📖 Reading *only* in French for an entire week 🇫🇷 & how I read in my second language!

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🇫🇷
Salut mes amis! I have an exciting Montreal trip planned in the coming months and decided it was time to brush up on my French so I can really enjoy the city and all it has to offer (as well as converse with my francophone family) ❤️ Come along with me as I really immerse myself in the beautiful French language for an entire week, from books, to music, to tv shows, and daily lessons!
Do you have any more French media recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments!
🇫🇷
📜 CHAPTERS
0:00 intro & background
2:04 french language classes
5:35 french music & tv
6:56 TBR
10:44 day one
12:51 day two
14:35 day three
16:40 la belle et la bete review
24:53 spoilers
25:45 annotation notes
27:29 day 1-3 update
31:04 day four
36:51 Elsie: une dernière fois review
40:42 Le Misanthrope review
45:37 day five final update
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FAQs
What does your channel name mean? I picked "Plant Based Bride" for my blog when I started it back in 2015 as I was starting the process of planning my vegan wedding and wanted to document it. I have been vegan for 8+ years and married since 2016!
What's your real name? Elizabeth
Where are you from? I'm a Canadian from Toronto, Ontario.
Are you a natural redhead? No, I'm naturally a brunette. I dye my hair using Herbatint 8R.
Are your nails natural? Nope, they're press ons and I do them myself (see how in this tik tok: www.tiktok.com... )
What nail polish are you wearing? Sandcastle by Quo

[@PlantBasedBride]

Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉 Get up to 60% OFF your subscription ➡ Here: go.babbel.com/t?bsc=1200m60-youtube-plantbasedbride-oct-2023&btp=default&KZbin&Influencer..plantbasedbride..USA..KZbin

[@_sarathedreamer]

Quelle excellente idée Elizabeth! As someone who’s lived in Québec her entire life and who’s first language is French, it means a lot that you’re doing the most to speak with Quebecers in our main language 🥰 I hope you have the best time in Montréal!! Bonne visite! 💙

[@PlantBasedBride]

Merci infiniment! C’est important pour moi de faire un effort de parler en français quand je visite le Québec, surtout en tenant compte des tensions historiques entre les anglophones et les francophones au Canada. Je trouve mes insécurités au sujet de mes manques de connaissances en français parfois m'encouragent à revenir à l’anglais par embarras, mais j’espère que plus de pratique à l’avance me fera me sentir prêt et à l’aise!

[@_sarathedreamer]

@@PlantBasedBride je suis tellement d’accord! Et si ça peut te rassurer, je te trouve excellente 😌❤️

[@girmmo1327]

Je suis d'accord avec @_sarathedreamer, @@PlantBasedBride. Je suis aussi une québécoise dont la langue première est le français et tu es très bonne. It's refreshing to see you try with enthusiasm and because you want to 😄 and don't worry sometimes our grammar makes our brains melt too 😉 😅😆

[@frog_inabog_]

as a belgian who speaks french (as well as dutch), i am so impressed with your accent and determination! french is definitely not an easy language to get the hang of, but you seem to be managing incredibly well. i'm also very glad to see Stromae on your playlists! he's a belgian music icon and i'm very pleased to see him there. Some other music recs: Angèle and Vidéoclub! And some tentative book recs: Aussi loin que possible - a short story about the friendship between two boys who run away, short and sweet and very easy, touches on themes of politics and immigration Le Parfum: a classic of course! very good, very well written, very gruesome but absolutely fascinating

[@xciellew]

Je suis tellement heureuse à chaque fois que tu parles/lis en français, puisque cette langue est au centre de mon identité et aussi de l'identité québécoise. Cette année j'ai commencé à lire plus sérieusement en anglais et je commence à voir la beauté de la langue anglaise et j'espère que tu as aussi cette expérience avec le Français! Ton édition de la Belle et la Bête est tellement magnifique, même si l'histoire a malheureusement des stéréotypes misogynes. Pour mes recommandations, mes livres québécois et français préférés sont: - Tarmac de Nicolas Dickner: un livre étrange et fascinant! - tous les livres de Nelly Arcan: une autrice féministe et philosophique qui coupe avec les mots ( il faut faire attention avec ses livres, car il y a beaucoup de "trigger warnings" à considérer.) -Les orangers de Versailles d'Anne Pietri : un livre jeunesse merveilleux! -L'écume des jours de Boris Vian: un livre romantique, étrange et très unique! Pour la musique, je te conseille: -Jean Leloup: un véritable poète de la musique québécoise. - Klô Pelgag: encore une fois, la prose est magnifique! -Pierre Lapointe: une voix unique, des paroles exquises! -Vendredi sur Mer: peak tumblr/instagram girl, mais moi j'adore xD -L'impératrice: musique électronique française et anglaise. Très "groovy". Je n'écoute pas beaucoup de télévision, mais en ce qui concerne le cinéma québécois ou français je te conseille: - Hors de Prix (2006): une excellente comédie romantique! -Titane (2021): un film d'horreur fascinant! -Climax (2018): un film d'horreur psychédélique. -C.R.A.Z.Y (2005): un film culte LGBTQ+ du Québec. -Juste la fin du monde (2016): mon Dolan préféré. -Les Ordres (1974): film historique sur la crise d'Octobre. -La moitié gauche du frigo (2000): film anticapitaliste qui a chamboulé ma vie. Oh et j'espère que tu vas adorer ton voyage!

