Même si les manifestations sont plus importantes et plus fréquentes aux États-Unis puisque c’est là que l’affaire George Floyd a eu lieu, beaucoup d’autres pays comme la France sont touchés et indignés par cette répétition de l’histoire.
J’ai pensé qu’il serait intéressant pour vous de comprendre la perspective française, ce qui ne devrait pas être un exercice trop difficile justement parce que le drame est connu de tous, en tous cas j’imagine de tous mes lecteurs.
If you’ve signed up for my free 3 STEP MINI COURSE TO HELP YOU BECOME A LITTLE BIT FRENCH, you’ve noticed that my favorite method to learn (and therefore to teach) a language is to find all sorts of original and dynamic ways to immerse yourself in the French language to let your brains and heart soak it all in.
“But the French speak so fast, it’s hard to follow!”
I know, I know, (some) French people speak fast, which makes it hard to understand them at times. But what if I gave you a way to read what you heard? Would you find it easier then? Would you be more inclined to give it another try?
I have found these 4 links / videos / radio program for you from my favorite French radio station called France Culture : 3 little videos and 1 short radio program, around 5 minutes each. It won’t take much of your time and it will definitely help your French comprehension while giving you the French perspective on racism in the United States.
What to do?
C’est très facile. For each of the 4 following stories, just click on the picture or link, and WATCH, LISTEN, READ AT THE SAME TIME woohoo!
And then, try listening without reading and see how much you can remember! Repeat the exercise as many times as you wish because… repetition is key!
What do they talk about?
La police américaine est-elle raciste?
Cette vidéo pose des questions intéressantes telles que :
-Le recrutement de policiers noirs a-t-il changé quelque chose?
-Les violences policières ont-elles diminué depuis qu’on peut les filmer?
-La situation est-elle comparable en France?
Un professeur d’histoire répond et vous pouvez lire ses réponses en même temps qu’il les énonce.
Vous pouvez approfondir votre recherche by listening and reading simultaneously cette émission de radio intitulée George Floyd, quand l’histoire se répète. Problème classique en philosophie : est-ce que les hommes font l’histoire? Si oui, comment y participent-ils, sont-ils “agis” par le cours des choses ou y a-t-il des grands hommes?
My students always love this format because you can hear what the journalist / philosopher is saying word per word and play with it : only listen to see how much you understand and then read, or listen while reading and then listen again without reading… vous avez le choix et vous pouvez utiliser cet article autant de fois que vous les souhaitez!
Toni Morrison, le combat par les mots
J’ai découvert Toni Morrison par l’intermédiaire de my beloved François Busnel (by now you should all know who he is since I mention him and his positive impact on la France so often ha!) l’animateur de mon émission de télévision préférée called La Grande Librairie. François Busnel est un journaliste littéraire passionné par les États-Unis qu’il explore à travers ses écrivains américains préférés, dont Toni Morrison fait partie. En fait, c’est grâce à lui que je la connais parce que j’avoue avoir tendance à m’intéresser d’abord aux écrivains français ou européens, mais François est là pour ouvrir nos horizons!
Je savais que Toni Morrison avait obtenu le Prix Nobel de la Littérature. En revanche je n’avais jamais entendu avant de voir cette vidéo qu’elle avait aussi reçu le Prix Pulitzer et la Légion d’Honneur en France en 2010.
Angela Davis, l’oppression capitaliste des Noirs
Passons de la littérature à la politique, avec le combat d’Angela Davis qui parle très bien français donc pas besoin de traduction pour elle!
Elle explique dans cette vidéo:
-Pourquoi elle voit un parallèle entre la lutte pour la libération noire et la lutte pour le socialisme
-Pourquoi elle considère le racisme comme une arme de la classe dominante
-En même temps elle constate que ceux qui pratiquent le racisme le plus violent sont les ouvriers blancs, et souhaite leur montrer que ce n’est pas dans leur intérêt d’agir ainsi
J’ai trouvé beaucoup d’autres liens, vidéos, émissions de radio, sur le sujet du racisme aux États-Unis, mais beaucoup sont très longs et n’offrent par la transcription. J’ai donc privilégié les quatre articles ci-dessus as they are much less overwhelming to explore for a student de la langue française. Mais rien ne vous empêche de faire vos propres recherches si ce format est trop facile pour vous, et n’hésitez pas à me le faire savoir.
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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!
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
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
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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