D’abord, je veux commencer par souhaiter un…
Joyeux Fourth of July
… to you all my American friends and students! Mon coeur est avec vous aujourd’hui my beloved country and fellow Americans who so warmly welcomed me as part of your big family (as my naturalization letter from President Obama stated) in January 2016! One day, I will have to write a love letter to les États-Unis en général, et Seattle en particulier…
Join us online & en personne
Ensuite, I want to let you know there is ONE SPOT LEFT for the next murder mystery book club starting on July 13th…
… and also ONE SPOT LEFT for the French Immersion Week in Chartres in April 2022…
… so if you want them, vous savez quoi faire : click on the corresponding hot links and / or photos above to sign up!
Visite guidée de la cathédrale de Chartres
Et maintenant, I want to share with you my last experience à la cathédrale de Chartres, où je vais souvent puisque j’habite à côté, mais que j’ai visitée pour la première fois samedi dernier avec un guide. Et pas n’importe quel guide! The local celebrity Gilles Fresson, the remarkable art historian who my French Immersion Course students will meet as he will be taking us through sa cathédrale préférée.
Do you know why la cathédrale de Chartres is nicknamed la bible de verre? Parce qu’elle possède 176 verrières from the 13th century which represents about 2600 m² = 28000 ft² of stained glass!
Il n’y a plus qu’à Chartres que vous pouvez voir autant de verrières entières datant des 12ème et 13ème siècles. En effet, les autres cathédrales ont subi les dommages des guerres alors qu’à Chartres, les vitraux avaient été déposés et préservés.
Why do we hear so much about the 12th century when referring to la cathédrale de Chartres? Parce qu’en 1194, a devastating fire destroyed most of the city and the cathedral, however some parts survived and that’s precisely where Gilles Fresson a commencé sa visite guidée… le Portail Royal:
Le portail royal est l’entrée principale de la cathédrale so not only can you not miss it, mais vous ne pouvez qu’être émerveillés par toutes ces statues, toutes ces sculptures, si précises, si expressives, si raffinées. It’s one thing to look at them, mais quand vous avez un expert historien de l’art capable d’expliquer chaque détail, it makes the experience that much more exciting! Comme j’ai dit à Gilles après notre visite : “J’aurais pu vous écouter pendant des heures… même si mon cou might not have agreed to look up for much longer!”
Le Portail Royal is one of the elements that remained after the 1194 fire, c’est pourquoi il appartient au style roman even though it’s also showing the transition from romanesque to gothic.
On the one hand, les statues-colonnes (7 of them on the above photo and here’s the detail of the 3 left ones) sont typiques de la simplicité et pureté de l’art roman.
En effet, elles montrent des corps longs et uniformes comme des colonnes that are part of the architectural structure.
Parmi ces trois personnages de l’Ancien Testament, I especially like the female character on the left because her dress, her braids, and her sleeves reinforce cette idée de longueur rigide et surnaturelle.
You can also notice that the satues-colonnes deviennent de plus en plus longues à mesure qu’on s’éloigne de la porte.
On the other hand, les statues gothiques des portails du transept, look at though they are popping out of the walls:
Le Portail Royal contient environ 200 statues, all telling various stories of the Bible : l’Annonciation, la Visitation, la Nativité, l’Annonce faite aux Bergers, l’Adoration des Rois Mages, la Fuite en Égypte, le Massacre des Innocents, la mort et la résurrection de Jésus, la Cène, le Baiser de Judas…
Jésus est aussi représenté au dessus de chacune des trois portes du Portail Royal:
À droite, il vient au monde, assis sur les genoux de Marie.
À gauche, il quitte sa vie terrestre et monte au ciel.
Au centre, il est glorifié dans le royaume de Dieu.
À droite, Marie et l’enfant Jésus sont entourés des sept arts libéraux organized and separated into two groups:
1- Le trivium représente l’intelligence
2- Le quadrivium représente la connaissance
Le trivium : la grammaire, la rhétorique, et la dialectique.
Le quadrivium : l’arithmétique, la géométrie, l’astronomie, et la musique.
