Alors tout d’abord, je vous souhaite un Joyeux Halloween! As you know it’s not exactly a French Holiday but as you also know, we live in a globalized world and so it is: Halloween est à Paris!

 

What will it look like? Will people dress up? Will children be trick or treating? (J’en doute fort, je ne vois pas comment ils pourraient aller à l’intérieur des immeubles qui ont tous des codes à la porte d’entrée!) I can’t tell you right now as I’m writing this on Thursday October 31st first thing in the morning, mais je pourrai certainement le faire sur mon prochain blog!

 

For the past few days, I’ve been working at full speed on my French Immersion Course in Paris, and along the process, I have been making so many fascinating discoveries.

 

My goal is to offer you a Paris you’ve never experienced before, and I think I’m making all the right connections for that! Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the touristy stuff, I love it too. But you don’t really need me for that.

 

What I want to bring you is a more personal Paris, a Paris of creators, entrepreneurs, visionaries, dreamers, artists, artisans, planet lovers, world changers, brave & smart, inspired & inspiring big hearted Parisians who think outside the box. Autrement dit, my kind of people!

 

 

And I also want to dive into the French & Parisian History with you to unravel intriguing & secret anecdotes somehow all linked to each other street after street, so you can build your own Paris throughout the centuries in your head and in your heart. I am therefore being an investigator for you right now and working with historians who have spent their whole lives here in Paris and who have a passion for sharing every single little fact with a charming talent for story telling.

 

I so want to share all my ideas with you, all the whimsical places, all the amazing people I’ve been meeting, but I’m going to have to pace myself and not reveal everything en même temps!

 

 

You’ll just have to be patient… un peu de patience… bearing in mind I’m aiming to have the French Immersion Course in Paris open for registration before Christmas 2019. Well yes of course wouldn’t it le cadeau de Noël parfait, either to yourself or someone you love? And just to give you one more clue, the French Immersion Course in Paris will take place in September 2020 so it gives you plenty of time to prepare & plan. Besides, I couldn’t lead this course earlier, even if I really want to, because:

 

-I need to give you several months so you can plan ahead

-In March 2020, I’ll be teaching in Seattle U.S. (intermediate sold out join the waiting list / beginner 5 spots left)

-In April 2020, I’ll be teaching in Pélussin France (sold out join waiting list)

-In May 2020, I’ll be taking my annual University exams

-In June 2020, potentially more exams

-In July 2020, I’ll be teaching in Pélussin France (3 spots left)

-In August 2020, Paris is dead & empty tout le monde est en vacances

 

So there! September it shall be! En plus c’est le mois de mon anniversaire donc ça ne pourrait pas être mieux!

 

 

I spent the past two days walking around Paris with a mission (addresses & appointments), which in my humble opinion, est la meilleure manière d’explorer un endroit parce que cela donne an exciting sense of purpose & accomplishment. I am only going to share one experience with you for the time being: Les Grands Voisins. Actually, if you’ve read my blog post from 3 weeks ago, vous reconnaissez peut-être ce nom? Only at that time, I had simply checked their website after my choir friends had highly recommended them to me. Finally yesterday I went, and let me tell you, it is something else in person! I spent five hours there and had to kick my own butt to leave parce que je devais aller voir un autre endroit avant de rentrer chez moi.

 

 

 

Un rêve. I had stepped into un rêve. Imaginez un vieil hôpital abandonné, architecture années 1900, taken over by artists, artisans, organic chefs, bakers, chocolatiers, all with a focus on community and solidarity for the creatives and those without a home. It’s precious, wacky, vibrant, and filled with talent, compassion, and laughter. Coup de foudre! Love at first sight! En plus, tout le monde est super sympa, accueillant, et heureux d’expliquer et de partager leur beau concept.

 

You know how my French Immersion Courses work: French class in the morning to give you the tools to put it all in practice in the afternoons and evenings via activities with French people who share their passion with you. Well, I decided on one more of our afternoon activities: la fabrication de tablettes de chocolat et de mendiants en chocolat dans les cuisines de Mon Jardin Chocolaté, organic chocolatiers who work with the best ingredients only.

 

 

Here is a short French text you can find on their website:

“Qu’est-ce que du chocolat bio?

Le chocolat bio est fabriqué selon un procédé naturel, dans le respect de l’environnement et de sa biodiversité. Ce qui veut dire sans OGM, pesticide, insecticide ni produit de synthèse.