[@PlantBasedBride]

Merci! Oui, je trouve le français tellement beau comme langue. Il est si mélodieux et romantique 💕Et wow, merci énormément pour toutes ces recommandations! J’ai hâte de tous les explorer! ❤️

[@joannievh2071]

L'écume des jours de Boris Vian est mon livre préféré! ❤ Excellente recommendation. Je retiens Dickner aussi... Je ne connais pas du tout!

[@roxannelovebooks]

Bonjour, je suis française et j'adore tes vidéos ! Quel courage de lire les livres que tu as choisi, ils sont déjà pas évident quand c'est notre langue maternelle mais alors pour toi bravo 👏🏻 Si tu aimes la dystopie, je te conseille Absolu de Margot Dessenne qui est française 😊 C'est un plaisir de t'entendre parler français, tu parles quasiment sans accent c'est impressionnant 😍

[@chriscze6153]

I'm fluent in German but trying to read fiction in German is such a nightmare! I can read non fiction easily but haven't finished fiction in years. I have a German novel planned for December so pray for me lol btw I learned French just so I could read some of my faves like Camus. I lost that now but glad I can say I read La Peste in French at one point!

[@lejenni7591]

Viel Erfolg!!

[@PlantBasedBride]

Oh interesting! I find it so much easier to read/listen in French than to speak (my recall for vocabulary isn’t the best) but maybe it comes down to how the language was learned in the first place/where the focus was? I hope reading in German in December goes well for you 🙏

[@rosarodriguez8984]

Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache 😂

[@el_lagarto8966]

Check out Indochine, a French new wave band. Their music is really unique

[@daniellemarics]

I really enjoyed this video! You did a beautiful job with the framed shots and the editing. Plus all the cat action was fantastic. I am also trying to focus on my French. I am currently using Duolingo but hate that they don't go over grammar much. I am grammar obsessed when learning languages. I will definitely have a look at Babbel. I also love Montreal.

[@PlantBasedBride]

Merci beaucoup! I’d definitely recommend Babbel for that. They also work on writing, reading, and speaking but they actually provide the grammar lessons and explain why you’re learning certain things which I feel is so important!

[@jessicapeck6237]

I love that you go so in depth with your thoughts on the books you read. For a lot of Booktube channels, it seems the point is just to read the book and give a fifteen second rating of how much the person enjoyed it. With your channel, I feel you're really engaging with the text, which is the whole point! Love your videos, especially this one (as a fellow francophone.) Keep up the fantastic work!

[@unmondedepapier]

It's the opposite for me, I'm french and I read english books or watch some videos in english, like yours, to progress ^^ (sorry if my english isn't perfect) I also love the version of Madame Le Prince de Beaumont of Beauty of the Beast, it's the version the most adapted. The version of Madame de Villeneuve is older but, like you, I'm not a huge fan of this one X) Your edition of La Belle et la Bête is beautiful!! If you like fairy tales, I recommend you Les contes de la mère l'oie from Charles Perrault, it's Cendrillon (Cinderella), La Belle au bois dormant (Sleeping beauty, it's really different of the disney version, which is only half of the tale) and some other we don't always know. George Sand also writes some tales, Les contes d'une grand-mère. But, if you're not a huge fan of long description, I don't recommend you Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris and Les Misérables are wonderful, but soooo loooonnnngg XD The guy loved description too much (I'm still traumatised of the 70 pages description of the battle of Waterloo just to say Marcus' Father almost die this day). I didn't knew Damien Robitaile and Elsie, it's interesting. For some recommandation, there is the TV series 10 % and Lupin. And in books, I recommend all the books of maxime Chattam if you like thriller, Henri Loevenbruck for thriller in the past (middle ages or french revolution). It's in autoedition on Amazon, the book Quand Gronde le tonnerre by Mélany Bigot is a romantasy, she also wrote a book about toxical friendship, Mon immortel, a beautiful book. In classical, in science-fiction, there is also La Planète des singes (Planet of the Apes) by Pierre Boulle, and La Guerre des boutons by Louis Pergaud. I still have a lot of recommendation really different, but my comment already is huge, so I'll stop here ^^

[@PlantBasedBride]

Your English is amazing! No need for apologies here ❤️ et merci tellement pour les suggestions. J’ai voulu lire les contes de Charles Perrault pendant des années et je n’avais aucune idée que Planète des singes était écrite en français originalement! Je veux le lire immédiatement 😂

[@anavere]

J'ai vraiment aimé cette vidéo et tu m'a inspiré à faire quelque chose de similaire. Je vais chercher un livre en français à lire cette semaine et peut-être enfin regarder Lupin, qui est sur ma liste de choses à regarder depuis toujours! Merci 💜

[@PlantBasedBride]

Merci beaucoup! Je suis tellement heureuse que ma vidéo t’a donné une petite poussée d’essayer quelques choses de similaire pour toi-même ❤️ J’espère que vous vous amuserez autant que moi!

[@suzannaraoult1974]

C'est sympa cette vidéo sur des lectures françaises en français ! Si tu as besoin d'inspiration en plus , lis Camus ! Ses romans sont courts et la langue est magnifique, d'une incroyable fluidité. Commencer par l'etranger me semble judicieux. Maintenant que je sais que tu souhaites t' immerger dans le français, je ne vais que commenter dans cette langue 😊 De mon côté, j'utilise tes revues pour enrichir mon vocabulaire anglais afin de pourvoir parler d'un roman sans utiliser les sempiternels mêmes adjectifs ☺️ merci pour tout !🥰💪

[@lori.sabrina]

Je viens de la ville de Québec et je suis vraiment impressionnée par ton niveau en français ! Ton accent est excellent. :) J'espère que tu apprécieras ton séjour à Montréal.

