LET'S SPEAK FRENCH

💒 17th century, Benedetta Carlini becomes a nun in the Convent of the Mother of God in Pescia, Italy. She distinguishes herself for her intense mysticism that will propel her higher and higher in the Church’s hierarchy. The question is: is it really faith that motivates her? Director Paul Verhoeven chose that true story for his latest and second movie shot in French. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🎬 Watch Paul Verhoeven's BENEDETTA (2021) on Hulu (US): https://www.hulu.com/start?cmp=12949 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🖊 The false friends. We’re not talking about loveship and hateship this week. Actually, this is about vocabulary-ship. About the words whose journey through time caused them to evolve differently in French and English. Think about “actually”—which is not translated with “actuellement”—, or “journey”—which is not “une journée”—… (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🔗 Find the full list of false friends and their actual translations in the online book "Les faux amis; ou, Les trahisons du vocabulaire anglais": https://archive.org/details/lesfauxamisoules00kssl/mode/2up 📕 Jean Pruvost's "La Story de la langue française": https://www.tallandier.com/livre/la-story-de-la-langue-francaise/ 🎵 Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🕯 In 1434, Bruges (in the Duchy of Burgundy back then) was home to one of the most important Flemish Masters, Jan van Eyck. Even though little is known about him and his work, he left us enough material to spend hours investigating it. That’s exactly what writer Jean-Philippe Postel did on one key masterpiece of the painter: The Arnolfini Portrait. Let’s follow him and try to shed light on the little mysteries hidden in the painting. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 📕 Read Jean-Philippe Postel's "L'Affaire Arnolfini": https://www.amazon.com/Laffaire-Arnolfini-Enqu%C3%AAte-tableau-Eyck/dp/2330060912 🔗 3D recreation of the room: https://diglib.eg.org/handle/10.2312/egch.20071004.025-032?show=full 🎵 Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🏙 Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone, …) and Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) are two of the most talented French directors of their generation. Put them together in a writing room and you get their latest project, “Paris, 13th District,” a very deep and intimate movie. No wonder the two regulars of the Cannes Film Festival made a big impression at the festival last year. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🎬 Watch "Les Olympiades" on Youtube: https://youtu.be/2gtfDo601ig 🔗 Article in Le Monde about: https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/11/03/les-olympiades-une-jeunesse-dans-le-tumulte-des-sens_6100765_3246.html 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

☢️ A few weeks ago, the European Commission decided to label nuclear energy as “green” in an effort to meet the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement (https://youtu.be/_OUUSz3sPf0), and to reduce Europe’s dependence on foreign oil and gas. This decision left a lot of people aghast. The green parties are calling for a revision. Aren't there better ways to save energy and save the planet? (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🔗 Learn more about energies: https://www.connaissancedesenergies.org/fiches-pedagogiques-energies 🔗 "Le Monde" article about using less energy: https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2022/03/22/stephen-kerckhove-le-plus-sur-chemin-pour-acceder-a-l-independance-energetique-n-est-pas-le-nucleaire-mais-la-sobriete-energetique_6118613_3232.html 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

