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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 Jan 19, 2022
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Be prepared, today Cultivate Your French takes you to a journey into the past. My friend Claire is an historian. She works at the INJS, a school for deaf people. Well the first school in the word for deaf young people, created in the 17th century by l’abbé de l’Epée. Her job at the INJS school is archivist of the ancient library. Recently, one of her colleagues asked her to find the oldest book of the library. It appeared to be a book published in 1514. Claire was really curious about this book so she looked on the BNF catalogue (National Library of France) and found a similar copy. She asked for an appointment and went to the BNF to have a look and compare the two copies, hers and the BNF one. They appeared to be the same. One detail though was different : the date of publication. The BNF copy had been published on March the 14th of 1500. This date means something. But what ? This is what you are going to discover in today’s episode.
With the transcript of this episode, you get photos, explanations and today a special focus on the pronoun « en ».
My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France.
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Last week was a long week! Our girls went back to school, they had tests in many subjects as math, geography, Italian, etc.
I went back to kung-fu class 3 times a week because there will be a competition on January the 22nd.
When the week-end started, I had the feeling that the Christmas holidays were a long time ago.
But, the beginning of January is the time for the galette, the most comforting moment.
In the notes of this episode I give you the vocabulary and useful sentences to celebrate La galette des Rois in French. 👑
My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France.
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Bonne année à tous! Je vous souhaite une très belle et heureuse année 2022!
I wish you to keep that sparkle of French in your life and to live nice French moments in 2022.
On the 2nd of January, my friend Isabelle invited me to have a walk with her husband and her in Meudon. This is where we usually go with our nordic walk group.
Thierry had the idea to walk in a part of the forest where we don’t usually go with our coach. It was a nice day. We took some nice pictures, we saw a young woman on a golden horse and we suddenly landed on a road.
In today’s notes : special focus on indirect object pronouns.
My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France.
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Friday Dec 31, 2021
Friday Dec 31, 2021
The week was rather calm for us because the girls had a lot of homework to do. Pietro was supposed to be on holidays, but he had to go to work because one of his colleague had a sprain.
But on Tuesday evening I found myself alone at home. What did I do? Something I haven’t done for years!
My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France.
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Friday Dec 24, 2021
Friday Dec 24, 2021
I hope you are well and happy.
Tonight, it’s the réveillon de Noël, Christmas Eve Dinner. The day is very busy for us : there are many things to prepare for tonight and tomorrow.
You are listening to Cultivate Your French podcast, ONE slow french episode every week.
My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France.
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
On Monday, Micaela and I went to the Mairie de quartier where we had an appointment to renew her identity card. Micaela should go to Italy with her class at the end of January and her identity card should end at least 6 month before the travel. That what not the case, so we took this appointment. She should get her new card in 2 or 3 weeks.
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Dec 08, 2021
Wednesday Dec 08, 2021
Last week-end, I attended my first Kung-fu competition, the Open de France de Wushu. It was a long day. I arrived there, in the 13th arrondissement, at 8 o’clock and I put on my routine at almost 3 o’clock in the afternoon. In this episode, I tell you about my first routine, the bare hands one.
Pietro and our 3 girls, some friends and the other club members were there to support me. It was a great moment!
All the information about the transcript is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
The episode you are about to hear invites you to take a piece of paper and a pen to draw. My friend Estelle, who is a drawing teacher, is doing this exercice with her students, at the beginning of her sessions. In consist in taking a pen, closing the eyes and follow her voice to draw a portrait à l’aveugle.
Once you have started, you cannot put the pen in the air. It stays on the paper.
The result is always abstract and it is out of the « good drawing » standards. This exercice is not to look for perfection and it doesn’t require be a specialist, it only requires to allow yourself be surprised and open-minded.
It also allows you to do something different in French and to learn the vocabulary related to the face.
To record this episode, we went to Chez Ninon a nice salon de thé in Paris, rue du Cardinal Lemoine. Their patisseries mix French style and Japanese ingredients. It’s lovely!
All the information about the transcript, notes and photos is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Nov 24, 2021
Wednesday Nov 24, 2021
My friend Anne-Laure told me about the nice leather cover for notebooks that she had bought at Louise Carmen.When I saw it, I found it very nice, practical and above all well designed. It had all the details that notebooks lovers are looking for.
I contacted Nathalie Valmary, who created Louise Carmen, and she agreed to talk about her notebooks for the podcast.
This is a section of the interview. I’ve chosen specifically this part because Nathalie Valmary tells the story of her first leather cover. She had the idea during the trip around the world she did with her husband and their two daughters. It’s important to know how to tell a story in French, it’s part of the conversation.
You can imagine Anne-Laure and I on the first floor of the boutique located in one of the famous passages parisiens, le passage du Grand-Cerf, where time is slightly different and the atmosphere so unique.
My name is Laetitia, I’m French, I live just outside Paris and I share with you a small slice of my daily life here in France.
All the information about the transcript, notes and photos is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
Last Friday, I met with Françoise, a friend of mine. We are part of the same nordic walk group. We had planned to visit the latest exhibition of David Hockney’s work : A Year In Normandie at the musée de l’Orangerie.
David Hockney painted a big fresque inspired by the change of seasons in his property in Normandy. He has also been inspired by the medieval work : la tapisserie de Bayeux that he found marvelous. I have also read that he had also been inspired by Claude Monnet’s Nymphéas which are right upstairs in the same musée.
Today, you are going to hear Françoise talking about how she met with David Hockney’s work. We were having lunch at the WH Smith café, in front of the Jardin des Tuileries.
All the information about the transcript, notes and photos is available at www.cultivateyourfrench.com