Cultivate your French - Slow French

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 the sentences are built, 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. 

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 the concert day. We had to get to the place in early afternon, to attend the groups concerts : little pieces each group had studied. Then at 5 p.m. was the big concert. 
But Felicia sent me an SMS the Saturday morning. This SMS led to a little adventure. This is what this episode is about. 

Before to hear it, I have to tell you about the podcast summer pause. 
The podcast will be on pause for the next 3 weeks because my family and I are on holidays abroad. But, if you subscrided to the transcript, you will receive 3 episodes to keep on working your French comprehension. There is a theme for those 3 episodes. Should I tell you? It’s au café !

www.cultivateyourfrench.com

 

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. 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

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