102
Grammar tip: Devoir, falloir, vouloir and the conditional
Page 105
Grammar tip: The conjunction ʺ si ʺ
and hypotheses
Page 107
ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS
Page 111
12 Short Suspense Stories in French, Nr. 1 13
FOREWORD
WHY SUCH A BOOK? As French teachers, we always like to recommend French books to our students, but most of them are too difficult for them to understand fully, which can lead to considerable discouragement or frustration. Therefore, we de-cided to publish a collection of short suspense stories with vocabulary glossaries sprinkled throughout the text, along with complete audio recordings of each story. The readers will have the option of listening to the entire story and, thus, improving their listening comprehension. The glossaries will make the reading more enjoyable as the student wonʹt have to spend time looking up definitions in a dictionary. Compared to other stories that have been published with the objective of helping students learn French, these well‐crafted stories are more excit-ing, even suspenseful, to read because each of them ends with a surprising twist that will bring a smile to the readerʹs face.
This book is the first in a new series of publications by Languages at Home (see page 4). They also complement the French lessons by Skype that we have been providing since 2004 to more than 3,000 students through our main online school: Learn French at Home (see page 125).
The 12 short suspense stories that you will find in this new collection have all been previously published in the Petites his-
14 Le bruit des vagues...
toires section in various issues of our magazine French Accent.
We have added much longer and more detailed glossaries, grammar tips and cultural notes, together with exercises for each story, with answers in French.
They are especially suited and designed for intermediate and advanced students. Reading these stories is an excellent way to learn more vocabulary, especially idiomatic expressions, and to familiarize yourself with the way French people express certain feelings in their everyday language.
The book is available in two different formats: a printed version, and an e‐book version where you will be able to listen to the full audio of each story (see page 8).
It is a welcome addition to the many tools and aids for learning French, and we hope you will find it useful as well as tan-talizing!
12 Short Suspense Stories in French, Nr. 1 15
1. LE BRUIT DES VAGUES
Listen to the story, and read it out loud :
ʺSOUVENEZ‐VOUS DʹUN BRUIT particulier qui vous fut plus agréable que les autres.ʺ Jeanne trouva cette suggestion de lʹanimateur de lʹatelier dʹécriture plus difficile que dʹhabitude.
Un thème sur lequel la vingtaine de participants devaient rédiger un texte de leur choix, en un peu moins dʹune heure. Il y a beaucoup de bruits quʹelle aimait.
fut (simple past of the verb être) = was trouva (simple past of trouver) = found animateur = workshop leader, host, organizer atelier dʹécriture = creative writing workshop vingtaine = around 20
rédiger = to write, compose
un peu moins dʹune heure = a little less than one hour
16 Le bruit des vagues...
Le ronronnement du chat lorsquʹil se blottissait contre elle, le bruit des pas sur les feuilles séchées, celui des clefs dans la porte quand les enfants rentraient de lʹécole, les accords de piano des Nocturnes de Chopin, le chant des oiseaux au lever du jour...
ronronnement = the purring (of a cat)
se blottissait (imperfect of se blottir) contre = cuddled up against
accords = chords
lever du jour = dawn
Et le bruit des vagues. Le plus beau, le plus romantique des bruits, évocateur de sable fin, de soleil, de chaleur, de va-cances, se dit Jeanne. Mais comment distinguer un bruit particulier ayant gravé à jamais la mémoire ? Elle hésitait encore quand, soudain, elle se souvint dʹun moment unique, marqué par le son du ricochet des vagues sur les rochers.
se dit (simple past of se dire) = wondered, asked herself
ayant gravé à jamais = having made an indelible impact
se souvint (simple past of se souvenir) dʹ ( de) = re-membered
marqué par = cadenced by, paced by
12 Short Suspense Stories in French, Nr. 1 17
