Now, There’s Power in the Parler!

Katie Friedland picked up the ball and ran with it. She ran so far, that she took it beyond and to another field! If you’re in the Nice area, then you need to know about it.

Our French-English Conversation Group, Parler Parlor, ceased to exist when I got too busy and my partner in Paris couldn’t handle it for health reasons. That was a sad day because the conversational exchange that existed for 20 years was the best of the lot—it’s a system that really works! When I met Katie in Nice, I recognized her ability to teach French and run the group. I was thrilled and offered it to her as her own—meaning we as a company don’t get anything out of it except for the pleasure of making it possible to our community. (Get the details)

The group took off and we’ve had a lot of very happy participants, but Katie has taken it to another level. What she calls “Parler Power” is for the many Anglophone Expats in our Nice community who are eager to learn everyday French…in an engaging way!

 

Katie is a naturalized American-French citizen and a certified French teacher from the State of Massachusetts. She uses real life situations and creative ways of teaching to empower the speaker and provide confidence to actually say simple phrases that everyone can understand. Her “students” tell me they can learn more faster in Parler Power than in traditional French classes because of the methodology and how much fun it is!

Here’s what to expect from Parler Power:

• Circling:

You focus weekly on a short scenario using repetition, questions and clarification to work towards mastery.

Three-Prong Learning:

• Auditory/Verbal—you listen and speak.

• Visual—you read aloud scenarios to see how pronunciation works for the words you see!

• Kinesthetic—you use gestures and drawing to imprint meaning.

For example:

Making dates with friends…

“On doit se voir cette semaine! Ça fait longtemps! Moi, je suis occupée toute la journée aujourd’hui et demain. Alors, tu es dispo samedi?”

D’acc, pour samedi, on va boire un verre vers 17h? C’est parfait! Où? Le Comptoir Central Électrique, il est situé 10 rue Bonaparte!

Receiving a solicitation call…

“Pardon, j’ai un appel. Oui, allô? Désolée, je suis occupée. Je peux vous rappeler? Une offre de changer mon fournisseur d’électricité? Non, merci, ça m’interesse pas!”

“Pardon, je suis occupée!”

Here’s what some of the participants have had to say about it:

“Parler Power with Katie Friedland is a fantastic program. Katie is a superstar teacher who makes learning foundational French so much fun! My husband and I have been able to use what Katie has taught many, many times in everyday situations. Merci beaucoup, Katie!” -K.Z and A.Z.

“Parler Power is an engaging and highly practical course that teaches everyday, essential French! It builds confidence by improving vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar skills, in a fun and interactive format that gets everyone involved and talking.” – P.A.

“Stop me if you heard this, but as it turns out, learning to speak French isn’t all that easy. However, the more ways you attack the learning process, the better off you’ll be. I’ve been taking bi-weekly private lessons for two years, doing Duolingo for one year, and I just joined Katie’s ‘Parler Power’ group three weeks ago. ‘Parler Power’ is fun, educational and painless. I’m already convinced Katie’s approach to grasping everyday conversational French will be a smart addition to every expat’s Français Tool Kit. – D.W.

In-person Parlor Power sessions take place on Tuesday mornings from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Katie leads the thematic sessions, based on common everyday subjects. Themes include: transport, purchasing, making plans, customer service calls, shopping, medical visits, furniture/home decoration and more. The pedagogy is guided by Comprehensible Input or CI—language input that learners can comprehend even when they don’t understand all the words and structures in text or speech.

In addition to the in-person Tuesday sessions, Katie leads Parler Power in Google Meets on Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. to review and practice, using “realia” or real-life material, pulled from French websites. She always includes number and spelling reviews in these sessions.

Parler Power membership costs about the price of a croissant and coffee at a café per session! Membership cards can be purchased at the In-Person sessions on Tuesdays. Start your sessions of Parler Paris or Parler Power during Katie’s next sessions beginning Monday January 6th!

If you want to learn French fast, this is the way to do it!

For more information, contact Katie for more details.

A la prochaine…