Purposeful family living - with a French twist
Bonjour! I'm Michele Cherie: francophile, teacher, writer, runner, wife, and mama to five children. I'm a non-native French speaker from the West Coast, USA. My husband and I recently relocated our family to Alsace, France. IntentionalMama shares our bilingual journey and resources for a culturally-rich family life.
In January I posted my family language goals for this year, explaining how I hoped to get my children to speak more often in French, their minority language. Here are some ways that I've had success in getting them to tell more stories in that minority language:
Read MoreMy dad is an amazing storyteller. As a child, I loved the stories of his childhood experiences among seven siblings, but his fictional tales were just as engaging. (They featured a naïve kid named Billy who made poor choices and faced amusing yet believable consequences; my dad often retold the stories twice in a row, with Billy making different decisions and arriving at better outcomes.)
My own storytelling skills are weak. With a Bachelor's Degree in English, I've read plenty of choice stories, but literacy differs from orality. Storytelling is an art that is improved with practice--and practice is what I need. I'm going to make frequent storytelling a focus in the next few months. Here are some tips I'm learning:
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