Live one-hour conferences on French culture, delivered on Zoom by a bilingual signature speaker and followed by 15–20 minutes of questions. Three thematic packs, thirty conferences. No French required, no prior knowledge assumed.
Each capsule takes a single subject, from Louis XIV to the baguette to Édith Piaf, and starts from what the audience thinks it knows. It then works outward into the history and the sociology hiding behind the cliché.
A one-hour live conference by a bilingual signature speaker, followed by 15–20 minutes of questions. No French required, no prior knowledge assumed.
The method is the small story that carries the large one: les petites histoires qui font la grande Histoire. A salt tax explains why butter is salted in Brittany.
Every subject is tied back to what binds France to the United States: the collectors, the soldiers, the films, the songs and the arguments the two countries have shared for two hundred years.
N° i
Capsules are sold in packs of ten around a single theme, independently of the language courses. Each pack is ten live one-hour conferences on Zoom, each followed by questions.
From Versailles to the walls of the world: taste manufactured by a king, freed by artists, handed to the street. Louis XIV · Claude Monet · Auguste Rodin · Henri Matisse · Coco Chanel · Christian Dior · Yves Saint Laurent · Hubert de Givenchy · Jean-Paul Gaultier · JR.
For the French, eating is a political, historical and identitarian act. The Baguette · Salted Butter · Camembert · Champagne · The Macaron · Snails & Frogs · Foie Gras · Chocolate · The Black Truffle · Ratatouille.
French cinema and song as popular literature, exported to America for a century. Georges Méliès · Édith Piaf · Yves Montand · Charles Aznavour · Brigitte Bardot & the Nouvelle Vague · Serge Gainsbourg · Alain Delon, Melville & the French polar · Johnny Hallyday & Françoise Hardy (yé-yé) · Amélie, Yann Tiersen & the imaginary Paris · Hollywood has a French accent.
Les petites histoires qui font la grande Histoire.The Culture Capsules method · The small story that carries the large one
Thirty live conferences in three packs of ten. The same format for every capsule.
A one-hour conference on Zoom, delivered live by a bilingual signature speaker.
FormatEach conference is followed by 15–20 minutes of questions with the speaker.
Q&APresented by a bilingual signature speaker. No French and no prior knowledge assumed.
LanguageSold in packs of ten around a single theme, independently of the language courses.
Packs
Culture Capsules are independent of the language courses and need no French. Ten live one-hour conferences on Zoom per pack, each followed by questions with a bilingual signature speaker.