Je fais une pause au café avant de reprendre le travail.

Because faire une pause is the normal French expression for to take a break.

• faire usually means to do or to make
• but in many expressions, it combines with a noun and translates more naturally in English in a different way

So:

• faire une pause = to take a break
• faire une promenade = to go for a walk
• faire attention = to pay attention

A very literal translation often sounds strange in English, so it is best to learn faire une pause as a set phrase.

Fais is the je form of the verb faire in the present tense.

Present tense of faire:

• je fais
• tu fais
• il / elle / on fait
• nous faisons
• vous faites
• ils / elles font

So je fais une pause means I take / am taking a break depending on context.

Here, au café means at the café or in the café.

It comes from:

• à = at / to / in
• le café = the café

These combine into:

• à + le = au

So:

• au café = at the café

Important: café can mean either:

• coffee
• café / coffee shop

In this sentence, it means café / coffee shop, not the drink.

Because French contracts à + le into au.

This is a standard grammar rule:

• à + le = au
• à + les = aux
• de + le = du
• de + les = des

So you say:

• au café
• not à le café

After avant, when the next verb stays in the infinitive, French uses de:

• avant de + infinitive

So:

• avant de reprendre = before going back to / before resuming

Examples:

• avant de partir = before leaving
• avant de manger = before eating

If the subject changes and you need a full clause, French often uses avant que instead:

• Je pars avant qu’il arrive. = I leave before he arrives.

But here the subject is still je, so avant de reprendre is the natural structure.

Reprendre literally means to take again, but in many contexts it means:

• to resume
• to start again
• to go back to

So reprendre le travail means:

• to resume work
• to go back to work

Other examples:

• reprendre ses études = to go back to studying
• reprendre la route = to get back on the road
• reprendre une activité = to start an activity again

Because reprendre usually takes a direct object when you are resuming an activity.

So:

• reprendre le travail = to resume work

You are resuming the work as an activity, so le travail is the object of reprendre.

By contrast:

• retourner au travail = to return to work

That uses retourner à, so it needs au travail.

Both can work in similar situations, but they are built differently:

• reprendre le travail
• retourner au travail

French often uses the definite article where English might use no article or a possessive.

So:

• reprendre le travail is the normal idiomatic way to say go back to work
• French does not need mon unless you specifically want to emphasize my work/job

Compare:

• Je vais au travail. = I’m going to work.
• Je quitte le travail. = I’m leaving work.
• Je reprends le travail. = I’m going back to work.

Using mon travail is possible, but it sounds more specific or contrastive:

• Je reprends mon travail = I’m resuming my work
  maybe after an interruption, especially a task or project

Not naturally in this sentence.

In Je fais une pause au café, au café strongly suggests a place:

• at the café
• in the coffee shop

If you wanted to talk about the drink, French would say something like:

• Je fais une pause avec un café. = I’m taking a break with a coffee
• Je prends un café avant de reprendre le travail. = I’m having a coffee before going back to work

So here café is almost certainly the place.

Yes. The French present tense often covers both the English simple present and present continuous, depending on context.

So Je fais une pause can mean:

• I take a break
• I’m taking a break

In this full sentence, the most natural English translation is often:

• I’m taking a break at the café before going back to work

But in another context, it could also be more habitual:

• I take a break at the café before going back to work

A careful pronunciation would be approximately:

Je fais une pause au café avant de reprendre le travail
zhuh fayz uhn pohz oh kah-fay ah-vahn duh ruh-prondruh luh trah-vai

A few helpful points:

• je sounds like zhuh
• fais sounds like fay
• pause sounds like pohz
• au sounds like oh
• avant has a nasal vowel at the end, not a clearly pronounced t
• reprendre has the French r
• travail sounds roughly like trah-vai

In natural speech, some sounds may be reduced slightly, especially de in avant de reprendre.