AS Level French Resources?

I've just started AS level French and I'm struggling slightly with the jump from GCSE. I was wondering what specific resources are available to help improve my French, particularly the listening/vocab/grammar aspects but also in general. This can be books, websites, films etc or anything you would recommend. Thank you!

Reply 1

Josb

Watch French news:
http://www.bfmtv.com/mediaplayer/live-video/
http://www.itele.fr/direct

Read French newspapers:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/ (right)
http://www.lemonde.fr/international/ (center)
http://www.liberation.fr/monde,10 (left)
It's maybe better to start with the international section, as you already know the situation from British media.

You can also take a look at the Sports newspaper: http://www.lequipe.fr/

Watch French football on French channels (search for them on streaming websites).

Reply 2

Anna Schoon

Original post by mynewstart

Speaking as a teacher, I can confirm that the jump between GCSE and AS is huge. In my experience, the main problem is the grammar as that gives the structure to everything else: you can have an amazing range of vocabulary, but without grammar you won't be able to do much with it! I use a wonderful grammar book that I recommend highly: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-French-Grammar-Sixth-Beyond/dp/095706120X. It is written so that students can work through it largely by themselves as there are explanations, exercises and answers with more explanations in case you've gone wrong.

The websites recommended by josb are excellent; I would add www.rfi.fr - the website for Radio France Internationale which has a daily news programme "en français facile" with a transcript; as well as a wide range of short extracts of news programmes, with exercises and transcripts. You will find these under the "Apprendre" tab. For vocab/reading comprehension it also has short articles on topical news items in pretty straightforward French.

Bon courage!

Reply 3

Paralove

Used this throughout A-level French :biggrin:

http://www.languagesonline.org.uk/Hotpotatoes/Index.htm

Reply 4

Hannahmay01

Mot a mot is brilliant!

Reply 5

Paralove

Oh and this is really good too, so have a little browse through.

http://apprendre.tv5monde.com/

Reply 6

drippingcherries

Don't worry, it gets better. Much better.
Try and get a french pen pal.
Get a book called the Ultimate French Review and Practise by David Stiltman. You can find it on Amazon. I got a used copy for £3!
Get a workbook from your board. I had an AS blue AQA workbook with little exercises which is much smaller than the fat grammar book I just suggested but the grammar book properly teaches you everything.

Try and find french movies with french subtitles so you're reading French and listening at the same time as opposed to reading English subtitles and not paying attention to the French.

Vocab....well my French teacher always gave me mine so sorry I don't know about that...maybe tune into a french radio station, easily found online which you could have in the background sometimes. 2 days and 1 night is meant to be amazing and just came out. Trois couleurs Bleu, Rouge et Blanc are a trilogy of classics which are good. I'd watch Blue last since I found it depressing and less interesting.

Speak aloud French words whenever you can =)

Ask if you need anything else! I know how hard it seems at the beginning but with French, if you put in the work, you don't have to cram like with the rest of the subjects near exam time because you'll already know it.

AS Level French Resources?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you