’s chapelle by a famous painter.
In the notes that come with the transcript, we will stop together on the different expressions that Claire uses that give so much life to what she tells us. This is also a…
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Apr 19, 2023
CYF 166 — Conte de printemps — mercredi 19 avril 2023
On Saturdays, we usually make pizzas and watch a movie, the 5 of us. Last Saturday, we chose to watch a film by Eric Rohmer a famous French director part of the French New Wave. T
his movie is Conte de Printemps. It was timed in 1990, a time where there was no mobile phone, though the phone is often used in this movie.
This episode tells you about the story of the movie and what was Micaela and Lisa’s reaction to this type of movie. It will also be the occasion to imagine what could have said some of the characters, based on what I tell you in the text using the indirect speech.
Of course, I will also highlight for you 3 expressions that you could use in your own French conversations and show you how to use them. So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com. The subscription cost 4 euros a month.
Ah, before we start, for the next 2 weeks, the podcast will be on pause, but if you are a subscriber you will receive episodes as usu…
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Apr 12, 2023
CYF 165 — Music Bank Paris : Felicia et moi au concert de K-Pop — mercredi 12 avril 2023
Have you ever heard of K-Pop bands like The Boyz, the Stray Kids or Mamamoo?
Felicia is a K-pop fan, so last Saturday, I went with her to Music Bank Paris, a festival of K-Pop bands in the largest concert stadium in Europe : La Défense Arena, very close to where we live. This stadium is so big, it can held a rugby field in its center. This event was expected with great impatience by the thousands of fans all over Europe and the atmosphere was absolutely crazy : people were shouting their joy so loud ! But it was a great experience. This is what this episode is about! In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are very natural in French. We will also focus on all the verbs conjugated with « ils » as the subject. This will be the occasion to ask ourselves if we know the conjugation of the most commun French verbs with ils or elles.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript to receive the texts and notes by email…
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Apr 5, 2023
CYF 164 — Que faire à manger pour une invitée à la maison ? — mercredi 5 avril 2023
We had a guest this week at home : an Italian exchange student. She arrived last Thursday in Paris with her classmates and left yesterday. All of them were staying in French families of Felicia’s class. This five days with us has been the occasion to visit Paris as tourist for Felicia and I. But it has also been the occasion to make or buy some French specialities for the Italien student. So what have we cooked or bought for her?
This is what you are going to discover in this episode. As usual, in the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are very natural in French. I will also make a list of sentences to say that you like to eat something and what you had for a particular meal.
So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Mar 29, 2023
163 — La chasse au trésor — mercredi 29 mars 2023
Last saturday, I went to Paris. Well, I tried because the tickets I was using were not working. Something was wrong with the whole pack. Of course, I went to buy some new tickets. But I wasn’t the only one involved in what became a little adventure. We are still using the paper tickets because we get a 50% discount on tickets with La carte famille nombreuse. You can get this card when you get at least 3 children. When Micaela is going to turn 18, the card won’t work anymore.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highly for you 3 expression that are typical in French. You will also find some « transport" related sentences that listeners and I gathered up 2 years ago for Le guide de survie.
You will also find some photos of our station Bécon-les-bruyères !
So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
The subscription costs 4 euros a month.
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Mar 22, 2023
162 — L’instant cacao : Marc Chinchole nous parle de son chocolat— mercredi 22 mars 2023
Last week, we heard Alexandre Juvin talking about la crème de champignons. Miam.
This week, it’s another experience that expects us. I had the chance to meet Marc Chinchole. He’s a young man passionate about chocolate that makes is own cocoa, in Paris. Have you heard the expression « bean-to-bar »? This is what he does : he selects beans from different places in the world and loves to reveals the best of each origin in making nice chocolates or bars. Yes, he toasts the beans himself and does conching in his own premises. This is quite unusual in Paris, but very interesting. Marc has 16 different single origin bars in his shop and nice little chocolats. You can also buy a homemade hot chocolate or chocolate mousses made of single origin cocoa, the origin changes every week. The one I tasted was from Indonesia and it was really perfumed.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are typical when you speak French. You will also find s…
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Mar 15, 2023
161 — Sauces Papillon : Alexandre Juvin et la crème de champignons — mercredi 15 mars 2023
There is something you must absolutely try next time you come to Paris. It’s Les sauces Papillon ! They are Parisian sauces made by 2 young men who had the idea to create vegetable based sauces. Their sauces are made from vegetables in accordance with the seasons. They are tasty and fresh. They can be used to eat with pastas or rice, but at home we prefer to eat them with bread in nice sandwiches. When I recorded the interview, it was in the middle of winter. One of the sauce was la crème de champignons. What are going to be the spring sauces? We don’t know yet, but today you are going to hear Alexandre Juvin talking about they created the recipe of la crème de champignons.
