was talking, spoke
Il s'asseyait dans son fauteuil, parlait comme elle.
He would sit in his armchair and speak like her.
— Psychose (1960)
Su-mi, on avait dit qu'on ne parlait plus de l'armoire.
Su-mi, we said we weren’t going to talk about the wardrobe anymore.
— 2 sœurs (2003)
Tom ne savait pas que Mary parlait français.
Tom didn't know that Mary spoke French.
À mesure qu'il parlait, il devenait de plus en plus excité.
As he spoke, he became more and more excited.
The girl was talking to the trees.