Nous apprenons à comprimer la plaie.

Apprenons is the present tense of apprendre for nous (we).

So:

• j'apprends = I learn / I am learning
• tu apprends = you learn
• il/elle apprend = he/she learns
• nous apprenons = we learn / we are learning

In French, the present tense often covers both English we learn and we are learning, so the exact translation depends on context.

Because apprendre à + infinitive means to learn how to do something or to learn to do something.

So:

• apprendre = to learn
• apprendre à faire quelque chose = to learn to do something

Examples:

• J'apprends à conduire. = I am learning to drive.
• Nous apprenons à comprimer la plaie. = We are learning to compress the wound.

This à is required before the second verb.

Because after apprendre à, French uses an infinitive.

Structure:

• apprendre à + infinitive

So:

• apprendre à nager = to learn to swim
• apprendre à écrire = to learn to write
• apprendre à comprimer la plaie = to learn to compress the wound

English sometimes uses to + verb, and this often corresponds to the French infinitive as well.

Comprimer literally means to compress or to apply pressure to.

In a medical or first-aid context, comprimer une plaie means applying pressure to a wound, usually to help stop bleeding.

So although compress is a possible direct translation, in practical English this might often be expressed as:

• to apply pressure to the wound
• to compress the wound

In French, articles like le, la, and les are used much more often than in English.

So French usually says:

• la plaie = the wound

Even where English might sometimes say just wound in a more general instruction, French normally keeps the article.

This is very common:

• laver les mains = to wash your hands / wash the hands
• ouvrir la porte = to open the door
• comprimer la plaie = to compress the wound

Because plaie is a feminine noun in French, so it takes la in the singular:

• la plaie = the wound
• une plaie = a wound

Grammatical gender in French is something you usually have to learn along with the noun. It does not always match any logical real-world category.

Plaie is pronounced approximately like pleh or plè.

Important points:

• the ai here sounds like è
• the final e is not pronounced

So la plaie sounds roughly like la plè.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Noo zah-pruh-nohn zah kohm-pree-may la pleh

A few useful notes:

• nous apprenons has linking between words, so you hear a z sound: nous-zapprenons
• à comprimer is smooth, with comprimer pronounced kohm-pree-may
• plaie sounds like plè

A more French-like flow would be:

Nou-zap-pruh-non-zah kom-pri-mé la plè

No. After apprendre when it means to learn to do something, French uses à, not de.

Correct:

• Nous apprenons à comprimer la plaie.

Not correct:

• Nous apprenons de comprimer la plaie.

So it is important to remember the pattern apprendre à + infinitive.

This is a very useful distinction.

• apprendre + noun = to learn something
• apprendre à + infinitive = to learn to do something
• apprendre quelque chose à quelqu'un = to teach someone something

Examples:

• J'apprends le français. = I am learning French.
• J'apprends à parler français. = I am learning to speak French.
• J'apprends le français à mon frère. = I teach French to my brother.

So in your sentence, apprenons à comprimer means we are learning to compress.

Nous simply means we.

The idea of are learning comes from the verb form apprenons, which is present tense. French does not need a separate word for are in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Nous apprenons = we learn / we are learning

French often expresses both simple present and present progressive with the same form.

Yes, it is grammatically correct and understandable, especially in a training context.

In real first-aid French, you might also hear more natural or more specific expressions such as:

• Nous apprenons à exercer une pression sur la plaie.
• Nous apprenons à faire compression sur la plaie.
• Nous apprenons à comprimer une plaie.

But Nous apprenons à comprimer la plaie is still a valid sentence and clearly means learning to apply pressure to the wound.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• la plaie = the wound, a specific wound
• une plaie = a wound, any wound / a wound in general

So:

• Nous apprenons à comprimer la plaie. = We are learning to compress the wound.
• Nous apprenons à comprimer une plaie. = We are learning to compress a wound.

If you are talking about a specific injury already known in context, la plaie makes sense. If you mean the skill more generally, une plaie may also be natural.