1.8M
Downloads
347
Episodes
Do you want to improve your listening skills and comprehension of the French as it is spoken in France? With Cultivate Your French podcast, things go smoothly. This is slow French podcast, but Slow French doesn’t just mean speaking slowly and it’s not about quick progress. It’s a nice learning approach.
Episodes
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
How to bring a little bit of Paris in your suitcase? It’s not easy to find those little souvenirs that will make someone happy. For me it’s becoming a game to see them for you. Maybe because I met Lila this summer to whom I offered a key ring from Brittany years ago when she was around ten years old. More than ten years later, she was still using it and loved it.
Donc, in this episode here is a first harvest of a few objects that you might bring back with you.
As you listen to French you work on your listening comprehension. When you read and listen at the same time you boost your comprehension and you see the language, you see how it works. Soon, you will soon listen for what is being said rather than for the language !
In the notes that go with the trasncript, I highlight for you those expressions that are natural in French and that you could use in your own conversations.
You can subscribe to the transcript at cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Sep 07, 2022
Wednesday Sep 07, 2022
After, the detour to Italy last week, this week we are going to end our Promenade de l’été.
Do you remember? We were in the quartier de l’Europe. We had met the painters from Le groupe des Batignolles, Manet, Monet, Caillebote to quote a few names. At Saint-Lazare, or right above the station, at Europe, you can take the metro line 3 to Pont de Levallois, Bécon.
There you can have a walk to the Seine and to the Ile de la Jatte, where Seurat painted Dimanche après-midi à l’Ile de la Grande Jatte. Maybe a peniche will pass by. La Défense is visbile from there. It’s another world there.
Well, now, it’s time to go to the rue du Parc and look for a small green shop. This is where Claire Heitzler has established her pâtisserie. No cakes in the window. No. This place is different. You can order on her Internet website cr discover the cakes at her boutique. They will be showed to you. Claire Heitzler is so famous among pâtissiers, she has an examplary career, won so many prizes. She has chosen to open a shop that is in harmony with what she values most : authenticity.
Let’s listen to her now.
In the notes, that go with the transcript Claire Heitzler will describe to you one of her cakes in a bonus audio file. I will also highlight for you some very natural expressions in French.
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
We are back from holidays ! We were in Italy, near Bari in the Puglia region where Pietro still has a lot of family.
We really enjoyed our stay, the region is beautiful and so different from France. Micaela arrived twelve days before us and stayed with Pietro’s aunt, Ada. So when we went to the beach, she had fun understunding what people where talking about on the beach. This is how this episode starts, but it will quickly takes you to another place, the town of Altamura and the town of Monopoli.
In the notes that go with the transcript, I will highlight for you those typical expressions that we use in everyday French. And, of course, with the notes, there are photos of the places that I go to.
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
This is the third episode of our summer serie, La promenade de l’été. It’s a walk in Paris that takes us, episode by episode, to the heart of the 17th arrondissement. Last week, my friend Anne-Laure and I were in the Quartier de l’Europe. This is where a group of young painters, including Monet, Pissaro, Bazille, Renoir, Degas and the writer Emile Zola, in the years 1875, gathered around Manet, the scandalous Manet painter of Le déjeuner sur l’herbe and L’Olympia.
Today, Anne-Laure and I located where some famous paintings were painted. It’s an adventure that gave me so much happiness !
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 ice-cream !
But, for now, this is Summer French ! in the notes that go with the transcript, I will highlight for you those typical expressions that we use in conversations. It’s a bit different that what I usually do in the notes. The idea behing Summer French is to notice how French is spoken in everyday conversations. And, of course, with the notes, there are photos of the places that I go to.
www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
This is the second episode of our summer serie, La promenade de l’été. It’s a walk in Paris that will take us, episode by episode, to the heart of the 17th arrondissement. Last week, we went to the Square des Epinettes where you can find the statue of a very interesting woman of the 19th century, Maria Deraismes.
Today, my friend Anne-Laure and I are in the Quartier de l’Europe. This is where a group of young painters, including Monet, Pissaro, Renoir, Degas and the writer Emile Zola, in the years 1875, gathered around Manet, the scandalous Manet painter of Le déjeuner sur l’herbe and L’Olympia. They where gathering at the Café Guerbois, avenue de Clichy. In this episode, Anne-Laure and I imagine what could be the subject of their meeting. Art, of course.
