📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 5 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 1 · La langue littéraire
Lire un extrait
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 5 of 30: Reading literature at C1 is a technique, not a talent. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 5.
The words
French
English
Say it
l'extraitmasculine — the article elides to l'
the extract
lehks-TREH
le premier passage
the first pass
luh pruh-myay pah-SAHZH
sauter un mot
to skip a word
soh-tay uh(n) MOH
chercher dans le dictionnaire
to look up in the dictionary
shehr-shay dah(n) luh deek-syoh-NEHR
l'explicationfeminine — the article elides to l'
the explanation
lehks-plee-kah-SYOH(n)
la technique
the technique
lah tehk-NEEK
le talent
the talent
luh tah-LAH(n)
patient
patient
pah-SYAH(n)
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
Reading literature at C1 is a technique, not a talent. First pass: who, where, what happens. Second pass: the words you skipped. Third pass: why the writer chose this order.
Et aussi · And also
Never look up the first unknown word. Finish the paragraph — French prose repeats its ideas, and the sentence after the hard one is usually the explanation.
Attention · Watch out
Never look up the first unknown word; finish the paragraph first. sauter un mot is to skip a word; chercher dans le dictionnaire is the last resort, not the first.
lire — the table
je lis · tu lis · il/elle lit · nous lisons · vous lisez · ils/elles lisent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with l'extrait.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out lire in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.