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Writer's pictureVirginie Paradis

New (intermediate) French Book Club now open for registration!

You want to improve your French and become plus intelligent et plus cultivé by reading un livre en français avec moi et un petit groupe d’autres francophiles super sympas?

The intermediate group and I just finished reading Maigret le chien jaune by the great et incontournable Georges Simenon, and after this exhilarating thriller, we decided to go for a feel good story qui met du baume au coeur.

(Beginners, don’t worry your new book club announcement is coming up in the next couple of days.)

These book clubs are one giant covid silver lining because I wouldn’t even have thought about them had I been able to run French Truly the usual way (including French Immersion Courses in France and the US) yet I can now tell you I will continue them no matter what because they have become one of my favorite moments of the week! My students and I love these joyful and intellectually stimulating weekly meetings!

“The very best teachers are those that bring laughter and fun to the subject and teach you things you never anticipated learning.  Virginie’s enthusiasm is contagious and her sense of humor and fun make the book club one of the best parts of my week!  Learning a foreign language is not only about vocabulary and grammar, but also about culture, colloquialisms and interpretations.  Virginie introduced us to a great French author and explained nuances of the book that I would have completely missed had I just read the book on my own.  The environment is relaxed and Virginie is incredibly patient, so I never felt intimidated or nervous.  I will definitely be joining again for the next book!”

Christina Foote

Scroll down to read more testimonials!

How does it work?

Every week, I send you homework to help you prepare for our following meeting. Homework to help you understand important details you might otherwise have missed, but also to allow you to go deeper into the story, deeper into the ideas, how they relate to reality, to our everyday lives. A thought provoking book is a perfect way to trigger dynamic conversations. There are only 8 students at a time in each group so we all have plenty of time to express ourselves in one hour and a half. Of course, books, homework, and conversation levels are adapted to each group so you never have to worry it’s going to be trop difficile. Challenging, oui. Discouraging, non.

  1. A series of 4 classes

  2. Spread out over 4 weeks

  3. Each class will last 1.5 hours 

  4. I will divide our book into 4 parts, each part corresponding to 1 class

  5. The PDF version of the book is provided

  6. Weekly homework to help you throughout the whole book

And in case you’re wondering what the weekly homework looks like for intermediate level students, you can have a look HERE.

2021 August 24, 31, September 7, 14 – 6pm French time 3 SPOTS AVAILABLE SIGN UP HERE

Intermediate group

Et voici le livre que j’ai choisi for the intermediate group : L’Enfant de Noé from Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt est l’un des auteurs francophones les plus traduits et les plus joués au monde entier. Internationally renowned writer, playwright, film director, actor, membre de l’Académie Goncourt (the French equivalent for Literature Nobel Prize) et de l’Académie Royale de Langue et de Littérature françaises de Belgique, il est tout simplement incontournable pour tous les amoureux de la langue française!

2021 August 24, 31, September 7, 14 – 6pm French time 3 SPOTS AVAILABLE SIGN UP HERE

Not sure yet?

If you love the idea of the Online French Book Club, yet have some questions or concerns (“Do I have the time for this? Can I afford it? Is it the right fit for me? Is my French good enough?”) that are stopping you from signing up right now, please do let me know HERE and I’ll answer you right away!

Price

$239 covers four 1.5 hour classes (total of 6 hours) for 1 person and includes:

  1. Weekly homework & follow up emails

  2. All classes (live + recordings)

  3. Me with you for four 1.5 hour classes to teach you and answer all your questions

  4. PDF version of the book

Limited number of spots so tickets are NOT REFUNDABLE.

Benefits

  1. Improve your French comprehension skills in a completely safe & friendly environment with me and a French classic must read.

  2. 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.

  3. Learn French grammar & conjugation in a natural way thanks to a practical context.

  4. Relax knowing that I’m here to manage our time together and make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity to participate.


Testimonials

Bonjour Virginie !

I just wanted to tell you that I have really enjoyed the book club! I found out about it after my French teacher from Learn French at Home assigned some of your YouTube videos to watch as homework. I’ve always wanted to start reading in French, but I was a little nervous because I didn’t think I was good enough. I’m so glad that I took a chance because I feel really comfortable with the group. I feel like I’ve learned way more by reading and group discussion than I do in my regular lessons. I would definitely be interested in more book clubs, immersion programs, or whatever else you have planned for the future.

Merci ! Rachel Crosby

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Beginner Book Club.  It is a wonderful way to refresh your knowledge of the French language, improve your grammar, and refine your pronunciation.   Virginie is a very patient, pleasant and fun moderator. She makes everyone feel comfortable, and encourages any and all questions. The atmosphere is light and very enjoyable. I highly recommend this Book Club. Merci. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Catherine Keller

“My interest in reading in french was killed-off long ago by my university french professors… or so I thought. Then, this wonder of french language teaching, Virginie Paradis, insisted that I read a book by Belgian author Amélie Nothomb. Reluctantly, I did it. And what? Suddenly, I was addicted and wanted to read more, even if I had to “work at it”. When Virginie formed a book club to read books with others, she invited me to join and again, though nervous, I followed her advice. Like-minded and equally motivated co-readers mixed with thought-provoking “homework”; we are gently guided to where our french (language learning) “truly” wants to go. Highly recommend.

Hildie Sheftel

Virginie is a warm and gifted teacher. She inspires language learners with thoughtful and engaging prompts. Her book club format is a fun way to learn new vocabulary, discuss grammar points and express ideas with a small group of students. In the beginning level, we have read several fairy tales and The Little Prince. Mistakes are simply learning opportunities and questions are always welcome. Virginie is not intimidating and understands the struggles encountered when learning a new language. She helps us with proper pronunciation and offers helpful pointers throughout the class. Her goal is to guide us towards communication – not necessarily perfection. I highly recommend trying the book club – you will be hooked!

Missy A.

I love Virginie’s book clubs.  Pourquoi?  Because they have helped me so much with my Français; with my verbal comprehension, my pronunciation and my understanding of grammar. The books are challenging to read but very fun.  And I love all my new book club friends.  Highly recommend.

Robert Gordon

Are you into reading books? Do you enjoy exchanging opinions with friendly people from various parts of the world? Do you want to be more confident in French? The French Book Club with Virginie will satisfy all these desires for everyone. The questions and discussions in the Club are at times quite challenging, but are mostly fun, humorous, intelligent and are guaranteed to inspire your “Esprit Français”!

Takeshi

How much I love my French book club for beginners! I have never been one to enjoy sitting down to a grammar book (even a French one), yet through the charming childrens’ stories we are reading I am learning French grammar, vocabulary, and even spelling. We are halfway though our study of The Little Prince, and I so enjoy answering the homework questions Virginie gives us and I totally look forward to Thursday mornings when I get to gather with her (who doesn’t love spending time with Virginie?!!), and the group– we are now all friends in the quest for French. I hope the sessions will keep coming with new books to explore, and new friends to meet 🙂

Sharon Ray

“I love the page-specific questions you submit in advance of our reading, which helps us understand items on that page that we might have missed. Reading back the questions and giving our oral responses in class also helps us to practice our French. You also have an infectious “joie de vie,” a strong background in literature and an instinctive understanding of what we non-french speakers might miss or confuse and an ability to explain it clearly. The class is awesome!”

William Baker

“The very best teachers are those that bring laughter and fun to the subject and teach you things you never anticipated learning.  Virginie’s enthusiasm is contagious and her sense of humor and fun make the book club one of the best parts of my week!  Learning a foreign language is not only about vocabulary and grammar, but also about culture, colloquialisms and interpretations.  Virginie introduced us to a great French author and explained nuances of the book that I would have completely missed had I just read the book on my own.  The environment is relaxed and Virginie is incredibly patient, so I never felt intimidated or nervous.  I will definitely be joining again for the next book!”

Christina Foote

“Thanks Virginie, I loved this French book club class on Zoom!  I looked forward to each session.  You spent a lot of care in preparing questions that led us to an in depth discussion, which was also a lot of fun!”

Gary Duvall

“Virginie selected a classic French book, Métaphysiques des tubes, for her first French book club via Zoom. If there were a photo in a dictionary for a French bookclub online the screen shot of Virginie and her devoted students would be the perfect photo. Each week we received a list of questions that captured the essence of the book. By answering all the questions before our discussion a lively discussion was assured. Virginie managed her 8 students skillfully making sure that everyone had many opportunities to speak. Virginie managed to get through all the questions each week, a not so small miracle. My adult French school hosts a monthly book club but alas we read the books in English and discuss in English! I now have confidence to read more books in French and discuss them with my French-speaking friends. I plan to take every book club that Virginie offers.”

Susan Schultz

Well, where to start! It was a huge challenge to participate in the Intermediate Book Club. In fact, it was a first for me.The text by Amelie Nothomb, was immensely interesting on all levels: poetic, historical, philosophical and just plain funny! Virginie is a teacher with a lot of enthusiasm and energy who made me feel welcomed and included and I really enjoyed learning with the other participants who were generous and supportive. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their confidence in speaking French. It was lots of work thought so be sure to check your level and be prepared to give some time to this rewarding activity.

Clare Mc Cann

As an intermediate student, It was really a joy to take a class on something other than French grammar or improving your French. By reading a charming book by Amélie Nothomb  we were able to continue to learn by using the language for entertainment. Our prof Virginie is very talented. She is an experienced and natural teacher. She and every student were very patient. They waited for every student/speaker to express themselves. So refreshing.

Kathleen de Montlebert 

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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

Come to France again!

Intermediate level students

2021 September 20 – 26 : SOLD OUT 2022 April 04 – 10 : SOLD OUT 2022 April 20 – 26 : 1 SPOTS LEFT

Beginner level students

If you’re unsure which level you are, contact me to schedule a free Skype call

Benefits

  1. 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.

  2. Practice speaking & listening to French while learning about the French culture. This will ensure a rich discussion as well as expand your French vocabulary.

  3. Learn French grammar & conjugation in a natural way thanks to a practical context.

  4. Relax knowing that I’m here to manage our time together and make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity to participate.

  5. 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!

  6. 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

See above and SIGN UP HERE!

Benefits

  1. Improve your French comprehension skills in a completely safe & friendly environment avec moi.

  2. 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.

  3. Learn French grammar & conjugation in a natural way thanks to a practical context.

  4. Relax knowing that I’m here to manage our time together and make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity to participate.


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

  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.

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

  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 

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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