[@PlantBasedBride]

Merci beaucoup! Je remarque que mon accent est plus facile à retenir que mon vocabulaire mais quand je ne parle pas français pour quelques mois c’est comme ma bouche oubli comment faire les mouvements nécessaires pour parler 😂

[@chelsey8737]

You go! I periodically decide I'll improve my 2 year old level spanish and then fall off really quick when i get frustrated so I have a lot of hope for you!

[@PlantBasedBride]

Hahah I feel that in my soul 😂 it’s so easy to get discouraged!

[@muallaemine]

I love Molière! 'L'Avarre' and 'Le Malade İmaginaire' are probably my favourites. I find the reason why these plays are still relevant, is because Molière's subjects was almost always the human condition. İt's not about something happening in his timeline or an idealistic approach to social conditions or a made up world etc. İt's about humans at its core. The set up is obviously in his timeline's social construct. But the core of his plays are totally valid today. I find one of his best abilities was to actually have the king and his court watch and like his plays. That was not easy in his time. I did smile when you gave yourself Cyrano as an easier alternative to Molière. Cyrano de Bergerac is one of two of my favourite characters in french literature. İf you don't get to read the book, and more so if you do, I would highly recommend the 1990 Jean-Paul Rappeneau movie of Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano is played by Gerard Depardieu and the cast has some of the best french actors as well. The whole movie is true to the prose of Edmond Rostand and is vibrant. The actors bring the whole thing alive and the energy of the film is great! And if you get into Dumas, I would go for 'Les Trois Mousquetaires'. İt's an interresting and fun book. And if you enjoy it, it's a trilogy that you can continue for a while. On another note, 'La Reine Margot' is another good one of Dumas. I would also recommend the 1994 movie with İsabelle Adjani. Again it is a vibrant but dark and cruel movie. But it is a very good one as well One last movie I would recommend, a fun and high energy one this time, is the 2004 'Fanfan La Tulipe' with Vincent Perez and Penelope Cruz

[@ImeneFaith]

Hi! I'm French and I can tell you that your french accent is excellent! It's impressive! Alsso, French grammar is a nightmare even for french people, you're not alone! I love learning new languages which makes me love this kind of videos, watching someone else share the same enthusiasm! Cyrano de Bergeric is one of my favourite books of all times, and definitely my favourite french piece of theater (not a big fan of Molière though)

[@balletbookworm]

Oh those fluffy tummy scratchies

[@PlantBasedBride]

So SO many tummy rubs and scritches 😂 yeah, I imagine it’s easier to find French books (at least for me as a Canadian) than German! Are there German booktubers or bookstagram/booktok creators you could follow for more recs?

[@amara560]

This was so fun! I learnt French for 4 years in school and have forgotten most of it 😂 (producing-wise) it's great that you are going through this effort to pick it back up

[@ayagrd]

your french level is very impressive ! if you want to watch some french movies, maybe anatomie d'une chute (it's in french and english) or le règne animal. those are two recent movies that are really good. for books i can recommand victor dixen. it's aimed at teenagers and the language isn't very complex. i read the vampyria story and it was a fun reading experience.

[@IHaveNoClue1234]

A tip I’ve heard is to watch shows with subtitles in that language. I have a lot of trouble distinguishing sounds in French but more advanced folks won’t need that.

[@ivonne58270]

I’m learning French on Babbel! I’ve been really enjoying it. And I’m also doing something similar with Spanish. Spanish was my first language but I’ve lost a lot of vocabulary since i don’t use it every day so I’m taking time to listen to audiobooks in Spanish, listen to more Spanish music and watch media in Spanish (Latin American not form Spain). Im currently listening to Wizard of Oz in Spanish. I’ve learned a good amount of new words from it! Bonne chance, buena suerte and good luck!

[@sarahmcdougal2555]

I know this is an older video, but two tips from this anglophone who USED to be fluent in French but whose skills have, as you say, atrophied a bit.... If you watch streaming tv, see if there is an option for french sub-titles. Or, vice-versa, if there is an option for french audio. I like doing this for more "casual" viewing - either something I've seen before, or something more background (say, cozy murder mysteries like Miss Marple). I like to listen to news headlines - it's quick, if there are on-going stories it helps with vocabulary context, and if it's a place you know, there can be nostalgia/joy in hearing familiar place names. I used to live in Geneva, and listening to the _traffic_ report amuses me in a way that my local traffic reporting never does. I hope you had a fabulous time in Montreal!

[@corgiqueen22]

I was born and rise in Montreal and honestly this video is giving me ideas to relearn French again! I don’t speak French anymore when I move to different cities but yes I agree French language is beautiful 😍 hopefully you did have fun doing it!

[@jasminmai3528]

I hope you get sponsored by Babbel next year, I want to finally start Danish lessons and I think it will be amazing to have as a resource ❤

[@gillian5826]

I love your dress! And Yoda is so cute 🥰

[@morganeua]

Perfect timing, I'm an Ontarian visiting Quebec City soon, so I'd like to learn French more deeply especially since I DIDN'T do immersion in school.

