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A-level French; what to expect?

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The jump isn't actually that bad, I would say its a lot easier than in most other subjects. I would say read magazines or a book if you're brave enough, watch lots of films, listen to the French radio etc, all those things really help. I found that if I had the French radio on in the background while revising or doing homework I remembered a lot more than otherwise although it depends on your preferred learning techinque.

I noticed someone mentioned the Mot a Mot but i would also recommend the 'Practice in French Grammar' by Michael Gross book. Its a little blue book with lots of grammar explonations as well as exercises to practice what you just learnt, it also has some great phrases you could possibly pinch for essays and stuff :wink:

I would say that when you do the exam next year, learn some set subjunctive phrases and some sentences which can be easily manipulated to fit the topic which you are writing about. Also don't forget everything you leant at GCSE!! Last year I loved using phrases like Apres avoir/etre, En ...ant etc but this year I completely forgot about them until the teacher went through everything again last year. Just because you used them at GCSE doesn't mean they're not good enough for A-level.

Good luck with your results and good luck next year! :smile:

Reply 21

Lula

Hello,
I think thatfor you t it would be great to do french at A Level. Im currently getting ready to sit my A2 French paper and my only regret is not putting in all the hard work all year round.u'llwont lie, the jump it huge but as long as you remain focused-ish you will be fine! yo At Alevel you become more precise in grammar and use more complex struures...not to put you off. Obviously you like french to even consider it so that in my eyes in enought for you to study it. A2 is much better that AS in my opinion.
Just think that at the end of the day, with french there is soo much you can do!!
Go for it! There are not enough linguists in the world.. :biggrin:

Reply 22

Charl.Marie

Hello,
Im currently 9 days away from sitting my A2 French Written exam and it's been a struggle but French is worth it!

Like yourself, I was predicted grade 'A' at GCSE and i actually achieved an 'A*'. Due to this I found that the jump from GCSE to AS wasn't actually as dramatic as people had warned me. The topics are relatively similar to GCSE and it is only at A2 that you are confronted with the joys of studying nuclear power, politics and immigration.

If your school provides vocab tests at regular intervals then I suggest you ensure you learn the vocab for the test as well as possible because it will then be easy to go over when you revise if it is already imprinted in your knowledge somewhere.

My school didn't suggest we read any novels or anything like that but I found that the newspaper/magazine l'express.fr helped me a lot because it has both news and cultural info on it as well as things like quizzes =on finding out your true personality etc. - the kind of thing you expect in an english magazine but it's in French. The French this website use is relatively simple as well.

I also like to listen to the radio station NRJ on the internet as it has all different musical genres on there meaning you will probably find a few french singers/bands you like which can be added to your ipod.

As people have previously mentioned, it is essential you know your grammar well for AS as it only gets harder at A2! Make sure you know how to conjugate reflexive verbs in each tense as well as regular verbs.

I wish you all the best with AS and I hope you enjoy it enough to continue to A2 because although the topics appear to be a bit dull, knowing another language is so rewarding. Languages are hard at A-level and like the numpty I am, I decided to do both French and German but I've coped well and am now aiming for an A* in French and an A in German at A2. So if I can survive 2 languages at A2 im sure you'll be fine with French AS.

Knowing grammar and vocab is key to the exam! :smile: