HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT A TEXT
SET OF DOCUMENTS
I am going to speak about the documents.
The set of documents consists of…
It deals with...
WHAT?
The document is a…
This is a…
What we have here is a …
The text was taken from…
The text is from…
The text is about ...
It deals with…
WHERE?
The setting (décor) is…
It occurred / took place / happened…
It is occurring / is taking place / is happening...
WHEN?
It took place a long time ago
It has occurred recently.
It is currently happening.
WHO?
The different parts involved are…
The different people mentioned in the text are…
WHO FOR?
This text is aimed at (s’adresse à)...
SUMMARY
The main issue/question raised in the text is…
The core of the question is…
The heart of the problem is…
PARTS
The text can be divided into X parts.
The first part focuses on…
The second part deals with…
The third part is about…
ANALYSIS
The journalist suggests (that)…
He relates / tells (raconte) (that)...
He thinks / believes (that)...
He claims / states / argues (affirmer) (that)…
He explains (that)…/ He reports (that)...
He indicates (that)…/ He points out (that)...
He takes as an example…
He argues for… (défendre) / He argues against… (plaider contre)
He shows (that)…
He makes us realize / understand that…
PERSONAL OPINION
What I find the most striking (frappant) / incredible / interesting / ridiculous / unpleasant is (that)…
To me / To my mind / In my opinion, this text is funny / informative / very well written / subversive because...
The text is boring / dull / worrying / mainstream because...
CITING
According to (selon) the author, ….
As you can read in the first paragraph / line 15,