French Speaking Exam tomorrow, last minute tips?

Hey guys,

Got my French speaking exam tomorrow morning first thing, and I've had the last three days to revise but I seem to have wasted them completely..

I've managed to learn my presentation and the questions for that, but the presentation itself is only 4 marks..

The first roleplay should be okay, it is normally pretty simple and I can do all the past papers I've seen.

I'm more worried about the picture story and two conversation topics, I really don't know what I'll do, I can say very basic stuff but not much else, and whilst I'm going through the topics that could come up, I really don't know what I can do to actually learn them as such for tomorrow morning now! I have a booklet of possible questions that could come up in each topic, but it's pretty useless as I have nothing that I can really look up suitable answers for..

Any last minute advice would be appreciated :smile:

Also, say I get a B in this, which is what I expect, but aiming for an A, how well would I have to do in the other papers to get an A/A*?

Thankyou

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

~Ally~

watch channel 799 on sky for a bit tonight, listen, absorb, and don't worry, tout va aller bien!

Reply 2

willowtree

go to bed early and don't worry about it!

If you get a B in this one (I bet you'll do better than you think if you've memorised conversations and pres.) then I reckon decent As in writing, listening, reading will bring it up to A easily.

Reply 3

bodybuilder22

Just remember some useful phrases.

Use timeframes, adverbial expressions, conditional, present, past, future simple. direct/indirect object pronouns, etc

Reply 4

vaanish

Just swot up for about an hour and then try to get a early nite. Also, just try to be calm, i felt sick b4 i did mine but it is easier when you are in the middle of the convo and its all good when youve finished. (i did this in yr 10 btw and im in yr 11 now)

At least attempt to utilise one conditional tense scentence :smile:

Reply 5

crosscurrents

I had a few phrases I determined myself to get in that were sort of good french, i.e. a reflexive verb, one of each tense, lots of opinions. Say "A mon avis" and "je crois que..." a lot!

Learn a phrase about how to repeat, ie "pouvez-vous repeter la question lentement, s'il vous plait" or similar, but my french is now awful so don't use that!

Stick to stuff you know, simple is fine.

Then relax, it's not all that bad :wink:

I actually laughed out loud on tape in mine because my teacher's face went funny (well, funnier than usual.)

Reply 6

rainbow drops

à mon avis - in my opinion...
c'est-à-dire - that is to say...
je dirais que - I would say that...
je crois que - I believe that...
cependant - however
donc - therefore
dans l'ensemble - overall

Chuck a couple of phrases/words like that into your conversation :smile:

I'm sure you've been given some by your teacher too. They're probably more than enough for GCSE speaking, they tend to be pretty lenient with marking I think. Just make sure you don't blank for seconds and seconds on end, try to keep talking!

Bonne chance. xxx

Reply 7

billet-doux

Just make sure you think before you speak when it comes to the conversation!
Don't be too worried, i did my French GCSE last year, and it was fine :smile:

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Reply 8

DeadSniffles

lol my mock is tomorrow and i have not even learn the presentation yet :redface:

helpful thread though :smile:

Reply 9

m8nmina0h4

Thanks all.. I guess I was looking for someone to say something that would somehow get me an A* :P

It's just these conversations, as there are some for which I'll literally have no idea what to say!

Reply 10

cognito_08

-Learn some nice linking phrases for the pictorial Narrative Roleplay...

Apres ça (after that)
Puis (then)
Ensuite (then)
the 'Après avoir/être' construction (after doing...)
à 8 heures... (at 8 O'Clock)

- Remember in "General Conversation" you are required to cover 3 tenses: past, present & future.
So make sure you are prepared for that although your teacher should give you the opportunity to use all 3...

- It doesn't hurt, if you're aiming high, to put in a few idiomatic phrases and/or even subjunctive.

Try these examples below (but don't change them unless your competent with Subjunctive).

Il faut que je fasse mes devoirs (I have to do my homework)
Il faut que j'aille [pronounced "ji"] a l'ecole. (I have to go to school)

- It's not good enough to just learn your Presentation, you will be asked questions on it or about the topic concerned (eg. holidays)
Although the presentation is only worth 4 Marks it counts towards Quality-of-Language (like General Conversation)

- Try to relax and remember your examiner is not out to trick you or make you do bad.

Alors, bonne chance!

Reply 11

m8nmina0h4

Thanks cognito_08, good thing I checked here before leaving, those should help! Thanks all for the tips, very helpful, will post back at 5ish when I'm back home!

Reply 12

vale

KnightRider

Also, say I get a B in this, which is what I expect, but aiming for an A, how well would I have to do in the other papers to get an A/A*?

Thankyou

Do act confident...that's the most important thing...but not too confident. :biggrin:

...and don't use complicated words.I guess it wouldn't
be too hard...I mean saying the basic stuff is better than not saying
anything at all... :smile:

think positive

Reply 13

m8nmina0h4

It went better than I thought, I had a fairly easy role play and picture story but still made a couple of errors, and kept "erring" in the conversation, noticed that when the teacher played it back for me. I also did freeze up a few times on conversation and have to be corrected or have my sentence finished, but overall the teacher said she thought I did well and probably had done enough for an A! Hope so!

Reply 14

cognito_08

KnightRider

but overall the teacher said she thought I did well and probably had done enough for an A! Hope so!

That's great! :smile:

Remember that the Oral is only 1 of the 4 component which make up your final mark and therefore grade.

So if you're aiming for an A* it's certainly still possible.

Reply 15

anonymousee

cognito_08

So if you're aiming for an A* it's certainly still possible.

Just to prove your point, it is possible :smile:

Speaking is my worst area of french, (I think I just scraped an A for my oral GCSE) but I got an A* overall.
Good luck!

Reply 16

carpediem99

Just make sure you know how to formulate a question and how to give opinions - remember try and expand and give reasons for your opinions too!
Don't worry about it - I made the mistake of getting up at 5.30am to practice on the morning of my oral which didn't really help me I don't think, just made me very tired!
Just have confidence in yourself and relax! Look over some key linking words etc. briefly perhaps.