Each of these disciplines are represented by two figures. L’une féminine, couverte d’un voile pour souligner son caractère sacré, et l’autre masculine: Donat(grammaire), Cicéron (rhétorique), Aristote (dialectique), Boèce (arithmétique), Euclide (géométrie), Ptolémée (astronomie), Pythagore (musique – photo above).
This is not the only part of la cathédrale where Christians show their gratitude toward the knowledge of their Pagan ancestors. Indeed, according to Bernard de Chartres, un philosophe et théologien du 12ème siècle “Nous sommes des nains juchés sur des épaules de géants. Nous voyons davantage et plus loin qu’eux, non parce que notre vue est plus aigüe ou notre taille plus haute, mais parce qu’ils nous portent en l’air et nous élèvent de toute leur hauteur gigantesque”.
I love this quote, and I think our modern, arrogant, nihilistic époque should keep it in mind un peu plus…
Can you see the smaller characters perched on the shoulders of their much bigger ancestors in the above vitraux?
Sneak peek
In the next few weeks, I will share with you via additional blog posts, the other parts of the cathedral I explored with the wonderful help of our guide Gilles Fresson. Here are quelques teaser photos:
Le Portail Nord…
… puis nous sommes entrés dans la cathédrale et avons analysé l’évolution artistique et esthétique des trois roses, from the oldest & simplest to the most recent and ornate. Dans l’ordre chronologique, ouest, sud, nord:
(I just ran to the cathedral to take some of the above cathedral pictures and stayed a little longer than planned parce qu’il y avait un concert d’orgue!)
… et enfin notre guide a détaillé la signification précise, historique, théologique, et symbolique des quelques vitraux:
So much fascinating information was shared in 2 hours, I was afraid to forget too quickly, donc j’ai demandé à Gilles Fresson s’il pouvait nous conseiller son livre préféré à propos de la cathédrale. He recommended several books y compris La Cathédrale de Chartres par Malcolm Miller que je suis allée acheter à la librairie tout de suite après la visite! J’ai aussi trouvé un petit livre par Diane de Margerie que je suis en train de lire. Je vous dirai bientôt ce que j’en pense mais pour l’instant je le trouve très joli
La photo de la couverture du livre de Malcolm Miller is pretty much the view from my windows!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post et j’espère qu’un jour you’ll be able to see notre sublime cathédrale en personne!
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Learn French online with Virginie
Join French Truly’s online immersion course and 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!
Come to France again!
Intermediate level students
2021 September 20 – 26 : SOLD OUT 2022 April 04 – 10 : SOLD OUT 2022 April 20 – 26 : 2 SPOTS LEFT
Beginner level students
2022 Summer JOIN THE WAITING LIST
If you’re unsure which level you are, contact me to schedule a free Skype call
Benefits
Improve your French conversational skills in a completely safe & friendly environment with me and my amazing French guests who I am selecting because they represent true Chartres landmarks : art historians, chefs, entrepreneurs, artisans, pâtissiers, etc. all passionate experts in their own fields.
Practice speaking & listening to French while learning about the French culture. This will ensure a rich discussion as well as expand your French vocabulary.
Learn French grammar & conjugation in a natural way thanks to a practical context.
Relax knowing that I’m here to manage our time together and make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity to participate.
Discover Chartres, my new gorgeous city, with me! I very recently moved to this little piece of heaven and I am beyond excited to explore and share all I can with you!
Bask in French traditions & history in medieval Chartres, an endless source of fascinating stories.So, if you’re feeling a strong “OUI” for this, just click on the appropriate sign up button right below!
French online book club
See above 1 SPOT LEFT SIGN UP HERE!
Benefits
Improve your French comprehension skills in a completely safe & friendly environment avec moi.
Practice reading, speaking, and listening to French while bursting out laughing at every page. This will ensure a rich discussion as well as expand your French vocabulary and sentence structure.
Learn French grammar & conjugation in a natural way thanks to a practical context.
Relax knowing that I’m here to manage our time together and make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity to participate.
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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