To extract practical details from a travel notice, read the question first, decide what kind of detail it wants, and scan for that one detail. Notices are short, but they are packed with times, places, dates and conditions that look alike.
This skill appears in reading tasks and in listening to announcements. It belongs to places, travel and the environment and relies on the reading habits from reading for meaning.
What does the notice look like?
Here is an original notice for practice. Valmont and Saint-Aubin are imaginary places.
AVIS AUX VOYAGEURS : Ligne 12
Du lundi 4 au vendredi 8 novembre, les trains du soir sont remplacés par des autocars entre Valmont et Saint-Aubin.
Départs des autocars : devant la gare, côté parking, à 19 h 30 et à 21 h 00.
Le trajet dure environ 50 minutes de plus qu’en train.
Les vélos ne sont pas acceptés dans les autocars. Les billets restent valables.
Renseignements : guichet ouvert de 8 h à 18 h, ou panneau d’information au quai 2.
How do I find the detail I need?
- Read the question and name the type of answer. Quand ? wants a day or time. Où ? wants a place. Pourquoi ? wants a reason.
- Scan for that type. Times look like 19 h 30, places follow devant, côté, au quai, conditions follow ne… pas, sauf, seulement.
- Check the surrounding words. A time may belong to buses, the ticket office or the journey.
- Choose the detail that fits the question word exactly.
- Answer briefly. Give the detail, not the whole sentence.
Worked example
Question: À quelle heure part le dernier autocar ?
Step 1: À quelle heure wants a time. Step 2: the times in the notice are 19 h 30, 21 h 00, 8 h, 18 h and 50 minutes. Step 3: Départs des autocars tells you that 19 h 30 and 21 h 00 belong to buses. The ticket office hours 8 h à 18 h and the journey length 50 minutes answer other questions. Step 4: the question asks for the last bus, so the answer is 21 h 00 (nine in the evening).
Question 2: Où faut-il attendre l’autocar ? The answer is devant la gare, côté parking, not platform 2, which is only for information.
What mistake should I watch for?
Mistaken answer: Le dernier autocar part à 18 h.
This number is when the ticket office closes. It was chosen because it looks like an evening time.
The correction is Le dernier autocar part à 21 h 00. Before writing a time, point to the exact words that connect it to the question. If the label is guichet, the time does not answer a question about buses.
Check yourself
Use the notice above.
1. Which days are affected?
Show answer
From Monday 4 to Friday 8 November. Only the evening trains are replaced, so daytime trains are not mentioned.
2. A student arrives with a bicycle. Can the student take the bus?
Show answer
No. The notice says les vélos ne sont pas acceptés dans les autocars. The word ne… pas gives the condition.
3. Does the notice say how much an autocar ticket costs?
Show answer
No. It says only that existing tickets stay valid (les billets restent valables). Do not invent a price: if the notice does not give the detail, the answer is that it is not stated.
Where does this lead next?
You have now practised directions, comparing, careful opinions and exact reading. Test them together in the integrated practice set. If you want a teacher to read fresh notices with you and spot where your eye drifts, our online one-to-one French tuition is built for that.