Hello Listener,

Once in a while, we like to pop in out of nowhere and ask:

How you doin’?!

As in, how is your French progress going? How has FrenchPod101 helped you with learning French, school, traveling abroad, or with your French grandmother?

We love stories from our listeners about why they started learning French, the adventures they’ve been on, and how French has become a regular part of their lives. Similarly, we also want to hear about your results and progress!

Whether you have a crazy story for us or just want to drop a few thoughts on how FrenchPod101 improved your language skills – we want to know.

Tell us your story – email us at testimonials@frenchpod101.com

For stories from our other users, click on the “Success Stories” in Categories on the right side of this blog.

Hello Listener,

(For maximum impact, read in Old Spice Guy’s voice)

Look at our homepage. Now back to us.
Now back to our homepage. Now back to us.

Look different? It should! With the help of our wonderful users, like you, we’ve listened to your feedback and came up with this. Designing the homepage has been like watching a baby grow.

Our iTunes logo has also changed. You can see it on our Facebook and Twitter accounts!

So when you download our free audio lessons on iTunes and see a new logo… do not be alarmed. It’s still FrenchPod101.

The Old

The New

We’ve decided it was time for a change here at FrenchPod101.
Why the change? Well, We’re not just a podcast website – but a language learning system.

This design makeover is just one small step towards one giant leap to becoming a complete online learning system.

Thoughts on the design? Feedback? Please let us know in the comments below.

But Wait!
What’s that? Look below. There’s a link.
To our 18% OFF Back To School Sale that you’ve always wanted. Look again!
It’s still there but only until August 26th. Sadly, schools don’t lower their costs and neither do student loans. However, we do.

18% OFF any premium subscription. Use Coupon 2COOL4SCHOOL and save!

If you’re taking French this semester, you’re more than prepared. Just don’t sleep in class, unless you’re dozing off to the sweet sounds of a FrenchPod101 audio lesson.

And If you’re not in school (lucky!) – you’re still a student of French. Join in on the discount too!

Note: The Back to School Sale Ends in 48 hours. Save 18% OFF now because your school never does this.

Google is the world’s biggest Search Engine.
Apple is the world’s biggest smart phone maker.
The Blue whale is the world’s biggest animal.

And now, our little Innovative Language Learning family has become the world’s biggest language learning app maker! Apple verified this themselves. Surprised? Us too!

In about 5 years, we’ve made over 600 apps across 40 languages that available on the iTunes store for the iPhone and iPad alone. Not to mention, our Android and Mac desktop apps.

Can you imagine? That’s more language packed in one spot than a United Nations conference. Except you could learn them all. Or some. Mastering 600 apps is only for insane overachievers.

Some of our most popular mobile apps include Survival Phrases for brushing up on essential phrases when you visit France, Gengo FlashCards for multi-sensory vocabulary learning, and the recently updated WordPower that gives you the core 2000 words and phrases necessary for daily conversation. The language is directly at your fingertips – you’re touching words and sentences as you learn them!

In fact, you can download some for free or unlock all features with our premium apps.

Head over to our Apps page for the complete list of apps and more information. You can also search the Android Market and iTunes store for “Innovative Language Learning.”

Try them risk free!

Let us know what you think. We update them regularly based on your feedback!

Premium Members, your Premium Account just got a whole lot more powerful! My Flashcards now allows you to study the French words you want by importing lists from audio and video lessons, your My WordBank and the French Core Word Lists 2000. Here’s a quick rundown of the new features:

My Flashcards Dashboard: My Flashcards have a brand new interface. Import words from any audio and video lesson, My WordBank and the Core Word Lists. Create, edit and delete as many decks as you want!

Create a New Deck: How you want to study is completely up to you! You control what displays on the front and back of cards. Create new decks out of the existing words in My Flashcards. Simple pick the words, name your deck and you’re ready to study.

Front of Card Display: The new My Flashcards load fast and are easy to use. Test yourself with native audio recordings. When you’re ready for the answer, simply click on the card to flip it over.

Back of Card Display: Learning sometimes isn’t as simple as just Right or Wrong. Our smart spaced repetition system will evaluate your progress from the three answer choices so you test more of what you need. Get extra review with sample sentences and audio.

My Stats: We track your progress in My Stats. Don’t just learn new words – master them! This chart will keep you motivated to master all the words in your deck!

My Flashcards is still in beta mode, which means, we’re still working out some kinks. If you’re a Premium Member, head over to My Flashcards under My Tools to try them out. These flashcards are part of your Premium Subscription. Something not working? Send us a message at contactus@frenchpod101.com .

Not a Premium Member? For a limited time only, get 1-Month of Premium Access to FrenchPod101.com for only $5 – that’s even cheaper than our regular priced Basic 1-Month Plan! Use coupon code FLASHCARDS at checkout to get Premium for $5.00. Hurry! This offer ends on June 30th, 2011!

Our annual Reverse Christmas countdown begins today with the biggest savings of the year! Save 50% off any Basic or Premium subscription until midnight EST tonight with our Secret Santa Holiday Countdown Tomorrow, the daily deal drops below 50% OFF, so upgrade to Basic or Premium right now. Just click the link below:

Half off FrenchPod101 until midnight EST? Sign me up right now!

Everyday until Christmas, we’re offering a daily deal on our Basic and Premium subscriptions. Act early and save more. It’s as easy as that! We can’t tell you what tomorrow’s deal will be, but we can tell you that it won’t be as good as today’s.

New seasons of FrenchPod101.com begin on January 3rd, so there’s no better time than now to upgrade to Basic or Premium. You don’t want to miss out on all the fun in 2011!

Have a fun and safe Holiday!

Peter & Team FrenchPod101

In this series of mini-lesson tweets on Twitter, we help you perfect your shopping vocabulary to become a master in bargaining in French. Here is the recap of last week’s phrases for your reference:

Flea market browsing and antique hunting, shopping…Now is time to “marchander”, “to bargain”!

To find antiques, go to “le marché aux puces”, the flea market. “Le marché aux puces est le samedi.”, “The flea market is on Saturdays.”

Now that merchant’s old bicycle is overpriced. Just tell him “C’est trop cher”, “It’s too expensive.”

You want to lower the price of this antique phone (after all, it doesn’t work!), “Vous pouvez baisser?”, “Can you lower the price?”

A tip to find cheap antiques, look for a “brocante” sign in villages. “Une brocante” is an rustic antique store, generally cheaper.

You only want to spend 5 euros on that cute silver spoon? “Je n’ai que 5 euros”, “I only have 5 euros.”