Mission: get to your gate with the announcements
Catch the details in announcements, radio clips and conversations at A2: plan, listen twice, and listen for changes.
FrenchA2 · Exam levelAbout 4 min: 2 reading, 2 practiceUpdated
- Prepare by reading the questions and predicting the words
- Catch gate, time, delay and platform changes in announcements
- Get the main point of a short radio clip
- Follow a conversation and know who wants what
A2 exam skills: lesson 5 of 5
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Level Level A2 (around the DELF A2 exam). Real French: airport and station announcements, the radio, everyday conversations.
What it is
Your mission: you're at Lyon airport for a flight to Nantes. Over twenty minutes you hear three announcements, a radio traffic report in the taxi beforehand, and two people at the next table arguing about their plans. Catch what affects you: gate, time, delay, and anything that changes.
At A2 the DELF listening paper lasts about 25 minutes and has four exercises, with recordings such as public announcements, radio clips and conversations. Each recording is played twice.
The method:
- Before: read the questions; underline what you need (a number, a place, a reason, who). Predict words: for a flight, porte (gate), embarquement (boarding), retard (delay), annulé (cancelled).
- First listening: get the general idea and the answers you're sure of.
- Second listening: fill in the rest and check.
- Listen for changes: after finalement (in the end) and non, plutôt… (no, rather…) comes the new information; with au lieu de (instead of) and et non… (and not…), the new information comes before and the old one after.
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
« L'embarquement du vol pour Nantes se fera porte 12, au lieu de la porte 8. » Which gate?
- au lieu de = instead of: 8 was the old gate
- Add nothing up: the new gate is 12
Show answer
12. The new information comes before au lieu de: gate 12.
Why it matters
Announcements are hard because they're fast, noisy and say things only once (in real life). Knowing the handful of words that carry the information, and listening for changes, gets you onto the right plane. In the DELF A2 it's a quarter of the marks.
Worked example
An announcement (our own example):
Mesdames et messieurs, votre attention s'il vous plaît. Le vol 7414 à destination de Nantes, prévu à 14 h 20, partira avec un retard d'environ 40 minutes. L'embarquement aura lieu à 14 h 45, porte 12. Nous vous prions de nous excuser pour ce retard.
- Destination: Nantes. Planned time: 14 h 20.
- Delay: about 40 minutes (environ = about).
- Boarding: 14 h 45, gate 12.
Real French: announcements use the futur simple (partira, aura lieu) and formal politeness (Nous vous prions de nous excuser). In conversations, people use finalement to change plans: Finalement, on part demain.
Common mistake
Writing the first number you hear. Announcements often give the old time and the new one, or the old gate and the new one. Listen to the whole sentence and to change words (au lieu de, finalement, désormais) before you write.
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
You hear: « Le train pour Marseille partira finalement de la voie 5 et non de la voie 3. » Which platform?
- et non de la voie 3 = not platform 3
- Don't add the numbers
Show answer
5. finalement … voie 5, et non … voie 3: platform 5.
Key terms
- l'embarquement, la porte
- boarding, the gate
- à destination de / en provenance de
- to / from
- un retard de … minutes / annulé
- a … -minute delay / cancelled
- au lieu de
- instead of
- finalement
- in the end
- environ
- about, approximately
- Nous vous prions de nous excuser
- We apologise (formal)
Practise the key terms
Tap a card to turn it over. 7 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| l'embarquement, la porte | boarding, the gate |
| à destination de / en provenance de | to / from |
| un retard de … minutes / annulé | a … -minute delay / cancelled |
| au lieu de | instead of |
| finalement | in the end |
| environ | about, approximately |
| Nous vous prions de nous excuser | We apologise (formal) |
Practice
Quick quiz
Tap an answer to check it.
« Le vol de 10 h 15 est annulé. » What happened?
- Delayed would be en retard / retardé
- annulé = cancelled
Show answer
The 10.15 flight is cancelled.. annulé = cancelled.
In a conversation: « On devait partir samedi, mais finalement on part dimanche. » When do they leave?
- That was the old plan (on devait = we were supposed to)
Show answer
Sunday. finalement introduces the new plan: dimanche.
Sort it
Which kind of recording?
Mesdames et messieurs, votre attention s'il vous plaît…
public addressShow answer
Announcement. public address
Bonjour à tous, il est 8 h, voici les infos…
a radio programmeShow answer
Radio. a radio programme
— Tu viens ce soir ? — Je ne sais pas encore…
two people talkingShow answer
Conversation. two people talking
Practise speaking
Studyfern has no voice tools of its own. To practise out loud, copy this prompt into a voice-capable AI assistant and talk with it.
Mission role-play. You are the public-address voice of Lyon airport, then a radio traffic reporter, then two friends talking at a café table. Speak at natural speed, at level A2, and repeat each recording once if I ask (as in the exam, twice in all). Give me three announcements about my flight to Nantes, with at least one change of gate or time (using au lieu de or finalement), one traffic report, and one short conversation where the plan changes. After each, ask me one question in French. Tell me in English if my answer is right; if not, tell me what I missed. When I have answered all five correctly, say « Mission accomplie ! » and give me one tip. Keep every reply under 4 sentences.
Listen too. Listen to native speakers before and after: see the free listening and shadowing links.
Good to know. AI feedback on pronunciation is hit and miss, so check yourself against native recordings. Many assistants turn your speech into text first, so a vowel or liaison you got wrong may be silently “heard” as the right word. Don't share personal details: use a made-up name and town.
New to this? Read Practising speaking with an AI.
In short
- DELF A2 listening: about 25 minutes, four exercises, each recording played twice.
- Read the questions first; predict the key words.
- First listening: the general idea; second: details and checking.
- Listen for changes: au lieu de, finalement, et non…, désormais.
- Flight words: porte, embarquement, retard, annulé, à destination de.
Mastery check
Answer without looking back. Score 80% or more and the lesson is marked done. Your result is kept only in this browser.
Check yourself
Answer in your head first, then open the answer. Nothing is saved.
What does « au lieu de » mean?
Show answer
Instead of.
How many times do you hear each recording in the DELF A2?
Show answer
Twice.
« L'embarquement aura lieu porte 4. » What will happen at gate 4?
Show answer
Boarding.
Further reading
- France Éducation international, DELF A2: the official exam format and sample papers with audio.
- RFI, Journal en français facile: a short daily news bulletin in simple French, with transcript.
Finished? Mark it done to fill in your leaf on the French map.