Heatwave

"La canicule"
French B2 writing exercise

A weather forecast on one of the hottest days of the year.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to break a record", "weather records", "heat", "seasonal norms", "Special Criminal Court [BR: Crown Court] of Paris", "magistrate [US: judge]", "a clerk", "heatwave orange vigilance level", "make sure to", "preferably", "non-alcoholic", "decaffeinated", "to adjust oneself", "a freezer".

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

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

The night of Wednesday to Thursday broke heat records for a June in France. Never had the temperatures been that high in some regions of the country since weather records began in 1872. For the summer solstice, temperatures rose well above seasonal norms: in Paris for example, they reached 29℃ around 4am. At the Special Criminal Court [BR: Crown Court] of Paris, magistrates [US: judges], clerks and lawyers were even allowed to take off their robes due to the heat! According to the weather forecast, temperatures will remain exceptionally high in much of the country this Thursday, with 67 departments maintaining the heatwave orange vigilance level. Elderly persons, pregnant women and children being the most vulnerable during a heatwave, make sure to follow these few pieces of advice to be able to sleep despite the heat: - Hydrate yourself and your child before going to bed, by drinking preferably cool non-alcoholic and decaffeinated beverages. - Have a cool shower or bath so that your internal temperature can adjust itself. - Finally, do not hesitate to put your damp sheet in the freezer during the day.

Clever stuff happening!