Last week I shared with you my first mini audio in French to which I added the text so you could check the content after listening and practicing your French comprehension skills. I’m working on a French audiobook project with longer and more in depth products to add to my online school. So I wanted to give you a little pretaste and see if you enjoyed it. And you did!

 

 

If you missed last week’s first audiobook, here it is:

 

You sent me so much great feedback, merci beaucoup! I’m so happy and excited you loved it!

That tells me two things:

1- I’m on the right track with this new project.

2- I can give you more on the mini versions for free via this blog to prepare you for the longer more in depth audiobooks I will be adding to my French Truly Online School!

So that’s exactly what I’ve planned for you this week: you’ll find below un nouveau mini livre audio en français, avec le texte so you can follow and make sure you understand me correctly.

 

 

Everyone is talking about the coronavirus (I refuse to give it a capital letter I’m so annoyed with it as I know you are) so I too, am going to address the topic in this week’s audiobook. Only I will try to do it un peu différemment. I will also share some information about it from the French press (I’ll give you the links), and I will compare it to the regular flu en France.

 

 

Listen here:

Read below:

 

Il me semble difficile d’éviter le sujet du coronavirus quand tout le monde en parle à longueur de journée. J’essaierai cependant d’en parler brièvement et différemment. Comme vous le savez, je passe le mois de mars à Seattle à la fois pour revoir cette ville dans laquelle j’ai vécu sept ans, mes amies qui y habitent, mais aussi pour travailler et rencontrer mes étudiants via l’organisation de week-ends en immersion française. Comme vous le savez aussi, Seattle est l’une des zones sensibles touchées par le coronavirus.

 

Je suis peut-être d’une grande naïveté et / ou ignorance, mais j’avoue que personnellement je trouve le drame autour de ce virus légèrement exagéré, je comprends que ce virus n’est pas vraiment dangereux pour la plupart des gens, et je pense que nous avons tous plus de chance de mourir en conduisant notre voiture qu’en attrapant ce virus. Il y a deux jours, mercredi onze mars au matin, le gouverneur de l’état de Washington dans lequel se trouve Seattle, Jay Inslee, a officiellement annoncé que les regroupements de plus de deux cent cinquante personnes étaient désormais considérés comme illégaux.

 

En écoutant cette nouvelle, plus toutes les autres qui nous proviennent d’autres villes, d’autres états, d’autres pays, j’ai trouvé fascinant l’attention et la rapidité d’action dont peuvent faire preuve les états, les organisations, les gouvernements, qui prennent des mesures draconiennes pour sortir de cette crise au plus vite. Le coronavirus est un virus grave mais ce n’est ni la peste, ni le choléra, et il me semble qu’il existe des choses autrement plus dangereuses qui ne bénéficient pas du même traitement, par exemple le réchauffement climatique, qui lui va détruire tous les êtres vivants.

 

C’est vraiment intéressant pour moi de voir comment ces deux sujets d’actualité sont appréhendés de manière complètement différente. L’un urgemment, l’autre non. Alors que le bon sens semblerait conseiller le contraire. Est-ce que nous nous concentrons sur les mauvais problèmes? Est-ce que nous ignorons les problèmes beaucoup plus importants, beaucoup plus dangereux pour l’humanité entière? Je me souviens de quelques articles écrits par des journalistes choqués juste après l’incendie de la cathédrale de Notre-Dame à Paris, qui comparaient ce désastre avec d’autres comme la panne de courant à Puerto Rico après l’ouragan Maria ou l’inondation dévastatrice en Inde du sud. Nous pleurions tous pour la cathédrale alors que Puerto Rico et l’Inde n’intéressaient personne. Même si le sujet du réchauffement climatique est abordé fréquemment et connu de tous, à part quelques climatosceptiques complètement fous, le fait est que tout le monde s’en fiche un peu. Pourquoi est-ce que l’intensité avec laquelle les mesures drastiques qui sont prises en ce moment pour une grippe qui a tué cinq mille personnes dans le monde entier, ne peut pas être appliquée à un problème autrement plus dangereux? Pourquoi est-ce que le coronavirus nous inquiète beaucoup plus que le réchauffement climatique? Quels résultats obtiendrions-nous si tout le monde, tous les gouvernements, toutes les organisations, mettaient autant d’énergie à éradiquer le réchauffement climatique qu’ils n’en mettent à stopper le coronavirus?

