Ever since I started teaching my Online French Immersion Courses based on Chartres (ma nouvelle ville) activities this January 2021, my students have been meeting with well established and delightful locals : Olivier Brelot the owner of le restaurant L’Estocade, Émilie Dame Biscuit a wonderful chef pâtissière, Olivier L’Hostis le directeur de la sublime librairie (attention faux-ami! Une librairie n’est pas a library!) L’Esperluète, et Catherine Schnœbelen créatrice de sa marque Schop Éditions, une artiste / artisan sérigraphe, la sérigraphie meaning screen printing.
Dans le blog de la semaine dernière, nous avons parlé de l’histoire et de l’évolution de la haute gastronomie en France depuis le règne de Louis XIV (oh non you missed it? Pas de panique : click HERE) et cette semaine je vais partager avec vous à la fois le passé artisanal de Chartres et une mini introduction de notre invité spéciale Catherine Schnœbelen, sérigraphe à Chartres.
All Online French Immersion Courses are full right now but do GET ON THE WAITING LIST as I will open new ones très très bientôt and then you’ll be first to know before I share the sign up information with everyone else!
Le passé artisanal de Chartres
La configuration du quartier de la basse ville date du Moyen-Âge et longe un fleuve appelé l’Eure. Basse ville as opposed to haute ville on top of which est située la très célèbre cathédrale de Chartres. Vous la voyez derrière les arbres in the photo above?
Les artisans du Moyen-Âge travaillaient le long de l’Eure pour bénéficier de l’eau du fleuve. Aujourd’hui, ces métiers ont disparus mais restent présents à travers le nom des rues. Par exemple, la rue du massacre (thank God that’s not my address how morbid!) doit son nom à un ancien abattoir. Les tanneurs (tanners) travaillaient dans la rue de la tannerie. Dans la rue de la foulerie, les foulons s’occupaient de la dernière phase de préparation des tissus et de leur nettoyage.
L’origine de la sérigraphie
Premièrement, qu’est-ce que la sérigraphie?
Etymologie du mot sérigraphie : du latin sericum qui signifie la soie et du grec graphein qui signifie l’écriture.
C’est une technique d’imprimerie qui utilise des pochoirs. Elle fut créée en Chine sous le règne de la dynastie Song entre 960 et 1279 et à l’origine, ces pochoirs étaient des écrans de soie interposés entre l’encre et le support. Les supports utilisés peuvent être variés comme le papier, le carton, le métal, le verre, le bois, ou le textile, sur lequel nous nous concentrerons aujourd’hui puisque telle est l’activité de notre invitée spéciale Catherine. La voici :
La sérigraphie autour du monde
La sérigraphie devient un art reconnu et international in the 19th century grâce à un fort mouvement migratoire chinois en direction des États-Unis. L’enthousiasme est immédiat et la technique se modernise. Le racloir (vous pouvez le voir dans la vidéo de Catherine ci-dessus) supplante le rouleau pour l’application de l’encre, et le nylon remplace la soie comme écran.
La technique est dorénavant employée dans l’art, et en effet, qui ne connaît pas le mouvement Pop art et les visages ultra colorés de Marilyn Monroe créés et imprimés sur des toiles par Andy Warhol?
Après un premier voyage de la Chine vers les États-Unis, la sérigraphie continue son périple vers l’Europe notamment via les soldats américains de la seconde guerre mondiale. Chaque campement américain comporte un atelier de sérigraphie pour le marquage des véhicules militaires et la signalétique des camps. De nombreux artistes européens sont séduits par ce nouveau mode d’expression et en France, les affiches sérigraphiques réalisées par les étudiants contestataires de Mai 68 élèvent cet art au rang de mythe.
À la fin des années 1970, la sérigraphie est partout : les panneaux signalétiques, les autocollants, les CD, les affiches de concert, les vêtements et les matériels industriels, entre autres!
Le Made in France : le nouveau critère d’achat privilégié des Français
Le Made in France suscite un intérêt toujours grandissant auprès des consommateurs. Plusieurs sondages montrent la sensibilité des Français à la question de l’origine de leurs achats. Selon un sondage d’août 2018 :
74 % des Français se déclarent prêts à payer plus cher pour acheter français
93 % de la population estime qu’acheter un produit fabriqué en France est une manière de soutenir les entreprises nationales
86 % des Français pensent qu’acheter un produit fabriqué en France est la garantie d’avoir un produit élaboré selon les normes sociales respectueuses des salariés
91 % des Français considèrent important le fait qu’une entreprise indique à ses consommateurs que ses produits ont été fabriqués en France
Le Made in France est devenu aujourd’hui un argument de vente. De plus en plus de professionnels apposent un marquage de type Made in France ou « Fabriqué en France », voire même un marquage d’origine régionale ou régionale, comme par exemple: « Fabriqué à Paris ».
Et vous?
Quel est votre rapport à l’artisanat?
Avez-vous déjà suivi des stages artisanaux pour apprendre à faire quelque chose comme de la poterie, des macarons, des bijoux, des savons, etc.?
Y a-t-il des marchés artisanaux près de chez vous?
