I want to tell you about something today. I often check up on my family by calling them on the phone. And for some time now, I've been trying to change the way I ask questions.
When I used to call my brother or my cousins, I'd just ask them: "Are you all right? Or, "How did your interview go? " And they usually replied: "Yes, I'm fine".
Or, "Yes, it went well. " But the question that I asked was a closed one. To the question "Are you all right?
", the answer is usually "Yes" or "No". It's a closed question. I'm now trying to stop asking these kinds of questions and instead ask open questions.
I ask "How are you? " Or "How did your interview go? " In general, this leads to more sincere responses and more interesting conversations.
In this video, I'm going to answer a series of open questions from beginner level, A1, to a more advanced level, C1. You can find the list of questions and my answers in the PDF which you can download free of charge from the link in the description. Simply click on the link, enter your email address and you will receive the PDF directly to your mailbox.
You will then receive all the other free PDFs of my videos and offers and information about my French courses. You can unsubscribe at any time. What's your name?
My name is Elisa. How old are you? I'm 31 years old.
Where do you live? I've been living in Bordeaux since last year. Where do you come from?
I come from a small village in the south-east of France, in Provence, near Avignon. Which languages do you speak? I think I can say that I speak six languages.
I speak French, English, Italian and not quite as well Spanish, Portuguese and German. And I'm learning others that I give up on from time to time. What's your favourite colour?
I think my favourite colour is green, but I don't really have a preference. What's your dog's name? My dog is called Chloé.
I didn't come up with the name, my mother did. A little background, I have a list in my phone, because I love making lists. I've got a list of names I really like, if ever one day I have children.
And I read this list to my mother. The list included the name Chloé, so my mother adopted a dog and decided to call her Chloé. Do you prefer croissants or pains au chocolat?
I didn't used to like pains au chocolat. I do now. But I still prefer croissants.
How tall are you? I'm one metre sixty-three (five foot three). I'm not very tall.
What's your shoe size? I wear a size 38 (US women's 7. 5).
Do you have any brothers or sisters? Yes, I have a little brother. What does your brother do?
My brother works in fashion in Paris. Where do your parents live? My parents live in the village where I come from, in the south-east of France, near Avignon.
What do you do with your family? When I see my family, we don't do anything special. Occasionally, a few outings.
I also like to cook when I'm at my parents' and that's it. What holidays do you celebrate together? We see each other at Christmas, we celebrate Christmas together, sometimes New Year's day too, but not always.
Otherwise, birthdays, Easter and other holidays, we don't celebrate them together. When do you get up in the morning? In the morning, I try to get up around 8.
30am, but sometimes later. What do you do before you start work? Before I start work, I take Chloé out, I take my dog out.
It's the first thing I do all day. And sometimes I go to the gym too. What do you eat for breakfast?
My breakfast is often the same. It's toast with black coffee, no sugar. What do you do in the evenings after work?
I often take Chloé to the dog park in the evenings after work. Then I go home and I enjoy cooking a little to make a real break from my working day. What time do you go to bed at night?
I go to bed quite late at night. I'd like to go to bed earlier, but I have trouble. I think I go to bed around midnight, 1am.
Where do you work? I work from home, and sometimes I work in coworking spaces, but quite rarely. What exactly do you do in your job?
I still find it hard to define my work. When I meet someone who asks me this question, I say that I create online French courses and educational content for learning French. It's a bit long.
How long have you been doing this? I've been doing this since January 2021, so for three and a half years already, I think. What's your favourite thing about your job?
What I like best about my job, is the freedom of decision I have. As it's my own business, I can make all the decisions that I want, whether it's creative, in terms of the amount of work, and in terms of holidays too. What do you like least about your job?
What I like least is the administrative side. I hate it. I really hate it.
So everything administrative, filling in documents, accounting, etc. , I hate it. Where have you been on holiday recently?
I recently went to Barcelona in May, but I worked too. So, would we call it a holiday? I don't think so.
My last holiday, I don't know. Which of the countries you've visited is your favourite? I've visited a lot of countries, but I've got two favourites.
Ah, well maybe three. I loved Kenya because I love animals. I loved Brazil because of the incredible atmosphere.
And I loved Mexico because it was beautiful and the food was great, too. What do you prefer? Trips to the seaside or the mountains?
I always prefer trips to the sea. I always prefer going out in the sun. For me, that's what holidays are all about.
It's the beach, the sun and that's it. Which country would you like to visit? I'd love to visit Egypt because I love the Egyptian civilisation, so I'd love to go to Egypt one day.
And Ethiopia. I'd love to visit Ethiopia too. I hope I'll get the chance.
What is your most powerful travel memory? Yes. During the round-the-world trip that I.
. . The little round-the-world trip I took in 2020, I took a trip to Kenya where I went on safari and one of the most memorable moments of the trip was seeing lions that approached the Jeep, and to be so close to a wild lion, it was a very, very, very intense moment.
I don't know why, but it was really, really impressive. And to this day, it remains one of my most precious travel memories. It was a really, really special experience.
What was the last film you saw, and what did you think of it? The last film I saw was Inside Out, which I watched with my little cousins. And I think it's a great film for children and adults alike.
What kind of books do you like to read? I have a real passion for historical novels. I'm starting to build a good collection now.
What kind of films do you like to watch? I'm not very picky. I like all kinds of films, but it's true that once again that I have a preference for films that take place in a different era, so rather historical films, a little epic.
It's my favourite thing to watch, I think. What do you usually do at the weekend? At weekends, I try not to work at all, but I don't do anything in particular.
My schedule changes often, so it depends. Sometimes I do sport, sometimes I stay at home, sometimes I go out with friends, sometimes I go away for the weekend, so it depends. Is there a sport or an activity that you'd like to try?
I'd love to go rock climbing, or at least give it a go. I've already done it, but I'd like to start doing it again more seriously. If I had the time, because I already do a lot of other things and it's difficult to find the time.
What's your favourite dish to cook? I don't know if there's a dish I particularly like cooking. There are lots of things I like to cook because I like cooking in general.
I think I like baking in general because that's the kind of thing I prefer to eat. Explain the recipe for your favourite dish. I'm very good at making béchamel sauce, which is a French sauce.
So I can give you the recipe. To make béchamel sauce, you need butter, flour and milk. It needs nutmeg and salt, pepper and a little vinegar too.
Start by melting the butter in a saucepan. Add flour. Mix well until it comes away from the pan.
Gradually add the milk, whisking well. Add a little salt, pepper and nutmeg at the end. And personally, I love adding apple cider vinegar, because it adds an acidity that works well with the béchamel sauce.
What do you hate eating? I hate celery and coriander too. Really, it's impossible for me to eat.
What's your favourite dessert? It's difficult because there are so many of them. I love lemon tart.
I love strawberry cream cake, and chocolate éclairs. It's too hard. It's too hard a question!
What's your favourite drink and why? There's a café I discovered in Italy called Leccese, and is a summer drink. It's coffee poured over ice cubes, so it's an espresso poured over ice cubes, with almond syrup and a squeeze of lemon.
It sounds strange when I put it like that, but it's excellent and I love it. Where did you study? I studied in Cannes because I did audiovisual studies.
What is your favourite subject at school and why? My favourite subjects at school were languages. English, German, Latin, that's what I did at school and I loved it because I was the best.
Did you go to university? In what area? I studied in the audiovisual sector and I did a BTS (HND/ two-year technical diploma) which is a two-year diploma.
Then I did a third year in Lyon. So, the BTS in Cannes and the bachelor's in Lyon. And it was audiovisual studies, specialising in editing and post-production.
Who were your favourite teachers and why? There was a teacher I loved at school who was my German teacher. I think it was she who instilled in me a love of languages.
And thanks to her, I was able to do a language exchange in Berlin for three months when I was 16. So I think she was my favourite teacher. There are bound to be others.
I had a lot of good teachers in my time at school, but the first person I think about is her. What were you like as a student? I was a very calm student, very studious, very.
. . Who didn't cause any problems.
I'm quite introverted, so I was like that as a student too and I got good marks. At secondary school, a little less, because it was becoming a little more difficult in maths, physics, science, etc. So I wasn't as good a pupil, but let's say from the age of 6 to 15, I was a very good student.
Then, a little less, but still calm. How would you describe your personality? I think I'm an introvert.
I need some peace and quiet to recharge my batteries and to have energy. I was shy when I was quite young and as I got older, I'm less and less so. And I think I'm pretty patient too.
I'm a fairly calm person in general. Do you have any phobias? Yes, I have a rather strange phobia.
I'm very, very scared of frogs and toads. If I see them, I start crying straight away. What's your best quality?
