Retell French audio: a short dictogloss activity with examples
Turn brief listening notes into a French retelling. Practise keeping the cause, result and speaker’s wishes, then compare two accurate reformulations.
In short
For a dictogloss activity, listen for the message, jot down key facts and rebuild the passage in your own French. Keep who did what, why it happened and what followed. An accurate retelling can use different words.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
What is a dictogloss?
Ask a partner to read the passage below while you look away, or use a short recording with a matching transcript. Listen first for the situation. On the next listen, write a few notes that connect the events.
Lina voulait prendre le train, mais la ligne était fermée. Elle est donc venue en bus. Elle est arrivée à dix heures.
Lina wanted to take the train, but the line was closed. So she came by bus. She arrived at ten.
| Question | Note |
|---|---|
| Original plan | Lina → train |
| Obstacle | line closed |
| Result | bus → arrival at 10 |
Comme la ligne était fermée, Lina a pris le bus. Elle est arrivée à dix heures.
As the line was closed, Lina took the bus. She arrived at ten.
The reason, replacement transport and arrival time all survive.
Lina est venue en bus parce que la ligne de train était fermée. Elle est arrivée à dix heures.
Lina came by bus because the railway line was closed. She arrived at ten.
The result comes first here; the meaning stays the same.
Four travel words to recognise
Find:
Keep a wish as a wish
Malick espère que ses enfants reviendront un jour, mais il veut qu’ils restent libres de choisir.
Malick hopes his children will return one day, but he wants them to remain free to choose.
A retelling such as Ses enfants vont rentrer la semaine prochaine changes both the certainty and the date. Keep il espère and un jour. For an opinion, a hope or a doubt, note whose viewpoint it is before you write.