This is Summer French ! in the notes that go with the transcript, I will highlight for you those typical expressions that we use in conversations. It’s a bit different that what I usually do in the notes. The idea behing Summer French is to notice how French is spoken in everyday conversations. And, of course, with the notes, there are photos of the places that I go to.
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
This week, on the podcast, starts La promenade de l’été, a walk in Paris that will take us, episode by episode, to the heart of the 17th arrondissement. It all started with a statue when my friend Anne-Laure and I visited the Petit Palais, last October. I noticed this statue of an impressive woman, Maria Deraismes. The sculptor was Ernest Barrias, and the statue was just behind another one : La Defense statue, also by Barrias. La Defense statue gave its name to the district of La Défense in the west of Paris. They were both reproductions. You can see the statue of La Défense in La Défense and the statue of Marias Deraismes in the square des Epinettes in the 17th arrondissement. This is where we were, Anne-Laure and I, to record this episode and to discover who was this woman of the 19th century, Maria Deraismes.
This is Summer French ! in the notes that go with the transcript, I will highlight for you those typical expressions that we use in conversations. It’s a bit different that what I usually do in the notes. The idea behing Summer French is to notice how French is spoken in everyday conversations. And, of course, with the notes, there are photos of the places that I go to.
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
My friend Sylvie and I went to London last week, on Wednesday the 6th, the day before Boris Johnson announced his resignation. We had to wait one hour in Gare du Nord before being able to show our passports. The train was delayed because all passengers could not get on board at the departure time. I think this was due to the lack of staff in the station, and I must admit, poor organization.
But we did it and it’s still something very special to arrive in London. This episode almost starts in Euston road !
In the transcript that goes with this episode I will highlight for you all the expressions and sentences that are very natural in French. I will also give you a selection of sentences that say that you had a wonderful time in … let’s say… France !
Thursday Jul 07, 2022
Thursday Jul 07, 2022
It’s a great thing to improve your understanding skills, you feel more confident and it’s almost the basic of a language. You understand what people tell you in French. Sometimes, we are so focused on understanding that we almost forget to improve our speaking. When you understand enough, you have to prepare yourself for the next step which is « talking in French ». Yes, talking! Never forget to talk, it’s important ! But, you have to be ready. To train yourself to your next visit to France, today’s episode and next week’s episode are about talking in French.
Today, you will buy some macarons. Yes, don’t you remember that you have to offer a box for your friend’s birthday? There is so much choice in the shop, which flavours are you going to choose?
Are you ready? You are in Paris, the pâtisserie is lovely, the window is full of colourful macarons.
First you are going to hear the dialogue between my friend Marilyne, who plays the seller, and myself, the customer.
Then, to make things more practical, you will also hear only the seller lines. With the other part of the dialogue left blank,you will be able to act as if you were the customer at the macaron shop!
In the transcript, we study some sentences particularities and I challenge you to leave me an audio message, you ordering by phone in French some lovely macarons.
This is a repeat broadcast !
All the information about the transcripts, notes and photos is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
In France, beer, craft beer, is becoming more and more popular. There is a thing about beer in Paris also. I was very curious about the subject so I met a very nice guy: Alexis. He runs a beer shop in Pigalle, in rue de Douai, not very far from the Moulin Rouge. In his shop you can find beers from around the world, but also from the best French breweries. He only sells craft beers, so you have to be ready for the experience !
In this episode, you will hear Alexis talking about how beer is made and what are his favourite adjectives to talk about beer. I’m sure there is one that you will remember for ever !
In the transcript that goes with this episode, I will highlight for you some sentences or expressions that are very natural in French and that you could use in your own conversations !
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Last week-end, there was the Elections législative, we elected our deputies. And maybe that you have heard that president Emmanuel Macron has lost the majority.
But last week-end, there was also the European Archaeology Days ! Lisa, Micaela, a friend and I headed to the Institut de paleontology humaine for a short conference about palaeontology and a visit of the institute’s collections. Yes, there was a lot of bones and skulls!
In the notes that go with the transcript, I will show you the different tenses that I use to tell you this story. This way you can almost feel the difference between imparfait and passé composé.
Of course, as usual, I will highlight for you sentences or expressions that are very natural in French and that you can use in your own conversations.
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com