It took two hundred years to standardize French spelling before it could be taught in schools using a method called la dictée (dictation), in which a student writes out the words he or she hears. As a matter of fact, this is the exact same principle behind Yabla's Scribe game!

Patricia explains the importance of dictation exercises for learning French. Now an essential teaching tool in the classroom, dictation was originally a pastime for French nobility. The author Prosper Mérimée created a dictation exercise for Empress Eugénie that stumped even the brightest intellectuals. Think you can beat them? Try it yourself here.

Patricia explains the multiple benefits of dictation exercises. Having fallen out of favor in recent years, dictation is making a comeback after the French Ministry of Education realized that language skills were deteriorating. Why not take full advantage of Yabla's Scribe game to improve those skills?

Patricia delves into the festival of la Chandeleur, or Candlemas, which takes place on the second of February. In France, la Chandeleur is traditionally celebrated by eating crêpes.

Patricia continues her series on the feast of Candlemas, which in France is centered around the crêpe. Due to its round shape and golden color, the crêpe was a symbol of the sun in pagan times.

Patricia shares her family recipe for crêpes. All you'll need is some flour, eggs, milk, orange blossom, salt, and butter to make this classic French staple. Happy cooking!

The first of April is the day of hoaxes, pranks, and jokes. In France, the tradition is to hang paper fish on people's backs and shout, "Poisson d'avril!" (April Fish!).

Patricia explores the origin of the poisson d'avril (April Fools') tradition. There are numerous theories about this, some of them contradictory.

Using her favorite fruits as examples, Patricia demonstrates some different ways of saying you "like" or "love" something in French.

Patricia will teach you how to say that you don't like something in tactful ways and in more direct ways. There are many interesting expressions to convey dislike, even disgust, but you might want to save some of them for private conversations.

Victor Hugo is best known for his novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, but he also wrote numerous poems. In this video, Patricia reads an excerpt from his poem "À l'Arc de Triomphe," in which he pays tribute to the city of Paris.

Maxime Duveau held a solo exhibition at the Espace à Vendre gallery in Nice. The show included large-scale drawings in charcoal based on photos that he took in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Maxime Duveau explains his art at his solo exhibition, which is based on photographs he took in San Fransciso and Los Angeles. He uses an interesting charcoal drawing technique he calls "masking."

L'Espace à Vendre gallery had an exhibition of works by Lucien Murat, who juxtaposes a wide range of materials on top of salvaged tapestries.

Enjoy the classic tale Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), as told by Patricia.