Avez-vous un objet artisanal chez vous que vous affectionnez tout particulièrement?
Est-ce que vous connaissez des artisans?
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Learn French online with Virginie
Join French Truly’s online immersion course and online school, either by buying the French online course(s) of your choice or by becoming a monthly member. See more details about the membership at the bottom of this page.
Each French online course is packed with video & audio files along with written material, to make it as fun, easy, and user friendly as possible for you! Come and learn French online with me!
French online immersion course about Chartres, France
Come to France anyway!
You want to go to France but covid decided you couldn’t travel right now? Maybe you have plans that keep getting postponed? How frustrating! I hear you. We know it’s going to get better but we don’t know when! So, instead of lamenting over an uncertain future, how about we make the present moment a little bit French… online? Who says because you’re stuck at home you can’t immerse yourself in the French language and culture? Join me and all my wonderful French guests in a small online group for 4 consecutive weeks!
I just moved to Chartres, the most charming French city only an hour away from Paris, and until you can come join us here in person, I’m going to share all I can of my new dreamy home with you online!
Intermediate level students
SOLD OUT 2021 Jan 16, 23, 30, Feb 6 – 6pm French time
SOLD OUT 2021 Jan 25, Feb 1, 8, 15 – 6pm French time
NEW DATES COMING SOON JOIN THE WAITING LIST
Beginner level students
SOLD OUT 2021 Jan 24, 31, Feb 7, 14 – 6pm French time
NEW DATES COMING SOON JOIN THE WAITING LIST
If you’re unsure which level you are, contact me to schedule a free Skype call
Benefits
- Improve your French conversational skills in a completely safe & friendly environment with me and my amazing French guests who I am selecting because they represent true Chartres landmarks : art historians, chefs, entrepreneurs, artisans, pâtissiers, etc. all passionate experts in their own fields.
- Practice speaking & listening to French while learning about the French culture. This will ensure a rich discussion as well as expand your French vocabulary.
- Learn French grammar & conjugation in a natural way thanks to a practical context.
- Relax knowing that I’m here to manage our time together and make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity to participate.
- Discover Chartres, my new gorgeous city, with me! I very recently moved to this little piece of heaven and I am beyond excited to explore and share all I can with you!
- Bask in French traditions & history in medieval Chartres, an endless source of fascinating stories.So, if you’re feeling a strong “OUI” for this, just click on the appropriate sign up button right below!
French online book club
You want to improve your French, become smarter, and hang out avec moi et un livre court, hilarant, facile à comprendre, et superbement bien écrit?
Join me and other French / Francophone book lovers to read, discuss, and converse together on our live Online French Book Club!
SOLD OUT 2021 Jan 5, 12, 19, 26, Feb 2 – 6pm French time
NEW DATES COMING SOON JOIN THE WAITING LIST
Benefits
- Improve your French comprehension skills in a completely safe & friendly environment with me and Amélie’s amazing stories, hilarious plots, unique sense of humor, delectable vocabulary, flawless syntax.
- Practice reading, speaking, and listening to French while bursting out laughing at every page. This will ensure a rich discussion as well as expand your French vocabulary and sentence structure.
- Learn French grammar & conjugation in a natural way thanks to a practical context.
- Relax knowing that I’m here to manage our time together and make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity to participate.
- If you don’t already know Amélie Nothomb, discover a fabulous author able to share a piece of life with you as she’s written 28 books! I guess if you’re good, we could just continue with another one of her books when this first course est terminé!
French online course #1: 600 WORDS
In this course, you will find 15 videos (+ 10 bonus ones) to help & accompany you every step of the way through the course + for each word, each sentence, each expression, each conjugated verb, I have created an audio file of my voice, slow and slightly faster speed. Your French language learning experience has never been so easy, fun, and fruitful. You can learn French online and benefit from the flexibility working at your own pace offers, while having me with you the whole time.
Did you know…
You can converse (speak + understand) in French with only 600 WORDS?
The average French person only uses between 300 & 3,000 WORDS?
This means that if you can master a relatively short list of words, you’ll be able to express yourself like the average French person! Plus you’re much more likely to understand the French when they talk back to you!
This course will teach you…
1- How to speak French
2- How to pronounce French
3- How to make French sentences
4- How to conjugate all the most common French verbs
5- How to polish your results
6- How to self evaluate your French
More info HERE
- It should take you about 30 hours to complete this course, which is made up of 10 lessons
- This course is designed for a beginner / intermediate level. If you are intermediate but feel like you could really reinforce your foundations, you will love it.
- You can join whenever, either by buying the course or by becoming a monthly member giving you access to my French online courses from $10 / month. See more details about the membership at the bottom of this page
Online course # 2: PERFECT PRONUNCIATION
In this course you will find 11 videos + 150 audio files + 92 pages PDF format to help & accompany you every step of the way throughout the course. In some parts of the videos, my face will appear close up and profile so you can easily see how I make these sounds with my mouth. The 150 audio files are composed of the 100 most popular French words and the 50 most common French phrases. They are recordings of my voice, speaking slowly enough so you can easily grasp every syllable. Your French language learning experience has never been so easy, fun, and fruitful. You can learn French online and benefit from the flexibility working at your own pace offers, while having me with you the whole time.
NB: if you are the proud owner of my previous French online course 600 WORDS, don’t worry, this is not a repeat as we are now exploring 1 letter words and up, whereas in 600 WORDS we began at 4 letter words and up.
Combine knowledge with confidence…
For you to be able to have a pleasant and efficient conversation with a French person, one thing is key… can you guess what it is? Confidence! How well do you think you will communicate in French if you don’t feel confident about your accent? If you are scared that people won’t understand you? Or even worse if you think someone might make fun of you? Without a minimum of confidence there is no room for communication. Yet if you feel confident, you can afford to make a few mistakes here and there because people will still understand you. What prevents a conversation from happening isn’t just a lack of knowledge, it’s also a lack of confidence. You need to have both to make it work, not to mention, to make it fun!
This course will teach you…
1- How to pronounce every letter of the alphabet
2- How to pronounce every digraph & trigraph
3- How to make every French sentence flow
4- How to pronounce the 100 most popular French words
5- How to pronounce the 50 most popular French phrases
6- How to avoid the pronunciation mistakes everyone makes
More info HERE
- It should take you about 20 to 2 hours to complete this course, which is made up of 11 lessons
- This course is designed for a beginner level. If you are intermediate but lack confidence when it comes to talking and feel like you could really benefit from focusing on pronunciation, you will love it.
- You can join whenever, either by buying the course or by becoming a monthly member giving you access to my French online courses from $10 / month. See more details about the membership below
Online course # 3: FRENCH DICTÉES
In the FRENCH DICTÉES online course you will find 20 videos + 10 audio files to help & accompany you every step of the way throughout the course. Why 20 videos? Because there are 10 dictées in total, each focusing on one particular topic, and for each dictée I have prepared 2 videos. Let’s say the video focuses on both French past tenses called imparfait & passé composé. The first video will go though the grammar, the conjugation, and all the tips on these two past tenses to help you understand and remember how and when to use them. The second video will be the actual dictée, a short story written by me, describing everyday life situations conveniently packed with imparfait and passé composé verbs! Boom! Efficient! The dictée will also be read by me, slowly first and then a little faster, with a close up on my face so you can more easily recognize the words and copy the shapes I make to improve your own pronunciation.
Become a French language expert
How do you become an expert at anything? By focusing on one thing at a time.
I’ve made sure to categorize and isolate either a verb tense, a verb group, a grammar or vocabulary topic per dictée, so you can effectively focus and interiorize concepts separately, which makes it a lot easier to remember them.
Here’s what you’re going to learn
What grammar & conjugation points will each dictée focus on?
Dictée # 1: Present tense
Dictée # 2: Past tenses – imparfait & passé composé
Dictée # 3: Future tenses – futur proche & futur simple
Dictée # 4: Conditional, imparfait, asking questions
Dictée # 5: Imperative form
Dictée # 6: First group verbs all tenses
Dictée # 7: Second group verbs all tenses
Dictée # 8: Third group verbs all tenses
Dictée # 9: Numbers
Dictée # 10: Prepositions
Each dictée is a short story written by me about practical everyday life situations. This means that not only do you get to work on conjugation & grammar drills, but you also improve your conversational skills at the same time: a magic combination for your next trip to France!
Grow your confidence talking about practical everyday topics
The dictées will refer to common topics that you are very likely to hear or very likely to use to express yourself such as:
-Traveling to France
-Socializing
-Childhood memories
-Family dynamics
-Everyday life routines
-How to express your ideas, opinions, and dreams
Two videos per dictée
First video: key grammar and conjugation reminders explained very clearly so you feel prepared and confident entering each dictée.
Second video: the actual dictée. I’ve made sure to categorize and isolate either a verb tense, a verb group, a grammar or vocabulary topic, so you can effectively focus and interiorize concepts separately, which makes it a lot easier to remember them.
And for you challenge lovers over-achievers?
Yes I have prepared something just for you! I have also made 10 audio files, 1 per dictée, so that if you wish to, if you want it extra difficult, if you want to test yourself more deeply, you can solely rely on sound. Indeed there are many occasions in life where we hear a language but we don’t see it: speaking to someone on the phone or listening to the radio for instance.
20 videos? 10 audio files? What else?
This new FRENCH DICTÉES online course also comes with written files with both the French text along with the English translation, so that you can evaluate yourself when you’re done taking notes.
To summarize, you’ll be able to use video, audio, and written material.
Dictées worked for me, they’ll work for you!
Let me tell you, I LOVE dictées because THEY WORK. And clearly you realize this too and that is smart of you. So now let’s see how something as simple as a dictée can truly help you become a little bit French! Your French language learning experience has never been so easy, fun, and fruitful. You can learn French online and benefit from the flexibility working at your own pace offers, while having me with you the whole time.
Become a monthly member!
My goal is to transform your French language learning experience. This is why I’ve decided to offer you a new way to learn French online and gain access to the French Truly Online School! Actually, more than 1 new way, you’ll have 3 plans to choose from so come and learn French online with me!
in 3 easy steps