essay on les vacances

Complete Guide to French Vacation ⛱

Learn the French vacation vocabulary + French to describe your holidays in France + Vacation dates and zones in France + tips form a French native.

Vacation, in French “les vacances” (always plural), is at the heart of the French culture.

With 5 weeks paid vacation for French employees, and a total of 16 weeks of vacation for French school students, France sure values her holidays.

1 – French Holiday Vocabulary

• bonnes vacances! = have a good holiday!
• bon voyage! = have a good trip!
• bonne route! = have a safe journey!
• les grandes vacances = school summer break
• partir en vacances = to go on holiday/vacation
• aller au soleil = to go under the sun
• aller à la mer = to go by the beach
• aller à la montagne = to go to the mountains (usually to ski, but maybe to hike)
• Faire ses valises = to pack
• Défaire ses valises = to unpack
• On est allés… We went… à l’hôtel – in a hotel dans un club de vacances – in a resort dans un camping – in a camping dans une auberge de jeunesse – in a youth hostel dans un gîte / une chambre d’hôte – in a B&B chez des amis – at some friend’s house.
• le départ – departure
• l’arrivée – arrival
• le trajet – the trip
• le voyage – the trip
• la douane – customs
• l’immigration – immigration
• la frontière – the border
• un passeport – passport
• un billet d’avion – plane ticket
• un ticket de train – train ticket
• une réservation – booking

2 – Expressing What Went Well or Poorly During Your Vacation in French

• On a vu… = we saw
• Le voyage/tout… s’est bien / mal passé = the trip/everything… went well / poorly
• La circulation était fluide / dense = traffic was fluid / dense
• L’avion/ le train était à l’heure / en retard = the plane / the train was on time / late
• La chambre (n’) était (pas) très confortable = the room was very comfortable (or not)
• La vue était superbe / moche (slang) = the view was great / ugly
• La nourriture était délicieuse / dégueulasse (slang) = the food was delicious / awful
• Il a fait beau / mauvais = the weather was nice / bad
• Il a fait (trop) chaud / froid = the temperature was (too) hot / cold
• Le musée était ouvert / fermé = the museum was open / close
• On a perdu nos valises = we (or someone else) lost our suitcases
• On a été volé = we were robbed
• J’ai été malade = I was sick
• Il y avait des grèves = there were strikes
• Le vol a été annulé = the flight was canceled

3 – Paid Vacation in France

The French are known to take a lot of vacations, especially if you compare them to the Americans! But is this “five weeks of paid vacation” myth really true?

Yes it is. According to Le Journal du Net, French employees take even more vacation time than that, with an average of 37 days per year, or 5.2 weeks (in 2012). There is quite a difference between French workers: a public office manager takes an average 7.4 weeks of paid vacation, versus a farm worker/ artisan who takes 4.6 weeks.

So who doesn’t take this much vacation in France? Self employed people… Shop owners, small businesses and startups – believe me, not everybody takes 5 weeks vacation in France!

However, it’s true that in general, the French really enjoy a lot of vacation time: don’t go to France in August and expect to do a lot of shopping! A lot of stores close in August – and actually in January as well, especially in smaller countryside towns.

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4 – School Vacation and School Breaks Dates in France

French kids enjoy 16 weeks of vacation (+ all the long weekends and official holidays…)

The French school vacation is divided as follows:

• France’s Summer break: “les grandes vacances”, July and August, so 8 weeks total.
• France’s Fall vacation: “les vacances de la Toussaint”, mid October, 2 weeks.
• France’s Christmas break: “les vacances de Noël”, mid December, 2 weeks.
• France’s Winter vacation: “les vacances d’hiver”, zone dependant*, February, 2 weeks.
• France’s Spring break: “les vacances de printemps”, zone dependant*, April, 2 weeks.

5 – What is the French Vacation “Zone” System?

Since 1964, France is divided into “zones” to facilitate the departure of students for vacation : France is cut into three zones (A, B, C) and the vacation time spread over one month so that there is enough room for everybody in the ski stations! I am NOT kidding…

So now, every single French household with kids has to check out this map to know which zone they now belong to, and when the vacation for their kid is going to be. And forget about meeting your Parisians cousins for the vacation if you live in Brittany… you are not in the same zone, which means you won’t have the same vacation date.

So practical!

For more info and exact French vacation dates, go to the French School Vacation Government Site .

6 – Watch Out For Ticket Prices and Driving in France During School Vacation

Of course, as soon as you hit the vacation starting / ending dates, France is in a gridlock. We call them: “les journées noires” (black days) and you should not plan on driving during these days if you don’t want to be stuck in endless traffic-jams (“les embouteillages”, “les bouchons”).

Train and plane tickets, room prices, all goes up as well.

So it’s a good thing to know about the French school vacation dates before you plan your next trip to France!

7 – French Speaking Vacation Tip – Think Club Med!

Lots of French students want to practice their French during their vacation. It’s a good idea, however:

• you have to pick your location carefully (read my article about vacationing in France )
• you need to make sure you get people to talk to – it’s not always easy to strike up a French conversation with perfect strangers… This is why I recommend you check out my immersion at French Teacher’s house programs .

However, your family may not speak French, or share your enthusiasm to visit France over and over again… Or going to France maybe too far, too complicated… So why not try “Club Med”?

As a French organization, many people speak French there, and you’ll be surrounded by a lot of French guests. Even in Florida, or the Caribbeans…

Club med now has “family” clubs, which are kid friendly – although not everybody may agree on what is PC around kids! The evening shows may be viewed as “too risqué” for very conservative families, so be aware that with French speaking people, you’ll also get a bit of French culture, humor, attitude…

8 – How do You Say “How Was Your Vacation” in French?

This is more tricky than it sounds. First, you have to memorize that the French word for vacation is always plural: les vacances, mes vacances, des vacances… The verb and adjectives will also have to be plural to match “les vacances”.

Then, to ask “how was your vacation” (or rather how were your vacations in French…) we don’t use the same construction.

• In formal French, we say: “comment se sont passées tes/vos vacances”?

Or you can use a statement and turn it into an informal question:

• “Vos/tes vacances se sont bien passées?”
• Another way is to switch it around: “vous avez / tu as passé de bonnes vacances ?”

I suggest you pick one and learn it by heart to use it yourself, but you need to know the three formulas because they are very, very common in French.

Of course, one can get creative and say: “tes/vos vacances, c’était bien ?”. It’s much simpler, but less used in French!

9 – How do You Answer “My Vacation was…” in French?

Here again, you have to watch out to keep your answer in the plural.

Your answer usually “matches” the formality of the question, but it’s not set in stones.

• Mes vacances se sont (très) bien/mal passées – My vacation was (very) good/bad.
• J’ai passé de (très) bonnes / mauvaises vacances – I had a (very) good / bad vacation.

or, much easier:

• C’était super / nul – It was great / really bad.

10 – How to say Where You Went / Are Going on Vacation in French?

[ftimmersion_ad]

You’ll start by using “aller” or “partir”.

In the past, both form their passé-composé with “être” :

• Je suis allé(e), je suis parti(e) – I went, I left
• Nous sommes allé(e)s, nous sommes parti(e)s – we went, we left

In the future, we tend to use the near future construction:

• Je vais aller, je vais partir – I’m going to go, I’m going to leave
• Nous allons aller, nous allons partir – we’re going to go, we’re going to leave

Then, what follows get complicated… I’ll sum it up here, but read my articles to know more about the French prepositions of place and how to say the date in French .

• Use à + city, en + feminine country, au + masculine country, aux + plural country. Je suis allée à Paris, en France, au Japon, aux Bahamas.
• Use en + month Je vais aller en France en juillet.

