Oulipo: read, play and create in French

French classes for adults · Live online on Zoom with Nathalie

All classes are taught in French.

Surprising books, words to bring to life and texts to invent: discover literature as a playful way to develop your French.

From level B14 to 10 classes, depending on the book90-minute classes

Explore the books

Discover what words can do

Oulipo, short for Ouvroir de littérature potentielle (‘Workshop of Potential Literature’), explores new ways of writing through rules, constraints and literary games. A story told in different ways, a rhythmic poem or an inventive portrait becomes a way to discover the richness of French.

With Nathalie, you read, perform, discuss and create. Depending on the book, the focus is on pronunciation, writing, theatre or grammar.

Read in French with guidance

You can join from level B1

You do not need to be a literature expert or understand everything on your own. Selected extracts, vocabulary support and explanations help you find your way into the texts.

Learn by practising

Each class combines guided reading, language activities and time to create or discuss. Explore rhythm, sounds, words and the way sentences are built.

A person writes in a notebook, with open books and a computer on the table.

Two formats to explore French

8 or 10 classes: explore in depth

Take time to get to know a book, expand your vocabulary and try a range of reading, speaking and creative activities.

4 or 5 classes: discover and experiment

Explore a literary world, try a writing game or become more comfortable with poetry in a shorter programme.

Five literary worlds to discover

The workshops are listed in chronological order. Depending on the book, choose a programme of 4, 5, 8 or 10 classes, each lasting 90 minutes on Zoom.

Two Friday groups: 11:00–12:30 or 15:30–17:00 (Paris time), with a maximum of 4 participants per group.

Booking opens on 15 January 2027.

L’Anomalie

Hervé Le Tellier

An unexplained event turns the lives of passengers on a Paris–New York flight upside down. This novel brings together very different stories and invites us to imagine what might happen.

In class: Read passages aloud, describe events and imagine other possibilities. Learn to express hypotheses and write short stories.

Les Fleurs bleues

Raymond Queneau

A duke from the Middle Ages and a man who lives on a houseboat seem to dream about one another. This humorous novel mixes historical periods and plays with words.

In class: Read dialogues with expression and discover informal ways of speaking. Practise rhythm, intonation and the sounds that speakers sometimes leave out.

Cher Père Noël

Oulipo

What if famous people or fictional characters wrote to Father Christmas? These imaginary letters take a humorous look at gift requests and the conventions of letter writing.

In class: Notice how to start a letter, make a request and choose a tone. Then invent your own letter and read it expressively.

Mademoiselle Haas

Michèle Audin

In 1930s France, women work, dream and face the challenges of their time. Through their portraits, this book gives a voice to lives that are often forgotten.

In class: Discover vocabulary for jobs and daily life, introduce characters and tell their stories. Practise pronunciation and expression by reading their experiences aloud.

C’est un métier d’homme

Oulipo

The authors use a repeated way of introducing themselves to invent very different portraits. Changing a few words and ideas makes each text funny, surprising or entirely unexpected.

In class: Explore sentence patterns and play with vocabulary. Then use a model to write your own portrait and share it aloud.

In every class: read, observe and try

Discover the text

Find your way into the book through selected passages and Nathalie’s explanations.

Explore the language

Observe sounds, rhythm, levels of formality and sentence structure.

Create and share

Perform, write or play with a creative constraint, then share your ideas with the group.