Le jeu: the ten phrases you'll use every day
Ten minutes, inside the routine you already run
Tap the play button to hear the phrase, then say it out loud. Start with the first one tonight.
Audio is being recorded now. The phrases below work today.
Playtime French is narration. You follow their hands and name what they touch. There's no lesson, no sitting down, the play they were already doing, with a soundtrack.
Print the le jeu card Keep it in the toy box or on the playroom shelf, so the script is there on the floor where you play
Why le jeu works
Play is where children do their best language work, low stakes, high repetition, full attention.
Narrating their actions requires almost no French from you: nouns, numbers, and encore.
Turn-taking phrases get used dozens of times in a single game.
When they answer in English
"again again"
Encore ? D'accord, encore une fois !
"it's broken"
C'est cassé ? On répare ensemble.
Don't correct. Don't ask them to repeat. Just say the thing back in French and carry on. That's a recast, and it's the single most effective move in parent-led bilingualism. More on La Reprise.
By age
18 months – 3 years
Label everything. Name the object in their hand, then wait.
3 – 5 years
Pretend play, the shop, the doctor, the kitchen. Take the customer role and let them run it.
Two children, two ages? Same ten phrases. Narrate for the younger one, ask the older one, and one ritual does both.
The full le jeu module is coming. Start with Le Dodo, complete now, with audio on every line.
See Le Dodo