By the end, the learner can narrate a past event while distinguishing background, habit, state, and completed event.
1 · Input first
Quand j'avais quinze ans, il pleuvait beaucoup ce jour-là. J'attendais le bus depuis vingt minutes. Puis mon ami est arrivé, et nous avons décidé de rentrer à pied.
Optional gloss: “When I was fifteen, it was raining a lot that day. I had been waiting for the bus for twenty minutes. Then my friend arrived, and we decided to walk home.”
2 · Noticing
First question: which verbs set the scene, and which verbs move the story forward?
3 · Explanation
Imparfait
Background, state, habit, description, or ongoing frame.
Passé composé
Completed event, change, narrative step, or bounded action.
4 · Controlled practice preview
Tous les étés, nous ___ à Marseille.
allions · repeated habit
Hier, nous ___ à Marseille.
sommes allés · completed event
Il faisait froid quand le train ___.
est parti · event inside a background scene
5 · Guided production
Write 5-7 sentences about a memory. Use at least three imparfait forms and three passé composé forms.
Preview prompt. The live course stores the learner's answer and compares it with the retry.
6 · Spoken checkpoint preview
Tell the story aloud. Keep the background in the imparfait and use passé composé for the events that advance the story.
7 · AI correction example
Learner
Quand j'étais petit, je suis allé souvent chez ma grand-mère.
Corrected
Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent chez ma grand-mère.
Why: souvent signals a repeated habit in the past, so French expects the imparfait: j'allais, not je suis allé.
8 · Reproduce after correction
The learner tries again without hints, so correction becomes repair rather than passive reading.
9 · Review from mistakes
Tous les samedis, elle ___ chez sa grand-mère.
Answer: allait