Épisodes

  • French for Beginners: Lesson 1 - Does Roast Beef mean “I’m ready to settle down?”
    Nov 26 2012

    Topics covered: 

    • Un and une
    • Tu and vous
    • Personal pronouns
    • Être in the present
    • Ah bon !

    Bienvenue ! Welcome to the Language Theater! Come in, come in! Take your seat and get ready for a unique experience. My name is Jean-Paul and I will take you through this masterful play. 

    I hope you will enjoy the performance and learn to understand and even speak French by the end of the play. Oh, and by the way, it’s a long play... from one act to the next, you will learn the language, discover nuances of French culture, and experience the thrill of a theatrical performance in the language you are learning. Oui, oui ! We start with just a few words of French in act I, but by the end of our play, most of the acts will be performed in French! Oh, what a thrill it is to enjoy a play in French! 

    Now, a few words about the format of the show, or “course” if you will ... A French teacher, Valérie, gives one-on-one lessons. The students who come for the lessons have very little knowledge of French, almost none. From the first lesson to the last, they will learn to the extent that each one of them will be able to understand and speak French well. You are cordially invited to enjoy the Language Theater and learn French with our students. 

    Well, let’s begin Act I. Valérie, our French teacher, is waiting for her student Jack. This is the first time Valérie and Jack meet in person.

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    19 min
  • French for Beginners: Lesson 2 - Backward Investors
    Nov 26 2012

    Topics covered: 

    • Basic verb negation
    • Indefinite articles
    • Avoir in the present
    • Avoir and idiomatic expressions
    • Il y a

    Welcome to the Language Theater! Bienvenue! Do you remember my name? That’s right, je m’appelle Jean-Paul. I hope you really enjoyed Act I and are ready for Act II. Are you ready? Oh, one more thing: review the flashcard before listening to the play. These new words will be used in the play and you should memorize them. They will also be used in our coming acts. 

    Well, let’s begin! Today Valérie, our French teacher, is having another lesson with Jacques. Let’s see how much he remembers from his first lesson! Enjoy the show!

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    25 min
  • French for Beginners: Lesson 3 - Old Dream
    Nov 26 2012

    Topics covered:

    • Introduction to French verbs
    • -ER verbs in the present
    • Definite articles
    • Voilà and Voici

     

    Bonjour ! I’m glad to welcome you today to Act III of our play. I am sure you, like all of Valérie's students, must have reviewed the flashcard, studied the lessons on our website and even did grammar exercises before you listened to the play. Très bien ! We’re ready to start! 

     

    Today Valérie meets with a student you haven’t met yet. Her name is Michelle. She is at the same level as Jacques and she has a boisterous personality as well! Michelle’s motivation to learn French? We’ll discover it today. Well, let’s meet Michelle! Enjoy the show! Prêts ?

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    25 min
  • French for Beginners: Lesson 4 - Low-fat croissants
    Nov 26 2012

    Topics covered:

    • Prepositions with aller
    • Aller in the present
    • Ça va

     

    Bonjour ! C’est moi Jean-Paul, your host for Act IV. Oui, Act IV already! We hope that following Jacques and Michelle in their endeavor to learn French is helping you to learn as well. Before you listen to the play, take time to familiarize yourself with the flashcard. Shall we begin? 

     

    Valérie, our French teacher, is meeting with Michelle today for another lesson. As it turns out, Michelle is a really serious student with a specific goal, or dream... Who are we to say? Let’s hope she continues to learn for our great pleasure. Vous êtes prêts ? Enjoy Act IV.

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    26 min
  • French for Beginners: Lesson 5 - Parlez-vous Restaurantien ?
    Nov 26 2012

    Topics covered:

    • Adjectives
    • Avoir and idiomatic expressions (part 2)
    • Qu’est-ce que c’est ?
    • C’est, ce n’est pas
    • Ce sont, ce ne sont pas

     

    Bonjour les amis ! I’m glad to welcome you to Act V. Did you miss Jacques? We haven’t seen him in a few weeks. Today, we will catch up with him. Jacques has been busy with his restaurant project but it hasn’t prevented him from continuing his lessons with Valérie. He’s actually doing great! 

     

    Valérie now gives the grammar lessons to her students to study before they meet. So during the class, they can focus more on speaking. We hope that you also find time to study the lessons every week on our website before enjoying the dialogues. Have you already looked at the flashcard and the lessons for today? Oui ? Let’s start then! Enjoy Act V.

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    23 min
  • French for Beginners: Lesson 6 - Calorie Count
    Nov 27 2012

    Topics covered:

    • Adverbs
    • -IR verbs in the present
    • Être en train de

     

    Bonjour les amis and welcome to Act VI. Today, we meet with Michelle for the third time. Valérie has been continuing the lessons with her and, as it turns out, Michelle is very determined to learn French... and to move to France with her retired husband. 

     

    As you know, Valérie meets with her students to practice what they have already learned at home. We hope you do the same, that is to study the material before you enjoy the dialogues. Our website has just the kind of tools you need to progress at the same pace as Michelle and Jacques: lessons, essays, quizzes, pronunciation guide and flashcard. Are you ready then? Enjoy Act VI

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    26 min
  • French for Beginners: Lesson 7 - To be or not to be… speaking French ?
    Nov 27 2012

    Topics covered:

    • RE verbs in the present
    • Possessive determiners
    • Tu te rends compte !
    • Tu ne te rends pas compte !

    Bonjour les amis, c’est Jean-Paul ! Bienvenue ! Today, I introduce to you Act VII and a special treat: a new character! ... I mean, a new student! He is not new to Valérie, however. He has been studying with her as long as Jacques and Michelle have. Why haven’t we introduced him earlier, you might ask? Well, Kevin, that’s his name, is not particularly talkative. In fact, it’s been challenging for Valérie to make him talk during the first lessons. He now seems to be coming out of his shell, so I feel it’s the right time to introduce him to you, dear spectators. Contrary to our other students, Kevin has actually lived in France for a while as an exchange student and has quite a different opinion of France. You’ll find out more about that today.

    I hope you already consulted the lessons and the flashcard in preparation for today’s show. I know Kevin has. Vous êtes prêts ? Allons-y !

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    21 min
  • French for Beginners: Lesson 8 - Keep on asking and you will receive
    Nov 27 2012

    Topics covered:

    • Introduction to questions
    • Faire in the present
    • Faire et expressions idiomatiques
    • Ça ne fait rien / Cela ne fait rien

    Bonjour et bienvenue ! C’est moi, Jean-Paul ! I’m glad to introduce Act VIII. Yes, Act VIII already! I’m sure you’re keeping pace with our students and making fine progress as they are. I also hope you’re being entertained enough so that you almost don’t notice you’re learning a new language. Today, I leave you in good hands. You’ll be once again joined by our very patient teacher, Valérie as well as Jacques who, I’m sure, will know how to entertain you. And don’t forget, take time to consult the lessons and the flashcard before enjoying the dialogues.

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    21 min