In the notes that come with the transcript, this episode is the occasion to notice the use of the subjonctive and to understand when to automatically use it. We will also focus on the part of vocabulary that describes the different ways that ingredients can be cooked. So to cultivate your French, you could su…
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Mar 8, 2023
CYF 160 — Le Louvre Lens et les J.O. — mercredi 8 mars 2023
The holidays ended last sunday. How were those holidays for us? You have a clue if you are a subscriber and if you listened to the episodes posted during the last 2 weeks. It’s also during the holidays that we got the weblinks to order our seats for the J.O. , les Jeux Olympiques.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are very natural in French and that you could use or hear in your own conversations in French. You will also find a vocabulary section on how to say that something is cheap to really expensive.
To cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com (4 €/ month)
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Feb 15, 2023
CYF 159 — Flan et mousse au chocolat — mercredi 15 février 2023
On Sundays, in the morning, I join a group of walkers. We do nordic walking with Philippe a coach from the Club d’athlétisme de Courbevoie. I usually meet with Philippe at the stadium, and there Isabelle and Thierry give me a ride. This Sunday, Philippe told me about an experience and Isabelle too. Both of them linked to pâtisserie. This is what this episode is about.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are natural in French and that you could use in your own conversations. We will also focus on a particular sentence that requires the use of the subjonctive.
So to cultivate your French and read what is said, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
The transcript has an immediate effect on your listening comprehension of the spoken French.
The subscription costs 4 euros a month and the transcript is sent by email.
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Feb 8, 2023
CYF 158 — L’éclipse de 1999 — mercredi 8 février 2023
Yesterday evening, Micaela, Felicia and I had dinner with some friends of the kung-fu club. We wanted to try an asian restaurant in our neighbourhood. The place was nice and quiet. We had a nice conversation. We came to speak about the Arte TV channel. Julien thought it was mainly historical documentaries on this channel. But I said that we were enjoying the great TV series too, as The newsreader that takes place in 1986, in Australia. In this series, the Halley’s comet is mentioned because it was visible in 1986. I said that I had seen it. As I had also seen the solar eclipse that occurred in 1999. This is what this episode is about and about some strange coincidence too.
In the notes that come with the transcript I will highlight for you 3 expressions that are typical in French. We will also focus on a particular sentence that is typical of spoken French.
So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Feb 1, 2023
CYF 157 — Un soir à Paris dans le 11e, se tutoyer ou se vouvoyer — mercredi 1er février 2023
On Saturday evening ten days ago, my friend Caroline and I met at Saint-Lazare. We had dinner in a nice pizzeria near the trendy and lively rue Oberkampf, in the eleventh arrondissement, in the east of Paris. But, did we really go that far to have pizza? Not really. We had a plan ! This is what you are going to hear in this episode. Caroline and I have known each other since our daughters Micaela and Juliette were only a few months old. We were leaving in the same Résidence. Do you think we started by saying « tu » or « vous » to each other the first time we met? We are almost the same age. Is it difficult to guess? Well, the answer is also in this episode.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for you 3 expressions that you could use in your own French conversations, they are simple but efficient expressions. I will also tell you how we use vous or tu in different everyday life circumstances. So, to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transc…
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Jan 25, 2023
CYF 156 — On va déguster Paris, de François-Régis Gaudry et ses amis (Editions Marabout), présenté par Nathalie Iris — mercredi 25 janvier 2023
It was December the 30th 2022, I had an appointment with Nathalie Iris from the bookshop Mots en marge, in La Garenne-Colombes.
Nathalie is a famous bookseller in France, you can see her on the TV show Télématin. We met during the confinement, during which Nathalie chose some books for my three daughters, Micaela, Felicia and Lisa.
