AQA A2 French- 19th JUNE 2012

Scroll to see replies

I haven't read all of the posts on this thread but I noticed that most of you seem to be writing essays, so that's better than me - my teacher seems to fully believe that we can learn off by heart the ones we wrote in OCTOBER and that the question on the paper won't be different... So I'm kinda panicking! What have you all been doing for your essays, structure-wise? What should you include? I'm doing Haiti as a region and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's films Amelie, A Very Long Engagement and MicMacs btw. :smile:

I am SO grateful for ANY help, freaking out so badly! D:

Reply 41

imno-superman

Original post by NickyJWatkinson

I am SO grateful for ANY help, freaking out so badly! D:

If you really haven't had much practice and you want to use the next 11 days to write essays, you could just choose one of the topics to focus on? I know that that reduces the number of questions you can choose from but it means that you can really go in-depth. We were advised to do this at a talk by the chief examiner in Sheffield a couple of months back :smile:

Also, I don't want to panic you, but did you not have problems with Haiti as a region? A boy in my class had to change. Maybe you'd be safer with Jeunet, plus there's more room for creativity rather than a regurgitation of facts :smile:

I feel like I sound really condescending here :frown:

I really hope it doesn't come across that way, I'm just repeating what our teacher told us :biggrin:

Reply 42

NickyJWatkinson

Yeah thanks, I've been trying to do that, it just seems a bit pointless when there's no way of telling whether they're good or not! :s-smilie:

I find Haiti okay, both of the last papers had a question on whether you'd like to live in the region which would be okay to answer, but if I get something on the sources of employment or architecture or something terrible I'll probably do Jeunet. :') Thanks for the advice though!

Reply 43

imno-superman

Original post by NickyJWatkinson

Yeah thanks, I've been trying to do that, it just seems a bit pointless when there's no way of telling whether they're good or not! :s-smilie:

No, I mean that you are recommended not to do Haiti because it isn't French enough? :confused:

"Q: Would Haiti be acceptable as a French-speaking country/community, despite the fact that 80% of the population speak a dialect and French is used mainly by the wealthy and the government?
A: Although it does fit the requirements as officially being a French-speaking
country/community as outlined in the specification, our concern is that because 80% of the population speak a dialect students may be unlikely to focus on the French-speaking aspects during their studies. However, provided that centres ensure that students have sufficient French resources to study and that it is clear that only French resources have been used, then a study of Haiti is acceptable."

I got the above from the cultural topic FAQ on the AQA website: http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQA-MFL-W-TRB-CTFAQ.PDF

Like I say, don't want to panic you. Just thought you should know :smile:

Reply 44

Banoffeepie16

Anyone else here doing the historical essay?

Reply 45

NickyJWatkinson

Oh okay, thanks for the heads-up! My teachers are so organised and on the ball, clearly... :s-smilie:

Reply 46

imno-superman

Honestly, my teachers are awful too, we actually found the FAQ and pointed it out to her. The boy in my class who was doing Haiti found out a few days before his speaking exam and had to change and redo all his research.

She panicked and emailed the exam board about my topic too - I'm doing Madagascar and they said that it was 'borderline'. Hence, why I've chosen to focus on my other topic for the exam haha.

AQA don't exactly help either :smile:

The exam format is so stupid - WHY do we get more marks for content than the quality of our written French?

Reply 47

emilykaterose

Original post by NickyJWatkinson

I am SO grateful for ANY help, freaking out so badly! D:

Hey,
I'm hoping to write about the film I've studied so I'm going all out to revise that! I've realised that I can pretty much write the same essay for every question so it's just about adapting it to the title - examiners can tell if you've pre learnt an essay - so keep going back to the title to make sure you're answering the question! For my revision I've done loads of spider diagrams for content including key themes, ideas and why I liked it. I don't think there's any 'perfect' way to structure it as long as it's in a logical order and make sure you keep giving examples from the film! Obviously keep linking your essay together and at the end of each paragraph or point I'd make a reference back to the question :smile:

Just keep watching the films - you may notice something new! Hope this helps!

Reply 48

NickyJWatkinson

Thanks! (I'd quote you but I have no idea how. :s-smilie:

) I've been doing spider diagrams too - definitely the way forward! I think my structure is probably my weakest bit - in German essays I know I tend to ramble without properly linking to the question so that's something to bear in mind.
Thank you! :biggrin:

Reply 49

TheatreLovely

Original post by Banoffeepie16

Anyone else here doing the historical essay?

Me! I think I saw on the previous page that you're doing the Occupation as well? We also did "L'Etranger", but I've decided not to do this in the exam because I always over-complicate it and end up straying from the question.

The essays I've been writing have been fine (according to my teacher who examines for AQA), but I always feel like I'm not really "analysing" the events or the actions of the people or whatever the question asks for. What do you think the questions mean by this?

Reply 50

Banoffeepie16

Original post by TheatreLovely

I feel the same, I usually end up waffling a lot :frown:

By 'analysing' I thought it meant analysing how important the events were and causes of them... I really hope we don't get a question like 'was it better for the French at the end of the war?' cause I'm really shaky on Jour J :s-smilie:

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 51

TheatreLovely

Original post by Banoffeepie16

I feel the same, I usually end up waffling a lot :frown:

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

That's what I thought analysing was as well, I suppose as long as we only write relevant things it should be fine? Because they can hardly heavily mark you down on content if every single thing you've written is relevant, I hope....

I think that question was in 2010, so they probably wouldn't repeat it this year. I hope not, anyway!

Reply 52

Banoffeepie16

Original post by TheatreLovely

Yeah I hope so! Are you doing any other languages? I'm so glad there's a week between Spanish and French...

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 53

imno-superman

WAAAAAAAAAH the exam is getting closer and I'm getting more screwed.

Reply 54

TheatreLovely

Original post by Banoffeepie16

Yeah I hope so! Are you doing any other languages? I'm so glad there's a week between Spanish and French...

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

German, but there's only four days between them. :frown:

And good luck for Spanish tomorrow! :smile:

Reply 55

retrodisco666

Need about 65/110 on this paper D:

Going to die D:

Reply 56

imno-superman

I think I need roughly 100/110 on this paper :frown:

I have general studies the day before (not that it really counts, just uses up revision time) and then a clash of economics and english lit A the day after french :frown:

my three main exams occur in two consecutive days :frown:

Reply 57

retrodisco666

Original post by imno-superman

I think I need roughly 100/110 on this paper :frown:

I have general studies the day before (not that it really counts, just uses up revision time) and then a clash of economics and english lit A the day after french :frown:

my three main exams occur in two consecutive days :frown:

Is that love through the ages English lit? If so me too.

What grade do you need from this? :/ I only need a c but I am worried as I panic but I really want to do French

Reply 58

Banoffeepie16

The essays are the part I am most worried about- the rest is quite straightforward. I can't help thinking I haven't got the essay knack quite yet.

Need 55% on the paper for the A I need. Fingers crossed.

Reply 59

imno-superman

Original post by retrodisco666

Is that love through the ages English lit? If so me too.

What grade do you need from this? :/ I only need a c but I am worried as I panic but I really want to do French

Haha, yeh same exam. It directly clashes with my economics though so I'm in isolation all day :frown:

Ideally, I need an A cause I've applied to do English Lit and French - my first choice is Leeds and I need and A in both those subjects to get in, and a B in my economics. I can slip to a B and still get into my insurance though.
BUT I WANT TO GO TO LEEEEEEEDS :frown:

I'm currently on a B I think, though I retook AS for the third time the other week, so it may have improved. I suck at the written exams, especially the essay part. It's annoying because I know that I can do French :angry: