Fireside memories

"Souvenirs du coin du feu"
French C1 writing exercise

Manuelle has warm memories of family times by the fireside.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "by the fireplace", "an open fireplace", "velvet", "seen better days", "to arrange (cushions)", "plump cushions", "to open one's arms wide", "one on each side", "to slump into", "battered (furniture)", "can't help [doing]", "the hearth (fire)", "a ballerina", "to perform (stage)", "to spin and twirl", "to the sound of", "hypnotic", "a ballet".

I’ll give you some sentences to translate into French

  • I’ll show you where you make mistakes
  • I’ll keep track of what you need to practise
  • Change my choices if you want
Start the exercise
How the test works

Here's a preview of the text for the writing challenge, when you're ready click the start button above:

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always loved sitting by the fireplace. When my brother and I went to spend our Christmas holidays at our grandparents', Grandad Maurice would always light a big fire in their open fireplace. Grandma Pauline would then sit down in the middle of their velvet sofa - which had seen better days! - and once she had arranged her plump cushions around her, she would open her arms wide so that we would join her, one on each side. As for Grandad, he would slump into his old battered armchair to read the local newspaper while wearing his glasses on the tip of his big nose. I remember that I couldn't help staring at the hearth where, like the graceful ballerinas who performed at the Opera, the flames would spin and twirl harmoniously to the sound of a mysterious melody. I will never forget this hypnotic ballet which bewitched the winter nights of my youth.

Clever stuff happening!