 

Ce virus nous touche tous de manière tangible ici et maintenant, alors que le réchauffement climatique nous touche de manière plus indirecte. La plupart d’entre nous, habitants des pays riches, ne constatent pas ce changement climatique dans notre vie de tous les jours. Sommes-nous devenus moins capables de raisonner sur le long terme au vingt-et-unième siècle? Sommes-nous condamnés au présentisme? Est-ce que le futur ne nous intéresse pas ou est-ce seulement un mécanisme de défense parce que nous en avons si peur?

 

Finalement et à titre indicatif, le coronavirus a tué environ soixante personnes en France alors que la grippe tue en moyenne dix mille personnes en France chaque année. Je répète, soixante versus dix mille. Pourquoi est-ce qu’on n’est pas plus terrorisé par la grippe? Quand les médias nous exposent le nombre de morts causées par le coronavirus, pourquoi est-ce qu’ils ne nous disent pas en parallèle combien de personnes sont mortes de la grippe? d’un accident de voiture? du cancer? de l’obésité? de froid et de faim parce qu’ils habitent dehors? Quand on le compare à tous les autres fléaux qui touchent notre planète, est-ce que le coronavirus justifie vraiment qu’on détruise notre économie mondiale?

 

And that’s it for now les amis! If you found it helpful let me know and I’ll repeat this audio experience la semaine prochaine! I’m adding some interesting links en français illustrating some of the information I shared above:

 

Le Monde

La Voix du Nord

Le Journal des Femmes

 

Once again, merci pour tous vos commentaires regarding my new audio formats!

 

 

If you want to receive free fun tips from me to help you improve your French conversational skills, sign up for my free Three Step Mini Course to Become a Little Bit French: videos, audios, stories, songs, photos, games… all in French!

 

And if you want to practice your French with me personally, c’est très simple: Join my French Immersion Courses in Seattle (March 2020), Pélussin (April & July 2020… aaaah the French countryside!), et Paris (September & October 2020). We have 3 spots lefts for Seattle so check the dates below and book your ticket now!

 

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WANT TO TAKE YOUR FRENCH TO THE NEXT LEVEL?

RECEIVE VIRGINIE’S FREE COURSE to Help You Become a little bit French in 3 Steps.

Learn French Online with Virginie via the French Truly Online School

Learn French with Virginie via her French Immersion Courses in France, in London UK, and in Seattle US.

Watch Testimonials from Virginie’s Happy Students!

 

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Learn French online with Virginie

Join French Truly’s 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 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!

 

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FRENCH IMMERSION COURSE – WEEKEND IN SEATTLE MARCH 2020

 

 

SEATTLE – US
2020 March 7 & 8: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students – SOLD OUT
2020 March 14 & 15: This French Immersion Course is designed for beginner level students – SOLD OUT
2020 March 21 & 22: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students – 3 SPOTS LEFT

If you’re unsure about your level, contact me to schedule a free Skype call

 

FRENCH IMMERSION COURSE – WEEK IN PÉLUSSIN APRIL & JULY 2020

 

 

PÉLUSSIN – FRANCE
2020 April 6 to 12: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students – 1 SPOT OPEN
2020 July 20 to 26: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students – SOLD OUT

If you’re unsure about your level, contact me to schedule a free Skype call

 

FRENCH IMMERSION COURSE – WEEK IN PARIS SEPTEMBER 2020

 

 

PARIS – FRANCE
2020 September 14 to 20: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students – SOLD OUT
2020 September 28 to October 4: This French Immersion Course is designed for beginner level students – 8 SPOTS LEFT

If you’re unsure about your level, contact me to schedule a free Skype call

 

100% French Experience

 

What inspired me to create this French Immersion Course? C’est très simple: how best to improve your French conversation skills than by being in France, surrounded with French culture and French people who will ONLY speak French to you? Yet so many times I have heard visitors express their disappointment at not really being given the chance to practice their French. Why? Because more & more French people, especially in big cities, speak English fairly well and are just so excited to practice their new skills with you! This ends up being nice and comfortable for you but not so satisfying or helpful for improving your French speaking ability! So to fix this and make sure you have the most enjoyable, and at the same time profitable, French learning experience, I decided to create the perfect environment for you by organizing this hands-on French Immersion Course.

 

Daily French Classes & Activities

 

This is the reason why I have created this 7 DAY FULL FRENCH IMMERSION COURSE for you, filled with daily classes & enriching adventures with French people who will only speak French with you. No English! It’s amazing how much you can learn and retain in such a conducive atmosphere in as little as 7 days. Mornings will be dedicated to French language classes and afternoons will be filled with interesting activities such as: visiting local artists or entrepreneurs workshops, meeting with local wine makers and farmers, guided hike in nature, cooking class, painting class, cinema, & museum… all in French!