Tips & Tricks
Funny question because, intuitively, the darkness should be enough to tell.
But, in France, there is a “rule.”
There is a day and a night “official” time.
It’s day as long as the street lighting is not on. When the street lamps go on… then it’s night.
It’s important to know if you’re driving as it’s the rule you have to observe to switch you car lights on.
It’s also a rule of thumb to stop saying Bonjour and start saying Bonsoir 😉
But we’ve seen in the K.I.S.S. Method that you can keep saying Bonjour at any time… much simpler 😉
Tips & Tricks
I’m going to be quite blunt : at birth !
And the idea to start germinating : wayyyy before birth !
Now I understand that Mom and Dad may not know more than their own mother tongue… or that they never thought about helping their child/dren with this invaluable asset of at least one foreign language.
In my family, I got both ends of the scale 😉
My parents didn’t speak anything except French… fortunately they were very good at speaking good French and that was not lost on me.
But for the most surprising reason – being that my sister and I could go to school without any street to cross! – I went to primary school inside a British convent. The teacher were French and secular but there lived British nuns. Curious… but hey… that was a great start for my “curious life.” Very early, my ears got accustomed to hear the British accent – in English AND French words 😉
We had some VERY basic English lessons (on a voluntary basis… which translated into “not many” !)
Then I followed the most normal of school paths. But I liked English and I really aced it. Although I chose a scientific field of studies, I kept my English alive and better at the “Institut Britannique” with the Cambridge certificates and on !
Fast forward…
I married in a “semi American family” and we decided to raise our children in French and English right from the start. Not for family reasons… just because we intuitively knew that English would be one of the greatest – and easiest – assets we could build in our children. The rest of the family never did it… and, too bad, none of them and their children benefited !
OK…
I’m not going to tell you how bilingual our two daughters are. Just one single example :
Julie spent one year at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., for a major in Econometry (the maths for Economy, OMG !!!). She took a minor in Medieval French History… and had she not chosen that odd a subject… her teachers wouldn’t have ever realized that she was French. They didn’t have a clue until she said she would email me in France for some research documents!
Did I make my point…
Oh not yet, actually : how did we do it ?
We were residents in The Netherlands when my daughters were born… and I had an au-pair from Canada whose only duty was to speak English – exclusively – to them… yes, from birth ! OK, she did help at home too… but actually talking with the girls in English was her first and foremost obligation.
Then, of course, as we moved to Toronto, Ontario… they were more than ready to fit in the kids crowd 😉
Do you realize how important it can be that your children listen to French and later start early to learn it, if possible ?
My Stories in French for Kids program stemmed from that simple fact : a lot of exposure as early as possible is the pathway to the invaluable asset of a second – not so foreign – language in life !
Tips & Tricks
This is a challenge at the beginning… in fact, it’s a hindrance to fluently speaking.
The chances are pretty good that the structure of the sentence is different in French and English anyway.
And it will slow you down enormously !
So, to your best of your abilities, try not to prepare what you are going to say in English but directly in French.
And, with time, you’ll start thinking straight in French… a major stepping stone !
Tips & Tricks
TIP
Are you watching a video on your computer (laptop or desktop) ?
And you missed the very last few seconds : were distracted ? didn’t get it right ? didn’t understand ? need confirmation ?
To avoid stopping the video, moving the cursor on the timeline et relaunching it… just use the left arrow key on your keyboard.
Each hit (consecutively, one after the other) rewinds 5 seconds of video (5 if you hit once, 10 if you hit twice, 15 for three times, etc.) and it does NOT STOP the video.
Wow… the minute I realized that… it changed my video watcher life, I can tell you ????????
Tips & Tricks
TIP
A tip when you watch a video in French on YouTube…
Because the sound is digital, you can slow the speed down without distorting it.
A good way to exercise your ear to the music of the French speech … even if you don’t understand the signification… is to listen to lots of French.
If you want to grab some bits and pieces here and there, for the fun, or to test yourself 
😉 , you can slow down the video.
How to ?
Click – it’s LEFT click – on the little wheel (bottom right of the video frame), it’s for parameters or preferences. It open a menu where you find Speed. By clicking the little arrow next to speed, you can choose how fast or how slow you wish the video to unfold.
Enjoy 
🙂
Tips & Tricks
Fake it until you make it !
Someone famous said that. I personally attribute it to Milton Erickson, the father of the Ericksonian Hypnosis. He knew better 😉
So…
Let’s have fun… and exercise altogether !
Could you take any text in English and read it loud with a strong French accent ? Like v-e-r-y s-t-r-o-n-g !
Ridiculous ?
OK, not more than staying deaf in front of a text in French…
Playing the game of the French accent, you will get used to a lot flatter tonality, hardly any diphtongues, etc.
Just do it and have fun !
