My year in Mali

"Mon année au Mali"
French C1 writing exercise

Arnaud has many wonderful memories of the time he lived in Mali.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to reminisce about...", "from the moment I...", "to be struck by (beauty)", "buzzing energy", "to echo through the streets", "to fill the air (scent)", "to transport [someone] into...", "mesmerising (place)", "mud-brick (adj.)", "a mosque", "to arise from the past", "to a cliff", "perched", "to leave [someone] speechless", "to salivate at the thought of...", "a meat stew", "to simmer", "smooth (sauce)", "a peanut sauce", "to miss [doing]", "a cereal", "heartwarming", "to eat from the same dish", "ginger (root)", "to send [someone] back to".

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

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

I often reminisce about the year that I spent studying in Bamako, Mali's capital city. From the moment I'd arrived in the city, I'd been struck by its buzzing energy. The colorful markets, the music that echoed through the streets, the thousand-and-one scents that filled the air, everything around me transported me into an unknown and mesmerising universe. I remember my excursions to Djenné, where the big mud-brick mosque seemed to arise from the past, and to the Dogon Country, whose impressive cliffs and perched villages had left me speechless. I still salivate at the thought of a nice plate of tiga dèguè na, that irresistible meat stew simmered in a smooth peanut sauce, and I often miss sharing a meal of grilled fish and fonio, a delicious cereal, with welcoming friends. There is something truly heartwarming about all eating from the same dish. It was more than two decades ago now, yet I've never forgotten. All it takes is for me to smell the wonderful scent of ginger and warm bread to send me back to this fascinating country that brought me so much.

Thinking...