Vocabulary: school trips, exchanges and childhood

Talk about school trips and exchanges, and about what you were like and what you did as a child.

Practise this lesson free (7 questions)

Trips and exchanges

J'ai logé chez mon correspondant. = I stayed with my exchange partner.
FrenchEnglish
la sortie scolaireschool outing
le voyage scolaireschool trip
l'échange (m)exchange
le correspondant, la correspondanteexchange partner, penfriend
la famille d'accueilhost family
accueillirto welcome
logerto stay, to lodge
le mal du payshomesickness
participer àto take part in
la compétitioncompetition
le prixprize, price
enrichissant(e)rewarding
l'invité(e)guest

Childhood

L'enfance (f) = childhood. Quand j'étais petit(e)... = When I was little...
FrenchEnglish
l'enfance (f)childhood
le jouettoy
la poupéedoll
la bande dessinéecomic book
le jeugame
grandirto grow up
pleurerto cry
rireto laugh
sauterto jump
grimperto climb
gronderto tell off
raconter une histoireto tell a story
l'école maternelle (f)nursery school

What I used to do

The imperfect describes the past and what used to happen. At GCSE Foundation you need the je, tu and il / elle forms.
FrenchEnglish
j'habitaisI used to live
j'allaisI used to go
je jouaisI used to play
j'avaisI had, I used to have
j'étaisI was
c'étaitit was
il y avaitthere was, there were
je regardaisI used to watch
je lisaisI used to read
je pouvaisI could, I was able to
je devaisI had to
je voulaisI wanted
Worked example

Translate: When I was little, I used to climb trees and I had lots of toys.

  1. When I was little = quand j'étais petit(e)
  2. I used to climb = je grimpais (imperfect); trees = aux arbres
  3. I had = j'avais; lots of toys = beaucoup de jouets

Answer: Quand j'étais petit, je grimpais aux arbres et j'avais beaucoup de jouets.

Key idea

La sortie scolaire, l'échange, le correspondant, la famille d'accueil, loger, le mal du pays, enrichissant. L'enfance, le jouet, la poupée, la bande dessinée, grandir, gronder. J'habitais, j'allais, je jouais, j'avais, j'étais, c'était, il y avait.

Key words
la famille
family
la famille d'accueil
host family
quand
when
quand j'étais petit(e)
when I was little
petit
small, short

All GCSE and International GCSE French key terms and definitions →

Quick check

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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. What does la sortie scolaire mean?

    1. homesickness
    2. exchange partner
    3. prize, price
    4. school outing
    Show the answer

    Answer: school outing

    Sortie scolaire = school outing.

  2. Which is the French for "school outing"?

    1. le mal du pays
    2. le prix
    3. la famille d'accueil
    4. la sortie scolaire
    Show the answer

    Answer: la sortie scolaire

    School outing = la sortie scolaire.

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Practise this lesson free (7 questions)All GCSE and International GCSE French lessons

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Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

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