Voilà, I hope this is helpful. To learn more about French vacation vocabulary, the best is to learn in context: I suggest you check out my “ Une Semaine à Paris ” and “ Une Semaine à Paimpol ” downloadable French audiobooks, featuring:

• A fun and reachable French story, full of useful everyday vocabulary and situations, and its English translation.
• A story recorded at 2 speeds: a bit slower than normal and street French (normal for the French and featuring modern pronunciation and glidings).
• A Q&A section to practice your French out loud and check your understanding of the story.

I post new articles every week, so make sure you subscribe to the French Today newsletter – or follow me on  Facebook , Twitter  and  Pinterest .

Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Born and raised in Paris, I have been teaching today's French to adults for 25+ years in the US and France. Based on my students' goals and needs, I've created unique downloadable French audiobooks focussing on French like it's spoken today, for all levels. Come to Paimpol and enjoy an exclusive French immersion homestay with me in Brittany .

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50+ Important French Vacation Words and Phrases (With Audio)

Whether you enjoy the feel of seawater and hot sand or the crisp mountain air, there’s nothing like a relaxing vacation.

However you choose to vacation, wouldn’t you love to do it all in French?

Here are 50+ useful French vacation vocabulary words and phrases , with example sentences so you can use them correctly in context.

So grab that passport and let’s get started!

French Vacation Vocabulary for a Smooth Trip

Talking about vacation plans, vacation accommodation, modes of transport, vacation activities, tips to learn vacation vocabulary, drill flashcards before your trip, visualize the vocabulary, watch authentic french videos, start using the words in your own sentences, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

This topic will require you to get comfortable with some basic interrogatives in French .

Common questions and answers

• où ? (where?)
• quand ? (when?)
• avec qui ? (with whom?)
• Comment voyages-tu ? (How are you traveling?)
• Je vais au / à la…  (I’m going to…)
• pendant (during)

Vacation seasons

• les vacances de Noël ( Christmas vacation )
• les vacances d’été ( summer vacation , also known as les grandes vacances )
• les vacances d’hiver ( winter vacation )
• les vacances de printemps ( spring vacation )
• les vacances de la Toussaint ( fall vacation ; All Saints)

Example sentences

Où vas-tu en vacances ? (Where are you going on vacation?)

Je vais à la plage / à la montagne / à l’étranger. (I’m going to the beach/to the mountains/overseas.)

Quand iras-tu en vacances ? (When will you go on vacation?)

Je voyagerai pendant les vacances d’été. (I will travel during the summer vacation.)

Avec qui allez-vous voyager / vas-tu voyager ? (Who are you going to travel with?)

Places people stay on vacation

• un hôtel (a hotel)
• une auberge de jeunesse (a youth hostel)
• un club de vacances (a resort)
• un camping (a camping ground)
• un appartement (an apartment)
• un gîte (a holiday home/cottage)
• une chambre d’hôtes (a bed and breakfast)

Phrases for making a reservation

• Je voudrais une chambre (I would like a room…)
• salle de bains (bathroom)
• pour une / deux / trois / quatre personnes   (for one/two/three/four people)
• du… au… (from [date] to [date])

Je voudrais une chambre pour deux personnes avec salle de bains du 5 août au 12 août. (I would like a room for two with a bathroom from August 5 to August 12.)

Pour mes vacances, je vais loger dans un hôtel. (For my vacation I am going to stay in a hotel.)

Je logerai dans une auberge de jeunesse. (I will stay in a youth hostel.)

L’année dernière, j’ai logé dans un camping. (Last year, I stayed in a camping ground.)

Getting to your destination

• en avion (by plane)
• l’aéroport (airport)
• en bateau (by boat)
• en train (by train)
• la gare (the station)
• le billet (the ticket)
• aller-retour (round trip)

Getting around your vacation spot

• en métro (by subway)
• en bus (by bus) 
• en taxi (by taxi)
• à pied (on foot)

Comment vas-tu en Belgique ? En avion ou en train ? (How are you going to Belgium? By plane or by train ?)

Où est l’aéroport, s’il vous plaît ? (Where is the airport, please?)

Je cherche la gare. (I am looking for the train station .)

À quelle heure est le départ de l’avion ? (What time does the plane leave?)

Combien coûte le billet pour Nice ? (How much does the ticket to Nice cost?)

Je voudrais un aller-retour pour le train qui va à Marseille. (I would like a return ticket on the train going to Marseille.)

This topic is a great opportunity to pick up common French nouns and verbs . There are hundreds of activities that you can add to your vocabulary list. Some common ones include:

• faire de la planche à voile (to windsurf)
• faire du lèche-vitrine (to go window-shopping )
• bronzer (to suntan)
• aller au restaurant (to go to the restaurant)
• nager (to swim)
• faire du ski (to ski)
• faire une randonnée (to go hiking)
• faire du vélo (to cycle)
• visiter des monuments / des musées (to visit monuments/museums)
• participer à une visite guidée (to join a guided tour)

Try to use this vocabulary with different tenses!

Aujourd’hui, je voudrais aller à la plage pour bronzer. (Today, I would like to go to the beach to suntan.)

Hier, je suis allé(e) faire du vélo en montagne. (Yesterday, I went cycling in the mountains.)

Demain, j’irai au restaurant avec mes amis. (Tomorrow, I will go to the restaurant with my friends.)

One of the best parts of going on a holiday in France is getting to eat out and sample food. So, food vocabulary should be in the cards. We’ll give you the basics for a vacation— for an in-depth guide to restaurant vocabulary in French, check out this article.

• le repas (the meal)
• le petit déjeuner (breakfast)
• le déjeuner (lunch)
• le dîner (dinner)
• la salle à manger (the dining room)
• le restaurant (restaurant)
• Qu’est-ce que vous recommandez aujourd’hui ? (What do you recommend today?)
• le plat du jour (today’s special)
• Je voudrais… (I would like…)
• L’addition, s’il vous plaît. (The check, please.)

À quelle heure est le petit déjeuner ? (What time is breakfast ?)

Comme dessert, je voudrais la crème caramel. (For dessert, I would like the crème caramel.)

Recommandez-vous le plat du jour ? (Do you recommend today’s special?)

Je voudrais des escargots. (I would like some snails.)

Make flashcards for the words above and go through them periodically before your trip. You don’t even need to carry around a stack of index cards—there are apps like Quizlet for creating flashcards online and even playing games to test yourself.

French vacation words tend to be highly visual, so consider  making mind maps , or visual diagrams that represent the words you want to learn. There are many examples of mind map templates online.

You can also create a memory palace . The idea of this memorization device is to visualize a location—say, your childhood home—and populate it with the relevant vocabulary. For example, you could visualize a building and each hallway, room or object would be associated with a word you wish to remember.

It’s a great technique for visual learners to create context for seemingly isolated terms.

The best way to remember any new French vocabulary is to learn it in context. And one of the best ways to do that is to watch videos in French from French sources. You can easily find French TV shows and movies on streaming services like Netflix. If you prefer shorter videos, you can find French videos about all sorts of topics on YouTube.

FluentU is another way to hear French how it’s spoken in actual French-speaking regions. It’s a language learning program that uses authentic videos with interactive subtitles as the core of its lessons, along with active learning features like flashcards and quizzes.

The videos on FluentU are sorted by topic, so you can easily find media that’s related to travel, such as news clips about French vacation habits or video tours of French open-air hotels.

You’ll be using the words and phrases below with real French speakers throughout your vacation. So, why not start practicing now?

For example, don’t just learn the word nager (to swim). Start creating sentences, like:

Où est la plage ? J’aimerais nager cet après-midi. (Where is the beach? I would like to swim this afternoon.)

Savez-vous nager ? (Do you know how to swim?)

