French Blabla

A day in French - 53 - Macros

Hey folks! So, here's the scoop: 2024 is my year of "transformation", and it's all centered around diving deep into 'cuisine French.' But here's the twist – after realizing that my love affair with pain au chocolat has been a little too indulgent, I've decided it's time to get savvy with macro counting. Yep, I'm on a mission to strike the perfect balance between savoring the richness of French cuisine and keeping my nutrition in check. In this episode, I'm taking you along on my adventure ...

A day in French - 52 - Seashells

Hey folks, welcome back to a new episode, where I dive into my laid-back morning stroll on the 'plage'—that's 'beach' in French for those diving into the language with me. This episode is all about the simple pleasures of the beach in French culture, from the seashells I found to the unique way I decided to cook them. Plus, I've got the scoop on beach etiquette in France. So there I was, walking on the beach in French territory, when I came across an array of seashells. It sparked a little...

A day in French - 51 - Calendar

Welcome to a special episode of the podcast, where I delve into the heartwarming French tradition for Christmas, focusing particularly on the enchanting world of advent calendars. As we count down the days to 'Noël,' I want to share with you my personal experiences with past advent calendars and the unique joy they bring during the festive season. In this episode, I'll take you through a journey of discovery, exploring the origins of the advent calendar. This tradition, deeply rooted i...

A day in French - 50 - Deer

Today's podcast episode is an extraordinary journey into the heart of the French wilderness, as we explore the theme of deer in French or "le cerf" in an enchanting forest setting. This episode is not just about discovering the majestic deer in their natural habitat but also about enhancing your French skills, particularly if you're at the A2 level. Our focus is on prepositions of location, an essential aspect of French grammar that paints a picture of where events unfold. Whether you'...

Ep60 - Weird Sounds French people Make

Mastering the French language pronunciation is a crucial aspect of becoming fluent, and integrating French funny phrases and sounds can make the learning process even more enjoyable. Understanding and using authentic sounds like "pfff," "hein," "rohh," "blowing a raspberry," and "mmmm" can significantly enhance your grasp of the language. In this lesson, we'll delve deep into these unique elements of French language pronunciation, showing you how to use them just like a native speaker. A...

A day in French - 49 - Baths II

I've just had an incredible adventure in a French destination that's a great spa town. Picture this: it's early morning, the air is crisp, and I'm stepping into a thermal spa with a history that goes all the way back to the Romans. Can you believe it? This great spa town has been around for centuries, and I'm about to dive into its healing mineral waters. Our grammar focus today is on conjunctions of coordination and subordination, which help us connect and organize ideas in a sentence. Wh...

Unlock the Story - 02 - Wine

Do you like wine? In today's episode of our new series "Unlock the Story", we're playing a game where you'll need to fill in the blanks with the correct French vocabulary to complete the narrative. The stories follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and today the level is A2 or beginner +. You can submit your completed story in the comments section for feedback and guidance on frenchblabla.org. In this episode, we explore the fascinating world of wine and the ...

Ep59 - Unlocking the Power of TV Shows to Improve Your French: My Tips and Tricks - with Lingopie

Looking for a fun and effective way to improve your French language skills? While using TV shows and movies to learn a language has always been a popular method, it can be frustrating when subtitles are not designed for language learners. In this episode of the podcast, we explore some tips for using TV shows to improve your comprehension of fast-spoken French and your pronunciation. This episode is happily sponsored by Lingopie, the app that lets your learn French through TV shows and m...

Ep59 - Unlocking the Power of TV Shows to Improve Your French: My Tips and Tricks

Looking for a fun and effective way to improve your French language skills? While using TV shows and movies to learn a language has always been a popular method, it can be frustrating when subtitles are not designed for language learners. In this episode of the podcast, we explore some tips for using TV shows to improve your comprehension of fast-spoken French and your pronunciation.    In this episode The technique to improve your pronunciation What to do for an effective learnin...