It's probably not going to be objective, but I think that my greatest quality is that I have good instincts, I think, and I think I know how to surround myself with the right people. So I've got friends I can really count on and I think I've got this ability to choose the people I surround myself with. What's your biggest flaw?
My worst flaw, I think, is I'm not very well organised. And I don't like it either. In informal terms, I'm all over the place, i.
e. I don't tidy things up and I can't keep the house tidy for more than two days. So I spend my time messing and tidying up.
And if you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? I don't think I'd particularly like to change anything about myself. Maybe having a bit more confidence in myself in certain situations, but otherwise, nothing else.
How do you use technology in your daily life? I'm completely dependent on technology. I need a camera to work, I need my computer to work, from my phone.
So I'm completely dependent on technology. What's your favourite application? My favourite app is a meditation app.
It's called Insight Timer and I sometimes listen to meditations before going to sleep. What do you think of social media? I think that social media can be as good as it can be bad.
There is online bullying on social media, so that's perhaps the worst of it. But it also helps to create social movements or community movements allowing people to meet up. And that's perhaps the best part.
How do you reduce your phone use? I've been trying to do a little Instagram detox. I uninstalled the app on my phone and unfortunately, It didn't really work because I replaced it with YouTube.
So I haven't really reduced my screen time. Which application do you use most on your phone? The application I use the most, I think, is the ones where you scroll and never stop.
So it has to be either Instagram or YouTube. How did you meet your best friend? I have several best friends and we met when we were 10.
We were in the same class because we were learning German. What character traits do you most appreciate in others? I like people who are quite funny and a bit outgoing.
A bit the opposite of me. What do you do when you're with your friends? If I meet my friends in town, we often go for a drink on the terrace and then we organise other outings to the ocean or elsewhere.
What's the best advice anyone's ever given you? This is going to be a bit philosophical, but one of the best pieces of advice I've been given was that there are a lot of things that you can't control in life, but what you can try to control, is your inner calm, and therefore your inner peace. It's the only thing we can really control, so it's worth trying.
How do you keep in touch with your friends abroad? I keep in touch with my friends abroad thanks to social media. That's one of the great things about social media, is that it's so easy to keep in touch with friends who live in other countries or far away.
What is your biggest dream? I think my greatest dream is to have the very clichéd ideal life: a family, children, a big house, a dog. It's not a crazy dream, but that's it.
If you won the lottery, what would you do with your money? If I won the lottery, I think I'd stop working. Sorry!
I'd stop working, I'd buy a house and I would take courses in everything. I would take drawing lessons, dance, sport, language, everything. What does your ideal home look like?
My ideal home is on the shores of the Mediterranean. It's quite big. There is a large garden with a vegetable patch and there are, I don't know how many bedrooms, but in any case, I'd love a studio to shoot youTube videosin , and a small workshop for small creative projects, etc.
I'd love to have a gym and a swimming pool. What would you like to learn in the next 10 years? Over the next 10 years, there aren't really that many things I'd like to learn.
I think I'd especially like to learn Arabic and finally be able to say that I speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese. It would be nice to finally do it. What other job could you have done?
So, I often laugh with my friends by saying that I could have been an excellent surgeon, but it's just that I'm very meticulous. So, I think I could have been a good surgeon because I pay attention to detail, but you have to study and I couldn't have done that. I think that if I did another job, it would be something creative, perhaps artisanal.
I also like jewellery and clothes. I don't really know. What are the most important values for you?
The most important thing for me, I think, is honesty. And I think it's great when people are able to admit that they are wrong about something and to acknowledge the mistakes they have made. That's not really the case, I get the impression, for most people.
So I think it's a great quality and I really appreciate that. What does happiness mean to you? It's really very philosophical.
For me, happiness is a temporary thing, and I don't think it's an objective to be achieved. I think the goal is peace of mind, not happiness. Happiness comes and goes.
Like sadness, it comes and goes. Do you believe in fate or free will? A little of both.
I think that when you have a lot of willpower, you can influence your life. But it's true that when there are difficult events happening, maybe it helps to believe it's fate because it makes things easier. But I think I'm more of the opinion that people make their own decisions and that everything comes from free will.
What is your definition of success? For me, success is when you're happy to be where you are, and when we're calm. Once again, it's peace of mind.
For me, that's it. It's when what you do corresponds with your values and doesn't cause you stress. I'm sure there are some people out there, who have achieved professional success, but that success causes them enormous stress.
