On AQA A Level French (7652), translation sits in Paper 1, the listening, reading and writing paper. There are two translations, one into English and one into French. Each is worth 10 marks and each passage is at least 100 words. You cannot use a dictionary.
The AQA translation into French has a feature no other board has: it comes with a supporting text in French on the same topic, which gives you some of the vocabulary and structures you will need. This page gives one practice passage in each direction, written to the length and level of the paper, and the into-French passage has its own supporting text. Work through each passage the same way: spot the traps, write your own version, check it for common slips, then compare it with the model and tick off what you got right. Your work saves on this device as you type, and you can print it or save it as a PDF. For the marking principles that apply to every board, and six more passages, see A Level French translation practice.
What AQA expects
Paper 1 lasts 2 hours 30 minutes and is worth 100 marks, so the two translations are a fifth of the paper. As a rule of thumb, that suggests around half an hour for both together. If you take the AS (7651), the passages are shorter: at least 70 words into English on Paper 1 (10 marks) and at least 70 words into French on Paper 2 (15 marks).
The mark schemes divide each passage into sections and credit each one for conveying the meaning accurately. A blank section scores nothing; a rough attempt that carries the meaning often does.
Passage 1: into English (heritage and tourism)
The trap in this direction is not vocabulary. You already speak English, so a clumsy version sounds acceptable to you in a way it would not to a reader coming to it cold.
Passage 1: Heritage and tourism French → English
French original
Les mêmes images reviennent chaque mois de juillet : des files d'attente interminables devant des monuments que l'on ne visite plus, mais que l'on photographie. Certaines communes ont fini par limiter le nombre de visiteurs, quitte à se priver de recettes importantes. La mesure a fait grincer des dents. Les commerçants y ont vu une menace ; les habitants, un soulagement. Ce qui frappe, c'est que personne ne remet en cause le tourisme lui-même. On s'accorde seulement à dire qu'il faudrait le répartir autrement, sans jamais préciser comment.
Model version
The same images come round every July: endless queues outside monuments that people no longer visit but photograph. Some local authorities have ended up limiting visitor numbers, even at the cost of forgoing substantial revenue. The measure did not go down well. Shopkeepers saw it as a threat; residents, as a relief. What is striking is that nobody is questioning tourism itself. There is agreement only that it ought to be spread out differently, without anyone ever saying how.
What it was testing
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Sentence structure quitte à "Even if it means", "even at the cost of". A structure with no direct English equivalent, so it must be rebuilt.
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Vocabulary and false friends se priver de Deliberate. "Forgoing" keeps the choice; "losing" makes it accidental and removes the point that the councils decided to do this.
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Idioms and set phrases faire grincer des dents Literally to make teeth grind; idiomatically, to ruffle feathers or go down badly. Idioms are marked on meaning, so a sensible English idiom scores where a literal version does not.
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Vocabulary and false friends commune A false friend: a French administrative district, best rendered as a local authority or town council, not "commune".
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Sentence structure les habitants, un soulagement The verb is left out in French and must be supplied or signalled in English: "residents, as a relief".
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Idioms and set phrases remettre en cause To call into question. Not "to put back in cause".
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Subjunctive and conditional il faudrait Conditional of falloir, so "ought to" or "should", not "it was necessary".
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Sentence structure y ont vu une menace Y stands for dans cette mesure. English needs "saw it as".
Vocabulary for this topic: Le patrimoine crossword
Passage 2: into French (the changing family)
The trap in this direction is grammar you know but forget under time pressure: agreements, tense sequence, and the subjunctive after its trigger. Every one of them sits inside a marked segment.
Passage 2: The changing family English → French
Supporting text (AQA style)
Read it twice: once for gist, then again for vocabulary and structures you can borrow. Adapt them; never copy a sentence whole.
Selon une enquête récente, la famille reste une valeur essentielle pour les Français. Les familles recomposées et monoparentales sont de plus en plus nombreuses, et chaque année, davantage de couples choisissent de se pacser plutôt que de se marier. Les grands-parents, souvent jeunes retraités, s'occupent régulièrement de leurs petits-enfants et soutiennent financièrement leurs enfants adultes. Pour de nombreux adolescents, le foyer familial demeure un lieu où l'on se sent en sécurité, même si les modèles traditionnels évoluent.
English original
Fifty years ago, most children grew up with both their parents, who had married young. Today the picture is very different. Many couples choose to live together without getting married, and more and more children divide their time between two homes. Some sociologists fear that these changes have weakened the family. Others point out that grandparents have never played such an important role: they look after their grandchildren after school and help their children financially. Although the shape of the family has changed, it is still the place where most young people say they feel safe. It is unlikely that this will change in the years to come.
Model version
Il y a cinquante ans, la plupart des enfants grandissaient avec leurs deux parents, qui s'étaient mariés jeunes. Aujourd'hui, la situation est très différente. Beaucoup de couples choisissent de vivre ensemble sans se marier, et de plus en plus d'enfants partagent leur temps entre deux foyers. Certains sociologues craignent que ces changements aient affaibli la famille. D'autres font remarquer que les grands-parents n'ont jamais joué un rôle aussi important : ils s'occupent de leurs petits-enfants après l'école et aident financièrement leurs enfants. Bien que la forme de la famille ait changé, elle reste le lieu où la plupart des jeunes disent se sentir en sécurité. Il est peu probable que cela change dans les années à venir.
What it was testing
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Tenses grew up Grandissaient: a background state in the past, so the imperfect. La plupart des takes a plural verb.
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Agreements who had married young Qui s'étaient mariés jeunes: pluperfect with être, because se marier is reflexive, and agreement with parents. Jeunes agrees too.
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Sentence structure without getting married Sans se marier. Same subject, so sans + infinitive, not sans que. The supporting text gives you se marier.
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Vocabulary and false friends more and more children De plus en plus d'enfants, and foyer for "home" is in the supporting text.
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Subjunctive and conditional fear that these changes have weakened Craignent que + perfect subjunctive: aient affaibli. You may also see n'aient affaibli: that ne is optional and not negative.
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Sentence structure have never played such an important role N'ont jamais joué un rôle aussi important. "Such a" becomes un… aussi + adjective.
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Vocabulary and false friends look after / help financially S'occuper de; aider financièrement. Both are in the supporting text in another form: borrow the words, adapt the person and tense.
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Subjunctive and conditional Although… has changed Bien que + perfect subjunctive: ait changé.
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Sentence structure say they feel safe Disent se sentir en sécurité. The supporting text has on se sent en sécurité; you need the infinitive after disent, because the subject does not change.
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Subjunctive and conditional It is unlikely that Il est peu probable que + subjunctive. Compare il est probable que, which takes the indicative. Change looks the same in both moods here, but the rule matters on verbs like soit or puisse.
Vocabulary for this topic: La famille en évolution crossword
Using the supporting text
Most candidates read the supporting text once for gist and then ignore it. Read it twice. On the second pass, hunt for four things:
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Verbs with their prepositions: if the text has s'occuper de, that is the preposition you use.
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Tense and register: whether the topic is being written about in the present or the past, and how formal it is.
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Topic nouns with their genders: free marks, and the commonest place to lose agreement.
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Whole phrases you can adapt: change the person, tense and agreement to fit the English. Never copy a sentence whole; your French must match the English passage, not the supporting text.
More practice
If you would like your translations marked, that is a large part of what I do in A Level lessons. See the French tuition page or book a free 15-minute call. The A Level French Grammar Course covers the structures these passages test.
The passages on this page are original. Paper structure and mark values are taken from the AQA specification; always confirm current requirements with the board.