A day in French - 48 - Aligot

Today, I'm excited to discuss the beloved French dish, aligot. This cheesy, creamy comfort food is perfect for cold winter nights. Our grammar focus today is on logical conjunctions, or "les connecteurs logiques" in French, which help us connect and organize ideas in a sentence. Whether you're a beginner or more advanced learner, we'll explore some essential conjunctions.  The level is A2 so beginner + So sit back, relax, and let's dive into the world of aligot and French grammar! If...

Unlock the Story - 01 - Pets

In today's episode of our new series "Unlock the Story", we're playing a game where you'll need to fill in the blanks with the correct French vocabulary to complete the narrative. The stories follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and are appropriate for all levels of French learners. You can submit your completed story in the comments section of each episode for feedback and guidance at frenchblabla.org. This episode's theme is "our pets", and the story is hal...

A day in French - 47 - Eggs II

Discover the world of temporal clauses in French with this A2-B1 level podcast episode. Get a deep understanding of how these words and phrases express the timing of events and create a sequence of actions. Along with a discussion on temporal clauses, I share my personal journey of egg donation, including the stimulation process, self-administered injections, and the procedure itself. Hear about the challenges I faced, such as finding a doctor, dealing with injections, and navigating t...

A day in French - 46 - Christmas

Joyeux Noël ! Mes meilleurs voeux à tous. Je vous souhaite de passer de merveilleuses fêtes. Voilà. Alors, bienvenue pour ce nouvel épisode. Today, because it’s Christmas, I’m going to share a story that I saw in a newspaper. It’s aimed at A2 learners, so beginner +. The whole episode uses the present tense. We also have a sprinkle of passive voice so if you’d like to review this, stay tuned. There are also some colourful phrases you can learn to enrich your vocabulary. If you’d like t...

A day in French - 45 - Cleaning

Aujourd’hui on va parler d’une de mes découvertes qui a changé ma vie quotidienne. Je suis sûre que beaucoup d’entre vous vont me dire “mieux vaut tard que jamais”, better late than never if we say it in English. Yes, I’m always a late bloomer. This episode is a direct request from Eric. He joined the Christmas Postcard exchange and asked for more beginner episodes. If you’d like to review your present tense and your object pronouns (le - la - les) while learning new vocabulary to talk a...

A day in French - 44 - Eggs

Raise your hand if you think we’re going to talk about breakfast. Sorry guys, this isn’t the kind of eggs we’re going to talk about today I’m afraid. We’re gonna have a conversation about MY EGGS. Something I had never imagined I would say on the internet for the whole world to hear, but here we are. The vocabulary in this episode is obviously very medically-oriented with a lot of specific words related to this field. It will be very useful if you want to share your last experience at ...

A day in French - 43 - Dancing

Today, we’re going to continue talking about my life and the activities that I have finally resumed. I feel overjoyed and it’s not even an exaggeration frankly. Being able to clear my mind during the week and taking a break from the daily life…it’s really refreshing. This episode is a bit more difficult than usual so it’s aimed at intermediate levels, B1 and B2. We will study words and phrases that are related to the world of dancing. As for the grammar focus, we will review phrases ...

Ep58 - Voilà ! It's time to use this word like a native

Last week, my partner watched a rugby match on tv and he got really impressed by the incredible amount of "voilà" one can fit in a few sentences. He, then, asked me if it was common for French people to use this word so much. I mean, the rugby player felt the need to put at least one "voilà" per sentence. That is some dedication! Of course, as you can imagine, I answered him that no, we’re not supposed to use "voilà" as a punctuation mark. Today you’re going to learn how to use "voilà" p...

Ep57 - The word "little" will never be the same again

I’ll be honest this is something I say a lot… I realized it when I quickly listened to one of the episode to see if everything was ok. I guess it’s a bad French habit that pervaded my English. Tell me if you noticed it! As a consequence, I strongly believe this is a bad habit you should integrate in your French language. Like everybody in my country, I tend to overuse the word “little”. It’s not really a filler since it conveys different meanings and emotions as well. Today that’s what we’ll...

A day in French - 42 - Violin

September is finally here and with it, the sadness of waving goodbye to our summer holidays. Work and school have resumed. France now went back to its humdrum daily life. In this episode we’re going to talk about music instruments and we’ll have a look at a specific vocabulary related to this. As for the grammar focus, we will study phrases to express regrets. As a consequence, it’s best suited for my B level listeners. Everything can be found in the study guide : the transcription, th...

