L'Appel du 18 Juin 1940

"L'Appel du 18 Juin 1940" has been shared to the blog from the French reading practice section of the learning library where you can find a large selection of interactive texts to help you with your reading skills.


The Appeal of 18 June is considered the origin of the French Resistance during World War II. Learn how it came about in this French video with transcript and translation. Click any phrase to read the English and find links to related French grammar lessons.

Note: Some of the tenses in this French text and its English translation don’t match! In French, we use the present tense to describe historical events like this to evoke a sense of immediacy, whereas in English, we commonly use the past tense – learn more about historical French tenses.

Click any word in the text to see its translation and related grammar lessons.

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Author info

Aurélie Drouard

Aurélie is our resident French Expert. She has created most of the wonderful content you see on the site and is usually the person answering your tricky help questions. She comes from a small village near Chartres in Central France, country of cereal fields and not much else. She left (in a hurry) to study English at the world-famous Sorbonne in Paris, before leaving France in 2007 to experience the “London lifestyle” - and never looked back! She's worked as a professional French teacher, translator and linguist in the UK since.  She loves to share her love of languages and is a self-professed cinema and literature geek!

Laura K Lawless

Laura is a French expert and Kwiziq's Head of Quality Control. Online educator since '99, Laura is passionate about language, travel, and cooking. She's American by birth and a permanent ex-pat by choice - freelancing made it possible for her to travel extensively and live in several countries before settling permanently in Guadeloupe. Laura is the author of Lawless French, Lawless Spanish, and other websites and books on French, Spanish, Italian, English, and vegetarianism. She spends most of her spare time reading, playing with food, and enjoying water sports.

Comments: 1

I remember it well. Noora Khan was was sent out to help the resistence. She was shot. General DeGaulle had a beautiful delivery when he addressed the nation.