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Writer's pictureVirginie Paradis

Macron (in French) about Notre-Dame de Paris

More than a week ago already, Notre-Dame de Paris was ravaged by the flames. Since then, a lot has happened, including an announcement that Notre-Dame would be repaired in time for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, as well as more than 1 billion euros donated to help doing so.  After reading last week’s blog post called “Notre-Dame stands proud”, my student & friend Sharon felt deeply touched by Emmanuel Macron’s speech and decided to dedicate a class to transcribe it in French and then translate it into English.

Together, we decided to share our work with you!

Here’s what you can do to practice your French comprehension skills

1- Watch Macron’s speech by clicking on the picture below

2- Follow the video with the French text under the picture below

3- Check your comprehension with the English translation under the French text

1- Watch the video


2- Discours en français

Bonjour à toutes et tous,

Ce qui s’est passé ce soir à Paris et dans cette cathédrale Notre-Dame est évidemment un terrible drame, et je veux avant toute chose, avoir une pensée et des remerciements pour les sapeurs pompiers de Paris. Près de cinq cent d’entre eux depuis plusieurs heures se sont battus contre les flammes et se battent encore et le feront encore pendant des heures et des heures et sans doute plusieurs jours. Ils l’ont fait avec un courage extrême, un grand professionnalisme, et beaucoup de détermination de la part de leur chef. Et je veux ici leur dire les remerciements de la nation toute entière. Durant ces heures, grâce à leur engagement, à l’engagement de l’ensemble des services de l’État, de la mairie de Paris, des personnels de Notre-Dame, le pire a été évité même si la bataille n’est pas encore totalement gagnée. Les prochaines heures seront difficiles, mais grâce à leur courage, la façade et les deux tours principales ne se sont pas effondrées.

Alors je veux ce soir avoir bien entendu avant tout une pensée pour les Catholiques, les Catholiques de France et partout à travers le monde, en particulier en cette semaine sainte. Je sais ce qu’ils ressentent et nous sommes avec eux. Je veux aussi avoir une pensée pour toutes les Parisiennes et les Parisiens. Notre-Dame de Paris, c’est leur cathédrale et plus encore. Madame le maire de Paris était avec nous toutes ces heures et dès les premières flammes je sais son émotion et celle des habitants de la ville. Et je veux aussi avoir une pensée pour l’ensemble de nos compatriotes parce que Notre-Dame de Paris, c’est notre histoire, notre littérature, notre imaginaire, le lieu où nous avons vécu tous nos grands moments, nos épidémies, nos guerres, nos libérations, c’est l’épicentre de notre vie, c’est l’étalon d’où partent les distances et d’où l’on se mesure depuis Paris. C’est tant de livres, de peintures, c’est une cathédrale qui est celle de toutes les Françaises et de tous les Français même celles et ceux qui n’y sont jamais venus. Cette histoire c’est la nôtre. Alors elle brûle. Elle brûle et je sais cette tristesse, ce tremblement intérieur ressenti par tant de nos concitoyens.

Mais ce soir je veux aussi avoir un mot d’espérance pour nous tous et toutes. Cette espérance c’est la fierté que nous devons avoir, fierté de tous ceux qui se sont battus pour que le pire n’advienne pas, ces soldats du feu, fierté parce que cette cathédrale il y a plus de huit cents ans nous avons su l’édifier et à travers les siècles la faire grandir et l’améliorer. Alors je vous le dis très solennellement ce soir, cette cathédrale nous la rebâtirons, tous ensemble, et c’est sans doute une part du destin français, et le projet que nous aurons pour les années à venir. Mais je m’y engage, dès demain, une subscription nationale sera annoncée et bien au-delà de nos frontières. Nous ferons appel aux plus grands talents et ils sont nombreux qui viendront y contribuer. Et nous rebâtirons, nous rebâtirons Notre-Dame parce que c’est ce que les Français attendent, parce que c’est ce que notre histoire mérite, parce que c’est notre destin profond. Je vous remercie.

3- Discours en anglais

Bonjour to all of you,

What happened tonight in Paris and in this cathédrale Notre-Dame, evidently is a terrible tragedy, and I want first and foremost think of and thank the firefighters of Paris. About five hundred of them, for several hours, have been fighting the flames and are still fighting and will keep on fighting for hours and hours and undoubtedly for several days. They did it with extreme courage, great professionalism, and a lot of determination from their chief. And I want here to thank them on behalf of the whole nation. During these hours, thanks to their commitment, to the commitment of all of the State services, of the Paris city hall, of the Notre-Dame staff, the worst has been avoided even if the battle isn’t yet totally won.The next hours will be difficult, but thanks to their courage, the façade et the two main towers did not collapse.

So of course tonight, I first and foremost want to think of the Catholics, the Catholics of France and everywhere throughout the world, particularly during this holly week. I know how they feel and we are with them. I also want to think of all the Parisians. Notre-Dame de Paris, it is their cathedral and much more. Madame the mayor of Paris was with us all these hours and from the first flames I know her emotion and the emotion of the inhabitants fo the city. And I also want to think of all our compatriots because Notre-Dame de Paris, it is our history, our literature, our imagination, the place where we lived all our great moments, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, it is the epicenter of our life, it is the base from which we evaluate distances, and from which we measure ourselves since Paris. It is so many books, paintings, it is a cathedral that belongs to all the French people, even the ones who never came here. This history is ours. So it’s burning. It’s burning and I know this sadness, this interior trembling felt by so many of our fellow citizens.

But tonight, I also want to send a word of hope for all of us. This hope is the pride we must feel, we must feel proud of all the ones who fought so that the worst would not happen, these fire soldiers, we must feel proud because this cathedral, more than eight hundred years ago, we were able to build it, and throughout centuries make it grow and improve. So I tell you very solemnly tonight, this cathedral we will rebuild it, all of us together, and it’s undoubtedly a part of the French destiny, and the project we will have for the years to come. But I’m committing myself, beginning tomorrow, a national subscription will be announced and far beyond our borders. We will call on the numerous greatest talents, who will come to contribute to our project. And we will rebuild, we will rebuild Notre-Dame because that’s what the French people expects, because that’s what our history deserves, because it’s our profound destiny. Thank you.

We hope this was both helpful and useful! Please share with all your francophile-in-love-with-Notre-Dame friends so they can benefit from this work too!

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Join me in Seattle in March 2020! Demi attended a French immersion Weekend Course in Seattle this year and she’s sharing her experience with you on this short video!

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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.

FRANCE 2019 July 8 to 14: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students. ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT.

LONDON UK 2019 August 3 & 4: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students. 2019 August 1 & 4:11This French Immersion Course is designed for beginner level students.

SEATTLE US 2020 March 7 & 8: This French Immersion Course is designed for intermediate level students. 2020 March 14 & 15: This French Immersion Course is designed for beginner level students.

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

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!

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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!


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.

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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!

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1- How to speak French

2- How to pronounce French

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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

  1. It should take you about 30 hours to complete this course, which is made up of 10 lessons

  2. 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.

  3. 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


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.

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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!

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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

  1. It should take you about 20 to 2 hours to complete this course, which is made up of 11 lessons

  2. 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.

  3. 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 

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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Not a membership kind of person? Don’t worry! Every course can still be bought separately at the normal price and be yours for ever. Whichever format you choose, 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.


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