French In Action

French In Action - PBS
a kate west favorite

Professor Pierre Capretz (Yale University) developed a method of French language immersion in his series "French In Action". In this course, you speak no English whatsoever, only listening intently to the Professor in French. You might feel lost at first, but after a few episodes, you realize this is a brilliant way to learn a new language, second only to actually moving to a French-speaking country.

Charles Mayer and Valérie Allain play Robert, an American, and Mireille, a French girl, who meet and date, in French, of course. Mireille has an entire family you'll get to know, including a rambunctious younger sister Marie-Laure (Virginie Contesse) and an eccentric Aunt Georgette (Colette Ripert). Each scene is repeated for conjugation and memorization with appropriate pauses for you to repeat it back to the screen. It is real French life, the way real people interact, rather than rote textbook exercises. It is charmingly effective and you'll find yourself wondering what will happen next, waiting eagerly for Professor Capretz to welcome you with "Bonjour! Nous allons apprendre le francais!"* And before you know it, you'll actually pick up some real French.

www.learner.org

*"Good Morning! We are all going to learn French!"


Cast:
Charles Mayer ... Robert
Valérie Allain ... Mireille

Julie Arnold ... Cécile
Antonio Cauchois ... Tonton Guillaume
Virginie Contesse ... Marie-Laure
Franck de la Personne ... Hubert (as Franck Lapersonne)
Marguerite Foulon ... Madame Courtois
André Haber ... Monsieur Courtois
Jean-François Kopf ... Jean-Denis
Chrystelle Labaude ... Concierge
Riton Liebman ... Jean-Pierre Bourdon
Amélie Pick ... Annick
Rosine Proust ... Madame Belleau
Colette Ripert ... Tante Georgette (as Colette Ripert-Clément)
Fabienne Tricottet ... Colette
Serge Vincent ... Monsieur Belleau
Michael Wiseman ... Obnoxious French student


Get the book to study along:
French in Action : A Beginning Course in Language and Culture : The Capretz Method: Textbook