Online French Book Club
Learn French by reading literature
An online book club for French learners: Read books and discuss in French
Join the book club
The group meets online every week.
Read & discuss books in French
Reading provides you with a plethora of benefits.
When you read, you can spend the time to really break down and internalize grammar, vocabulary and better understand the structure of phrases.
Online French Book Club: When and where?
The calls are exclusively online.
Choose your group among many available schedules.
We read a new book every month.
6 French learners per group.
25€ covers one month class for 1 person and includes:
- Pre-call preparation: Before every call, I will submit specific questions to help you understand all the elements that the reading group will discuss.
- A new part each week: I will divide our book into different parts, each part corresponding to 1 week.
- 1-hour call each week: This is the time when the group meets online to discuss with me and other readers on Zoom.
- Follow-up emails
- Access to the analysis of books we’ve read
The places are limited!
Do you prefer reading alone?
There is no call.
49€ covers one year access for 1 person and includes:
- +200 worksheets and synopsis (A1-C2)
- + 200 video
- + 100 quizzes
Online Conversations
Why reading is important to learn French?
Reading has many advantages to improve your French learning:
Books contain a richer language.
Average speakers don’t spend as much time choosing their words as writers do. The written words are more nuanced than the spoken words. Writers consider their words more carefully than a native speaker talking with friends.
Books help you get more immersed in the language.
You just have to grab a book. Do that and you’ll be able to travel through space and time. You don’t have to travel to far away to learn a language.
Read if you want to be a good communicator.
People who are good communicators have a large vocabulary that they usually acquire by reading. They draw the appropriate vocabulary the moment they need it.
Build a routine and go at your own pace.
You can take the time to read the book and understand the words and the story.
How to read in French
Read what you enjoy.
Read what is challenging.
Set yourself short-term targets.
Keep a record of your achievements and celebrate them.
Things you need to know about our reading group
With calls :
The calls are exclusively online. We read a new book every month.
Choose your group :
- every Monday at 7pm (Paris time) – Intermediates
- every Tuesday at 1pm (Paris time) – Intermediates
- every Wednesday at 7pm (Paris time) – Intermediates
- every Thursday at 3pm (Paris time) – Intermediates
- every Friday at 2pm (Paris time) – Intermediates
- every Saturday at 7pm (Paris time) – beginners
- every Saturday at 6pm (Paris time) – beginners
25€ covers one month class for 1 person and includes:
- You’ll receive the pre-call preparation items
- We read and discuss a new part each week
- We meet online for a 1-hour call each week
- We exchange after the call with follow-up emails
- Access to the analysis of books we’ve read
Reading alone:
- +200 worksheets and synopsis (A1-C2)
- + 200 video
- + 100 quizzes
- + No call
What will we read together?
July 2024
Here’s the book I chose: Manon des sources by Marcel Pagnol.
A formidable storyteller, Marcel Pagnol recounts the revenge of Manon who discovers the existence of the source searched in vain by her father, and which was known to the other villagers. Shepherdess, “beautiful wild woman”, Manon is the flamboyant heroine of this Provençal novel.
June 2024
Here’s the book I chose: La douleur by Marguerite Duras.
Written in 1944 and first published in 1985, Duras’s riveting account of life in Paris during the Nazi occupation and the first months of liberation depicts the harrowing realities of World War II–era France “with a rich conviction enhanced by [a] spare, almost arid, technique” (Julian Barnes, The Washington Post Book World ). Duras, by then married and part of a French resistance network headed by François Mitterand, tells of nursing her starving husband back to health after his return from Bergen-Belsen, interrogating a suspected collaborator, and playing a game of cat and mouse with a Gestapo officer who was attracted to her. The result is “more than one woman’s diary . . . [it is] a haunting portrait of a time and a place and also a state of mind” (The New York Times).
May 2024
Here’s the book I chose: La fin de la jalousie by Marcel Proust.
Deeply in love with the beautiful Françoise Seaune, Honoré de Tenvres is constantly moved by this incredible love. Until the day she is told that she has a reputation for being an easy woman. Upset, he suddenly discovers the torments of jealousy… Worldly, voluptuous and cruel, the characters in these short stories by Proust flit around with a refinement that announces the heroes of In Search of Lost Time. There are 4 novels.
April 2024
Here’s the book I chose: The Game of Love and Chance by Marivaux.
The Game of Love and Chance is a three-act romantic comedy by French playwright Marivaux. The Game of Love and Chance was first performed 23 January 1730. In this play, a young woman is visited by her betrothed, whom she does not know. To get a better idea of the type of person he is, she trades places with her servant and disguises herself. However, unbeknownst to her, her fiancé has the same idea and trades places with his valet.
March 2024
Here’s the book I chose: Une mort très douce by Simone de Beauvoir.
Une mort très douce is a short autobiographical story by Simone de Beauvoir, published in 1964, which describes how the author lived the last months of her mother’s life with her. According to Sartre, this book is the best she has written.
February 2024
Here’s the book I chose: La femme au collier de velours by Alexandre Dumas.
The first chapter of this short novel is in fact autobiographical. Dumas discusses at some length Charles Nodier (1780-1844), writer and close friend with whom he was welcomed in Paris in his early days and thanks to whom he was introduced into the intellectual life of the capital. At the end of this first chapter, Dumas explains that Nodier told him a story, which he relates in the rest of the novel. From the start the tone is set: reality and fiction are inextricably intertwined…
French Beginners & intermediates
July 2024
Here’s the book I chose: Le roman de la momie by Theophile Gautier. (A2/B1)
Do you have a question?
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Online French Book Club
If you're wondering...
Is this online French Book Club right for you?
WHO THIS CLUB IS FOR
- The Club is suitable for learners with an intermediate or advanced level of French
- The groups of Saturday’s are best for beginners and intermediates
- Learners who want to improve their French level
- Learners who are ready to take the time to read
- Learners who are interested in getting feedback and support
WHO THIS IS NOT FOR
- Learners who don’t want to put in the time needed to read
Our programs to learn French
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French Reading Club FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
There are 2 groups : intermediates + and beginners +. Send an email if you need help to choose the right group.
You need four things: a stable internet connection, a computer, the book of the month and Zoom, the free video conferencing tool.
Intermediate group :
You will have to order the book yourself early enough to make sure you receive it before our first class.
Yes, your book will be only in French. And we’ll only speak French during our calls.
Please send me an email to provide me with your availabilities.
This post is also available in Français.