She also became a regular guest to talk about books on the podcast One Thing In A French Day that I run beside Cultivate Your French.
That day, in December, Nathalie presented a book that I totally fell in love with : On va déguster Paris. It’s a book written by François-Régy Gaudry a journalist that runs a radio show about food and good products on France Inter. He’s very famous in France. I love his voice and his way of saying things. With his friends from the radio show, François-Régis Gaudry has already written different books about France, Italy, etc. But this particular book about Paris is really good. It’s full of addresses, recipes, h…
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Jan 18, 2023
CYF 155 — L’étrange balade à Paris au cours de laquelle j’ai rencontré Émile Zola ! — mercredi 18 janvier 2023
The weather is very bad these days in Paris, but it doesn’t stop me when I have the possibility to have a walk in Paris. Justement, I had an order to collect rue du Four. This led me to a strange encounter.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will highlight for your those expressions or words that are typical in French and that you could use in your own conversation. We will also focus on the vocabulary that I use in this text to talk about my itinerary . And I will select a particular sentence that you could repeat again and again to improve your pronunciation and your spoken French.
So to cultivate your French, you could subscribe to the transcript and receive it by email. The subscription costs 4 euros a month. Rendez-vous at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
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Jan 11, 2023
CYF 154 — Bonne année 2023 ! Les bons moments des vacances de Noël — mercredi 11 janvier 2023
During the holidays, we had the visit of an unexpected visitor : the flue ! Micaela and Felicia and me where its victims, so it ruined the joy of being on holidays. But we had some nice moments and we were the 3 of us well enough to enjoy the traditional Christmas meal with my parents. Pintade aux marrons, plateau de fromages, bûche au chocolat and Clairette de Die are what we enjoyed the most. But, there where also some nice and positive moments, this is what this episode is about.
In the notes that come with the transcript, I will give you all the information on who is who and what is what in this list. We will also notice the tenses used in this list of moments. Eventually, we will focus on this sentence that starts with « Saviez-vous que… » and see how you could use it in your own French conversations.
So to cultivate your French and improve your listening comprehension, I invite you to subscribe to the transcript, so you can get the text of the podcast by email with the not…
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Dec 21, 2022
CYF 153 — Christmas episode : la place Furstemberg, Saint-Germain-des-prés — mercredi 21 décembre 2022
It was cold on that day, when my friend Pauline and I went to Paris for a day.
We went to Saint-Germain-des-prés to walk in the nice streets, enjoy the Christmas shop windows like the ones of Alix D.Reynis, Ladurée or Officine Bully. We also visited the very nice Eglise Saint-Germain-des-prés whose ceilings are as nice as the ones of La Sainte-Chapelle. We had tea at Le café des deux magots. And, we went to la Place Furstemberg, one of the most beautiful places in Paris.
This episode takes you to this nice little place.
This is a double episode, it’s twice longer than usual because next week and the week after the podcast will on holidays.
In the notes that come with the transcripts, you will find photos with comments of the different places Pauline and I went to.
So, to cultivate your French, and improve your listening comprehension, you could subscribe to the transcript and receive the text, notes and photos by email. The subscription costs 4 euros a month.
You can subscr…
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Dec 14, 2022
CYF 152 — Shakespeare and Company, a famous bookshop in Paris — mercredi 14 décembre 2022
There were a lot of anniversaries in 2022 : the 4th centenary of Molière’s birth, the 2nd centenary of the deciphering of the hieroglyphes by Jean-Francois Champollion, the centenary of Marcel Proust’s death and the centenary of the publication of Ulysses by James Joyce, in Paris.
Yes, in Paris ! It was the American owner of the bookshop Shakespeare and Company, Sylvia Beach, that published the famous book in 1922. With my friend Françoise, a reader of Ulysses in English, we went to different places related to James Joyce in Paris. A little odissey of our own.
The bookshop Shakespeare and Company owned by Sylvia Beach doesn’t exist anymore, though I’m sure you have heard about a famous bookshop, named Shakespeare and Company, near Notre-Dame. Haven’t you?
What is the story of this bookshop? This is what this episode is about. You can imagine Françoise and I in Paris on a cloudy day. In the notes that come with the transcript, we will focus on all the numbers and dates t…
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