Catherine Ségurane: a local heroine

"Catherine Ségurane : une héroïne locale"
French B2 writing exercise

Toni, a tourist guide from Nice talks about local legend Catherine Ségurane.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "welcome", "to be delighted to [do]", "to introduce [something] to", "a legend", "a sculpture", "to brandish", "to guess", "a washerwoman", "to lead [people]", "townspeople", "to invade", "according to", "to knock [somebody] out", "a standard-bearer", "to galvanise", "Nice (adjective)", "resilience", "thus", "to coincide with [something]".

Written by qualified French expert Céline Pickard PGCE, BA
Last updated: 2023-09-14

I’ll give you some sentences to translate into French

  • I’ll show you where you make mistakes
  • I’ll keep track of what you need to practise
  • Change my choices if you want
Start the exercise
How the test works
You’ll practise: Préposition, Le Présent (Indicatif), Pronom réfléchi

Here's a preview of the text for the writing challenge, when you're ready click the start button above:

Hello everyone! Welcome to Nice! Today, I'm delighted to introduce you to a local legend: Catherine Ségurane. If you look behind me, on the ancient wall of the city, you'll see the mysterious sculpture of a woman who is brandishing a flag in one hand and a washing paddle in the other. I'm sure you've all guessed that this is the famous Catherine, who worked as a washerwoman in Nice in the sixteenth century. In 1543, she led the townspeople against the Ottomans who were trying to invade the town. According to the legend, she knocked out a standard-bearer with her washing paddle, which helped galvanise the Nice resistance. She became a symbol of the city and (of) its pride and (its) resilience. Thus, every year, Catherine is celebrated in Nice on November 25, a date which coincides with St Catherine's Day!

Clever stuff happening!