La leçon de guitare
The Guitar Lesson
A girl asks her elderly neighbor to teach her guitar, and their Wednesday lessons become a new friendship.
- music
- intergenerational friendship
Tap an underlined word to see its meaning.
What you'll encounter
- Grammar
- present tense
- Vocabulary
- music and instrument vocabulary
- feelings vocabulary
- Skills
- reading an intergenerational dialogue
- following step-by-step instructions
Inès n’a pas d’instrument de musique à la maison. Elle a neuf ans et habite à Montpellier, dans un immeuble avec un petit jardin. Elle adore la musique.
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Inès doesn't have a musical instrument at home. She is nine years old and lives in Montpellier, in a building with a small garden. She loves music.
Son voisin, Monsieur Vidal, habite au rez-de-chaussée. C’est un homme âgé et calme. Il joue de la guitare depuis très longtemps, presque toute sa vie.
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Her neighbor, Monsieur Vidal, lives on the ground floor. He is an elderly, calm man. He has been playing guitar for a very long time, almost his whole life.
Sa guitare est vieille, avec de petites sur le bois. Monsieur Vidal l’appelle « ma vieille amie » et en prend toujours grand soin.
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His guitar is old, with small scratches on the wood. Monsieur Vidal calls it "my old friend" and always takes great care of it.
Chaque soir, Monsieur Vidal joue de la guitare sur son . Inès adore écouter sa musique depuis sa fenêtre. La musique est douce et un peu triste.
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Every evening, Monsieur Vidal plays guitar on his balcony. Inès loves listening to his music from her window. The music is soft and a little sad.
Un après-midi, Inès descend et parle à Monsieur Vidal. « Je peux apprendre à jouer, moi aussi ? » demande-t-elle, timidement. Monsieur Vidal sourit. « Bien sûr ! Viens mercredi après-midi. »
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One afternoon, Inès goes downstairs and talks to Monsieur Vidal. "Can I learn to play too?" she asks shyly. Monsieur Vidal smiles. "Of course! Come on Wednesday afternoon."
Le mercredi, Inès arrive chez Monsieur Vidal avec enthousiasme. Il lui montre sa vieille guitare en bois. « Voici les , et voici le », explique-t-il patiemment.
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On Wednesday, Inès arrives at Monsieur Vidal's with excitement. He shows her his old wooden guitar. "Here are the strings, and here is the neck," he explains patiently.
Avant de commencer, Monsieur Vidal la guitare. Il tourne doucement les et écoute chaque son avec attention.
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Before starting, Monsieur Vidal tunes the guitar. He slowly turns the tuning pegs and listens carefully to each sound.
Dans la rue, on entend les voitures et les voisins, mais dans le salon de Monsieur Vidal, tout est calme. Inès aime cette ambiance tranquille.
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Outside, you can hear cars and neighbors, but in Monsieur Vidal's living room, everything is quiet. Inès loves this calm atmosphere.
« Assieds-toi droite, et pose la guitare sur ta jambe, comme ça », dit-il. Inès l’imite avec attention.
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"Sit up straight, and rest the guitar on your leg, like this," he says. Inès carefully copies him.
Inès essaie de tenir la guitare correctement. Elle appuie sur une corde, mais ses doigts lui font mal. « C’est difficile », dit-elle, un peu .
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Inès tries to hold the guitar correctly. She presses down on a string, but her fingers hurt. "This is hard," she says, a little discouraged.
Monsieur Vidal rit doucement. « Moi aussi, j’ai mal aux doigts quand je commence, à ton âge. » Il raconte comment il apprend la guitare, seul, dans la maison de ses parents.
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Monsieur Vidal laughs gently. "My fingers hurt too when I'm starting out, at your age." He tells her how he learned guitar on his own, in his parents' house.
« Essaie encore, mais plus doucement », conseille Monsieur Vidal. Inès respire, place ses doigts, et joue trois notes simples. « J’y arrive ! » dit-elle, surprise et contente.
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"Try again, but more gently," suggests Monsieur Vidal. Inès breathes, places her fingers, and plays three simple notes. "I did it!" she says, surprised and happy.
Monsieur Vidal prend sa propre guitare et joue en même temps qu’Inès. Ensemble, ils jouent une petite . C’est simple, mais c’est beau.
