Au réveillon de Noël, nous parlons doucement pour ne pas réveiller le bébé.

Au réveillon de Noël refers specifically to Christmas Eve dinner / the Christmas Eve celebration, not Christmas in general.

• À Noël = at Christmas / during Christmas
• Le réveillon de Noël = the Christmas Eve meal or celebration
• Au = contraction of à + le

So:

• Au réveillon de Noël = at the Christmas Eve celebration

This phrase gives a more precise setting than just À Noël.

Réveillon is a cultural word. It usually means a festive late-evening meal or celebration held on a holiday night.

Common expressions:

• le réveillon de Noël = Christmas Eve celebration/dinner
• le réveillon du Nouvel An = New Year’s Eve celebration/dinner

It comes from the idea of staying awake late.

In French, à + le normally contracts to au.

So:

• à + le réveillon → au réveillon

This is a standard contraction, just like:

• de + le → du

Examples:

• au restaurant
• au marché
• au réveillon de Noël

Nous parlons means we speak / we are speaking.

French often includes the subject pronoun, so nous is normally stated. Unlike in English, the verb ending changes depending on the subject:

• je parle
• tu parles
• il/elle parle
• nous parlons
• vous parlez
• ils/elles parlent

So parlons by itself is a verb form, but in a normal statement you usually say nous parlons.

French often uses the simple present where English might use either present simple or present continuous.

So nous parlons doucement can mean:

• we speak softly
• we are speaking softly

French does have être en train de, but it is used only when you really want to emphasize that the action is in progress.

So in this sentence, nous parlons is the most natural choice.

Here doucement means softly, gently, or quietly.

• parler doucement = to speak softly
• parler bas = to speak in a low voice

Both can work in some contexts, but doucement sounds natural here because it emphasizes being gentle and quiet so as not to wake the baby.

This is a very common French structure:

• pour = in order to / to
• ne pas + infinitive = not to + verb

So:

• pour réveiller = to wake
• pour ne pas réveiller = not to wake / so as not to wake

Important point: when French negates an infinitive, ne pas goes before the infinitive:

• pour ne pas oublier = so as not to forget
• afin de ne pas déranger = in order not to disturb

That is exactly what happens in this sentence.

Because with an infinitive, French places ne pas together before the verb.

Correct:

• pour ne pas réveiller

Incorrect:

• pour ne réveiller pas

Compare:

• Finite verb: Nous ne parlons pas fort.
• Infinitive: pour ne pas réveiller le bébé

So the position of pas changes depending on the verb form.

Le bébé means the baby. French often uses the definite article where English might also use:

• the baby
• our baby
• sometimes even just context

Here, le bébé is perfectly natural because the baby is understood from the situation.

Different choices would change the meaning slightly:

• le bébé = the baby in question
• notre bébé = our baby
• un bébé = a baby, any baby / one baby not yet identified

Yes. Réveiller is the standard transitive verb meaning to wake someone up.

Examples:

• réveiller le bébé = to wake the baby
• Ne me réveille pas. = Don’t wake me up.

Related forms:

• se réveiller = to wake up oneself / to wake up

So:

• Je réveille Paul. = I wake Paul up.
• Paul se réveille. = Paul wakes up.

Because Noël is a holiday name, and in this expression it appears in de Noël:

• le réveillon de Noël = the Christmas Eve celebration

French often uses de + holiday name without an article in this kind of fixed expression.

Similar patterns:

• le jour de Noël
• les vacances de Pâques

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Au réveillon de Noël ≈ oh ray-vay-YON duh no-EL
• nous parlons doucement ≈ noo par-LON doos-man
• pour ne pas réveiller le bébé ≈ poor nuh pah ray-vay-YAY luh bay-BAY

A few useful notes:

• réveillon has the nasal sound -on at the end.
• parlons ends with a nasal -on sound too; the final s is silent.
• doucement sounds like doos-man; the written -ent is not pronounced like English ent.
• Noël is pronounced in two parts: no-EL.

The word order is very normal for French:

• Au réveillon de Noël = time expression at the beginning
• nous parlons doucement = main clause
• pour ne pas réveiller le bébé = purpose clause

A very literal structure is:

At the Christmas Eve celebration, we speak softly in order not to wake the baby.

French often places time expressions at the beginning just like English does.

Yes. Afin de ne pas réveiller le bébé is grammatically correct and means the same thing: in order not to wake the baby.

Difference in tone:

• pour ne pas réveiller... = more common, everyday
• afin de ne pas réveiller... = a bit more formal or deliberate

In ordinary conversation, pour is usually the more natural choice.

Parlons is in the present tense.

It is used here for a present, habitual, or situation-based action:

• At Christmas Eve dinner, we speak softly...

French present tense is flexible and can express:

• general habits
• current actions
• near-immediate actions in context

So the present tense is exactly what you would expect here.