Où as-tu grandi ? 🗺️🏡

Where did you grow up?

Salut tout le monde! 👋🏼 Thanks for joining me for another edition of French with Amélie. And today I have.. updates!

After working almost 6 months straight with all my free time going toward the newsletter.. I just got back from a long-awaited road trip in Ireland! (s/o to Amy and Saige who both said they’d like to live there.. now I know why!) It’s a very beautiful place. ☘️

L'île d'Émeraude

I’m all caught up now though, and recharged for continuing this journey with you all! 💜

The Writing Prompt keeps delivering ✍️

There’s a Writing Prompt✍️ included after every dialogue. If you’re at the stage where quickly producing texts is the goal - check it out! It can hopefully help to build a writing habit and you can share your posts with the community for encouragement and corrections. (ty. to Riley for re-upping this!)

I feel like I’m learning more and more about who (you!) my readers are. I loved reading your stories of embarrassment (shout out to Patrick whose petit histoire was so funny to me!). It’s fair to say you guys.. aren’t big fans of video games! Bigger fans of word games instead - you’re my "readers" after all. 😅

Dialogue Levels 🌱: In which my quest for the perfect French dialogue continues

‘What’s your favourite drink?’ has twice the likes and comments of most other posts—it’s my MVP post. But it’s a topic nearly everyone can give a short response to, so it makes sense. More of these please.

Saving or spending, childhood memories, moments of embarrassent are.. a little more complex to talk about and share. Yet hopefully it’s also clear that even if the day’s topic isn’t super-relatable for you: 

1. there’s still plenty of vocabulary and expressions that you can take from it

2. lot’s of conversations in life are with people who.. aren’t like us

Gimme the feedback! 🙏🏻

However, moving forward—and starting today!—I’m taking all this into account for the level and topics of future dialogues.
It’s a tricky balance—not too difficult for new readers, not too easy for experienced learners. But I’m hopeful with continued community feedback we can master it!

Today’s edition has a quick survey after it. Feel free to give some feedback and help the community. 🙌🏼
You guys haven’t failed me yet.

Okkk… that introduction was longer than usual, so let’s get down to it!
We have French to learn! C’est parti ✨

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We all secretly know the only way to truly learn a language are real-life conversations and experiences. Lessons and grammar can only take us so far.
While real-life experiences are difficult to recreate, my colloquial conversational dialogues help you learn authentic French in context. They’re how real French people actually speak.

If you have any questions or concerns - comment below or simply reply to this email.

Gros Bisous! A x

Dialogue du Jour

Aloïse : T'es de Marseille, toi, pas vrai ✪, Olivier ?

Olivier : Ouais, j'y ai grandi, j'y ai passé toute mon enfance. Et toi, t'es d'où ✪, Aloïse ?

Aloïse : Moi, j'ai grandi à Lyon. C'était cool, mais j'étais toujours attirée par la nature.

Olivier : Ah ouais, j'aime bien la nature aussi. J'allais souvent à la campagne avec mes parents quand j'étais petit. Et toi, t'aimais faire quoi quand t'étais gosse ✪?

Aloïse : J'adorais faire des randonnées dans les montagnes autour de Lyon.

Olivier : J'aimais bien jouer au foot avec mes potes ✪ dans les parcs de la ville, mais j'aimais aussi bien aller à la plage avec ma famille.

Aloïse : J'ai plein de bons souvenirs avec ma famille et mes amis aussi, et j'ai aussi des super souvenirs de mes randonnées dans les montagnes. Et toi, t'as quoi comme souvenirs marquants de Marseille ?

Olivier : J'ai des souvenirs incroyables de mes vacances en famille à Cassis et les Calanques ✪, et aussi des soirées avec mes amis dans les bars du vieux port.

𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕞𝕖 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖 - 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤...
💢 too hard
😴 too easy
👌 just right

♡ 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕨 👇

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✪ Notes

pas vrai = “right?”. Other options a French speaker might use here to mean pretty much the same thing:  c'est ça? (a personal favourite), n’est ce pas?, and (the infamous) hein? (Here’s a rundown🔗 if you want more detail on this French art form).

I see beginner’s tie themselves in knots trying to force these little native tells. My advise is to.. forget about it, chill out. They’re instinctual and they’ll come naturally (as long as you’re speaking regularly). Being able to recognise them is half the battle.

t'es d'où? = yes, this is how French people actually ask this question. Vous êtes d'où ? is the (formal) version you’re perhaps more likely to use. Cute video🔗 on this topic if you want to dig deeper.

gosse = kid (colq.). You might also hear beau gosse (= a hot guy) thrown around, it’s used a lot. Mostly a compliment, but sometimes not.

mon pote = my friend/mate/pal. Dive a little deeper🔗 here.

Cassis et les Calanques = two beautiful spots near Marseille

The beauty of les Calanques🔗

Today’s Writing Prompt ✍️

Où as-tu grandi ?

All answers are welcome. One word.. or one sentence.
Write me your answer in the comments. I can’t wait to read them! 👇🏼

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Translation

A: You're from Marseille, aren't you, Olivier?

O: Yeah, I grew up there, it’s where I spent my whole childhood. Where are you from?

A: I grew up in Lyon. It was cool, but I’ve always attracted by nature really.

O: Yeah, I like nature too. I used to go to the countryside with my parents when I was kid. What did you do when you were a kid?

A: I loved hiking in the mountains around Lyon.

O: I liked to play football with my friends in the city parks, but I also liked to go to the beach with my family.

A: I have lots of good memories with my family and friends too, and I also have great memories of hiking in the mountains. What are your special memories of Marseille?

O: I have incredible memories of my family holidays in Cassis and the Calanques, and also of evenings with my friends in the bars of the old port.

Exercise - Fill in the blank 💪

Quickly test your comprehension, accelerate your learning. 🚀

1. ___ ? Je ne reconnais pas votre accent.
   Where are you from? I don’t recognize your accent.

2. Quand j'étais ___, je rêvais de devenir astronaute.
   When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming an astronaut.

3. Nous avons marché ___ le lac pour profiter de la vue.
   We walked around the lake to enjoy the view.

4. ___ est toujours là pour moi quand j'ai besoin d'aide.
   My buddy is always there for me when I need help.

5. J'ai ___ dans une petite ville, mais je vis maintenant dans une grande ville.
   I grew up in a small town, but I now live in a big city.

If you’re struggling the ✪ Notes section is always a good place to look. 😉 The answers are all in the dialogue or notes section.

[NO PEAKING] Answer Key: 1. Vous êtes d'où 2. gosse 3. autour de 4. mon pote 5. grandi

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Une Façon d'utiliser ce Dialogue

These dialogues are a very simple tool. Yet this allows them to be versatile and endlessly flexible to you and your learning style. 
Here’s one way you could use the dialogue this week (if you want a challenge):

• 🏃‍♀️Identify each verb in the dialogue and list its conjugation and infinitives.

  (this one’s a little more advanced)

Check out my quick guide🔗 for different ways you can learn with these dialogues. Perfect if you’re finding them too easy or too hard. 🙌🏻

𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 ♡ 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕦𝕓𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜👇

If you have any type of feedback please let me know in the comments. Or you can just reply to this email.

À bientôt,

Amélie x