Well here it goes, i'm sure you were expecting a reply from me.
ReadingThere are a few methods which aid in improving your reading abilities. We say that practice makes perfect - this rule applies to french reading.
The more past papers you go through - [ translating words you don't understand as you go ] then the wider your vocabulary will become and the faster you'll be able to do the questions.
So past papers , in my opinion, are your first port of call. Newspapers are for some extra practice - try read them, again translating and noting as you go.
I feel that it's important to develop a method to doing your reading papers. ( Many people read the whole thing and then do the questions ). My personal method, would be to look at the 1st question and then read the allocated parts for the question, and answer them that way.
ListeningMost difficult part of the examination, and coincidently also the most difficult part of the course to improve on.
Again, practice papers/scholar is your first port of all as you'll develop different methods, improve vocabulary etc.
The BBC website has a section called " Ma France " which i found helpful. I'd stick on the french subtitles and watch the videos ! That way i was hearing what all of these words sounded like, spoken by a variety of different actors.
You could also find youtube videos of news podcasts etc, i think sky also has a french TV channel ( you have to pay for it though ) that might be of some use, as your visually seeing what they're talking about...
Hope that's of some use,
Good luck.
Adam