Sneak Peek into Le Nid: Ton endroit préféré pour des vacances en France

La campagne, une grande ville ou le bord de mer* – where do nos profs* prefer to visit when they head back to the Motherland? Find out with this month’s Sneak Peek into Le Nid*.

Katrina
Paris en août pour la paix.
Paris in August for the peace and quiet.

Angéline
Bordeaux pour aller visiter les vignobles en été.
Bordeaux to go visit the vineyards in summer.

Alexia
La Côte d'Azur.

Marion
L'île d'Oléron.

Alicia
Hyères-les-Palmiers.

Justine
J'adore le Sud de la France, cela me rappelle des souvenirs d'enfance.
I love the South of France, it brings back childhood memories.

*The countryside, a big city or the seaside? | *our teachers | *the nest

Meet the Team - Alicia

Hailing from *Genève and fluent in French, Spanish and English, Alicia De la Fuente joined the Lingua Franca team *fevrier dernier.

A Brisbane resident since 2015, there is nothing our culture-loving *prof enjoys more than *un bon livre or being in nature.

If you haven’t crossed paths with Alicia in *le nid, you can learn more about her below.

*Geneva | *last February | *teacher | *a good book | *the nest | *narrow minds

Meet the Team - Alexia

This month, nous vous présentons* another Lingua Franca prof*, Alexia Fleith. Hailing from Eastern France, Alexia moved to Brisbane in 2018 and joined us in le nid* in February last year. So, it’s been remiss of us not to introduce you properly. Désolée, les chouchous*!

Bref*, there’s no time like the present. Read on to learn all about our favourite Alsatian, including her pet peeve (which we’re sure many of you will share!).

*we introduce to you | *the nest | *Sorry, pets!| *Anyway

Meet the Team - Justine

You may have noticed quelques nouveaux visages* around le nid* over the past few months – and we think it’s high time we introduce you! So, without further ado, this month nous vous présentons* Justine Hemery.

Lured Down Under by l’amour* in 2022, Justine has been wooed by our beaches and laidback approach to life.

If you’re not fortunate enough to have Justine as ton prof*, you can learn more about her below.

*some new faces | *the nest | *we introduce to you | *love | *your teacher

My French Adventure: Elanor

We could all learn a thing of two from Elanor’s positive approach to her French. It’s no surprise to us here at Lingua Franca, though. Even though Elanor attends evening classes, she’s a complete rayon de soleil* and we’re so happy to to have her learn with us. Merci* Elanor et très bonne continuation*!

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO STUDY FRENCH?

I have always wanted to learn French, and for no particular reason other than it really appealed to me. After travelling through France in 2010, I found I had picked up a lot and was not finding the basics too difficult, so I grabbed a few self-study books upon my return, and that was the start of the journey! 

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STUDYING FRENCH?

I have studied on and off since 2010. I mainly used workbooks and would enjoy my days off learning this way. Last year I was getting more keen to really get back into it and more seriously, so I started listening to podcasts as I did my long drive to and from work.

This was hugely beneficial and really helped me to rote learn how to conjugate verbs… immensely helpful, but a little bland. I wanted to use my knowledge and work on conversations and translating faster. So, I enrolled at Lingua Franca! 

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT IT?

I love how it makes me feel to use another language and to understand it. It is very empowering. Acquiring knowledge and feeling yourself progress is also very rewarding. It is also helping me understand English more, funnily enough.

I love going to lessons and meeting with like-minded people – people who understand and speak at the same skill level and who are also so motivated to learn and share my enthusiasm.

ANY HARD BITS? 

Everything is hard until you learn how to do it! It’s all about taking the time to slowly progress through the content and being patient with yourself. Every week I understand more than I did the week before. It’s like a puzzle slowly coming together and it’s wonderful to see all my new knowledge taking shape. 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE FRENCH WORD? 

Buanderie* – Laundry room. For no other reason than I love how it sounds… far too nice a sounding word for a room like that. 😊

*Laundry room

*ray of sunshine | *Thank you | *May things continue to go very well for you

Sneak Peek into le Nid | Les bonnes résolutions pour le nouvel an

As we approach the end of January, many of you would have made les bonnes résolutions pour le nouvel an* – and some of you may have even stuck to them ;) If you haven’t, it’s never too late to set some good intentions for the new year. And here is some inspiration from le nid*.

 *new year’s resolutions | *the nest

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash