Meet Susan, Coffee Break French learner

Tell us who you are, where you live, your nationality and how long you’ve been learning a language with us.

My name is Susan, I live in Michigan and I am a 4th generation Finnish-American. I’ve been learning with Coffee Break French for 5 years.

What experience have you had speaking and learning other languages?

My earliest experiences of other languages begins with my Finnish grandparents who spoke fluent Finnish. In high school and college I had 6 years of French language study. In 2012 my love of the French language was reawakened when friends from Paris visited my home.

What are your favourite memories of learning a language?

My favourite memory of learning French is visiting those same friends in Paris a couple of years later with the ability to speak in and listen to the beautiful French language.

Where would your ideal coffee break be, and with whom?

My ideal coffee break…I want to speak French with Pascal in a cafe in Bordeaux.

What’s the best language-learning tip you have found works for you?

My best language-learning tip is to spend as much time as you can (ideally daily), listening to, speaking, reading and studying grammar. It takes time to learn French. I’m better at reading than listening. Now, I am spending more time listening to the spoken language.

Quick Fire round

Your favourite language: Français !
• Your favourite word or phrase in the language: Je vous en prie.
• Do you have a favourite film, TV show, book or singer in the language? George Brassens
• Your favourite destination to practise your language: Paris and Bordeaux

Please finish off with a message to your fellow members of the Coffee Break community and the Coffee Break Team.

Learning with Coffee Break is a whole approach: listening, speaking, grammar, and nuances of the modern language. Coffee Break offers a depth of study that is fun and challenging.

Coffee Break Conversations: Season Preview

Coffee Break Conversations is a new podcast in which we talk about life, learning and languages. Over the past 14 years, Coffee Break Languages podcasts have helped millions of language learners around the world learn French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Swedish and English. In this new podcast we’re going to be having conversations with some of these learners. In other episodes we’ll be talking to some language professionals, people who spend their days working in the field of languages, and we’ll also be getting to know some of the people behind Coffee Break, and sharing tips and tricks to help you in your own journey of learning a language.

CBE 1.08 | Go straight on – Direcciones

¡Bienvenido a otro episodio de Coffee Break English con el profesor Mark y la estudiante María! En esta lección, continuamos hablando de la ciudad, por lo que aprenderás qué puedes encontrar allí y aprenderás a pedir direcciones.

Prima tappa: Pisa! Coffee Break Italian Travel Diaries Episode 1

Welcome to this brand new series from Coffee Break Italian for intermediate learners. While it’s not so easy to travel right now, why not do some virtual travelling with us? Join Giulia and her friend Paolo as they travel by train through the beautiful region of Tuscany in Italy. In this first episode they have just arrived in Pisa and we’ll hear about their plans for their trip.

Travel Diaries will be published in one season of ten episodes weekly from 5th June. If you’d like to access lesson notes and a video version which features pauses after each sentence to allow you to practise your pronunciation, check out the full course on the Coffee Break Academy.

At Coffee Break Italian we provide content for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners, along with regular mini lessons on social media. Visit coffeebreakitalian.com for all the information you need to build your confidence in Italian, whatever your level.

CBG To Go 2.01 | Ist Reisen für dich wichtig? – Is travel important to you?

To ask “is travel important to you?” in German you can say ist Reisen wichtig für dich?. In this episode of Coffee Break German To Go, Julia asks this question to passers-by in the city of Berlin. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to answer this question yourself.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in German at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In our second series, Julia is in the city of Berlin, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your German and build your vocabulary.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 2 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break German To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break German. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

C’est parti ! Coffee Break French Travel Diaries Episode 1

Welcome to this brand new series from Coffee Break French for intermediate learners. While it’s not so easy to travel right now, why not do some virtual travelling with us? Join Lara and her boyfriend Noah as they travel by train through the south of France. In this first episode they’re getting ready to depart from Montparnasse station in Paris, and we’ll hear about their plans for their trip.

Travel Diaries will be published in one season of ten episodes weekly from 4th June. If you’d like to access lesson notes and a video version which features pauses after each sentence to allow you to practise your pronunciation, check out the full course on the Coffee Break Academy.

At Coffee Break French we provide content for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners, along with regular mini lessons on social media. Visit coffeebreakfrench.com for all the information you need to build your confidence in French, whatever your level.

CBS To Go 2.01 | Para ti, ¿es importante viajar? – Is travelling important to you?

In this episode of Coffee Break Spanish To Go, Marina asks the question, Para ti, ¿es importante viajar? (informal) or Para usted, ¿es importante viajar? (formal). You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you answer this question in Spanish.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in Spanish at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles / CC button.

In this second series of Coffee Break Spanish To Go, Marina is in the city of Salamanca in Spain, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Spanish and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Spanish To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Spanish-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 2 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Spanish To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Spanish. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Meet the team: Anabel

Hello! My name is Anabel and I am a Spanish Curriculum Developer for Radio Lingua. I have been part of the team since 2019 and I have enjoyed every minute so far!

What is your role in Coffee Break?

My role involves a variety of tasks related to Coffee Break Spanish, such as creating content for the podcasts, providing feedback in the CBS Masterclass or filming for the CBTV Club.

What experience have you had speaking and learning other languages?

My first experience was learning English in primary school. I wasn’t an excellent student but I had to do it because it was part of the curriculum. In high school I started learning French due to the curriculum again, and although my English was better, I wasn’t able to learn one single word in French. It was a tragedy. However, one day everything made sense and all those hours I spent trying to learn and comprehend grammar were worth the effort. I then decided to learn Latin and Greek. These were followed by Chinese and more French, languages I am still learning.

What are your favourite memories of working with Coffee Break?

One of my favourite memories is the first episode I recorded with Mark. It was my first time in a studio and I was really nervous. Luckily we were talking about two of my favourite topics -Spanish and Salamanca-, so I easily forgot we were recording.

Where would your ideal coffee break be and with whom?

If it were possible, my ideal coffee break would be spent with my grandfather in our finca in Salamanca, just taking a break after feeding the animals.

What’s your best language learning tip?

As you could see, I wasn’t good at languages but I didn’t give up. Patience and practise are essential in life when learning anything. Take advantage of any chance to practise and of course, do not give up. Never.

Quick-fire round

• Favourite language: Spanish! However I love Mandarin, I enjoy my time learning the Chinese characters, it reminds me of my drawing classes!
• Favourite word/phrase in the language: 跑 or any character that has 包. I have lots of fun writing this kind of Chinese character.
• Favourite TV series: Modern family.
• Favourite band: Paramore and City of the Sun.
• Favourite destination: Home with family.

Do you have a message for the Coffee Break Community?

Learning a language may be one of the most frustrating experiences, but it’s also one of the most rewarding ones. And it is going to take time (years, in fact), but every single minute you spend learning will be worth it when you have your first conversation in that language. Keep practising and keep learning!

Chapitre 1 – Quelque chose ne collait vraiment pas !

James has been summoned to Paris by his friend Max under mysterious circumstances. Unsure of what to expect, he heads to the apartment where Max lives. But what will he find there?

Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast for advanced French learners. In each episode of the story, published fortnightly, we’ll be following a chapter of La Vérité éclate toujours, specially written to help you build your knowledge of French and extend your range of expression. In the episodes, teacher Mark and narrator Pierre-Benoît will discuss the story, helping you to improve your listening skills.

There’s also an online course version of La Vérité éclate toujours which provides access to a range of additional materials including the text of each chapter, annotated notes, language study podcasts, vocabulary lists, video versions of each episode and our atelier linguistique which helps you to take the language you’ve covered in each chapter further. This course is available on the Coffee Break Academy.