Practice French with a French Story + Audio
To study French with this beginner level story, try working with the audio and not with the French transcript.
Listen to the audio a couple of times, then learn the French English vocabulary, then listen again. Only check out the translation if you absolutely need to.
If you are a complete beginner or need a good review, I suggest you check out my beginner French stories & grammar method.
This audiobook explains the foundations of French like no others.
Clear grammar explanations, modern pronunciation tips, and really useful vocabulary. All illustrated by a fun story recorded at three different levels of enunciation (slower, enunciated and modern). Q & A section will entice you to practice out loud what youâve learned and improve your confidence when handling simple conversations.
A new approach to learning both traditional and modern French logically structured for English speakers.
French Story Vocabulary
- Un putois: a skunk.
I have to add here that Iâve learned after this post that there was a difference between âun putoisâ which is brown and lives in Europe, and âune mouffetteâ which is the American black/white skunk. They both stink :-)
I didnât know, and itâs a common mistake since PĂ©pĂ© the skunk is⊠PĂ©pĂ© le Putois, and not PĂ©pĂ© la Mouffette !!
Here is a picture of des putois, as you can see, they are quite a different animal. So sorry for the translation error in this post⊠but as I said, it is a VERY common mistake.
- un buisson: a bush
- un aboiement: barking
- une odeur pestilentielle: a putrid smell
- un tuyau dâarrosage: a hose
- Jâai entendu dire que: I heard that
- le pipi: pee
- la chasse: hunting
- empĂȘcher: prevent
- le mien: mine
- déménagement: moving
- une de leur taniĂšre: one of their dens
- un piĂšge: a trap
- relĂącher: to free
- son ex-femme: his ex wife
3 â French Story
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Use the floating blue icon in the bottom right to hide/reveal the English translations below or just click here.
Ce weekend jâai achetĂ© un nouveau barbecue et pour fĂȘter ça, on a invitĂ© les voisins Ă dĂźner chez nous. Mais quand ils sont arrivĂ©s nos chiens ont trouvĂ© un putois qui se cachait sous un buisson.
This weekend, I bought a new barbecue and to celebrate, we invited our neighbourgs over for dinner at our place. But when they arrived, our dogs found a skunk hiding under a bush.
Soudainement il y a eu beaucoup dâaboiements, et une odeur pestilentielleâŠ
All of a sudden, there was a lot of barking and a putrid smell.
Jâai pris un tuyau dâarrosage et jâai projetĂ© de lâeau sur les chiens et le putois, pendant que mon pauvre dĂźner brĂ»lait sur le barbecue⊠Et puis jâai essayĂ© de sauver le dĂźner pendant que ma femme lavait les chiens dans la douche. (Si vous avez besoin de la formule pour laver les chiens aprĂšs une rencontre avec un putois, vous pouvez me demander. Jâai beaucoup dâexpĂ©rienceâŠ)
I took a garden hose and threw water on the dogs and the skunk while my poor dinner was burning on the barbecue ⊠And then I tried to save the dinner while my wife was washing the dogs in the shower. (If you need the formula to wash dogs after meeting a skunk, you can ask me. I have a lot of practice âŠ)
Jâai entendu dire quâun bon moyen pour faire partir les putois est de mettre du pipi de renard, dâours ou de coyote dans le jardin (vous pouvez en acheter dans les magasins de chasse). Les putois le sentent et ils ont peur car ils croient quâil y a un prĂ©dateur.
Iâve heard that a good way to get the skunks out is to put fox, bear or coyote pee in the garden (you can buy it at hunting stores). The skunks smell it and they are afraid because they believe there is a predator.
Mais moi, je nâen avais pas. Alors, jâai essayĂ© de faire pipi dans le jardin pour empĂȘcher lâarrivĂ©e des putois⊠Mais ils nâont pas eu peur de moi, et ma femme nâa pas beaucoup aimĂ© ça. Je lui ai dit que peut-ĂȘtre son pipi ferait plus peur aux putois que le mien. Elle nâa pas ri.
But I didnât have any. So, I tried to pee in the garden to prevent the skunks for coming ⊠But they were not afraid of me, and my wife did not like it very much. I told her that maybe her pee would scare the skunks more than mine. She did not laugh.
Lundi matin au moment oĂč je suis parti pour le travail, un de nos chiens est encore rentrĂ© avec lâodeur de putois. Cet aprĂšs-midi âlĂ , jâai appelĂ© une entreprise de dĂ©mĂ©nagement de putoisâŠ
Monday morning when I left for work, one of our dogs came home again with the smell of skunk. That afternoon I called a skunk moving company âŠ
Peut-ĂȘtre vous pouvez imaginer un spĂ©cialiste de putois dâIdaho (?) Câest un homme qui nâa pas beaucoup dâamis (vous avez vu le film Caddie Shack ? Il est comme Bill Murray). Câest un homme trĂšs intĂ©ressant. Il sait tout ce quâil y a Ă savoir sur les putois. Il pense comme un putoisâŠ
Maybe you can imagine an Idaho skunk specialist (?) Heâs a man who doesnât have many friends (did you see the movie Caddy Shack? Heâs like Bill Murray). He is a very interesting man. He knows everything there is to know about skunks. He thinks like a skunk âŠ
Il a trouvĂ© une de leurs taniĂšres sous notre terrasse et il a placĂ© des piĂšges Ă lâentrĂ©e. Il en a placĂ© dâautres dans le jardin, et dâautres encore dans le jardin de notre voisin. Je dois les vĂ©rifier tous les matins, et faire attention Ă ne pas laisser sortir mes chiens ni mes chats.
He found one of their dens under our patio and set traps at the entrance. He placed some more in the garden, and more in our neighborâs garden. I have to check them every morning, and be careful not to let my dogs or cats out.
Quand il attrape des putois, il les emporte dans une ville voisine et il les relĂąche. Ma femme pense que son ex-femme doit habiter lĂ -bas.
When he catches skunks, he takes them to a nearby town and releases them. My wife thinks his ex-wife must be living there.
Follow the link to read the next article on this topic : Les problĂšmes de John avec les animaux sauvages continuent (with audio)
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