Skip to content
ShadowLearn by engaging
French ShadowLanguages on ShadowMore from FrenchPodcast

A1 French Story

The Back Door

La porte du fond

8:29 min video · 25 sentences · 5 key words

Transcript with English

Hide the English to test yourself.
  1. Camille travaille à la bibliothèque.Camille works at the library.
  2. Sa grand-mère Odette est avec elle.Her grandmother Odette is with her.
  3. Ce soir-là, il est sept heures.That evening, it is seven o'clock.
  4. Camille ferme la grande porte.Camille closes the big door.
  5. Le lendemain matin, Camille arrive tôt.The next morning, Camille arrives early.
  6. La petite porte du fond est ouverte.The small back door is open.
  7. Camille n’est pas contente.Camille is not happy.
  8. Un peu plus tard, elles entrent.A little later, they go in.
  9. Odette n’a pas peur.Odette is not afraid.
  10. Sur le bureau, il y a un café chaud.On the desk, there is a hot coffee.
  11. Camille lit : « Je reviens ce soir. »Camille reads: "I'm coming back tonight."
  12. Dans la bibliothèque, Camille a très peur.In the library, Camille is very scared.
  13. Odette dit : « Nous restons ici ce soir. »Odette says: "We are staying here tonight."
  14. Ce soir-là, elles reviennent à huit heures.That evening, they come back at eight o'clock.
  15. Odette a un thermos et des sandwichs.Odette has a thermos and sandwiches.
  16. À dix heures, la porte du fond s’ouvre.At ten o'clock, the back door opens.
  17. Un homme entre avec un chariot.A man comes in with a trolley.
  18. Tout de suite, Odette allume la lumière.Right away, Odette turns on the light.
  19. L’homme dit : « Je suis Paul, l’agent d’entretien. »The man says: "I am Paul, the cleaner."
  20. Un moment plus tard, Paul parle doucement.A moment later, Paul speaks gently.
  21. « J’ai une clé. Je nettoie la nuit. »"I have a key. I clean at night."
  22. Camille rit. Elle est très contente.Camille laughs. She is very happy.
  23. Elle donne un sandwich à Paul.She gives a sandwich to Paul.
  24. Une semaine plus tard, Odette est à la bibliothèque.A week later, Odette is at the library.
  25. Elle apporte un gâteau pour Paul.She brings a cake for Paul.

About this lesson

Camille and her blunt grandmother Odette find a door open in their closed town library, with a strange note on the desk. The 'stranger' turns out to be the night cleaner, and Odette gets a surprise.

How to practise

  1. Watch once with the English subtitles to understand the story.
  2. Watch again and repeat every sentence out loud in the À toi · Your turn pause.
  3. At the end, read along with the narrator at the same time.

Key words

FrenchEnglishLevel
la bibliothèquethe library
la portethe door
un café chauda hot coffee
une cléa key
un gâteaua cake

New A1 lessons every week

Stories, listening quizzes and conversations at your level.

Subscribe on YouTube

Get The French Shadow Weekly

One email every Sunday: the week's new French videos, one grammar point and one culture note. Free.

More A1 lessons

All A1 lessons →