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Monsieur Vidal picks up his own guitar and plays along with Inès. Together, they play a little melody. It's simple, but it's beautiful.
Monsieur Vidal propose : « Essayons une petite chanson simple. » Ensemble, ils jouent les premières notes d’une chanson que tout le monde connaît. Inès est surprise de reconnaître la mélodie : c’est la chanson que sa mère chante parfois en cuisinant.
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Monsieur Vidal suggests, "Let's try a simple little song." Together, they play the first notes of a song everyone knows. Inès is surprised to recognize the tune: it's the song her mother sometimes hums while cooking.
Inès ferme les yeux et écoute le son des deux guitares ensemble. Pour la première fois, elle se sent vraiment musicienne.
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Inès closes her eyes and listens to the sound of both guitars together. For the first time, she truly feels like a musician.
À la fin de la leçon, Inès range la guitare avec soin. « Merci, Monsieur Vidal ! À mercredi prochain ? » demande-t-elle. « À mercredi prochain », répond-il, content d’avoir une nouvelle élève, et peut-être un peu moins seul.
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At the end of the lesson, Inès carefully puts the guitar away. "Thank you, Monsieur Vidal! Same time next Wednesday?" she asks. "Next Wednesday," he answers, happy to have a new student, and maybe a little less lonely.
Le soir, Inès raconte sa leçon à ses parents avec enthousiasme. « Je sais jouer trois notes ! » dit-elle fièrement. Ses parents sont très contents pour elle.
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That evening, Inès tells her parents about her lesson enthusiastically. "I can play three notes!" she says proudly. Her parents are very happy for her.
Show full English translation
Inès doesn't have a musical instrument at home. She is nine years old and lives in Montpellier, in a building with a small garden. She loves music.
Her neighbor, Monsieur Vidal, lives on the ground floor. He is an elderly, calm man. He has been playing guitar for a very long time, almost his whole life.
His guitar is old, with small scratches on the wood. Monsieur Vidal calls it "my old friend" and always takes great care of it.
Every evening, Monsieur Vidal plays guitar on his balcony. Inès loves listening to his music from her window. The music is soft and a little sad.
One afternoon, Inès goes downstairs and talks to Monsieur Vidal. "Can I learn to play too?" she asks shyly. Monsieur Vidal smiles. "Of course! Come on Wednesday afternoon."
On Wednesday, Inès arrives at Monsieur Vidal's with excitement. He shows her his old wooden guitar. "Here are the strings, and here is the neck," he explains patiently.
Before starting, Monsieur Vidal tunes the guitar. He slowly turns the tuning pegs and listens carefully to each sound.
Outside, you can hear cars and neighbors, but in Monsieur Vidal's living room, everything is quiet. Inès loves this calm atmosphere.
"Sit up straight, and rest the guitar on your leg, like this," he says. Inès carefully copies him.
Inès tries to hold the guitar correctly. She presses down on a string, but her fingers hurt. "This is hard," she says, a little discouraged.
Monsieur Vidal laughs gently. "My fingers hurt too when I'm starting out, at your age." He tells her how he learned guitar on his own, in his parents' house.
"Try again, but more gently," suggests Monsieur Vidal. Inès breathes, places her fingers, and plays three simple notes. "I did it!" she says, surprised and happy.
Monsieur Vidal picks up his own guitar and plays along with Inès. Together, they play a little melody. It's simple, but it's beautiful.
Monsieur Vidal suggests, "Let's try a simple little song." Together, they play the first notes of a song everyone knows. Inès is surprised to recognize the tune: it's the song her mother sometimes hums while cooking.
Inès closes her eyes and listens to the sound of both guitars together. For the first time, she truly feels like a musician.
At the end of the lesson, Inès carefully puts the guitar away. "Thank you, Monsieur Vidal! Same time next Wednesday?" she asks. "Next Wednesday," he answers, happy to have a new student, and maybe a little less lonely.
That evening, Inès tells her parents about her lesson enthusiastically. "I can play three notes!" she says proudly. Her parents are very happy for her.
Words to know
- rayures
- — scratches
- balcon
- — balcony
- cordes
- — strings
- manche
- — neck
- accorde
- — tunes
- clés
- — tuning pegs
- découragée
- — discouraged
- mélodie
- — melody