[@morganeua]

Oh, I didn't know you had a degree in musical theatre, my PhD is in Theatre Studies. I loved your channel already, but I love it even more knowing you are Canadian and did theatre in school! 😛

[@dearmissjo]

Such a beautiful challenge, at an era where everything can be translated pretty easily, the beauty and effort to learn languages can become so lost. It inspires me to learn again Italian so thank you and hope you will enjoy Le comte de Monte Cristo (wonderful piece in my humble opinion) they have it in audio book in the audible and the reader in French is amazing. Sending you ❤ for your learning project Bisous

[@lunawarren6913]

this video couldn’t have come at a better time, since i just started learning french! i’m nowhere near being able to read a french book yet BUT this was so inspiring and i am taking notes on all the media recs in the comments 💞💫

[@marielaliberte8219]

What a nice video! If you've never read it before, you could add Le Petit Prince (Antoine de St-Exupéry) to your list of Classics. It's a very short book, but quite creative and profund! Catherine Francoeur, who wrote Elsie, is a KZbinr from Montréal, in case you didn't know. Damien Robitaille got to be more known during COVID with his "song of the day", he is a very talented musician! As French authors, I would recommend Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (especially La Part de L'autre) and Bernard Weber (especially la trilogie des Fourmis)

[@PlantBasedBride]

Merci! Oui, j’avais lu Le Petit Prince à l’école ❤️ and oh wow, I didn’t realize she was a KZbinr! How cool 🥰 I’ll have to check out her videos! I actually don’t think I’ve heard that Damian Robitaille song, so off I go to listen 😂 merci pour les suggestions!

[@marielaliberte8219]

@@PlantBasedBride Well, "song of the day" is not A song. It is short clips in which he remix a song all by itself and it's a "montage" (is that an English word too?) of him playing different instruments and singing.

[@marielaliberte8219]

@@PlantBasedBride "Song of the Day" is not A song. There are multiple songs he remixed all by himself. Here's an example : kzbin.info/www/bejne/pH2tnmxmn7eMbK8

[@PlantBasedBride]

Ohhh I see! How cool ❤️

[@piafitoussi]

Oh my god, yes, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt! For me: L'évangile selon Pilate, and Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran. So so beautiful...

[@angelazeiler6838]

I never learned French, but I like the sound of it. 😊 Due to my literary world tour I found the Malagasy author Jean-Luc Raharimanana. Fortunately some of his work is translated into German, so yeah fo me 😂 (... I didn't find any english translations). Especially his novel "Revenir" is amazing and interesting and quite heart-breaking, but it was so worth of my time. So highly recommended to everyone, who speaks French 🧡

[@PlantBasedBride]

Oo interesting, thank you for the recommendation! ❤️

[@reneebarrette4514]

I live in Northern Ontario and have been fluent in French my whole life. Having said that, I've lost my ability to converse in French significantly, something that does bother me when I think about it. I can't really suggest much by way of French literature/music, etc, but I read Jean Valjean in high school and really enjoyed that, and my favourite French Canadian singer is Lara Fabian (although she's Belgian-born). Most people would say Céline Dion (whom I adore as well), but there is just something about Lara that carries me away to another world when she sings. Bonne chance avec vos études!

[@sophiaavouris5378]

I know it has been a while since this video was posted, but my favorite French musician is a band called Lous and the Yakuza. I don't speak French at all but I love the sound of their music a lot.

[@Kiki-zu9ip]

Japanese is my first language and English is my second. Now I’ve been trying to learn Spanish for a year or so with not much success. I might try Babbel 😊

[@Aviplotbunny]

This is a fun idea! I should probably try to commit to this for practicing Japanese more, since I’m still assembling my skills and vocabulary there!

[@alexisphillips9607]

I’m using Duolingo but I’m learning Latin. A lot of people are confused as to why but it’s 1. Because how cool is it to say you’re fluent in Latin? 2. Treasure hunting movies 3. To hopefully help achieve an impossible goal of being able to enter the inner chambers of the Vatican vaults.

[@alexisphillips9607]

I would also like to say that reading a children’s book in the language you are trying to learn, or watching children’s shows in that language can be VERY helpful in your learning.

[@Sam-tt3qc]

good tip about reality TV! i like podcasts & youtube (especially QC booktok) for the same reason

[@michellecgb]

This encouraged me to read books in French and integrate them more in my usual reading to brush up on my knowledge. I’m thinking at least one French book a month! Thanks for this video ❤ loved it

[@casper4496]

Such a lovely video! I've been trying to teach myself French too, and I loved watching Call My Agent - it's on British Netflix now if you have a VPN. I've also loved listening to Carla Bruni, a lot of her songs are a bit slower, which means I can process more of the words. Have a wonderful time in Montreal!

[@christinemartin8549]

Love all the sweet cat content. 😍 🐈‍⬛

[@ChantelleArts]

this is incredible, im currently learning greek to hopefully get to this level ❤❤❤

[@ChemicalPenguinn]

French is my second language too! Can't wait to watch this video!!

[@kay5306]

Hi! As a fellow English and theatre academic and grad student I have a couple of rec’s! For French media recommendations, there’s a couple movies I remember watching in high school French class. They include Jean de Florette and its sequel Manon des Sources. Older films from the 60s but I remember liking them. Another really famous 60s film is the Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The lead is Catherine Deneuve. (And one of the most famous movie scores that everybody has probably heard before). And one last movie, there’s a relatively recent French beauty and the Beast live action film. It came out in 2014 and does feature the elements you mentioned such as her sisters and the dynamic of figuring out this new marriage as she is literally sold off. Based on your reading of the two books I wonder what your take on this movie would be. It’s so pretty as well!!! For more classic 18th and 19th cen literature: I really like manon lescault and La Dame aux Camelias. Manon lescault is the older of the two novels and camelias is actually fanfiction of Manon written by Alexander Dumas fil. (Yep! Dumas’ son!) obviously I read these in English in high school but it really turned me on to French literature and if there were two novels that are relatively short that I’d want to read in French it would be those!

