Six étudiants de différents pays se rencontrent. Qu’ont-ils en commun ? Ils sont tous venus passer un semestre dans une université américaine. Pendant ce séjour, ils vont améliorer leur niveau d’anglais, découvrir un peu plus la culture américaine et approfondir leurs connaissances dans leur domaine d’étude. Cette série de conversations en anglais est consacrée à ces six étudiants et à leur quotidien pendant ces quelques mois aux États-Unis. Elle a été conçue pour les apprenants ayant un niveau d’anglais intermédiaire ou avancé.
Cliquez sur le lien audio et écoutez la conversation tout en la lisant ci-dessous. Les mots importants sont expliqués à la fin, en anglais, de façon à vous immerger totalement dans la langue. Et si vous voulez suivre la leçon tout en anglais, de l’introduction à la conclusion, cliquez ici.
Trois étudiants font du bénévolat à un festival d’automne. Dans cette conversation, les étudiants (Peter, Akinyi et Lee) parlent des différentes activités au festival.
Peter: I thought we were all meeting up here this morning. Where are Lucía, Ajay and Jana?
Akinyi: Ajay and Jana are helping Lucía with a huge midterm project for one of her classes. You’re stuck with us.
Lee: But we’re ready to help!
Peter: Well, thanks for volunteering to help out at the fall festival. It’ll be a lot of fun, and all the money goes to the children’s hospital in town.
Akinyi: Could you explain one thing to me first? What exactly is a fall festival? I volunteered without knowing what I was getting myself into.
Lee: Me too!
Peter: Now I really appreciate that you volunteered! A fall festival is like an outdoor fair with a fall theme. There’s food and music, as well as games for children. This one is an off-campus event near a farm, so there’s even going to be a corn maze.
Lee: A corn maze? Like a maze made of corn?
Peter: Exactly. You have to walk through tall cornstalks trying to find your way out of the maze. Just when you think you’re finding your way, suddenly you come to a dead end, and you have to turn around and try a different path.
Akinyi: And what happens if you can’t find your way out?
Peter: There are people who will help you. You won’t be stuck in the maze forever.
Un peu de vocabulaire
To be stuck with someone or something means that one is forced to take care of or deal with someone or something. In this context, it is said as a joke. (Être coincé)
To volunteer means to offer to do something without being paid to do it or without being asked to do it. (Se porter volontaire, faire du bénévolat)
A fall festival is a type of outdoor celebration or fair in the fall. Fall festivals have a fall theme, often with seasonal food and drink, music, games and crafts. (Festival d’automne)
The phrase without knowing what (one) was getting (one)self into means that the person did not know the details of a situation in advance. (Sans savoir à quoi s’attendre)
An off-campus event is an event that does not take place on the campus of a school. (Un évènement qui se tient hors du campus)
A maze is a complicated system of paths or passages that people try to find their way through for fun. A corn maze is a large maze created in a cornfield. Cornstalks are cut down to create the paths. (Un labyrinthe)
A dead end is a road or path that is closed at one end and does not join another road or path. As a result, one must turn around to exit a dead-end path. (Voie sans issue, impasse)
A cornstalk is the thick, tall stem of a corn plant. (Tige de maïs)
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Les conversations en anglais sont produites par Heidi Howland, des programmes d’anglais du Bureau des affaires éducatives et culturelles du département d’État.
*en anglais