To ensure your own sentences actually make sense, you can use a grammar checker like Bon Patron . 

Now that you’ve used all the tools and resources at your fingertips and you’ve prepared everything for your vacation, you’re ready to go.

Use your new vocabulary as often as you can and you’ll become good at communicating and recognizing repeated words.

Bonnes vacances ! (Have a good vacation!)

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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Travel and tourism – How to talk about holidays in French – 8 fantastic French GCSE exam questions answered

• Non classé , French GCSE Free videos , Video

Welcome to my blog ! May I invite you to download the FREE sensational COLOR-CODED guide to conjugating 24 of the most common verbs in French ! Click here to download 😀

Welcome back to my site ! May I invite you if you have not done so yet to download the FREE sensational COLOR-CODED guide to conjugating 24 of the most common verbs in French ! Click here to download 😀

Travel and tourism : Can you discuss your latest holiday in French? Learn useful phrases to improve your ability to talk about your travel experiences.

My magic reusable paragraph

To talk successfully about travel and tourism in French, the idea is to reuse the same French writing and make some adjustments to answer 8 different GCSE french speaking questions 🤫

Je passe mes vacances au bord de mer 🌊 avec ma famille 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 parce que c’est relaxant 👍 et que les plages sont belles. Il fait beau 🌞 alors nous allons bronzer 😎sur la plage🏖. D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques⛵️. C’est vraiment chouette👍. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batteries.

I spend my holidays by the sea 🌊 with my family because it’s relaxing 👍 and the beaches are beautiful. The weather is nice 🌞 so we are going to sunbathe 😎on the beach🏖. On the one hand, I like to relax on vacation and on the other hand, I like to do water sports⛵️. It’s really cool. It is important to relax on vacation to recharge your batteries.

Travel and tourism in French

8 useful GCSE French speaking questions on travel and tourism in French

1. Où passes-tu normalement les vacances ?

 Where do you normally spend your holiday? Normalement , je passe mes vacances au bord de mer avec ma famille parce que c’est relaxant et que les plages sont belles. Il fait beau alors nous allons bronzer sur la plage. D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques. C’est vraiment chouette. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batterie s.

2. Quel genre de vacances préfères-tu et pourquoi ?

What is your favourite type of holiday and why? Je préfère passe r mes vacances au bord de mer avec ma famille parce que c’est relaxant et que les plages sont belles. Il fait beau alors nous allons bronzer sur la plage. D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques. C’est vraiment chouette. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batteries.

3. Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire en vacances et pourquoi ?

What do you like doing during the holidays and why? J’aime passer mes vacances au bord de mer avec ma famille parce que c’est relaxant et que les plages sont belles. Il fait beau alors nous allons bronzer sur la plage. D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques. C’est vraiment chouette. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batterie s

4. Penses-tu que c’est important d’avoir des vacances?

Do you think holidays are important? Je pense que c’est important d’avoir des vacances parce que c’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batterie s.

5. Peux-tu décrire tes dernières vacances. Où et quand es-tu allé(e) en vacances et avec qui ? Quel temps faisait-il ? Qu’est-ce que tu as fait ?

Describe your last holiday. Where and when did you go? Who did you go with? What did you do? What was the weather like? J’ai passé mes dernières vacances au bord de mer avec ma famille Il f aisait beau alors nous sommes allés bronzer sur la plage . D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques. C ’était vraiment chouette. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batteries.

6. Parle d’une de tes sorties pendant tes vacances.

J’ai passé mes dernières vacances au bord de mer avec ma famille. Il faisait beau alors nous sommes allés bronzer sur la plage / visiter le centre ville. D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques. C’était vraiment chouette. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batteries.

7. Où vas-tu aller en vacances l’année prochaine ?

Where will you spend your next holidays next year? L’année prochaine, je vais passer mes vacances au bord de mer avec ma famille parce que c’est relaxant et que les plages sont belles. Il fera beau alors nous irons bronzer sur la plage. D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques. Ce sera vraiment chouette. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batteries.

8. Si tu gagnais à la loterie, où passerais-tu tes vacances ?

Si je gagnais à la loterie, je passerais mes vacances au bord de mer avec ma famille parce que c’est relaxant et que les plages sont belles. Il ferait beau alors nous irions bronzer sur la plage. D’une part, J’aime me relaxer en vacances et d’autre part, j’aime faire les sports nautiques. Ce serait vraiment chouette. C’est important de se relaxer en vacances pour recharger ses batteries.

Watch the video about travel and tourism in French

Here is a summary of everything I said in video to help you master prononciation in French 👍

Travel and tourism is one of the topic your can find in my new French GCSE online course, perfect for French enthusiast who want to brush up their French and French teenagers who want to get top marks at their French GCSE exam, find out more below ✅

French GCSE online course

Would you like to save money while learning French with a native ? Would you like to learn French when you want, where you want and at your own rhythm ? Would you like to find out how well you are doing and follow your progression in French?

This is all possible with this brand new French GCSE online course developed by me an experienced French teacher . Having taught French GCSE in London, I prepared this interactive GCSE French online course to help my students learn faster while managing the learning at their own pace .

The topics include :

• Travel and tourism : talking about holidays in French
• School : Talking about your favourite subject at school
• My family, friends and I : Talking about yourself, your family and your friends
• Jobs : Talking about jobs, preparing for a job interview, discussing future plans
• The environment
• International Dimension
• Hobbies, Technology : Talking about what you do in your free time 👍

Filled with videos, podcasts in French and French exercises that you can do online, with immediate correction in French , you can learn from your mistakes and progress with your studies on your own. If you don’t like learning French from the old same book and fancy a more interactive and lively method of learning French, to live with you own time, then this e learning French course is for you.

Available soon at an introductory rate, it covers all the eight Edexcel modules and French GCSE topics and has been designed to practice the 4 CECRL language skills in French : Reading, writing, speaking and listening. Build with the French GCSE marking schemes in mind, it will show you the tricks to get top marks at your exam. Why don’t you try the free demo without any commitment. It won’t cost you a penny and it might be a great help with your French GCSE speaking and writing exam. Leave me your contact details to find out when it is out.

Try the free demo version now ✅

What do you want in a French course ? Let me know !

Write your requirement in this very short Monkey survey ! Do the Monkey survey

Happy learning ! 😊👍❤️

Bonne apprentissage du français authentique 🇫🇷

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The sensational 'nail the french conjugation table'. learn how to conjugate easily thanks to this color-coded method all 80 most common french verbs .

Raconter ses vacances à la mer en français

Phrases en français pour apprendre à décrire et à raconter ses vacances à la mer :  

Description de la plage en français

Dialogue entre deux amis sur les vacances

Les bases en français pour voyager

Phrases en français pour les vacances d'été

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One of the most exciting things to do in life is take a trip. Here you’ll find a complete French conversation lesson with questions all about different trips you’ve taken. Click here for the downloadable PDF and contact me to try this lesson via Skype!

• As‐tu déjà voyagé dans ton pays de naissance? Quels endroits est‐ce que tu as visité? Have you traveled in the country where you were born? Which places have you visited?
• As‐tu déjà voyagé à l’étranger? Quels pays est‐ce que tu as visité? Have you traveled abroad? Which countries have you visited?
• Combien de pays as‐tu visité? Combien d’états ou provinces (au Canada)? How many countries have you visited? How many states and Canadian provinces have you visited?
• As-tu deja voyagé dans un pays francophone ou tu as pu utiliser ton francais? Have you ever traveled to a French speaking country where you could use your French?
• Apprends-tu le francais avec l’objectif de faire des voyages? Are you learning French with the goal to travel?
• As‐tu récemment voyagé? Où es‐tu allé(e)? Have you taken a trip recently? Where did you go?
• Où est‐ce que tu iras pendant tes prochaines vacances? Avec qui est‐ce que tu voyageras et combien de temps vas‐tu passer dans l’endroit? Where will you go for your next vacation? Who
• will you travel with and how long will you spend there?
• As‐tu fait des voyages quand tu étais un(e) enfant? Où es‐tu allé(e)? Did you travel when you were a child? Where did you go?
• As‐tu déjà voyagé dans ta propre région? Connais‐tu bien la région où tu habites? Have you traveled in the region where you live? Do you know the region well?
• Quand as‐tu fait ton premier voyage à l’étranger? As‐tu eu peur de quitter ton pays la première fois? When did you take your first trip overseas? Were you afraid to leave your country for the first time?
• As‐tu déjà fait un voyage tout(e) seul(e)? Où es‐tu allé(e) et as‐tu eu peur de voyager seul(e)? Have you ever taken a trip alone? Where did you go and were you afraid to travel alone?
• Aimerais‐tu passer le reste de ta vie à l’étranger? Would you like to spend the rest of your life abroad?
• Peux‐tu te rappeler d’un voyage que tu as vraiment aimé? Où es‐tu allé(e)? Can you remember a trip that you really liked? Where did you go?
• Peux‐tu te rappeler d’un voyage que tu n’as pas aimé? Ou est‐tu allé(e)? Can you remember a trip that you didn’t like? Where did you go?
• Préfères‐tu voyager seul(e) où dans un groupe avec un guide? Pourquoi? Do you prefer to travel alone or in a group with a guide?
• As‐tu déjà fait un voyage en train? Où es-tu allé? As‐tu aimé le train? Have you ever traveled by train? Where did you go? Did you like the train?
• Aimes‐tu prendre l’avion ou as-tu en a peur? Do you like to take airplane or are you afraid?
• T’es-tu déjà perdu(e) au voyage? Raconte l’histoire! Have you ever gotten lost on a trip? Tell the story!
• As‐tu déjà fait de l’auto‐stop? Raconte l’aventure! Have you ever done hitch-hiking? Tell the adventure!
• Préfères‐tu voyager avec peu ou beaucoup de baggages? Do you prefer to travel with little or a lot of luggage?
• Aimes‐tu faire du camping et faire de la randonnée? Où as tu fait un tel voyage? Do you like camping or hiking? Where have you taken such a trip?
• Quels pays rêves‐tu encore de visiter dans ta vie? Quels pays est‐ce que tu n’aimerais pas visiter? Which countries do you still dream of visiting in your lifetime? Which countries do you not want to visit?
• Que dois-tu apporter quand tu visites un pays étranger? What do you have to bring with you when you visit a foreign country?
• Quelle est ta ville préférée? Quand as‐tu visité cette ville? Aimerais‐tu vivre là‐bas? What is your favorite city? When did you visit this city? Would you like to live there?
• Aimes‐tu acheter des souvenirs quand tu voyages? Qu’aimes-tu acheter? Do you like to buy souvenirs when you travel? What do you like to buy?
• Quel est l’endroit le plus beau que tu aies visité? What’s the most beautiful country that you’ve visited?
• As‐tu déjà fait une croisière? Où es‐tu allé(e)? Have you ever taken a cruise? Where did you go?
• Aimes‐tu revisiter les mêmes endroits? Do you like to travel back to the same places?
• As‐tu déjà voyagé en première classe? Have you ever traveled in first class?
• En général où vont les gens de ton pays vont en vacances? In general, where do people from your country go for vacation?
• Habites‐tu dans une région touristique? D’où viennent les touristes qui visitent ta région? Do you live in a touristic region? Where do the people come from who visit your area?
• Si tu avais $100,000 et tu pouvais aller n’importe où, où est‐ce que tu irais? If you had $100,00 and you could go anywhere, where would you go?

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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DELF A1: Writing a Postcard or letter in french about your vacation

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How do you write a postcard or letter in french telling someone, such as a friend, about your vacation? This is a common question to be found on many french exam or test paper. Well this article a step by step guide on how to write a postcard or letter telling someone about your vacation.  

In the Production Ecrite section of your french exam such as the DELF A1 exam, you will be required to write a message, email or letter consisting of 40 to 50 words.  So lets begin!

How to plan your postcard or letter in french

It is possible to plan and practice various response to the possible exercises before the date of your exam.  In general, when you are writing a postcard there are certain information you may include, such as:

• How You went
• Where you went (montagne, plage, campagne, ville…)
• When / with whom you went
• Where or with whom are you staying? (à l’hôtel, chez l’habitant, dans un camping, dans un gîte…) Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
• What you saw or visit/did or are doing, etc
• Are you enjoying yourself?
• What is the weather and or the place like
• When are you coming back?
• Sign your name

While it is not necessary to provide all of the above information, It is important to note that DELF exam instructions, sometimes select from the list above and specifically ask you to include such information. As a result, it is important to practice different response which will include different combination of the suggestions above. The ones highlighted in red are the basics and should almost always be included in your postcard.

Writing your postcard or letter in french

Sample exercise: writing  a postcard or letter in french about your vacation.

Exercise 1                                                                                                   15 points  

Vous êtes en vacances à Nice. Vous envoyez une petite carte postale a un ami à Paris. Vous lui parlez de temps, de vous activités et vous lui donnez votre date de retour. (40 à 50 mots).

Sample letter in french about your vacation :

Bonjour Jean,

  (Word count = 49)

Sample Exercise for You!

Salut______________,

Je suis en vacances à _____________ pour _________________. C’est une ville très ______________. je visite_________________. c’est________________. Il fait______________ . Je rentrerai chez-moi _____________________.

________________

Evaluation:

• Greetings : Bonjour Jean ( We could also use: “Salut Jean Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ”  “ Cher Jean” . Use “Chère” only if it is a female)
• Where you are and for how long: Je suis en vacances à Nice pour cinq jours
• What you did or are doing: Hier, j’ai jou é au volley sur la plage . Maintenant, je prends le déjeuner dans un petit café.
• Are you enjoying yourself? Super!
• What is the weather and or the place like: Il fait très beau, avec beaucoup de soleil.
• When are you coming back?:  Je rentrerai chez-moi samedi prochain.
• Farewells: Bises ( We could also use: “ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 A bientôt” “or “a samedi !” or “a la semaine prochaine !” or “au revoir”)
• Sign your name: Janet

There is agreement of adjective and verb: un petit café. Plus I have used three tenses:

• Le présent: je prends, Il fait ,
• le passé composé: j’ai jou é
• le futur: Je rentrerai .

I have included the specific information that they had asked for. I have also stayed within the word limit. 

Remember to stick to the word limit and follow the instructions that are given. If they want you to provide any specific information such as when you are coming back, the weather, what you visited etc this must be included in your postcard. You will lose points if this is not done.

Check for Errors

Remember to read carefully through your text. Check to ensure that plural words have a plural ending. Make sure that there is agreement between adjectives and the nouns they describe (such as une belle église , un beau chateau ). Check all to ensure that all verbs are in the right tense and that the endings match the subject (such as Je vais for the present but Je suis allé for the past ). Check to make sure you have followed the instructions and fully used all the structures that you have learnt during your study.

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French - GCSE - writing - les vacances (150 word model answer - complex structures)

Subject: French

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

3 December 2019

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BUNDLE available here (+10 long writing model answers) https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/french-gcse-igcse-long-writing-revision-grade-9-model-answers-10-topics-12219357

Worksheet to help my GCSE students write 150 words on four given bullet points using complex structures (extracted from the model answer).

ANSWERS ARE PROVIDED

MATS on HOLIDAYS

https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/french-mat-holiday-ks4-igcse-gcse-11939864

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