⚓️ One of the most amazing pieces of romantic French art, “Le Radeau de La Méduse” on display in the Louvre, also has one of the most amazing stories. Painted in 1819, it represents sailors on a raft, hailing a boat in the horizon. Highly symbolic, it’s been used to illustrate political sinking many times. Let’s dive into the true story behind this masterwork. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🔗 All about "Le Radeau de La Méduse" and its history: https://www.beauxarts.com/grand-format/le-radeau-de-la-meduse-du-calvaire-au-chef-doeuvre/ 🎬 Same but in video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9EstP8lLgM 🎵 Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🏔 The word “alpinism” comes from the Alps, could have guessed that. But when, and under which circumstances was the term created? It finds its origins in the highest mountain of Western Europe, between France, Italy and Switzerland. Mont Blanc is one of the most sought-after peaks in the world for mountaineers, and the venue for the first ever Winter Olympic Games. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🔗 Alexandre Dumas' "Impressions de Voyage; Jacques Balmat": https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Impressions_de_voyage/04 🔗 Histoire & Civilisations no. 80 - février 2022: https://kiosque.histoire-et-civilisations.com/reader/75a006cf-40b3-4e26-860c-27cf7937c92a?origin=%2Fhistoire-civilisations%2Fhistoire-civilisations%2Fn80-2022 🎵 Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🎤 What’s hot on French radio in 2022? If their equivalent to the Grammy Awards (the Victoires de la Musique) don’t lie, there is quite a lot of interesting talent. I picked the winner of Best Album and Best Female Artist for a focus this week, I look forward to hearing your opinion. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🎬 Watch the music video for "Le Reste": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0fV4w-wLOU 🎬 Watch the music video for "Respire Encore": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWH00ehhLP8 🔗 Website of the Victoires de la Musique: https://www.lesvictoiresdelamusique.fr/ 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

💦 As the political situation in Europe is heating up, I have chosen to do a 180-degree direction turn for our weekly conversations. A good kind of heat this time, the one that is in hot water, but in good hot water. With little bursting bubbles… Sacre bleu, it’s tough to get out of that analogy. I’m talking about spas obviously. Hoping this can take our minds off the conflict for a little. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🔗 Article about Spa: https://www.lefigaro.fr/voyages/2017/11/10/30003-20171110ARTFIG00056-le-temps-retrouve-des-eaux-de-spa.php 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

⭐️ If you'd like to start reading French literature, this is a great beginning. Eighty years ago, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote a short novel for children combining poetry and philosophy, "Le Petit Prince". Since then, the tale has been translated in several hundred languages, making it the most translated book in the world after the Bible. Feel free to read it in your language first to grasp all the symbolism, then read it in French to seize its original poetry. (Subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🔗 "Le Petit Prince" in French: https://www.ebooksgratuits.com/pdf/st_exupery_le_petit_prince.pdf 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

🍫 Are words necessary to describe how good chocolate tastes? Certainly not. This week’s episode shows where it comes from, how to taste it and how good it is for your health. Tip: try watching the video with a piece of chocolate melting on your tongue for the entire length, you’ll get a nice surprise at 3:37 (subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🔗 BBC study: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6558775.stm 🔗 Native American origins of cocoa: https://www.histoire-et-civilisations.com/thematiques/monde/le-cacao-ce-divin-breuvage-venu-du-mexique-72725.php 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com

⚡️ Mixing music, politics, news and linguistics, this week we are focusing on the term "coup d'État". A "coup d'État" is a putsch, and also a song by Ivorian singer Alpha Blondy. Is his lyrics, he denounces the excess of coups caused by international interests in Africa. There has been quite a few coups in the news recently. But what does the term exactly mean and where does it come from? (subtitles are available in French and English by clicking on the CC button on the YouTube control bar). 🎵 Listen to Alpha Blondy's song "Coup d'État": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4p7ahySjyg 🔗 Thorough analysis of coups d'État in Africa: https://app.brief.me/commencer?next=%2Fedition%2F2022-01-29-2852-coups-detat-en-afrique-chronologie-des-medias-sketch 🔗 Origins of the term "coup d'État": https://www.rtbf.be/article/le-mot-du-jour-coup-d-etat-fabrice-grosfilley-8981362?id=8981362 🔗 List of coups d'États per country: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_de_coups_d%27%C3%89tat 🎵 Video soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6i4JjGSsId4CCCVkJuwLHa?si=K0d8KhxkSqqAPq8_kw5XqQ ☝️ If you enjoyed this episode, please consider: - supporting on https://www.patreon.com/frenchconversationgroup or https://anchor.fm/frenchconversationgroup - subscribe and share 🇫🇷 French Conversation Group meets weekly in Los Angeles, New York or online. It's meant for non native speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced) to practice their French and have fun. You're more than welcome to join! Check out this link for more info: https://www.frenchconversationgroup.com