296 pages
Reading & writing
Graded stories, real-life texts and messages you can model your own on.
Cheat sheetB2
French citation abbreviations: cf., ibid., s. d. and et al.
Decode French reference notes, trace ibid. to the preceding source, and read cf., s. d., et al., p. and chap. in context.
Graded storyA2
A2 French short story: a restaurant's first evening
A past-tense French story about a new restaurant's opening night: a broken oven, a missing waiter and a happy ending. Glosses, translation and questions.
ReadingA2
A2 French reading: follow a shift swap across two weeks
Read a two-week French rota and an accepted shift swap. Compare the schedules, follow future forms and check who works at reception.
Exam practiceA2
French accommodation enquiry email: ask about a room
Write an A2 French room enquiry with clear dates, guest numbers and questions about price and breakfast. Includes a writing task, model and checklist.
Cheat sheetC2
French claim strength: a sheet for precise, supported wording
Choose French wording that fits your evidence. Compare observation, scope, attribution, possible causes and recommendations, with four questions.
Graded storyA1
A1 French story: a friend brings soup and the wrong book
Read an A1 supportive-visit story with eight glosses. Track the soup and two books, then identify the corrected request by colour and content.
ReadingA2
A2 French reading: how a food truck gets ready for lunch
Behind the scenes of a French food truck: shopping at dawn, prep, the noon rush and closing. An A2 text with glosses, roles and a timeline question.
Exam practiceA2
Write a French class absence email and ask for missed work
Tell a French teacher which class you will miss and ask for the exercises. Practise with an A2 email task, model answer and a past-versus-future check.
Cheat sheetB2
French quotation punctuation: guillemets, dialogue dashes and omissions
Place French guillemets, full stops and dialogue dashes, mark cuts with […], and repair short quotations while preserving the speaker’s meaning.
Graded storyA1
A1 French story: three cups and four guests
Read an A1 hosting story with eight glosses. Count four tea-drinking guests, find the missing cup and distinguish borrowing from owning.
ReadingA2
A2 French reading: a weekend without a mobile phone
A personal account of 48 hours without a phone: what the writer feared and what really happened. A2 French with glosses, a translation and comparison questions.
Exam practiceA1
A simple French holiday postcard: seaside model and A1 practice
Write a friendly French holiday postcard in the present tense. Explore a seaside scene, use the model and practise place, weather and activity phrases.
Cheat sheetB2
Selon, d’après, aux dires de, de source sûre: French source markers
Compare four French source markers, see how attribution differs from a reliability claim, and choose wording for reports, testimony and inference.
Graded storyA2
A2 French story: a shared watering rota saves a community garden
Read an A2 French community-garden story about a missed watering turn. Identify the rejected purchase and the rota change that solves the coordination problem.
ReadingB1
B1 French reading: building a cardboard bridge
Read a classroom bridge-building story in French, learn maquette and appui, and follow a repair with picture cards, glosses and four questions.
Exam practiceA2
Describe a second-hand item in French: A2 advert practice
Write a clear French advert for a wooden table. Practise measurements, condition details, what is included and collection, with a model and picture cards.
Graded storyA2
A2 French story: a work placement changes a study plan
Read an A2 French story about a completed placement that changes a student’s interests, with seven glosses and questions on past, present and future.
ReadingA1
A1 French short story: dinner for one becomes dinner for three
An easy French reading in the present tense: Inès plans a quiet dinner, then two friends ring the bell. Glossed words, translation and questions.
Exam practiceA2
Decline an invitation in French: write a clear, friendly reply
Practise declining a friend’s invitation in French. Thank them, give a clear answer and suggest a separate plan, with a model reply and quick questions.
Graded storyA2
A2 French story: the door at the back of the studio
Léon finds his sister’s art studio empty. Read an A2 French story with glosses, translation and questions, then discover what is behind the second door.
ReadingA2
A2 French reading: the wrong city under a family photo
Read Dalia’s family-album story in French. Use the second photograph to correct a caption, with vocabulary notes, picture cards and questions.
Exam practiceC2
A French pastiche can imitate syntax without copying a sentence
Write an original French literary pastiche with two chosen devices and explain their effects. Study a model of more than 250 words that transfers procedures into a new scene.
Graded storyA1
A1 French story: the suitcase is ready but the cat is inside
Read a playful A1 French departure story with glosses and translation. Find the cat, understand the delay and follow the traveller’s next action.
ReadingA2
A2 French reading: learning to ride a bike as an adult
A personal account in the passé composé and imparfait: Fatou learns to ride a bike at 35. Follow her progress with glosses, a translation and questions.
Exam practiceA2
Fix conflicting details in a French message: an A2 editing task
Repair a French travel message with conflicting days, times and ticket information. Compare a fact sheet, rewrite the draft and check the model.
Graded storyB1
B1 French short story: a family habit meets a new partner
Read a French family story with eight glosses and translation. Infer what each person values when a new partner joins a long Sunday lunch.
ReadingC2
A French economic bilan depends on what it counts
Read a French economic report that changes its accounting boundary, separating aggregate gain, unequal distribution and omitted external costs.
Exam practiceA2
Damaged parcel email in French: describe the damage and ask for a replacement
Write an A2 French damaged-parcel email with an order reference, precise damage, attached photos and a clear replacement request. Model and practice included.
Graded storyA1
A1 French reading: two friends exchange their appointment cards
Read a present-tense A1 card mix-up with seven glosses. Use each friend’s name and birth month to identify the appointment reminder and follow its return.
ReadingA1
A1 French short story: the office fridge on Friday
Who left the yoghurt, the cheese and the cake in the office fridge? An easy French story about colleagues sharing food, with glosses and matching questions.
Exam practiceA2
Write a French title that fits your paragraph
Choose a precise French title for a short personal text. Compare three headings, write your own and explain how it matches the paragraph’s subject and scope.
Graded storyA2
A2 French story: the old cinema becomes a library
Read an A2 French story about an old neighbourhood cinema that is now a library. Track remembered habits, unchanged features and a new family routine.
ReadingB1
B1 French reading: back to university after twenty years
A 45-year-old nurse goes back to university to study psychology. A B1 profile with glosses: her past motivations, today's difficulties and her hopes.
Exam practiceA2
Ask for information in a French email: an A2 course enquiry
Write a short French enquiry about a drawing course. Ask when it starts and what to bring, with a model email, question patterns and materials picture cards.
Graded storyB1
B1 French short story: a supermarket queue becomes a conversation
Follow two strangers in a supermarket queue. Read eight glosses and a full translation, then test how their assumptions change in three questions.
ReadingB1
B1 French reading: who wrote the note in the margin?
A pencilled suspicion sits beside a printed promise. Read a B1 French text and distinguish the author’s words from a previous reader’s note, with glosses and questions.
