Sous le parasol, nous lisons tranquillement pendant qu’une mouette marche près de nos serviettes.

Sous means under or beneath, so sous le parasol means under the parasol / beach umbrella.

French uses sous the same way English uses under for physical position:

• sous la table = under the table
• sous un arbre = under a tree

Here, it suggests the people are sitting in the shade of the parasol.

Mostly yes, but in French un parasol very commonly means a sun umbrella, especially the kind used at the beach or on a terrace.

It comes from:

• parer = to protect
• soleil = sun

So a parasol is literally something that protects from the sun. In this sentence, it clearly refers to a beach umbrella.

Nous lisons is the simple present tense of lire (to read), and in French the present tense often covers both:

• we read
• we are reading

So nous lisons can naturally mean we are reading in this context.

If you want to strongly emphasize that the action is happening right now, French can use:

• nous sommes en train de lire = we are in the middle of reading / we are reading right now

But that would sound heavier here. The simple present is the normal, natural choice.

In French, adverbs like tranquillement often come after the verb, especially in simple tenses.

So:

• nous lisons tranquillement = we are reading calmly / quietly

This is more natural in French than putting the adverb before the verb.

Compare:

• Il parle lentement. = He speaks slowly.
• Nous marchons doucement. = We walk softly/gently.

So the word order here is very standard.

Tranquillement means something like:

• calmly
• peacefully
• quietly

In this sentence, it gives the idea of reading in a relaxed, unhurried way.

It comes from the adjective:

• tranquille = calm, quiet, peaceful

Then French adds -ment to make the adverb:

• tranquille → tranquillement

Pendant que means while.

It is used before a clause with a verb:

• pendant qu’une mouette marche... = while a seagull walks...

By contrast, pendant by itself is usually followed by a noun:

• pendant l’été = during the summer
• pendant deux heures = for two hours

So:

• pendant que + verb clause = while ...
• pendant + noun/time expression = during / for ...

That is why pendant que is correct here.

Because que becomes qu’ before a word beginning with a vowel or silent h.

So:

• que une becomes qu’une

This is called elision. French does this to avoid an awkward vowel clash.

Other examples:

• que il → qu’il
• que elle → qu’elle
• je aime → j’aime

So pendant qu’une mouette marche is just the normal shortened form.

Yes. Mouette is a feminine noun, so it takes:

• une mouette = a seagull
• la mouette = the seagull

In French, grammatical gender is something you usually have to learn with the noun. It does not necessarily mean the animal is biologically female; it is just the grammatical gender of the word.

Because marcher means to walk, and a seagull can absolutely be described as walking, especially on sand near towels at the beach.

So:

• une mouette marche = a seagull is walking

This paints a very specific scene: the bird is on the ground, moving around near the towels, probably looking for food.

If it were flying, French would use:

• une mouette vole = a seagull is flying

Près de means near or close to.

In French, près normally requires de before the noun that follows:

• près de la mer = near the sea
• près du restaurant = near the restaurant
• près de nos serviettes = near our towels

So you should learn it as a complete expression:

• près de = near

French normally uses a possessive adjective before the noun:

• mon / ma / mes
• ton / ta / tes
• notre / nos, etc.

So:

• nos serviettes = our towels

That is the normal way to show possession here.
Les serviettes de nous would be ungrammatical.

Also remember that possessive adjectives agree with the thing possessed, not with the possessor:

• nos serviettes is plural because serviettes is plural

It can mean either in different contexts, but here it clearly means towels, most likely beach towels.

French une serviette can mean:

• a towel
• a napkin

Context tells you which one is meant. Since the sentence has parasol and mouette, the beach setting makes towels the natural meaning.

It is pronounced roughly like noo lee-zon.

A few useful points:

• nous sounds like noo
• lisons has a z sound in the middle: lee-zon
• the final -s is silent

This happens because lire is conjugated here as:

• je lis
• tu lis
• il/elle lit
• nous lisons
• vous lisez
• ils/elles lisent

The nous and vous forms are often especially useful to memorize because they show extra sounds not heard in some other forms.