[@estellecuriel690]

as someone who grew up and went to school in france, my FAV classic books that we read at school were voltaire's! he's got some short books too

[@estellecuriel690]

apart from what i was forced to read at school, i didn't read many french books (school making us read zola and balzac put me off icl haha) butttt here are some I remember liking: - le petit prince (honestly one of my fav books, got a tattoo from it haha) - jules vernes books! brilliant man et le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jour was super fun to read - oscar et la dame rose (beautiful but heartbreaking - very short) - stupeur et tremblements (was weirdddd but good) - les cerfs-volants (about WW2, remember liking it but it was heavy) - don't vibe with sartre as a person but huis-clos is a cool book and it's referred to in pop culture a fair bit when people say hell is others - moliere's comedies were always fun to read and watch in the theatre. i liked le malade immaginaire and the medecin malgres luis the best - les fables de la fontaines were always really fun to read and study and some books have amazing illustrations so defo get those then if you want to read any of paulo coelho's books, i personally think the french translations are better than the english ones hope this helps lol

[@earthyurbanite]

I'm focusing on improving my Armenian right now, and I really want to read more in Armenian. I'm definitely gonna pull some advice from you especially about annotating :)

[@katendress6142]

Bonjour! I was born in Montreal, but my family moved back to L.A. when I was less than a year old, and I've only been back once. One of my potential goals for 2024 is to get my Spanish to the point where I can pass the bilingual exam and earn a few extra bucks every month. I might take a trip to Japan in 2025 and if so, I'd like to learn at least enough Japanese to order food in restaurants, ask people for directions, and generally be polite.

[@erikakraemer6963]

I studied French for 8 years at school, but haven't used it in about 15 years 😅 English is my third language and French is my fourth. I own one book in French (Le chapeau du sorcier by Tove Jansson). I started it while in school, but I think I have to finish it now! 😊🇫🇷

[@littleheartinlove7387]

Hi from France ! I know you’re not a huge historical fiction person but maybe it’ll help some viewers. For historical fiction my recommendations are everything from Mireille Calmel (especially the Alienor saga), then Regine Desforges for more recent history and Maurice Druon with Les rois maudits (which inspired game of throne). For contemporary fiction/feel good books, I recommend Virginie Grimaldi, Gilles Legardinier (especially Complètement cramé, it is funny and deep), Melissa Dacosta…

[@FeelKarmatic]

J’adore ce challenge ! Je suis heureuse de voir ma culture representee, moi même j’en apprends plus ahah

[@irissu02]

Si je peux recommander un livre français je choisirai mon classique préféré : la petite fadette de Georges Sand (une autrice avec un nom de plume masculin, misogynie de l'époque). Je pense que le niveau de français n'est pas trop dure parce que j'arrivais à le lire à 10 ans malgré ma dyslexie et mes troubles de l'attention. (Et j'ai 21 ans maintenant donc l'écart de modernisme de langue est toujours un peu près le même maintenant ☺️)

[@ghiblies]

Congrats on your week in French! I now feel very inspired to read a book in Mandarin, which I haven't done in years. For my French recommendation, the 1998 Notre Dame de Paris musical! It's one of my childhood favourites and just like you with Homme Autonome I know all the words to every song even though my actual spoken French is pitiful lol

[@hipstamom]

I went to Montreal on my honeymoon. Just a wonderful city!

[@PlantBasedBride]

It's such a beautiful place! I have so many happy memories there ❤️

[@pyenygren2299]

Très bien. 🥳🇫🇷

[@mariesavoie6096]

I am a francophone from Montreal myself and I want to congratulate you on your pronunciation of french. Très précis. Here is a few books recs that I think you might enjoy. From Québec, anything from Marie-Christine Chartier, Michel Jean or Ru from Kim Thuy. From France I would recommend anything by Valérie Perrin et Mélissa Da Costa (those are mostly very thick bricks though). En plus petit format : Le Petit Prince d’Antoine de St-Éxupéry. Bonne visite au Québec !

[@carcajouse]

Omg j'adore Damien Robitaille! Homme Autonome est un excellent album hehe. Pour ton voyage à Montréal, je te suggère le restaurant Chu Chai, c'est un resto Thai végétalien délicieux, un de mes restaurants préférés!

[@dominiquebilodeau2225]

Oui!! Damien❤❤❤ le plus cool des franco-ontariens !

[@claireg9856]

Super fun! I also love Love Island (UK), so wanted to know where you stream Love Island France + Quebec? During the pandemic, I did similar but less intense sort of weeks where I would "travel" from home. During my France week I watched Plan Coeur and loved it!! Highly recommend

[@rose0613]

Merci pour cette vidéo ❤ Ma recommandation est La femme qui fuit d’Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, je l’ai dévoré!! J’espère que tu feras d’autres vidéos en français 💙

[@CaroDrxh]

And I'm here for improve my English ahah !

