Une lettre pour correspondante
A Letter for a Pen Pal
A girl in Québec writes her very first letter to a new pen pal in Morocco for a school exchange project.
- friendship
- writing
- culture
Tap an underlined word to see its meaning.
What you'll encounter
- Grammar
- present tense
- Vocabulary
- letter-writing vocabulary
- weather and seasons vocabulary
- Skills
- reading a first-person-adjacent narrative about writing
- recognizing simple questions in dialogue/letter form
Cette semaine, la classe de Chloé commence un projet spécial. Chloé a dix ans, habite à Trois-Rivières, au Québec, et elle est en cinquième année.
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This week, Chloé's class starts a special project. Chloé is ten years old, lives in Trois-Rivières, Québec, and is in fifth grade.
La maîtresse explique le projet : chaque élève écrit à une correspondante dans un autre pays. « Toi, Chloé, tu écris à Yasmine, une fille du Maroc », dit la maîtresse. Elle montre le Maroc sur la grande carte du monde, au mur de la classe.
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The teacher explains the project: each student writes to a pen pal in another country. "You, Chloé, you're writing to Yasmine, a girl from Morocco," says the teacher. She points to Morocco on the big world map on the classroom wall.
Les autres élèves reçoivent aussi un nom et un pays. Sarah, la meilleure amie de Chloé, écrit à un garçon de Belgique.
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The other students also get a name and a country. Sarah, Chloé's best friend, writes to a boy from Belgium.
Chloé rentre chez elle avec une feuille blanche devant elle. Elle ne sait pas comment commencer. « Qu’est-ce que je peux écrire à une fille que je ne connais pas ? » se demande-t-elle.
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Chloé goes home with a blank sheet of paper in front of her. She doesn't know how to start. "What can I write to a girl I don't know?" she wonders.
D’abord, elle cherche le Maroc dans un vieux livre de . Elle découvre des photos de villes colorées et de montagnes. « C’est magnifique », pense-t-elle.
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First, she looks up Morocco in an old geography book. She finds pictures of colorful cities and mountains. "It's beautiful," she thinks.
Son petit frère, curieux, regarde par-dessus son épaule. « Tu écris à qui ? » demande-t-il. « À une nouvelle amie, au Maroc », répond Chloé fièrement.
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Her little brother, curious, looks over her shoulder. "Who are you writing to?" he asks. "To a new friend, in Morocco," answers Chloé proudly.
Elle réfléchit un moment, puis elle prend son stylo préféré, bleu et brillant. « Chère Yasmine, je m’appelle Chloé », écrit-elle. Elle parle de son âge, de sa famille et de son chat, Minou.
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She thinks for a moment, then picks up her favorite pen, blue and shiny. "Dear Yasmine, my name is Chloé," she writes. She talks about her age, her family, and her cat, Minou.
Chloé décrit aussi sa ville, Trois-Rivières, et l’hiver froid et blanc du Québec. « Ici, il y a beaucoup de en hiver. On fait du ski et du », écrit-elle.
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Chloé also describes her city, Trois-Rivières, and the cold, white Québec winter. "Here, there's a lot of snow in winter. We ski and ice skate," she writes.
Elle raconte aussi son activité préférée : la danse, avec sa meilleure amie Sarah, le mercredi soir. « J’adore danser », écrit-elle avec un grand sourire.
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She also tells her about her favorite activity: dance, with her best friend Sarah, on Wednesday evenings. "I love dancing," she writes with a big smile.
Elle demande aussi à Yasmine : « Qu’est-ce que tu manges souvent chez toi ? Au Québec, on mange beaucoup de . »
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She also asks Yasmine: "What do you often eat at home? In Québec, we eat a lot of maple syrup."
Puis, Chloé pose encore des questions à Yasmine : « Comment est ton pays ? Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire après l’école ? » Elle est très curieuse de connaître le Maroc.
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Then Chloé asks Yasmine some more questions: "What is your country like? What do you like to do after school?" She is very curious to learn about Morocco.
Chloé montre sa lettre à Sarah. « La mienne est beaucoup plus courte », dit Sarah en riant. Les deux amies comparent leurs lettres avec curiosité.
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Chloé shows her letter to Sarah. "Mine is much shorter," says Sarah, laughing. The two friends compare their letters with curiosity.
Quand la lettre est finie, Chloé la décore avec des petits dessins : un , un chat, et un cœur. Elle plie la lettre avec soin et la met dans une .
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When the letter is finished, Chloé decorates it with small drawings: a snowflake, a cat, and a heart. She carefully folds the letter and puts it in an envelope.
Le lendemain, à l’école, Chloé donne sa lettre à la maîtresse pour l’envoyer au Maroc. « J’espère que Yasmine va aimer ma lettre », dit Chloé à sa meilleure amie.
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The next day, at school, Chloé gives her letter to the teacher to send to Morocco. "I hope Yasmine likes my letter," Chloé tells her best friend.
Chaque jour, après l’école, Chloé regarde la boîte aux lettres avec . Elle sait que la réponse met du temps à arriver depuis si loin, mais elle attend avec un grand sourire, pleine d’espoir.
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Every day, after school, Chloé checks the mailbox eagerly. She knows the reply will take a while to arrive from so far away, but she waits with a big smile, full of hope.
Show full English translation
This week, Chloé's class starts a special project. Chloé is ten years old, lives in Trois-Rivières, Québec, and is in fifth grade.
The teacher explains the project: each student writes to a pen pal in another country. "You, Chloé, you're writing to Yasmine, a girl from Morocco," says the teacher. She points to Morocco on the big world map on the classroom wall.
The other students also get a name and a country. Sarah, Chloé's best friend, writes to a boy from Belgium.
Chloé goes home with a blank sheet of paper in front of her. She doesn't know how to start. "What can I write to a girl I don't know?" she wonders.
First, she looks up Morocco in an old geography book. She finds pictures of colorful cities and mountains. "It's beautiful," she thinks.
Her little brother, curious, looks over her shoulder. "Who are you writing to?" he asks. "To a new friend, in Morocco," answers Chloé proudly.
She thinks for a moment, then picks up her favorite pen, blue and shiny. "Dear Yasmine, my name is Chloé," she writes. She talks about her age, her family, and her cat, Minou.
Chloé also describes her city, Trois-Rivières, and the cold, white Québec winter. "Here, there's a lot of snow in winter. We ski and ice skate," she writes.
She also tells her about her favorite activity: dance, with her best friend Sarah, on Wednesday evenings. "I love dancing," she writes with a big smile.
She also asks Yasmine: "What do you often eat at home? In Québec, we eat a lot of maple syrup."
Then Chloé asks Yasmine some more questions: "What is your country like? What do you like to do after school?" She is very curious to learn about Morocco.
Chloé shows her letter to Sarah. "Mine is much shorter," says Sarah, laughing. The two friends compare their letters with curiosity.
When the letter is finished, Chloé decorates it with small drawings: a snowflake, a cat, and a heart. She carefully folds the letter and puts it in an envelope.
The next day, at school, Chloé gives her letter to the teacher to send to Morocco. "I hope Yasmine likes my letter," Chloé tells her best friend.
Every day, after school, Chloé checks the mailbox eagerly. She knows the reply will take a while to arrive from so far away, but she waits with a big smile, full of hope.
Words to know
- géographie
- — geography
- neige
- — snow
- patin à glace
- — ice skating
- sirop d’érable
- — maple syrup
- flocon de neige
- — snowflake
- enveloppe
- — envelope
- impatience
- — eagerness