The overachiever in me normally feels the need to take advantage of my hour on the elliptical bike to study and review my university courses. However, sometimes, when my brain really can’t take any more, when it just needs a rest and a good laugh, je décide d’être sympa avec moi-même. I give myself a (funny) break: je regarde mes nouvelles YouTubeuses (yes that’s a word) préférées et… j’éclate de rire à la salle de sport! I burst out laughing at the gym! And the few people who are not in the zone with their earphones on look at me wondering if I’m deranged. Mais je m’en fiche parce que je m’amuse beaucoup!

 

Before I share some of their hilarious videos avec vous, voici plusieurs définition de l’humour vu par des personnalités françaises, one of them being the young Catherine Deneuve, one of them the famous Charlie Hebdo caricaturiste called Cabu mort le 7 janvier 2015 assassiné par les terroristes. You know I love to share these short France Culture videos because they are in French with French subtitles. Enjoy!

 

 

Ok so now that you have a better idea de ce que représente l’humour pour les Français, revenons à mes nouvelles YouTubeuses préférées. Yesterday at the gym, j’ai renouvelé l’expérience, et j’ai pensé: “I must share this with my students because it will make them laugh too!” Plus it will improve your French comprehension, even if you don’t understand everything, c’est pas grave.

 

Alors regardez ces vidéos (vous pouvez bien sûr les regarder autant de fois que vous le souhaitez) et dites-moi:

 

• Ce que vous en pensez
• Ce que vous avez compris
• En quoi ce type d’humour est différent de l’humour de votre pays

 

Cette première vidéo se moque des super healthy super perfect morning routines idéales… J’adore le coup du croissant beurre de cacahuète!

 

 

Cette deuxième vidéo décrit un coup de foudre… ou non?

 

 

Cette troisième vidéo ne sera appréciée que par les fans et lecteurs d’Harry Potter. I entirely comply given the fact that I read the whole thing twice in English and twice en français, j’ai d’ailleurs préféré la version française car le vocabulaire magique est juste hilarant! Moreover, comme je l’explique dans une de mes French Online Courses French Dictées, quand j’habitais à Manchester j’ai rêvé que j’étais Hermione Granger… that was the ost depressing réveil ever.

 

 

This fourth video is in fact the very first one from these girls I ever watched, and unlike video #2 above, it really was love at first sight… le coup de foudre! They are reversing insults and sweet words. A perfect way for you to learn a ton of hilarious French gros mots! Yes, a gros mot or fat word is indeed a swear word. Maud (the blond girl) realizes she must leave her boyfriend when he described the cake she baked as delicious. Outrageous!

 

 

Et finalement, cette cinquième et dernière vidéo (but you’ll find a lot more on YouTube bien sûr) aide les filles à trouver leur Prince Charmant…

 

 

… que pensez-vous de leurs conseils?

 

Personnellement, je suis fan. Moi qui suis très sérieuse et hyper disciplinée (un peu trop) ces vidéos m’aident à me détendre et ça fait du bien! À vous maintenant! And don’t forget to tell me:

 

• Ce que vous en pensez
• Ce que vous avez compris
• En quoi ce type d’humour est différent de l’humour de votre pays

 

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). In fact I’m flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Seattle this Sunday March 1st I’m sooooooooo excited! By the way, we have 4 spots lefts for Seattle so check the dates below and book your ticket now! One spot also just opened up for Pélussin April 2020 so make it yours!

 

 

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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 – 2 SPOTS LEFT
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 – 2 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!