InnerFrench

Depuis quelques années, l’idée de « revenu universel » est de plus en plus présente dans les médias.  Mais de quoi s’agit-il exactement ? Tout simplement de laisser l’Etat donner de l’argent à chaque citoyen sans condition pour pouvoir vivre, même sans travailler ! Certains économistes pensent que le revenu universel pourrait faire disparaître la pauvreté et le chômage. D’autres le critiquent en d...

Un nouvel épisode un peu différent. Cette fois, je vous raconte une histoire...surnaturelle ! Connaissez-vous le Horla ? C’est une nouvelle de Guy de Maupassant, un des écrivains les plus célèbres de la littérature française. Elle parle d’un homme qui croit qu’une créature invisible l’observe la nuit quand il dort. Il écrit dans son journal intime ses pensées, ses peurs, et les choses qui lui arri...

I’ve always considered myself a very rational person. As an introvert, I like to think before I speak, to weigh the pros and cons, to analyze everything. But I quickly changed my mind when I started reading Kahneman’s bestseller Thinking fast and slow. Suddenly my own judgment didn’t seem so reliable after all. In this episode, I share with you some of the most striking lessons from this fascinati...

I have some bad news: the Cottongue podcast is over. But don’t worry because the innerFrench podcast is taking over! I decided to change the brand for more clarity, but the concept stays the same. This week, I want to share with you 8 tips to make your French learning routine more efficient. I hope you’ll find them useful!   This podcast is designed for intermediate French learners who want to get...

Ce podcast s’adresse aux personnes qui apprennent le français et qui veulent améliorer leur compréhension de la langue. Don’t eat too much fat, don’t smoke, don’t drink alcohol, be active. Everyday we hear the same pieces of advice in the media, at work, or through the apps that we use. The more we hear them, the more they sound like orders. Some doctors and psychologists are starting to point at...

When I started using Uber a few years ago, I was thrilled. Their app was so much more convenient than regular taxi service, and the drivers seemed a lot nicer while also offering cheaper rides. But after some time and talks with disappointed drivers, I found out what was behind the fuss: an ugly business model coupled with unfair working conditions. Unfortunately, many other sectors are now copyin...

Very few directors shot their first award winning-movie at 19. But Xavier Dolan did. Now 28, the Canadian director, producer and actor has already been more rewarded than most directors during their whole careers. Critics praise his mastery while the audience is often deeply moved by his emotionally charged scenes. However as a workaholic, he is not always easy to work with. In this episode, I tel...

Every successful language learner will tell you that the key to acquire a foreign language is regularity. And for once, French is no exception! But we are all busy people with a lot on our plate. So how can we find time to squeeze 30 minutes of learning French everyday? The answer is simple: by making it a habit. Luckily for us, we can use the findings of Charles Duhigg’s famous book (The Power of...

Have you ever dreamed of going to school in France? Probably not. Mostly because people don’t know much about the French Education system, and because studying in your home country was already enough. But what better way to understand a culture than to look at what young generations are taught at school? And let me tell you that France has its own way of shaping its sweet little angels’ mind… In t...

What do Luke Skywalker, Aladdin and Harry Potter have in common? At first sight, not much. But what if I told you that their adventures actually follow the exact same steps? The scenery and characters might be different, but the plot structures are identical. This is why you probably had an impression of déjà-vu when you were watching one of these movies. This recipe to tell the “perfect story” wa...

Who never dreamed of winning the lottery? It’s easy to start adding up the millions in our head and to make a list of all the crazy things we would do with them. Some actual winners probably had similar dreams when they tried their luck. But when they got the lucky ticket, their life changed in a completely different way than they expected... To avoid these types of dramas, the company in charge o...

The French National Day is commonly known as “Bastille Day”. If you did not pay attention during your History classes, you might think that “Bastille” is another of those delicious French pastries, or maybe some sort of fancy fashion accessory. If you were more hard-working at school, then you know that it refers to the French Revolution of 1789, and that “la Bastille” was actually a state prison....

From CEOs to Athletes, it seems like everyone these days is waking up at 5 in the morning. You probably already read some articles or books singing the praises of this new trend. But despite the many benefits it could bring to your life, every morning you’re late to jump on the bandwagon… You might even think that it’s just not for you. But (almost) everyone can become an early bird. It is mostly...

Very few psychological experiments became as famous and controversial as Milgram’s. Stanley Milgram, born in a Jewish family in the Bronx, was deeply affected by the horrors of the Holocaust. After earning a Ph. D. in social psychology from Harvard University, he started a series of experiments to understand how so many Human Beings could commit such atrocities. His terrifying results were an elec...

Economic growth has been our governments’ main concern for decades now. Capitalism needs it to survive and, by extension, we need it to keep living comfortably. Or so we believe. Since the 70’s, a large number of economists, environmentalists and experts from various fields have warned us about the negative consequences of economic growth, not only on our planet but also on our personal lives. “De...

Stereotypes are pretty convenient. Instead of losing time trying to understand the complexity of the world we live in, we can just take a commonly shared opinion and make it our own. And when it comes to stereotypes about nationalities, the French people are an obvious target. Whether it is about the weird animals they eat, how many cigarettes they smoke or their legendary rudeness, there is enoug...

Did the Americans actually send men on the moon? Who exactly are the Illuminati and how can I become one? Unfortunately you won’t get the answer to those questions here. And I won’t try to debunk those theories either. But we will talk about conspiracy theories and I will give you the recipe to make up a good one. Conspiracy theories are a popular topic in France; we have a great deal of them. It...

We all know that we need to learn foreign languages (even French people do!). They are useful when we want to get good grades during our studies, and good positions during our career. We might even spend some holidays in a country where we can impress the locals with our fluency. But in addition to those obvious advantages, learning a language has many other lesser-known benefits. Do you want to f...

French people elected their new President recently and their choice was a big surprise. Not only Emmanuel Macron was a complete stranger three years ago, but he is also the youngest President in the History of France. Where does he come from? How did he manage to win the most important French election? What are his ideas and his program? We will answer these questions –in French of course– in this...

Why do we believe that men are better than women at math? Are boys biologically more violent than girls? In this podcast, we will talk about gender studies and how they can help us to understand differences between sexes, not from a biological perspective but from a social one. Using examples from books, movies and psychological experiments, we will see how each of us builds his or her own sexual...

Have you ever wondered where people are the happiest? In this episode, we will talk about the philosophical definition of happiness, the World Happiness Report 2017, and the dictatorship of happiness. This podcast is designed for intermediate French learners who want to get a better grasp of the language by listening to interesting topics. You can find the transcript here: https://innerfrench.com/...

In this episode, your host Hugo will tell you everything there is to know about Emotional Robots - a new type of Robots that are able to understand our feelings and interact with us. It might sound like a sci-fi movie but those friendly machines are already present in some families and companies. Should we be worried about sharing our life with them? Is it really possible to understand emotions wi...

Learn Authentic French in Context. No Grammar, just Real-Life Topics. In this first episode, we will talk about language acquisition theory and the work of Professor Stephen Krashen after which this podcast was designed. We will see what your priority as a French language learner should be, and why you should not worry too much about grammar. This podcast is designed for intermediate French learne...