You may know Cécilia Jourdan from her wildly popular social media account Hello French which has close to 1.6 million followers on Instagram, and I wasn’t kidding when I said at the beginning of our podcast chat that I was very excited to finally meet her. (I’m a fan.)
Cécilia has done an amazing job bringing the French language, and many aspects of French culture, to the English-speaking world. She has covered everything from baguette etiquette to making a fresh apricot tart and describing the classic French petit déjeuner (breakfast) in English and in French.
Like me, Cécilia is bicultural; she was born in France and now lives in Brooklyn. During our chat in my Paris kitchen, we discussed key differences between the cultures, what it was like for her to immigrate to America, how to tip in France (which is quite different from tipping in America…), and she being a French teacher, we discussed some of the mistakes that are easy to make when speaking French.
Of course, I had to quiz Cécilia on some obscure English vocabulary and did a lightning round with her: Who does it better? It included asking which country, France or America, did these things better: aluminum foil, butter, waiting in line, cheese, and optimism (vs. pessimism), among other things. During the podcast, I also taught Cécilia a few new words in English…a few that are a bit risqué. 🤭
Cécilia also published a comprehensive e-guide, Hello Paris: Experience the City Like a Parisian, which features over two hundred and fifty of her favorite addresses in Paris for restaurants, cafés, cocktail bars, museums, bakeries, boutiques, and hotels, with maps that’ll help you easily navigate the city like a pro.
Give the podcast a listen, and I hope you enjoy listening to Cécilia as much as I enjoyed talking to her!
-David
Links to Cécilia Jourdan and Hello French
Follow Cécilia and Hello French on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok.
Visit Hello French website.
Subscribe to the Hello French newsletter.
Get the Hello Paris: Experience the City Like a Parisian guide.
Check out Cécilia’s Learning Guides to Speaking French.
Dine at her father’s restaurant in le Marais, Le Colimaçon.
Cécilia offers classes via a series of Learning eGuides that cover French essentials for beginners and mastering French pronunciation and the sounds of spoken French.