And for me, that's not really what success is all about. What is your philosophy for life? It's something I learnt when I was in yoga training.
We were told, "If, when you have a problem, you can do something about it. to solve the problem, do it. If you can't do anything about it, then forget it and it's not really a problem.
" And I try to apply that to my life. How do you look after your physical health? I try to take care of myself by doing sport, eating well and being healthy.
and getting enough sleep. It's pretty basic. How often do you exercise?
I'd like to exercise more, but I'd say at the moment, I do perhaps one or two workout sessions a week. What sport would you like to try? A sport I've never, ever, ever tried, but would love to try, is fencing.
I think it must be quite technical and quite fun. What does sport give you in life? The main benefit is that my back doesn't hurt as much.
I took up sport seriously this year because I had really bad back pain from sitting and working in front of a computer all day. So the biggest benefit for me is that my back doesn't hurt as much, and it will also protect my body and I'll probably feel less pain in my life than if I didn't exercise. What is your diet and why?
I'm a vegetarian, so I don't eat animals. And I do this for ecological and ethical reasons. I don't think we should eat animals and kill them if we are able to feed ourselves differently.
How would you describe your clothing style? It's quite difficult to describe my style. I don't know if I always pull it off, but let's say that I try to have a fairly classic style with basic pieces but I try to add sometimes a touch of something more exotic or culturally inspired.
What do you think of current fashion trends? At the moment, I only see teenagers wearing fashion from the 90s and 2000s, which is back. And personally, I don't like it at all.
I think. . .
No, it's not good. It's not good. Low-rise jeans, what else is there?
The glasses, etc. It's very strange. It's very strange to see teenagers dressing like me when I was 13.
I still can't understand it. What's your favourite piece in your wardrobe? My favourite piece in my wardrobe is an office-style jacket, but with a strong influence from Eastern designs.
It's a jacket made from a kind of tapestry fabric. It's gorgeous and I rarely get to wear it because it's so beautiful, so it's too dressy. But it's certainly my favourite piece in my wardrobe.
What's the most expensive item of clothing you've ever bought? I can't remember the most expensive item of clothing I've ever bought. I remember the first time I bought something expensive with my own money.
When I was a student, I bought a handbag which cost €70 and I thought it was crazy, that it was really expensive. What's more, it wasn't really a very nice handbag. I don't know why I bought it.
What are the most interesting scientific developments in your opinion? What is obviously the most interesting thing today, is artificial intelligence, because we're going to be able to do amazing things. The arrival of artificial intelligence today is a bit like like the arrival of the Internet 20 years ago.
Which is very interesting. What do you think of artificial intelligence? I think that artificial intelligence is going to have to be controlled very, very quickly because there can be a lot of abuses because of that, but we're also going to be able to do some incredible things.
Do you think technology can solve the evironmental problems we face? I believe that technology can solve certain environmental problems, but the issue of global warming cannot be resolved thanks to technology alone. Society will have to change.
What do you think of space exploration? A few years ago, I think I would have said it was a bad thing to invest so much money in space research. Today, I have a different opinion.
I think that the innovations that come from space exploration will be able to be reused on Earth. So it's not necessarily a bad thing to invest in space exploration. But the priority is still here.
Which recent invention do you find most impressive? Not long ago, I saw a drone show in Bordeaux which replaces fireworks displays. And I thought it was really clever, beautiful and much more environmentally friendly, I think, than fireworks.
So I think it would be a good thing if we replaced fireworks with drone shows, because they're really beautiful. It's impressive how beautiful it is. Are you a calm or anxious person?
I'm a pretty calm person. I'm a pretty calm person, even if I sometimes feel like I'm a little stressed at times. What are the main stress factors in your life, and how do you manage them?
The main stressor in my life is work. I realise that by creating French Mornings, I've now got more responsibility and all that, it creates a lot of stress. So, when I realise that I'm really stressed because of it, I try to force myself to work less and do creative activities.
It could be painting or sewing. I've started a lot of things precisely to limit my stress. Lots of manual activities.
How do you keep a balance between your professional and personal lives? I try to keep a balance between my professional and personal life by limiting my working hours. When you're self-employed like me, it's very easy to let yourself get carried away by a continuous workflow.
If you want, you can work non-stop. There's always something to do. So I try to limit myself to really not only have a professional life, but also to put time for myself aside.