A day in French - 41 - Shopping

Today, we’re going to talk about a challenge that everybody is now more or less facing I guess. Please don’t hesitate to share your story or opinion if that’s the case… and you know what, even if it’s not the case, just comment anyway, I’m always glad to read your story. It’s been a couple of years now of international instability and struggles, let’s say. Obviously, we’re not going to talk about anything depressing, nobody needs that. Today, the vocabulary is for B1 levels and it’s all ab...

A day in French - 40 - UFO

I’m not a big fan of French tv shows but recently I found a couple that were funny and captivating. We’re gonna talk about that today. This program is called Ovnis, let me know in the comment section if you know it and if you have watched it. It follows a group of people who work for the French bureau of unidentified aerospace phenomena. In other words, UFO. Do you know what the most interesting part of all this is? It’s inspired by a true story, but you’ll need to stay tuned if you ...

A day in French - 39 - Wild

Today’s story was inspired by some program my partner listened to at the radio. Since I talked about weird French events, like the bizarre and let’s admit it, quite ghastly Christmas menu we covered in episode 21 of "A day in French", it will not come as a surprise that I cover this strange event. The grammar focus today will be geared towards A2 and B1. You’ll be able to review or learn how to create adverbs. To get everything, head over to frenchblabla.org to download the study guide w...

Ep56 - Don't always say no, say this instead

Happy to be back after my holiday break. It went really too fast. I guess it’s always like that when you have a break from work. It’s never long enough. That being said, let’s not forget that it’s 2022 now, so bonne année à tous, je vous souhaite beaucoup de succès avec votre français et surtout la santé. C’est important en ce moment.  As you know, I’m not big on watching sports on tv but my partner is. It’s always a source of surprise and learning. He’s been really into rugby these past m...

Une pluie d'étoiles - Episode 06

Today is the last episode of our Christmas story. Are the old tales true? Will they meet something magical that night? We left when Ayline was running towards the strange voice she heard and that's when this episode starts. Je te souhaite un très joyeux Noël. Thank you for being with me throughout the month of December and for listening to the Christmas story.   Useful Episode Resources Grab today's transcription here.     FREE audio training to help you understand spoken Fre...

Une pluie d'étoiles - Episode 05

Winter is officially here... yet we didn't wait for the 21st of December to put on our jumper and snuggle in our blanket on the couch. We're not the only ones to feel the cold and wish a little bit it were summer... well, after Christmas is over of course!  Nope... I'm sure Ayline, her mum, Yoko, Helmut and all the characters of the Christmas story wish they were somewhere warm drinking a hot cup of tea. For now, they're still in the train station... Today is the penultimate chapte...

Une pluie d'étoiles - Episode 04

In the fourth episode of our Christmas story, all of our characters got together. Nobody seems to be there for them... are they waiting for somebody? What will happen to them in the middle of the night?   Useful Episode Resources Grab today's transcription here.     FREE audio training to help you understand spoken French Want to understand when French people speak? Sound more natural? Have a better and smoother pronunciation? Well, you can do that with this free audio training...

Une pluie d'étoiles - Episode 03

This morning when I woke up, the garden was covered with snow. But it was already melting... You know this kind of dangerous weather where it melts and then ices again... you have to be really careful when you walk on the pavement. For our characters that night, it was just cold... I'm not sure it was snowing. In this third episode, we meet the last characters of our story. They are all gathered in this small train station. The night is falling and the last train of the day has alr...

Une pluie d'étoiles - Episode 02

In the second episode of the Christmas story, we get to meet two new characters. Far from home, what will they be doing in this cold village? What will await them? Useful Episode Resources Grab the transcription here     FREE audio training to help you understand spoken French Want to understand when French people speak? Sound more natural? Have a better and smoother pronunciation? Well, you can do that with this free audio training. It will give you the tips and secrets to speak...

Une pluie d'étoiles - Episode 01

Are you ready for the 1rst episode of the Christmas story? It will take you in a French region hidden in the mountains. Famous for its legendary beast. But today, you will meet the characters and the special bond they have with this place.   Useful Episode Resources Grab today's transcription here.     FREE audio training to help you understand spoken French Want to understand when French people speak? Sound more natural? Have a better and smoother pronunciation? Well, you ca...

Last day to join - It starts tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the beginning of the Christmas season on the podcast!    

Quoi de beau Caro ? - 09 - The Christmas Specials are here

Discover the Christmas program on the podcast, as well as all the different events you can participate to. There will be goodies for you too, so listen to this episode. Music by Podington Bear - Wavy Glass

A day in French - 38 - Driving

Today’s adventure is the gripping story of how the postman knocked on my door. Spoiler alert! He gave me a letter. I know, it’s riveting, right? If you want to know what kind of letter I got, you will have to listen a little bit more. In the last episode of "A day in French", we’ve talked about the use of the present tense and strangely the future tense to describe historical events. Today I’d like to review the tense that every French person learns at school but also forgets quite quickly...

A day in French - 37 - Hotel

Bonjour à tous ! J’espère que tout va bien pour vous et que vous êtes prêts pour un nouvel épisode. Thanks for tuning in again week after week. I’m thrilled you’re here! Ok, I have to ask you guys… do you have a partner who keeps repeating the same jokes over and over again? I sure have one! When we’re in town, every time we pass by a hotel… not the kind of hotel you’re thinking about, you’ll have to listen to the story to know what kind I’m talking about because hotel is used for many thi...

Ep55 - Don't always say "au revoir", say this instead!

Coucou à tous, je suis heureuse de vous retrouver pour un nouvel épisode.  Today’s topic is a request from one of my students, Leah. We’ve been working together for some time now in my Let’s Talk conversation class. I was surprised when she asked me to cover this. I’m always very glad to receive suggestions because even though I try my best to cover everything you need to speak like a native, I cannot possibly come up with every idea in the world. Leah’s French is good and as such, her req...

French Blabla is back!

A day in French - 36 - Autumn

Bonjour à tous, bienvenue pour un nouvel épisode. J'espère que tout va bien chez vous. With the season starting, I've decided to share with you all the charm there is to find in the autumn season. Especially, here, in the countryside, the landscape is beautiful. The leaves are turning golden and orange and there's something in the air that just feels like autumn. I know I will start soon eating a lot of pumpkins. Is it the same for you ? How is your autumn where you live ? Stay tuned bec...

A day in French - 35 - Kiss

Bonjour à tous, j’espère que vous allez bien ! Thank you for joining me today for a new episode. One of my colleagues shared a very interesting interview about a peculiar cultural aspect we have. You all know about it. I’m talking about la bise of course! How many foreigners have been completely puzzled by this tradition? I mean, how many kisses should one do? should you start from the right cheek or the left cheek? Should I kiss this man too? Today, we’re not going to talk about the bulletp...

Ep54 - Parce que, parce que... time to shake up the way you speak!

Hey guys, bonjour à tous et bienvenue pour un nouvel épisode de podcast. How is your French going? Now that summer is over and we get back in the daily groove of things with work and school, have you found a place in your busy schedule for your French studies? I hope so and if you haven’t, let’s take advantage of the few minutes we have together to improve your French. Thank you for sharing your precious time with me. I was thinking about my students from my Let’s Talk conversation class. ...

A day in French - 34 - Puppet

Bonjour à tous, thank you for taking a few minutes out of your very busy life to listen to my story today. Before we start I’d like to thank Checkmate king two for his very kind review on apple podcast. He was a bit puzzled with the format of the podcast and I can understand. So if you’re new here, welcome to the French Blabla community and welcome to you too Checkmate King two.  In today’s episode, we will see all the words we need to talk about the puppet theatre. As for the grammar focu...

Un petit tour de France - 05

Coucou à tous ! Bienvenue pour le dernier épisode d’un petit tour de France. Avec la fin du mois d’août arrive aussi la fin de notre capsule estivale. Today is our last episode and the 5th city we’re going to visit. If you’ve just jumped on the bandwagon, better later than never or in French, mieux vaut tard que jamais, you’re very welcome to participate. Let me introduce you to how this series works. In the 4 previous episodes, we traveled to 4 different French cities and no, sorry to disap...

