Un train pour Marseille
Inès arrived at the station with a suitcase too heavy and a lukewarm coffee half-drunk.
What you'll learn
- Bilingual graded story
- Native narration
- 8 useful words
- 4 comprehension questions
Then shadow
Borrow the narrator’s rhythm
Pause after this line and repeat it aloud without translating. Aim for three clean repetitions.
1Listen first
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Native French narration of this exact text. Keep the transcript visible on the first pass.
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2Then shadow
Inès est arrivée à la gare avec une valise trop lourde et un café tiède à moitié bu.Warm-up vocabulary
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Your French story
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Inès est arrivée à la gare avec une valise trop lourde et un café tiède à moitié bu. Elle n'a pas compris le premier message sur le , alors elle a demandé à une agente souriante où attendre le train pour Marseille. L'agente a montré l'écran : dix minutes de , mais le quai ne changeait pas encore. Inès a acheté une bouteille d'eau et a écrit dans son carnet les mots voyage, et mer. Pendant le trajet, elle regardait les oliviers et les petites maisons blanches qui défilaient rapidement. En arrivant, elle a senti l'odeur du sel et du poisson grillé, et elle a pensé que Marseille commençait avant même la sortie de la station.
Show full English translation
Inès arrived at the station with a suitcase too heavy and a lukewarm coffee half-drunk. She didn't understand the first announcement on the platform, so she asked a smiling attendant where to wait for the train to Marseille. The attendant pointed to the screen: a ten-minute delay, but the platform hadn't changed yet. Inès bought a bottle of water and wrote in her notebook the words voyage, correspondance, and mer. During the journey, she watched the olive trees and small white houses flash by. Upon arriving, she smelled the salt and grilled fish, and thought that Marseille began even before leaving the station.
Vocabulary recap
Reading Comprehension Exercise
A2 French Reading Comprehension Exercises
1. Why does Inès speak to the attendant?
Correct: Because she didn't understand the announcement
Inès speaks to the attendant because she didn't understand the first announcement on the platform. She wants to know where to wait for the train to Marseille.
2. What does she write in her notebook?
Correct: The words voyage, correspondance and mer
Inès writes the words voyage, correspondance and mer in her notebook, probably to remember her journey and thoughts.
3. What does she smell upon arriving?
Correct: The smell of salt and grilled fish
Upon arriving in Marseille, Inès smells the salt and grilled fish, evoking the Mediterranean atmosphere of the city.
4. Défi A2+ : Comment Inès transforme-t-elle ses difficultés en expérience positive ? Explique.
Correct: Elle demande de l'aide et apprend de nouveaux mots dans son carnet
Au lieu de paniquer, Inès demande de l'aide à l'agente et profite du retard pour apprendre du vocabulaire dans son carnet.
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- ✓ 117 words read
- 8 new expressions
- 2 grammar patterns
- A2 level unlocked
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