A to A* in GCSE French

Hi, can anyone give me any tips about how I could improve any pieces of coursework or any of my speaking from A to A*? My teacher keeps saying it needs to be "original" but I was wondering if I could get any advice on what to include/not to include (e.g. tenses,verbs,quality phrases). I'm also writing up the presentation for my Speaking Exam, and am wondering whether I can use more than one tense, and if it would get me more marks.

Reply 1

xxbry23xx

1

you definately need to include more tenses if you say something in the present try and think of a phrase in the past or the future that relates to it something like j'espere or je voudrais maybe also try and avoid using je all the time try something like "nous" or "on" and that should get your grade up.

Reply 2

kellywood_5

17

Tenses: definitely present, perfect and future, but if you can, imperfect, pluperfect and conditional as well. As the above poster said, try and use persons other than 'je' when you can get them in because that will show off grammatically and also make it more interesting. Other than that, for everything you say, include extra detail without being asked for it, an opinion and a justification of that opinion and make your sentences more complex using conjunctions. For example, instead of just saying 'je joue au foot', say 'je joue au foot dans le parc avec mes amis tous les samedis. J'aime bien le foot parce que c'est tres amusant, mais c'est vraiment fatiguant aussi!'

Reply 3

dans

12

Yeh extend your answers as much as possible. I know that it is probably not on the syllabus for GCSE but a correct subjunctive would really impress them! You can get the list of possible questions before hand, well we did, for the oral, and then just practise one or two subjunctive phrases.

Other than that - a wide range of tenses with independent speaking is fine

Reply 4

Morgan141

2

learn specific phrases in the subjunctive, you don't necessarily need to understand the tense and its forms, just the odd phrase that makes it look like you do :p:

. You aren't expected to know it at GCSE but it certainly looks impressive if you can use it.

edit: next time I'll read all the replies...

Reply 5

dans

12

lol glad someone else agreed! lol

Reply 6

arpeggio

12

We haven't even been taught the subjunctive at AS yet so wouldn't it be a bit much for GCSE?! Although having said that, at GCSE we weren't taught the conditional, pluperfect or imperfect, and it was my writing exam that let me down and got me an A rather than an A*... so if you can use a variety of tenses well then I'm sure that would bump your grade up a bit :smile:

Reply 7

kellywood_5

17

xemmajanex

We haven't even been taught the subjunctive at AS yet so wouldn't it be a bit much for GCSE?! Although having said that, at GCSE we weren't taught the conditional, pluperfect or imperfect, and it was my writing exam that let me down and got me an A rather than an A*... so if you can use a variety of tenses well then I'm sure that would bump your grade up a bit :smile:

I didn't do the subjunctive until AS either, although I did the conditional, pluperfect and imperfect at GCSE. I got an A*, so the subjunctive can't be necessary, but it wouldn't hurt to learn a set phrase or two to really impress the examiner.

Reply 8

dans

12

I got an A overall - but an A* in my oral exam; without the subjunctive either - yet it cannot hurt.

Reply 9

Gooner

14

I'd say that to go from an A to an A*, you'd have to basically perfect your French; increase your knowledge of tenses (the subjunctive isn't necessary, but it would show the examiner in your writing exam, and perhaps your speaking exam) that you are confident and serious about the subject). Also, increase your knowledge of vocabulary and other grammatical techniques, but most of all, learn all of your speaking exam things to a very high standard - that's the thing which will get you the most marks, since this is the exam which you control. Anyways, Good Luck! :smile:

Reply 10

lucky_star

if the rest of your french is not gramatically perfect it's not really helpful to include a subjunctive, no need to show off, it will seem out of place. also if you havent been taught the subj it's quite hard to understand where it should be used and may sound stupid. if it's not on the syllabus you can't really get marks for it, the best you can hope for is to make the examiner think you've copied and pasted a set phrase from the net/a book

just make sure everything you say/write is as near perfect as can be, get your meaning across and focus on learning verb agreements and conjugations. e.g. getting the endings of verbs right etc. learn new adjectives instead of saying c'est super which admittedly i used to do if i couldn't think of anything else. think of good descriptions and reasons why you enjoy doing such + such activity etc. the most valuable advice is try not to worry and panic for your oral!!!

A to A* in GCSE French

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