French o'clock

Appel à mes connaissances francophones 😊

YAY!! Look at that!! Whoop whoop !!
English o’clock is finally BACK ! 🇬🇧⏰

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Gr8 news! English O’clock is back up and running 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

If there are any non-native English speakers in Stortford and the surrounding areas who would like to feel more comfortable and confident speaking English, then this is the group to join.

For details, please see Catrina’s message below and read the attached flyer.

Good luck, you got this🙏🏻

Hello there, my name is Catrina and I am a native speaker of English. I just wanted to share some information about an English group that I am restarting in Bishop’s Stortford.

If you are new to the area (or perhaps have been here for a while!) and want to improve your English speaking skills, this could be the group for you!

This is intended to be a relaxed and supportive group where you can practise your English, ask questions and make new friends.

If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch using the details below🙂

Well well well… my last post goes back to early December 2025… we can’t say I’m doing too well on Facebook, can we? 🤣🙈

So, here is a picture or two of our little gathering from this morning.

We had lots of fun and the staff at Côte Brasserie Bishop’s Stortford was great, warm and welcoming, as ever ☺️

Our drinks were lovely and our conversations - in French of course - friendly, energetic, and varied 🤩

What more could anyone want for a Sunday morning ? 😉

Have a great week everyone! 🌸🌺🌷

French Frogglers 🐸

BOOK ON www.frenchfrogglers.com
TRIAL CLASSES AVAILABLE
You can join at any point during the term!

Would you like your child to learn French in a fun and effortless way? 🇨🇵
French Frogglers focuses on teaching French with a Montessori inspired method to children aged 0 to 7 years, in an enjoyable and entertaining way.

Classes are interactive with flashcards, songs, stories, games, puppets and show and tell, to learn French the fun way!

Learning a new language is incredibly beneficial for stimulating our children’s brains and improving their creativity, confidence, self-esteem and cognitive abilities.

This class is taught by an experienced Montessori trained French teacher and native French speaker, and is perfect for both beginners and bilingual children.

For bookings and more information, visit www.frenchfrogglers.com 🐸

Or email [email protected]

We had our Christmas meal nice and early this year to ensure a maximum number of people could make it…

And what a great time we had! 18 of us, from a few months old to over 90 years old, all giggling and chatting - in French of course - enjoying unwrapping our presents (from Secret Santa) like children do 🥰😊

On a vraiment passé un super moment ensemble 🥳

Thank you Côte Brasserie Bishop’s Stortford for once again welcoming us so warmly and helping make our gathering feel so magical and special 🙏🤩

La suite en images… 😉

Another great French conversation session this morning at Côte Brasserie in Bishop’s Stortford, where the team always welcomes us so warmly 🤗

Thank you everyone! 💞

See you next Sunday! ☺️

Another awesome gathering this morning at Côte Brasserie Bishop’s Stortford, sipping drinks and chatting in French 🥐☕️🇫🇷

Merci à tous ! Bonne semaine ☺️👍

🍂 The weather’s turning a little colder and more uncertain, so this morning we said goodbye to our local park and made a cosy comeback to Côte in town ☺️

Lots of laughs, funny faces, and delicious teas and coffees ☕🌸 As always, we had the best time together, chatting away about all sorts of things… in French! 🤩🙌🏻🇫🇷

Lovely outdoorsy time at French o’clock in the Northern Parkland this morning ❣️

Et patati et patata ☺️😉🇫🇷

We’re all hoping for a beautiful Indian summer and a few more sessions in the park this year, before we go back to our traditional & cosy gatherings at Côte in town ☕️☺️

Today French o’clock was… different! In a very lovely way. You wouldn’t know this, but we count 2 published authors in our little community of French language lovers : Joe and Richard, and this morning the conversation started on that topic 😃📚

And so just for today, French o’clock became Books o’clock and our chat was so interesting, inspiring and humbling❣️

📚 Joe wrote St Leonard’s Road: An East End Story that needed to be told.

ℹ️ Book overview:

In ST LEONARD’S ROAD, Joe Connolly chronicles a lost East End London community that survived the Blitz only to face destruction through insensitive slum clearance programmes. This compelling social history reconstructs St Leonard’s Road person by person, house by house, preserving the memory of a vanished East End neighbourhood.

Alongside personal recollections, Connolly also describes how architecture shaped lives, the lasting impact of primary education, and the transformative role of the newly formed NHS. Against the backdrop of austerity and rationing, he captures a pivotal moment when Britain, though bankrupt and battle-worn, created opportunities that would give his generation a better life than their parents ever knew.

A touching tribute to resilience and community spirit, this book stands as an essential record of ordinary lives during extraordinary times.

📚 Richard wrote ‘Carnets français’ in French, and ‘French letters’ in English - which I learnt today has a double meaning ☺️

ℹ️ Books overview:

🔅French letters | This is a diary by an Englishman he kept in French for practice in the language over a period of around 50 years who then had the crazy idea of putting it all back into English with a view of eventually turning it into a book. The author then decided to collate the material into 25 plus different areas covering such topics as attitudes, language, food, the arts, immigration, religion, education, terrorism, holidays, "et j'en passe"*. The main interest is that these are all given a generally personal and subjective focus. (The book has an added advantage; it can be read chronologically or simply dipped into) The author believes this book will resonate with any reader with an interest in or experience of France, its people and culture and trusts they will "pardon his French" if some facts are, as the French say, "c'est discutable"**.

🔅 Carnets français | À travers le regard de « l’autre », le Français – avec les habitudes, mimiques et expressions qui les caractérisent – peut parfois sembler ridicule et susciter la surprise. Comment fait-il pour boire son café dans un bol, alors qu’une tasse serait bien plus pratique ? Pourquoi la Joconde, si banale, fascine-t-elle tant ?
Dans ce texte libre et multiforme enrobé d’un humour aussi délicieux que pétillant, l’Anglais Richard Baron relate ses impressions sur les particularités « à la française » et décrit avec amusement l’attitude de ce peuple qui le fascine. En glorifiant leurs différences, il déjoue ainsi les clichés qui collent à la peau des deux pays qu’il affectionne : la Grande-Bretagne, son pays de naissance, et la France, pour laquelle il voue un amour insatiable.

Voilà! I Hope you enjoy this post! 😊

A bientôt !
Sonia x