📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 20 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 4 · Les langages professionnels
Lire sans être spécialiste
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 20 of 30: A specialist document is readable if you read it for its shape. 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 20.
The words
French
English
Say it
le spécialiste
the specialist
luh spay-syah-LEEST
lire à rebours
to read backwards
leer ah ruh-BOOR
le résumé en tête
the summary at the top
luh ray-zew-may ah(n) TEHT
accepter l'inconnu
to accept the unknown
ahk-sehp-tay la(n)-koh-NEW
le nom technique
the technical noun
luh noh(n) tehk-NEEK
suivre le fil
to follow the thread
sweevr luh FEEL
échouer à un examen
to fail an exam
ay-shoo-ay ah uh(n) neg-zah-MA(n)
lisible
readable
lee-ZEEBL
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
A specialist document is readable if you read it for its shape. Find the conclusion first — French reports put it in the résumé or at the end — then read backwards for the reasons.
Et aussi · And also
And accept the unknown nouns. In a technical text the nouns are the subject matter and the verbs are the argument; if the verbs are clear you can follow a text whose nouns you would fail an exam on.
Attention · Watch out
Read a specialist text for its VERBS: the nouns are the subject matter, the verbs carry the argument. Find the conclusion first — French reports put it in the résumé or at the end — then read backwards.
paraître — the table
je parais · tu parais · il/elle paraît · nous paraissons · vous paraissez · ils/elles paraissent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le spécialiste.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out paraître 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.