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DELF A2 writing: describe your first day helping at an event

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Write a 90–110-word French account of your first day helping at an event, with setting, tasks, one difficulty and a personal reaction.

In short

Use the setting, your tasks, one difficulty and your reaction as the four parts. The imperfect can describe the situation, la salle était pleine; the passé composé moves the event forward, j’ai accueilli les visiteurs. Connect the actions with d’abord, ensuite and finalement.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Volunteers and a visitor at a book-event desk with blank programmes and books.
A volunteer directs a visitor while another holds programmes at a book event. Illustration: Atelier

This original A2 writing exercise develops a personal-experience account for exam preparation. Its word range belongs to this task. You can write as the volunteer in the model or use a real experience, but keep the facts consistent and make the difficulty specific enough for the reader to follow.

A2 · original exam preparationNot an official exam paper

Vous avez aidé pour la première fois lors d’un événement. Racontez cette journée dans votre journal : où vous étiez, avec qui, les tâches que vous avez faites, une difficulté et votre réaction. Utilisez l’imparfait pour le cadre, le passé composé pour des actions et au moins deux connecteurs. Écrivez 90 à 110 mots.

(90 mots minimum)

Describe your first day helping at an event in a journal entry. Include the setting, people, tasks, one difficulty and your reaction. Use imperfect for background, passé composé for actions and at least two connectors. Write 90–110 words.

Your answer

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Read a model answer

Samedi dernier, j’ai aidé à une petite fête du livre avec ma voisine. C’était ma première journée comme bénévole et j’étais un peu nerveux. D’abord, nous avons disposé les programmes sur la table d’accueil. Ensuite, j’ai accueilli les visiteurs et indiqué les salles.

À un moment, une personne m’a demandé où se trouvait un atelier que je ne connaissais pas. Je ne savais pas quoi répondre, alors j’ai demandé de l’aide à une autre bénévole. Elle m’a montré le programme complet.

Finalement, tout s’est bien passé. J’étais fatigué, mais content d’avoir été utile. Je voudrais recommencer lors du prochain événement.

Review your draft

Before you finish

A self-review aid, not an exam mark. Ticks are not saved.

Describe the situation before advancing the action

C’était ma première journée and j’étais un peu nerveux give the background. Nous avons disposé and j’ai accueilli report actions. The model does not assign a tense solely by sentence length: it uses the meaning of each statement to decide whether it describes the setting or moves the story forward.

A small uncertainty is enough

The volunteer does not know where one workshop is. Asking another volunteer for help resolves that precise gap. This is easier to follow than merely saying Il y a eu un problème without explaining it. The final feeling can then connect to what happened: the writer was tired but pleased to have helped.

Je ne connaissais pas cette salle, alors j’ai demandé à une autre bénévole.

I did not know that room, so I asked another volunteer.

Question 1No account needed
Which phrase supplies background in the model?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

J’étais un peu nerveux.. J’étais describes the writer’s state; the other phrases report completed actions.

Question 2No account needed
How does the writer handle the workshop question?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

He asks another volunteer for help.. The model supplies a specific request for help and the complete programme.

Question 3No account needed
Which ending gives a personal reaction?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

J’étais fatigué, mais content d’avoir été utile.. The sentence states the writer’s feelings about the day.

In your own draft, choose a difficulty you can explain in two short sentences. Finish with what you felt or learned, rather than adding a second unrelated event. That keeps a short account coherent within the task’s length.

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