problem, have i to use preterit or not?

[djoulai04]

i have a problem with a text that i have to translate from french to english, the text begins like that(in french):"En Janvier 1995, stefanie se promène à Manhattan.Au chômage la jeune femme chercher à créer son entreprise.", and the rest of the text in french is told in present, but when i have to translate the text in english i begin like this "In January 1995,stefanie was going for a walk to manhattan.Unemployed, the young woman was trying to create her company".
so i would like to know if it is correct to translate a text like this since there is "in january 1995" and it's a story from the past.
thanks

[Coffa]

i have a problem with a text that i have to translate from french to english, the text begins like that(in french):"En Janvier 1995, stefanie se promène à Manhattan.Au chômage la jeune femme chercher à créer son entreprise.", and the rest of the text in french is told in present, but when i have to translate the text in english i begin like this "In January 1995,stefanie was going for a walk to manhattan.Unemployed, the young woman was trying to create her company".
so i would like to know if it is correct to translate a text like this since there is "in january 1995" and it's a story from the past.
thanks

I've long been confused over this in French, and I haven't found a good answer yet. I just don't understand how reported speech works in French. To me, 'stefanie se promène' is the simple present reflexive 'Stefanie is walking herself'. It appears to be no different with or without 'In January 1995'.

My advice, such as it is: Write "It is January 1995. Stephanie is walking to Manhattan. Unemployment forces her to make her own friends." You can then continue in present tense in the omniscient narrator form.

I think this is closer to the original French, which I would read as something like 'In the unemployment, the young woman searches to create her company."