[@Narja23]

Bonne chance pour la reprise du français, et bon voyage ! 💕 Ton accent en français est honnêtement plutôt bon, je suis super impressionnée ! (bien meilleur que mon accent quand je parle anglais 😂) la bise de France ❤️

[@solar1913]

Gabrielle Roy Ces enfants de ma vie is a beautiful read. She is a Canadian author. Maurice Leblanc L’ile aux trente cerceuils for an Agatha Christie type of read. If you like reading theatre you could read Les belles soeurs by Michel Tremblay. The first play that used slang or at lest was written in french-canadian instead of classique French. It was revolutionary at the time (1968). I love Drag Race and the French and Belgium versions are quite good if you want to continue reality tv. For movies you could try Le déclin de l’empire américain by Denys Arcand, Incendies by Denis Villeneuve… or La guerre des tuques wich is a kids movie that pack quite a punch. I love La grand-messe by Les Cowboys fringants and any music by Beau Dommage. La complainte du phoque en Alaska is one of their song that almost all french-canadian know and sing along whenever it plays. Have fun in Montreal!

[@TamilaSushkova]

My learning French road was a bit bumpy lol: Grade 4-6: French Immersion in Toronto Grade 7: French Extended cause the public full french school rejected me lol Grade 8-12: tried out for the Catholic French school in grade 8 and got accepted University: was put in a 2nd year French course as a 1st year I like to also joke that in grade 8 I went in with a Torontonian FI accent and came out with a Quebecois/Northern Ontario accent (I get asked if I'm from Quebec! My proudest moments lol)

[@dearmissjo]

By the way if you like Molière, you need to check the movie with Romain Duris (which is funny but also oh so beautiful). For French book I would advise you to read Les lettres de Rose de Clarisse Sabard which a beautiful story, La passe miroir (of course) et Rose éternelle (which happens to be a rewriting of La belle et la bête). Finally for music : Belgium artist Angèle is cool but i am fond of very old not so contemporary stuff like France Gall and Michel Berger haha. Who knows… your French is quite impressive. Have a nice day

[@maevajesse]

En tant que française, c’est rigolo pour moi d’entendre une étrangère dont le français n’est pas la langue maternelle parler Québécois… Mais tu parles très bien ! 😊 I am (trying to) learn(ing) Dutch because I’ve been living in the Netherlands for two years, but this is such a difficult language, sometimes it’s similar to English, sometimes there are French words, but sometimes it’s 100% Dutch😅 I also use Babbel app.

[@meraarts8136]

Ik ben een Nederlander die Frans aan het leren is en ik heb precies hetzelfde. Sommige woorden zijn net Engels, sommige zijn bijna Nederlands en sommige zijn gewoon helemaal Frans. Veel succes met leren!

[@gamenation9485]

So beautiful so amazing 😍😍😍

[@Geistermoor]

Learning languages isn't my strong suit and I always struggled in school. I had to learn english and french (german is my native language) and I complained a lot as a child. Especially because I thought that learning english would be enough and that I would never have to use french anyway. Well, fate hit hard. I married a half-french man and now a big part of my family is french and i'm not able to communicate well in french 😅 But at least I understand a bit. I wish you great success with your french studies!

[@skyeraedar]

I'm learning one of the many Indigenous languages in canada. Two actually if you count the one my husband is learning as well since there's overlap in the home. Sadly resources like babbel dont exist for most Indigenous languages, and same for finding music and tv and fiction in my language so I could immerse myself in it. Maybe one day.

[@PlantBasedBride]

It must be such a challenge! It saddens me deeply to know how many indigenous languages are being lost over the years 😞

[@marie-christineloyer9450]

Trop Cool!! Je suis une abonnée Montréalaise ;) Your french already sounds so great! Pour la musique, j'ai vu du Marie-Mai dans ta playlist = L'ULTIME musique d'ado Québécoise hahah. Pierre Lapointe est aussi un excellent choix :) Je te conseille aussi Philippe Brach, dans la musique Québécoise.

[@marie-christineloyer9450]

Aussi, je confirme que Damien Robitaille est TRÈS populaire au Québec! Il a aussi un album de Noël!

[@joannievh2071]

J'ai l'impression que ton français s'est amélioré remarquablement entre le début et la fin du vidéo! ❤ I want to pick up my Spanish again, so I'll look into the refresher course from Babbel! Haven't read much Molière as I'm not such a theater girl: I prefer Voltaire but I can imagine the challenge. Much like when I read my first Shakespeare play. So congrats! 🎉 Pour les recommandations, j'adore Jean-Christophe Grangé (un excellent auteur français) et Patrick Sénécal (notre Stephen King québécois). En ce qui concerne la musique, Damien Robitaille est un excellent choix (il est franco-ontarien! 😂) : il joue avec les mots comme peu l'osent. Loco Locass aussi, mais un genre de rap francophone et engagé, alors il faut aimer. Bon séjour au Québec!😊

[@abetterlife3188]

Here juat one min after upload! 😂😂 I love you girl!

[@PlantBasedBride]

Amazing 😂 I hope you enjoy the video!

[@isabellegautierdel110]

Hello, I'm sure "La 25ème heure" by Feldrik Rivat would be interesting for you to read. It's one of my favorite reads in the past few years 🙂

[@pettyella6607]

would you feel comfortable sharing your playlists? i'm really in need of recs!

[@merjakeranen221]

I lived in Belgium 2000 and got Patrick Fiori's album Chrysalide. So that would be my recommendation ❤

[@DufortIsa]

J'ai la trilogie Red Light de Marie-Ève Bourassa dans ma liste de lecture en français. J'ai beaucoup aimé Les accoucheuses d'Anne-Marie Sicotte, qui est une fiction historique ayant lieu à Montréal en 1845. Ton français est impeccable, je te lève mon chapeau.

[@charlottec975]

What a great idea for a week. My picks would Lupin to Watch, 3rd season just released on Netflix; Candide for a classic, yes it's older French as it's 18th c but it's only c80 pages and the 30 chapters are very short; and for a kids book I agree with the person who recommended Le Petit Prince. For a modern novel I L'Inconnue du 17 mars by Dider Van Cauwelaert, it is really clever it's a sort fairytale take on the pandemic. I listened to the audible version whilst reading the book..

[@user-jg8bj7fm1c]

I had a copy of Beauty and the Beast illustrated with pictures of Hieronymus Bosch as a child. Never dared to read it, even as an adult.

[@dossina]

Tu devrais essayer les livres d'Amelie Nothomb!!

[@elisaslibrary]

She's not french but belgian and you probably already know her but I really love and recommend Angèle's music, alos Eddy de pretto. In terms of books I recommend Annie Ernaux as an author and "La nuit où les étoiles se sont éteintes" de Nine Gorman.

[@PlantBasedBride]

I actually don’t think I’ve heard of them before, so thank you for the suggestions! Je vais explorer ces auteurs, aussi ❤️❤️

[@Karabintree3]

They have the best bookshop in Montreal, I miss it soooo much!!!

[@PlantBasedBride]

If you have any specific recommendations I’d love to visit them! ❤️

[@DufortIsa]

We need all the Montréal bookstore recommendations. I live in the Eastern Townships and can make it in a pinch!

[@Karabintree3]

@@PlantBasedBride well they have a GALLIMARD bookshop. Gallimard is a French publisher house. My favorite thing about them is their variety and their pocket size books because I read wayyy to much on the road.

[@Karabintree3]

@@DufortIsa for me the place to go is always le plateau mont royal neighbourhood to get books. La Bouquinerie du Plateaus is good and Le port de tête

[@weikaillustration]

Je te conseille "la Passe-Miroir" de Christelle Dabos :) C'est une série fantasy d'une autrice française !

[@PlantBasedBride]

J’ai déjà lu celui-là! Je dois passer au suivant 😅

[@PotchouDoodle]

C'était une super video ! Bravo pour ton français et ta volonté de t'améliorer, le français est une langue si difficile. Sur Audible, je te conseille tous les livres de Marie Vareille qui sont très bien lus, assez courts et dont les histoires et personnages sont toujours touchants, avec de bons rebondissements. Have a great time in Quebec, I wish I could go there one day.

[@lessongesdunealchimistepau400]

Bonjour, Merci beaucoup pour ce partage ! Je suis française, et j'ai regardé avec beaucoup d'admiration cette vidéo, car je me sens bien incapable de réaliser la même chose en anglais à ce jour. Toutefois, je trouve l'exercice très motivant et je le garde dans un coin de ma tête pour me challenger et exercer mon anglais ! Regarder vos vidéos en anglais est toujours un super exercice pour moi, j'aime beaucoup le faire, et tente même de ne pas mettre de sous-titre de temps en temps. Mon conseil lecture serait le conseil que je donne même aux français : Le Petit Prince d'Antoine de Siant Exupéry ! A lire au moins une fois dans sa vie ; un incontournable, un grand classique qui reconnecte instantanément à notre âme d'enfant ! Côté musique, il y a Grand Corps Malade, qui fait du slam et qui écrit des textes profonds, poétiques et toujours très émouvant. Et pour des musiques plus classiques et anciennes, il y a Jacques Brel et Charles Aznavour que j'aime beaucoup ☺ Belle continuation dans vos retrouvailles avec le français !

[@sandrineferri5526]

As-tu vu la version film de Cyrano de Bergerac? Quelle belle intérprétation de Gérard Depardieu😊❤

[@SpacemanTheo]

Im also Canadian and went to a french immersion school and was only tought to repeat words and phrases and learned NOTHING. I started learning on my own and I've managed to just start grade 2 reading and almost at a simple conversation level in three weeks of (not even intense) study. Im forever going to be mad about it cause I love francophone and Parisian movies and theatre and I feel like a was robbed of not only education but denied culture (which I was also robbed of my First Nations history.)

[@SpacemanTheo]

Okay now that I've finished this beautifully calming video, I think I can recommend two books. First being Le petit Prince by Antonie de Saint-Expuéry. I know, very common but very good book. And then Le monstre by Ingrid Falaise simply because its free on audible right now. But also because tis the season for this.

[@ad3lys]

Salut n,n Heureuse de te voir plonger dans ma langue pour une semaine (et quelle détermination de s'y plonger autant) ! J'avoue ne pas être fan de la télé-réalité (je ne connais pas Love Island mais c'est rarement poli et calme la TV française...) mais ça reste un bon choix d'écouter du français "quotidien" et non seulement lire de la littérature parfois dépassée (dans le vocabulaire et les thèmes) ! Si je pense productions visuelles françaises, je pense bien sûr aux séries Kaamelott (reprise des légendes arthuriennes avec un humour difficile à traduire) et Dix pour Cent (on suit des agents d'acteurs et le casting comme les histoires sont de qualité). Côté films : Astérix Mission Cléopâtre (il faut voir ce qu'a réalisé Alain Chabat) et de nombreuses vieilles comédies... Et en drames très connus mais que tu ne connais peut-être pas : "Le vieux fusil" qui m'avait marquée petite (1975), The Artist, Le Grand Bleu, Au revoir là-haut (tiré du roman de Pierre Lemaître), La Haine. Le Misanthrope est une des meilleures pièces française (avec Cyrano oui !) et je suis d'accord que Molière a su rester intemporel ! En auteurs français contemporains, je t'invite à lire : Pierre Bottero (jeunesse/YA aka mon auteur favori), Delphine de Vigan et Laurent Gaudé (littérature contemporaine) et dans les parutions récentes françaises marquantes : Les Mémoires de la Forêt de Mickaël Brun-Arnaud, un livre jeunesse touchant avec des animaux et magnifiquement illustré ! Je ne connais pas du tout Damien Robitaille (il doit avoir son succès surtout à Québec) mais si tu veux des icônes français : Jean-Jacques Goldman, Francis Cabrel, George Brassens, Renaud, Johnny Halliday, Daniel Balavoine, Claude François,... et dans les plus récents : Stromae, Zazie, Matthieu "M" Chedid, Renan Luce, MC Solaar, Bénabar, Bigflo & Oli... Le top du streaming en France est du rap (et pas trop de bonne qualité) mais en cherchant, il y a "des perles (de pluie d'un pays d'où il ne pleut pas"

