French Translations

Unite 2 Lecon 1

Monday, 14 November

Anita and Robert are packing their luggage, They are going to take the
TGV tomorrow morning for Lausanne. Robert is going to work for an
enterprise in the french speaking part of Switzerland.

Anita: It will be cold at Lausanne. It is necessary to carry pullovers,

jackets and don’t forget umbrellas. One says it rains a lot in
Switzerland in winter. Does it rain as much as in France?

Robert: I don’t know. Let’s see. I have our passports and I’ll buy the
train tickets this evening. We will leave early to the station.

Anita: I am delighted to take the TGV.

The next day at the station

Robert: The platform is still not indicated. Oh, there it is on platform

no. 8. We are going to leave for our adventure in some time.

Anita: We just have the time to change the currency from euros to
suisses francs.
In the train

Announcement: Ladies and gentlemen, the pantry of the train is now

open. It is at your service in coach number 4.

Robert: Do you want something?

Anita: No thank you, I’m not hungry. I like to listen to people around
us. We can hear so many languages. It is just like India.

Robert: Yes, you know, Switzerland is also a multilingual multicultural

country. There are 4 official languages: French, German, Italian and
swiss.

Anita: Well, it’s interesting! Look how beautiful the landscape is.

Robert: We just crossed Bourgogne and now we’re going to cross

Jura. You know at Lausanne, it is more beautiful than here.
At the last French station, the customs officer enters the train. They
verify the passports and are asking questions to the passengers.

Officer: Where are you going?

Robert: To Lausanne.
Officer: A tourist visit?
Robert: No, official. I’m going to work.
Officer: Do you have an appointment letter?
Robert: Of course! Here it is.
Officer: For how long are you going to stay in Switzerland?
Robert: We are in Lausanne for 6 months, then we’ll travel across
Switzerland before we leave. I have my family here.
Officer: Thank you sir, enjoy your stay in Switzerland.
Robert: Thank you.

The customs officer gets down at the station of Vallorbe.

Switzerland is an association of 26 small states called cantons.
Switzerland is also called Helvetique Confederation (CH). The canton
of Vaud is one among the 26 cantons. It entered the confederation in
1803.
Switzerland is a small country in the heart of Europe but it isn’t part of
the European Union. It has around 8 million residents. Certain speak
French: to the west of the country, around 20% of the total population.
Certain speak German*: at the center, towards the North and Eastern
part 65% of the total population. Certain speak Italian: the south, in the
canton of Tessin, around 6% of the population and certain speak swiss
around 0.5% of the total population towards the eastern part of the
country.
Many foreigners live in Switzerland and they represent about 20% of
the population. Most of them speak one or the other national
language.

* In fact one says, swiss-german is a different dialect of the German

language.
At Lausanne

At the hotel

Receptionist: Good morning sir!

Robert: Good morning ma’am! I’ve reserved a room for 2 members.

Receptionist: Yes sir, on whose name is it?

Robert: It is on the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doucet. We want a room

with a shower, please.

Receptionist: Well! Can you please sign here, sir? Your room is on the
third floor and the room number is 304. The lift is behind you to the
left. Here is the key. Have a nice day, sir!

Robert: Thank you. Have a nice day!

Dear Laura, Lausanne
25th November

Hi! How are you? Sorry, I didn’t write to you since a long time. Since
our arrival here, I’ve spent all the days searching for an apartment.
Finally yesterday, we had success… an apartment in the center of the
city.

This apartment has a lake view. It is very beautiful. We have a

magnificent view from our terrace. You know, from the other side of
the lake, I can see the lower Alps and Jura. Just in opposite, the
french city of Evian.

I’m waiting for news from your side. Come to our house in Switzerland
during christmas vacation. You’ll see it’s very beautiful!

Yours loving,
Anita.
At the real estate agent’s place

Agent: Have you already visited Switzerland?

Robert: No, never. This is my first time.

Agent: Then, how do you find our country?

Robert: I think it is the most beautiful country in the world.

Lake of Leman/ Geneva Lake

The lake of Leman is one of the biggest lakes in Europe. It is in the

shape of a croissant. Its length is around 100 kilometers.

To its extreme west, we can find the city of Geneva, well known for
its international organizations. From the other side of the lake, to the
west, the less popular cities: Villeneuve and Bouveret, where the river
Rhone joins the lake. Between these 2 extremes the famous castle of
chillon, then the city of Montreux, known for its festival of jazz in the
month of july followed by Vevey where you can find the headquarters
of the company Nestle and finally Lausanne, the fifth city of
Switzerland and the capital* of the canton of Vaud.

On the southern side of the lake, it is France with the city of Evian,
known for its casinos and mineral water. A boat service connects from
Lausanne to Evian.

During good weather conditions, there are many pleasure boats

navigating the lake.
*In fact, it’s an administrative capital.
The cathedral of Lausanne

This is a building of national importance constructed in the 13th

century on the colline of an ancient city. This gothic cathedral opens to
the city of Lausanne and the Lemanique basin.

Today many concerts are organized throughout the year inside this
magnificent building.
A sunday at the mountains

On Sunday, Anita and Robert met their friends Thomas and Claire
to spend the day at the mountains. They meet at 7 am in the morning
in the parking of the lake at Ouchy* and all four of them left together in
a car.
First of all, they took the road going towards Vevey, then they
started to climb towards Diablerets, in the region of Prealpes. They
stopped at the Pillon pass and parked the car. It is the place where
one can take the cable cars for going til the cabane or the top of the
glacier. The cable car is expensive and one must pay a lot.
At noon, they had their lunch at Gstaad, in the German speaking
part of Switzerland. In winter, many people come here to ski. There is
also cross country skiing.
At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, they reached the village of Gruyere.
Known for its cheese. Anita and Claire stayed back in the village to
visit its famous castle, but Robert and Thomas went to taste the
cheese at the cheese shop. At 7 o’clock in the evening, while coming
to their home, they sent a mail to their friends. It was a tiring but an
interesting day.
*Ouchy is a port at Lausanne.
Anita goes to a shop to buy gloves.

Anita: Good morning, sir. Do you have woolen gloves?

Vendor: Is it for you?

Anita: Yes, it is cold today.

Vendor: Here is what we have.

Anita: Well, I’ll take the green ones. How much do they cost?

Vendor: It is 25 suisses francs.

Anita: Do you accept euros?

Vendor: Of course, the euros are as good as dollars. Here is the table
for the conversion, madam…
At the sports shop and at te skiing equipment section

Robert: We would like to rent 2 pairs of skis please.

Vendor: Cross country skiing or normal skiing?

Anita: For a walk in the snow?

Vendor: Normal skis then. For a day, it costs 20 francs with batons
and shoes and for 3 days it is 45 francs.

Robert: Only for a day, please.

Vendor: Okay then, for 2 members?

Anita and Robert: Yes.

Vendor: Well, follow me, we will try these shoes first…

Gruyere

This city is found at the foot of Prealpes. It is a medieval city & it

belongs to the national heritage.

Here, you can discover all the secrets of cheese manufacturing.

At the cheese shop, the farmers come and drop the milk twice a day
and the cheese manufacturing takes place 3 to 4 times a day. It is a
journey from heart to senses.

At the restaurant, one can find regional dishes like: fondue, cottage
soup, alpine macaronis, ham, meringues and creme.
Once upon a time..

Thursday, 5th December

Anita returned to the house and she found a message in the

answering machine. It is the grandma of Robert who wanted to invite
both of them to her house on Saturday evening. Anita is very happy to
accept, but Robert is busy that evening. He called up his grandma and
excused himself.

Robert gave a call to his grandma.

Robert: Hello, granny. How are you?
Grandma: Fine and what about you?
Robert: Thank you for your invitation but unfortunately I can’t come.
Sorry, I’ve a meeting in Geneva.
Grandma: And what about Anita?
Robert: Anita will be delighted to come. I’ll see you another day, okay?
See you soon.
Saturday, 7th December

Anita and the grandma are chatting. All of a sudden, the mobile of
Anita rings loud … It’s Robert.

Grandma: You know, the life is different today. When I was young,
there were no mobiles. I remember that when my husband used to
travel alot to foreign countries, I used to wait for his letters impatiently.
Today, you people have computers and emails which never existed at
that time! We never had a choice of channels for the television, but we
used to read a lot, which you people never do. I used to like cooking
and we never went to a restaurant. On Sundays we often used to the
countryside and you, you people go bowling or skating or towards the
lake side. What a change!
Charles: Hi Jocelyne, shall we go bowling this evening?

Jocelyne: Yes, of course, but at what time?

Charles: At 6 pm because I finish my classes at 5.30.

Jocelyne: Okay, will you come to pick me up?

Charles: Happily!

Jocelyn: Bye. See you later.

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Maman: Yvette, did you try the number which I gave you yesterday?

Yvette: Yes, mother, they gave me an appointment tomorrow.

Maman: It is the photograph which won the prize of ceroux.

Yvette: Yes, I know, that’s why I want to meet him. I want to show an
article which I wrote on his work.

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Geneva

An international city, today Geneva has around 190 international

organizations, governmental and non governmental. It is a city of
protestantism in the 16th century, Henry Dunant and some Geneviam
people created an international committee of the Red Cross in 1863
and for that reason, Geneva is a city of peace and integrity.

Some international organizations in Geneva are:

-ONU UNO Headquarters, European region.
-BIT International Labour office
-CICR International Committee for the Red Cross
-UIP International Union for Postal Stamps.

The capital of Switzerland is Bern, but most of the countries have their
embassies in Geneva because of the presence of international
organizations.
Castle of Chillon

A unique monument of the world and a naturally exceptional site it is a

strategic key between the North and South directions built in the 13th
century on the Rocky islands and it’s a site with exceptional beauty. It
shows two faces: A royal fortress from the mountain side and it looks
like a princely residence on the lake side.

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