French GCSE speaking exam - useful tips/phrases?

I'm currently in year 10 doing my first French GCSE speaking exam a fortnight today with Edexcel. I was just wondering if anyone had some useful tips or phrases that would potentially boost my grade/confidence seeing as i'm quite worried about it. :s-smilie:

The piece is on new technologies (such as phones, iPods, the internet etc.), and then after i'm being asked questions about it about other things like the cinema, TV, literature etc. The whole thing needs to be roughly 4-6 minutes long so i'm just quite nervous, if anyone could help out it'd be really appreciated.

Cheers

(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1

skuka

Speak slowly. Even what you've memorized is over 400 words if you talk quickly then it won't be over 5 minutes, which if my memory serves me correct is essential for an A (at least for edexcel.) I ended up having to retake my exam just because I spoke too fast. :frown:

Also if you speak slower then you're more likely to not make mistakes and the examiner will be able to understand what you're saying better. :smile:

Reply 2

JadeMay

Original post by aaron__

I'm in year 11, I've done two speaking exams and my grade for speaking overall is an A. So hopefully I can give you some useful tips.
- Have a good French accent
- Ask at least two questions
- Be as confident as you can
- Don't worry about hesitating, in the exam when you hesitate it feels like forever when it's only been a few seconds
- Make sure you give opinions with reasons
- Try not to speak English or any other language other than French (I know it sounds obvious but it's really easy to accidentally speak English etc)
- Don't worry too much about it as long as you know what you want to say you'll be fine
- Make sure you know how to pronounce words you're not sure of
- And good luck!

Reply 3

ToLiveInADream

I did my first one in the Summer of Year 10 and have another one next week Monday! I'm doing German though. I have learn from old mistakes! Make sure you actually listen to the little questions the teacher throws in, they definitely won't be difficult and you will most likely know them - it shows spontaneity and makes you get higher marks because of it. Don't learn your questions as far as to make it sound robotic, but make it sound like a natural conversation! Be engaging and full of expression with your voice, after all..your examiner will perk up a bit after listening to hours of the same monotone, nervous voice.

And enjoy it! Try not to be nervous..

Reply 4

aaron__

Thank you everybody for the tips! More would be appreciated :biggrin:

Original post by JadeMay

JadeMay, what do you mean "ask two questions"? :smile:

Reply 5

JadeMay

Original post by aaron__

Thank you everybody for the tips! More would be appreciated :biggrin:

JadeMay, what do you mean "ask two questions"? :smile:

I mean ask your teacher questions in French about the topic you are talking about in your oral exam as it gives you interaction points if that makes sense. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 6

aaron__

Original post by JadeMay

Reply 7

JadeMay

Original post by aaron__

Sorry i'm still not so sure I understand, do you mean say if I'm talking about the internet, when I finish I should ask something like "What about you?". My teacher hasn't said anything about that and I don't want it to take any time off my tape as I only have 6 minutes in total. :/[/

You could say 'et toi?' which means 'and you?'. But if your teacher hasn't mentioned it then don't worry. Don't worry about the time too much I got an A in just over 4 minutes so talking for longer may not necessarily help your grade but I guess it would vary from person to person.

Reply 8

aaron__

[QUOTE="JadeMay;45269227"]

Original post by aaron__

You could say 'et toi?' which means 'and you?'. But if your teacher hasn't mentioned it then don't worry. Don't worry about the time too much I got an A in just over 4 minutes so talking for longer may not necessarily help your grade but I guess it would vary from person to person.

Oh I see haha, so she wouldn't reply back? - It would just be almost like a rhetorical question?

Reply 9

princess:)

im doing a French speaking ca in a months time and im pretty nervous! what did you find most effective for learning all of it and how long were your answers? I was thinking of preparing my answers in English first and then translate them into French that way I know a literal translation. I really don't know how long it will take me to learn all of it and I don't want to panic on the day! HELP PLEASE!

Reply 10

aaron__

Original post by princess:)

Hi, guess we're in the same boat haha. I've literally just finished writing my final piece up ready to learn. I'm aiming for my whole thing including questions to last around 5:30 - maybe 6 mins. Each answer to the questions should be around 4/5 lines in length too I think. Also, as for revising it depends what type of learner you are, i'd say i'm a visual but a test in school said i'm auditory. In my case i'm gonna keep reading and saying it, as well as record myself saying the whole thing and listening to it.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 11

aaron__

Bump! Any help would be appreciated! :smile:

Reply 12

78Saab

Memorise everything, I managed to memorise my entire pieces a day before the exam. Improvising does not help. Make sure you use as many tenses as you can, past, present, future, conditional, imperfect etc

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Reply 13

Mouchetic

Well, I guess succeeding your oral is half about the method you used to prepare it and half about your french skills and oral skills.

How do you prepare it?
Have you practicing with your classmate? Using keywords as support or whole sentences?
How about pronounciations? I can help you out for this - pm me.

Reply 14

aaron__

Thanks for the replied everybody! :biggrin:

I have a mock exam for this tomorrow any general advice would be very much welcomed, thanks again.

Bump!

how many different tenses are you supposed to know at GCSE MFL level? my teacher has only taught us past, present and future...I really want to learn conditional and imperfect. Any tutorials or tips for them would be great!

Reply 17

princess:)

Original post by JadeMay

I'm predicted an A for my French (but I'm working hard to achieve an A*) and I was wondering how much you prepared for your speaking since you managed to get a good grade. I have my French speaking in a few weeks and I'm starting to prepare it now. Thanks for the great tips above! :smile:

Reply 18

JadeMay

Original post by princess:)

It may sound weird but don't over-prepare. By over-preparing you don't sound spontaneous so you lose marks. In my first speaking exam I totally over-prepared, everything I said was grade A* but I didn't sound spontaneous so didn't do as well as I should have. I prepare by writing up what I want to say in my prep lessons then the night before I learn it all (you might want to learn it before that depending on how good your memory is). I've done 4 speaking exams because I do French and German and that's how I've learned it for each one. Good luck and hope this has helped. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask.