A new career

"Une nouvelle carrière"
French C1 writing exercise

Fiona is telling her friend Antoine how great her career change has been for her.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "since [something happened]", "honestly", "to pursue [a career change]", "to deal with [something]", "a lawsuit", "rewarding", "depressing", "[something] to come along someone's way", "to make the right decision", "to be time for someone... + [Subjonctif]", "to acknowledge [a fact]", "how much [something...]", "to affect [someone]", "can't take it any more (exp.)", "law (as a discipline)", "lucrative", "teaching (as a discipline)", "stimulating", "creative", "to be suited to [someone]", "a temperament", "to gain [a skill]", "a lawyer", "to prove invaluable (something)", "a field (expertise)", "to manage [a situation]", "emotionally", "whether", "a behaviour", "a parents' meeting", "eagerness to learn", "a source of inspiration", "to turn out to be".

Written by qualified French expert Céline Pickard PGCE, BA
Last updated: 2025-12-30

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: Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), Mode subjonctif, Le Présent (Indicatif)

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

- Hello Fiona! How are you since you've become a primary school teacher ? - Honestly Antoine, if I hadn't pursued this career change, I would still be dealing with extremely complicated lawsuits, (while) hoping for something more rewarding and less depressing to come along my way. - I think (that) you made the right decision. It was time for you to acknowledge how much your old job was affecting you. - Yes! I couldn't take it any more. Although law can be very lucrative, teaching is far more stimulating and creative. I think (that) it's also a job better suited to my temperament. And the skills (that) I've gained as a lawyer proved invaluable in this new field. They helped me manage emotionally difficult situations, whether it was children's behaviours in school or certain parents' meetings. But the children's eagerness to learn has been the greatest source of inspiration for me. - This change will have turned out to be the best thing [that] you've ever done.

Thinking...