[@seithrderash]

Coucou Elisabeth. Ton français est super. Je te recommande la trilogie fantastique dystopique « les larmes de Saël » de AD Martel une autrice francophone belge. Les thèmes principaux : matriarcat vs patriarcat et la place dans chacun, l’exploitation des relations amoureuses / familiales et les formes qu’elles peuvent prendre autre que la forme classique, un peu d’écologie aussi. En Belgique les 3 livres sont disponibles sur audible. En musique, si tu aimes quelques chose de plus léger plus « été »: kendji girac. Je te souhaite d’atteindre le niveau de français que tu souhaites. Bonne journée

[@agakura]

Jamais entendu parler de Damien Robitaille XD Mais je ne connais vraiment pas beaucoup la musique québécoise !

[@amyschmelzer6445]

I binged Dix Pour Cent last week on Netflix. I watched it in French with French subtitles. They talk really fast but I caught the gist most of the time. By the third season I started noticing that the subtitles weren’t the same as the words they were saying. I guess that’s good my brain was able to comprehend what my ears were hearing rather than depend on my eyes alone for the words. But it was annoying.

[@margueritemitchell1829]

Hello from British Columbia Canada 🇨🇦🖐👏✔🦖💜🧡❤🌲🚐🌳🌍 Being able to navigate ask for directions after getting out of the subway with the twisty turning staircase 😊

[@lejenni7591]

I tried Babbel but when my French lessons consisted of ordering olive, peanuts, wine, and beer (I don’t like to drink alcohol…) I decided that maybe this was not the app for me

[@PlantBasedBride]

Oh strange, I haven’t found the lessons to be like that! Did you use it a while ago? Or were you in one of the more beginner courses? I took their quiz and was placed in the intermediate level and have found it challenging.

[@ivonne58270]

😂😂😂 I’m using babbel to learn French and can relate! It does get better in the next course because you start learning fruit, vegetables and recipes. But it definitely takes time.

[@truiteaupudding3587]

As a french person learning linguistics and grammar, I can confirm that french is a huge mess 😅 our (written) langage makes very little sense actually

[@MalouLofstrand]

💙🤍❤

[@crimedelacreeme]

Wow, tu es vraiment bonne! I lived close to Montreal for 20 years and I now live in Rimouski (near Gaspésie), which is like 5-6 hours from Montreal, but all my family still lives in Mtl. 😊 You are really good, and I absolutely loved this video! ❤

[@animefanidgas]

Get your here within an hour tickets 👇

[@J.Deaconu]

As someone who is 23 and dying, to answer your question - yes, you will survive a week reading french. I'm sure you knew the answer, it's all about those "clicks" right? I think you need to stop for a moment and check yourself, because this is the most privileged (not to mention attention seeking) third world problem you invented for yourself. There's people suffering, without water, food, being abused, dying. But you think it's ok to insinuate you are yourself suffering from a week of "making yourself" practise a language, just for clicks.

[@PlantBasedBride]

I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. It was meant only as a tongue in cheek joke, which is my style of humour. I expressed in the video how much I enjoyed the process and while it was challenging I learned a lot. I certainly never meant to cause offense with the thumbnail!

[@LunatikMoona]

Bonjour ! J'aime beaucoup regarder tes vidéos, elles sont très calme et donne le sourire. Très relaxant et plein de bon conseils pour les livres ! I'm one of your French (France) follower and your accent and French is lovely ! You speak it great from what I can hear ! For French movie I'll advice "Intouchable" with Omar Sy, it's a story about a man that really need a job cause his family is poor basically, and he's willing to accept anything. So he agrees to take care of a tétraplégique (?) person, the way it's done is quite nice, it's funny and also hopeful, full of emotions ! Being disabled to an extend myself, this movie moved me, especially knowing it was from real people lives and story For French music, you could check out Mika (Alors on dance! or his others work too it's really nice) and also Christophe Maé, the later also played in a musical (Le Roi Soleil) If you can find the musical I'll advice it ! I also advice if it's possible to find, Mozart L'opéra Rock (it's a musicals on Mozart life, with some rock element / vibes, very modern in the retailing, I saw this one irl and it was amazing ! For books, if you're ok reading YA, I'll advice all books from Pierre Bottero (especially La quête d'Ewilan, Les Mondes d'Ewilan and Le pacte des Marchombres (9 books totals, all are trilogy, they follow each others in the story, and it's in the same world), they're all great, I read most of them when I was young, so as an adult they may seem young YA, but it's fantasy with strong females characters, good "magic" system and good world building imo You also try to read some of Jules Vernes works like "Le tour du monde en 80 jours" or "Voyage au centre de la Terre" it's older books 19th century