Élaborés chez nous de manière artisanale, nos bonbons et tablettes de chocolat bio respectent la Directive Européenne CE 2092/91 : tous les ingrédients sont issus de productions agricoles biologiques. Ils apportent autant de qualités nutritionnelles que le chocolat classique, le naturel en plus, les produits chimiques en moins.

Ceci réduit également les risques d’allergies au maximum. C’est un véritable gage de qualité.

Le goût de nos bonbons, pâtes à tartiner et tablettes de chocolat est donc plus prononcé grâce à des produits plus qualitatifs.

Sélection et co-création

Saviez-vous que nous goûtons absolument tous nos ingrédients ?

Pour chaque nouvelle recette, nous faisons plusieurs essais avec différents échantillons venant de divers fournisseurs.

Par exemple, pour notre chocolat Jasmin infusé : nous avons reçu 5 échantillons de thé au jasmin, inventé et testé 5 essais de recettes, et goûté les résultats. Le meilleur a ensuite été sélectionné !

Il nous arrive également de faire appel à nos clients pour tester et voter nos nouvelles recettes. A l’issu de ce vote, le produit gagnant sera confectionné dans nos atelier pour être ajouté à notre catalogue.

L’avis de nos clients est celui qui nous importe le plus ! Notre boîte à idées à l’entrée en est le témoignage … Nos clients ont confiance en nous, et nous avons confiance en eux.

C’est aussi ça, être une chocolaterie co-créative.”

 

 

How I wish I could somehow pass on the smell coming from les cuisines de Mon Jardin Chocolaté to you… heavenly! Paradisiaque! Probably one of the many reasons I did not want to leave Les Grands Voisins. I spent a fair amount with them discussing a partnership with French Truly and bien sûr in the meantime j’ai dégusté beaucoup de chocolat! I had to make sure they were top quality before involving you in all this, I mean, quelqu’un doit se sacrifier et faire le travail, n’est-ce pas?

 

Most other artisans were not in their ateliers / boutiques yesterday because they only open on weekends so I’ll be going back to meet them all and to see what amazing activity and human connection I can make happen for us! They will also be hosting un Marché de Noël les 7 et 8 décembre, which I will obviously attend, so stay tuned!

 

 

En plus de la centaine d’artisans, les Grands Voisins also created a restaurant where I decided to stay pour le déjeuner. Honnêtement, je ne m’attendais pas à grand chose although the menu looked interesting and short, which tends to be a good sign in my experience. I mostly wanted an excuse pour rester un petit plus longtemps dans ce lieu magique and to work on my online course # 4, the audio book you’ve been asking for (not to be confused with online course # 3 French Dictées coming out on December 1st 2019) which I am having so much fun writing from all over Paris. Unlike my other online courses, which have demanded me glued to my computer for months, writing the content of my audiobook allows me, and even requires me, to leave the office and explore Paris, which hopefully you will feel when you finally listen to it, as it takes place à Paris!

 

 

 

Plat du jour: couscous revisité pour seulement 8,50 € et je peux vous dire que pour Paris ce n’est pas cher du tout! Je me suis régalée, c’était absolument délicieux!

 

Bref, j’adore les Grands Voisins et j’ai hâte d’y retourner!

 

 

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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, JOIN THE WAITING LIST
2020 March 14 & 15: This French Immersion Course is designed for beginner level students – 5 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 – SOLD OUT, JOIN THE WAITING LIST
2020 July 20 to 26: 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

 

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!

 

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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!

 

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: FRENCH DICTÉES

 

Official launch date: December 1st 2019! Another course packed with video & audio files along with written material, to make it as fun, easy, and user friendly as possible for you so come learn French online avec moi!

 

When it comes to spelling I’m a little old fashion and I believe the best 2 ways are reading and what we call in French “la dictée”, which is a dictation or a spelling test. As a child attending schools in France, I was lucky to have very strict teachers who made us go through la dictée almost every day. And clearly it worked. So I’m really excited to announce my FRENCH DICTÉES online course to you because I know you’re going to find it really helpful, not only to reduce the numbers of spelling mistakes you make when writing in French, but also to improve your French comprehension! It’s so frustrating when people try to have a conversation with us but we’re just not sure what they’re saying!

 

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.

And here’s a little pre-taste of how a dictée works and what it feels like. Bearing in mind this is quite different from my 3rd online course FRENCH DICTÉES since in the video below I am simply reading the first page of a book (not by me but by Simone de Beauvoir ha!), whereas in my FRENCH DICTÉES, I will be reading short stories written by me specifically for this new online course, focusing on one particular grammar or conjugation point as explained above.

 

French online course: 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: 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 

 

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!