How do you deal with negative or toxic relationships in your life? As I said, I think I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by a pretty good group of people. and to choose the right people to surround me in my life.
So I haven't really had to deal with any negative relationships or toxic with people around me. If it happens. .
. , no it doesn't really happen because I'm quite introverted and I always put a certain distance between people and myself at the beginning. And if I trust them, then I'll get closer to them.
If I don't trust them, that's not going to happen. How do you avoid procrastination? I don't avoid procrastination.
I procrastinate a lot, i. e. I put things off until tomorrow.
There are a lot of things I have to do and for one reason or another, I shift and I don't do it. But recently I discovered the Pomodoro method. With this method, you work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break, then you work for 25 minutes, and it seems to work quite well for me.
So I'm going to try and keep doing that to concentrate a bit more. Which historical event has had the greatest impact on you and why? The historic event that has had the greatest impact on me, that we all experienced, it's COVID-19 and the lockdown and all the consequences it had on us.
And it was really quite a historic event, and I think that it made a huge impact on all of us. And I remember thinking at the time, "We're in the middle of a moment in history that will be recounted. and to which we will devote a large chapter.
" So that's clearly it. If you could travel to another time, where would you go? It's a difficult question because there are so many different eras I'd like to see.
I think I'd like to go to the Middle Ages because people often say that the Middle Ages were a pretty dark period, that we knew nothing, etc. But it's not true. There were a lot of interesting things that were happening in the Middle Ages in terms of knowledge.
But, if I had to give just one answer, I think I'd like to go to the future because I'm curious how our our society is going to continue to evolve and maybe I won't be around to see the most interesting parts. So I'd love to go to the future. Which historical figures do you most admire?
I love Cleopatra because she's a woman and we don't talk about a lot of women in history. There aren't many heads of state, queens and so on, who have left their mark on history, and she is one of them. She's a character I'm very interested in because she has a bad reputation, etc.
And in fact we're in the process of relearning a lot about her. She's a historical figure who interests me a lot. Which historical period interests you most and why?
There are two historical periods that I really like. The first is ancient times, because I really like the great civilisations, myths, mythology, legends, etc. The second is the Middle Ages, because it was a very epic period.
I don't know, I really like both periods. Can you tell me an interesting historical anecdote? An interesting historical anecdote, actually it concerns Cleopatra.
In terms of time, Cleopatra is closer to us, 2024 in history than to the creation of the Great Pyramids. It's a well-known anecdote, but every time I hear it, I find it incredible. What is your favourite classic novel and why?
It's a series of books, historical novels, in fact. It's Maurice Dron's, Les Rois Maudits (The Accursed Kings) series. It's the series of novels that inspired the author of Game of Thrones.
It's precisely because they're historical novels about a period of the Middle Ages in France. And it's all schemes, plots, murders, assassinations and so on. So I love these kinds of novels and I'll be rereading them for the rest of my life, I think.
How important do you think art is in society? I think art is very, very important in society. It's a way of expressing ourselves, it's a way of entertaining and at the same time to get important messages across.
So it's definitely has a place in our society. Do you think artists should speak out on political issues, or keep quiet? Personally, I think that artists should speak out on political issues, because art is often political.
Through art, we always want to get a message across. It's not just about entertainment, so I think it's logical that the artists express their views on political issues. And I even find it odd that people think they shouldn't, because they're not politicians or something else.
No, it's the role of an artist to get a message across, so it makes sense. If you were to write a book, what would the story be? I don't think I'll ever write a book in my life, but I once had the idea of writing a book inspired by my dog.
My dog is a hunting dog, so she sniffs a lot. And when I look at her, I get the impression that she's conducting investigations. So maybe I'd like to, but I don't think I will, write a children's book in which the main character, would be a detective dog.
What do you think of books adapted for the cinema? I think that adapting novels for the cinema often starts with a good intention, but that it often makes for very disappointing films. Because in a book, you can afford to go into a lot more detail, so it's much richer.
You can imagine many more things, and you can also take the time to talk about things and you're not limited by the number of pages. Whereas in a film, we are limited by the length of the film and we are often obliged to remove certain details that are important in the book. I think it's rare for novels to be successful as a film adaptation.
In any case, I can't think of any examples. Thank you all for watching this video. If you want to find the list of 100 questions, you can find them in the PDF available in the description.
And I'll see you very soon.