Ep53 - Don't say "de rien", use these words instead!

Bonjour à tous, thanks for tuning in today, I hope you’re ready for a new episode. Last year, yes, a long time ago, I started a small series called “Don’t say this, say that instead”. The goal here was to expand your vocabulary with natural words as well as explaining to you the subtleties of all the possibilities you had. It was pretty popular, at least the statistics and the emails you sent me say so. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go check episode 36 to learn a weird French sou...

Un petit tour de France - 04

Coucou à tous et bienvenue dans notre série spéciale de l’été “un petit tour de France”. Last week, you discovered the third city and today, we’ll visit the fourth one. If you’re new here, first welcome and let me introduce you to how this series works. This summer, we’re not gonna do another short story, we’re going to play a game together where we will travel to several French cities. But I’m not going to tell you which town it is. You will need to guess using all the clues from the episod...

Un petit tour de France - 03

Coucou à tous et bienvenue dans notre série spéciale de l’été “un petit tour de France”. Last week, you discovered the second city and today, we’ll visit the third one. If you’re new here, first welcome and let me introduce you to how this series works. This summer, we’re not gonna do another short story, we’re going to play a game together where we will travel to several French cities. But I’m not going to tell you which town it is. You will need to guess using all the clues from the episod...

A little announcement

A day in French - 33 - Soapbox

Bonjour à tous et bienvenue pour un nouvel épisode.  In the last episode, I said that I wasn’t very enthusiastic about the Olympic Games. It still stands true but without them I wouldn’t have discovered this gem. I never knew something like that existed and I had to tell you about it. After this episode, please tell me in the comment section if you knew about this sport. Today there won’t be any grammar focus as the episode is beaming with vocabulary. If you’d like to learn more about yo...

Un petit Tour de France - 02

Coucou à tous et bienvenue dans notre série spéciale de l’été “un petit tour de France”. Last week, you discovered the first city and today, we’ll visit the second one. If you’re new here, first welcome and let me introduce you to how this series works. This summer, we’re not gonna do another short story, we’re going to play a game together where we will travel to several French cities. But I’m not going to tell you which town it is. You will need to guess using all the clues from the episod...

A day in French - 32 - Summer sports

Today, we’re going to talk about a topic that I’m not really enthusiastic about. Then, you’re gonna wonder why do I bother doing a whole episode about it? Simply because it’s a big thing going on and it’s a classic part of the French life in summer. It will be also be a good excuse for new and interesting vocabulary. Speak of the devil or rather of the wolf, as we say in French, we will see the words and phrases related to the Olympic games as well as some connected to le Tour de France. As ...

Un petit Tour de France - 01

Bonjour à tous et bienvenue dans notre série spéciale de l’été “un petit tour de France”. Last year, if you remember, I shared with you a special series called La Saga de l’Ete, which was a short summer story about a bench in the south of France and the unfortunate event that happens to him and his friends. I say him because he’s the main character and he talks. Go listen to it if you haven’t. The transcription is also available for every part of the series. This summer, we’re not gonna do a...

Ep52 - Tout, tout, tout you'll know everything about... everything

Coucou à tous ! Merci d’être là aujourd’hui avec moi pour un nouvel épisode. J’espère que vous allez bien et que vous profitez de l’été. This episode, once more, is a request. from you guys, Tony and Sneha. I’m sure I’ve butchered your name, sorry. They wanted me to review how to use the words tout, tous, toutes… the word meaning all and especially its pronunciation because it can be tricky. After this episode, you’ll see that there’s nothing that difficult, it’s just puzzling sometimes, tha...

Ep51 - How to compliment like a native

This episode is a request from a dear listener, her name is Samin. She contacted me on Instagram and told me about the difficulties she has when she wants to compliment in French. We’re going to study different phrases so that you’ll be able to say something more than “c’est beau”. You'll know several phrases to compliment and to show admiration. Don't forget to download the infographic that sums up all the things you'll learn today. Head over to frenchblabla.org   In this episode Compl...