Original post by Epburt
What can I say, I really need to improve my french in order to pass it. I am predicted grade 7 ... I’m currently getting ungraded. Can anyone help me please ? X
What sort of help do you need? Is it general tips or something more specific?
Original post by AnIndividual
What sort of help do you need? Is it general tips or something more specific?
I really just need to learn french in a couple of months tbh x
Original post by Epburt
I really just need to learn french in a couple of months tbh x
This is a response I've posted several times, and it's geared more towards the A-level, but it includes a lot of useful pointers and info on how to improve:
- Use impersonal expressions - in particular 'il s'agit de' and 'il faut' - In doing so you sound more French and 'il faut' can be turned into a subjunctive by making it 'il faut que'
- Don't obfuscate - from what I've seen and read, the best French is simple, and too many people when asked to write a response simply look for posh sounding expressions (my least favourite being 'la premiere constatation qui s'impose', etc.) because they believe it enhances the quality of their work - it doesn't and makes it sound too over the top and un-french
- The subjunctive: try to not go overboard with the subjunctive. If used too often it makes you sound pompous. I basically limited myself to 'bien que', 'pour que' and 'il faut que', however, if you are in dire need of a subjunctive (you will likely need at least 2 per essay to get high grammar marks) you can make a subjunctive by making je pense que and je crois que negative - for example, je pense que ce n'est pas bon could be made into je ne pense pas que ce soit bon - a bad example, but you get the drift
- Read! Definitely read articles and try and get as much vocab as possible from them. Read books too if you like, but I found them either too long or too archaic for me to effectively revise vocab from them. Articles are also an excellent way to improve the quality of your written French. For instance, I noticed the French love of past participles (see below) just through reading, and then I applied that to my essays
- Using past participles - One thing I've noticed is that the French LOVE past participles which they use to 'strengthen' (I can't think of a better term) their nouns. For example you could say 'les decisions de la Cour Supreme' although I would prefer to say 'Les decisions PRISES PAR la Cour Supreme'. Both sentences work, but using participles in this way will gain you grammar points and also sounds more French. Also starting your sentences with past participles can add to the overall Frenchness of your language
- Using present participles - This is a super easy way to gain grammar points if done effectively - once in a while replacing 'ce qui VERB' or 'qui VERB' with a present participle can demonstrate that you understand where to use them, but don't overdo it
- For translations vocab is essential so I advise 3 things: Firstly make sure your additional reading is about a wide range of subjects that correlate roughly to the syllabus - Le Monde is a great paper for this. Second, go through the vocab lists that are provided by the exam boards, ESPECIALLY the GCSE ones. These are so often forgotten, yet contain an enormous amount of basic words that can help in almost all translations. You also should have vocab lists at the back of your A level textbooks which are worth learning as well. Third, learn more obscure prepositions. These can be found listed in almost all French grammar books (though in my opinion Shaums is the best) and are expressions such as 'au dela de' (beyond) - I mention this specifically because this was on the OCR A2 translation this year and was vital for getting all available marks.
- Use exemplars: The availability of these depends on the exam board - AQA has a bunch and OCR has none from what I've seen. However, finding good ones can really help you see how others have structured their essays. The best one I've ever come across is student 8 from the following link:
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects...-E-U3-1203.PDF
Note in particular how he has used impersonal expressions such as 'il s'agit de' to improve his grammatical range
If you want, I'm more than willing to look at your French essays to see if there is anything specific that you could improve.
Best of luck with everything!
Original post by AnIndividual
This is a response I've posted several times, and it's geared more towards the A-level, but it includes a lot of useful pointers and info on how to improve:
- Use impersonal expressions - in particular 'il s'agit de' and 'il faut' - In doing so you sound more French and 'il faut' can be turned into a subjunctive by making it 'il faut que'
- Don't obfuscate - from what I've seen and read, the best French is simple, and too many people when asked to write a response simply look for posh sounding expressions (my least favourite being 'la premiere constatation qui s'impose', etc.) because they believe it enhances the quality of their work - it doesn't and makes it sound too over the top and un-french
- The subjunctive: try to not go overboard with the subjunctive. If used too often it makes you sound pompous. I basically limited myself to 'bien que', 'pour que' and 'il faut que', however, if you are in dire need of a subjunctive (you will likely need at least 2 per essay to get high grammar marks) you can make a subjunctive by making je pense que and je crois que negative - for example, je pense que ce n'est pas bon could be made into je ne pense pas que ce soit bon - a bad example, but you get the drift
- Read! Definitely read articles and try and get as much vocab as possible from them. Read books too if you like, but I found them either too long or too archaic for me to effectively revise vocab from them. Articles are also an excellent way to improve the quality of your written French. For instance, I noticed the French love of past participles (see below) just through reading, and then I applied that to my essays
- Using past participles - One thing I've noticed is that the French LOVE past participles which they use to 'strengthen' (I can't think of a better term) their nouns. For example you could say 'les decisions de la Cour Supreme' although I would prefer to say 'Les decisions PRISES PAR la Cour Supreme'. Both sentences work, but using participles in this way will gain you grammar points and also sounds more French. Also starting your sentences with past participles can add to the overall Frenchness of your language
- Using present participles - This is a super easy way to gain grammar points if done effectively - once in a while replacing 'ce qui VERB' or 'qui VERB' with a present participle can demonstrate that you understand where to use them, but don't overdo it
- For translations vocab is essential so I advise 3 things: Firstly make sure your additional reading is about a wide range of subjects that correlate roughly to the syllabus - Le Monde is a great paper for this. Second, go through the vocab lists that are provided by the exam boards, ESPECIALLY the GCSE ones. These are so often forgotten, yet contain an enormous amount of basic words that can help in almost all translations. You also should have vocab lists at the back of your A level textbooks which are worth learning as well. Third, learn more obscure prepositions. These can be found listed in almost all French grammar books (though in my opinion Shaums is the best) and are expressions such as 'au dela de' (beyond) - I mention this specifically because this was on the OCR A2 translation this year and was vital for getting all available marks.
- Use exemplars: The availability of these depends on the exam board - AQA has a bunch and OCR has none from what I've seen. However, finding good ones can really help you see how others have structured their essays. The best one I've ever come across is student 8 from the following link:
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects...-E-U3-1203.PDF
Note in particular how he has used impersonal expressions such as 'il s'agit de' to improve his grammatical range
If you want, I'm more than willing to look at your French essays to see if there is anything specific that you could improve.
Best of luck with everything!
- Use impersonal expressions - in particular 'il s'agit de' and 'il faut' - In doing so you sound more French and 'il faut' can be turned into a subjunctive by making it 'il faut que'
- Don't obfuscate - from what I've seen and read, the best French is simple, and too many people when asked to write a response simply look for posh sounding expressions (my least favourite being 'la premiere constatation qui s'impose', etc.) because they believe it enhances the quality of their work - it doesn't and makes it sound too over the top and un-french
- The subjunctive: try to not go overboard with the subjunctive. If used too often it makes you sound pompous. I basically limited myself to 'bien que', 'pour que' and 'il faut que', however, if you are in dire need of a subjunctive (you will likely need at least 2 per essay to get high grammar marks) you can make a subjunctive by making je pense que and je crois que negative - for example, je pense que ce n'est pas bon could be made into je ne pense pas que ce soit bon - a bad example, but you get the drift
- Read! Definitely read articles and try and get as much vocab as possible from them. Read books too if you like, but I found them either too long or too archaic for me to effectively revise vocab from them. Articles are also an excellent way to improve the quality of your written French. For instance, I noticed the French love of past participles (see below) just through reading, and then I applied that to my essays
- Using past participles - One thing I've noticed is that the French LOVE past participles which they use to 'strengthen' (I can't think of a better term) their nouns. For example you could say 'les decisions de la Cour Supreme' although I would prefer to say 'Les decisions PRISES PAR la Cour Supreme'. Both sentences work, but using participles in this way will gain you grammar points and also sounds more French. Also starting your sentences with past participles can add to the overall Frenchness of your language
- Using present participles - This is a super easy way to gain grammar points if done effectively - once in a while replacing 'ce qui VERB' or 'qui VERB' with a present participle can demonstrate that you understand where to use them, but don't overdo it
- For translations vocab is essential so I advise 3 things: Firstly make sure your additional reading is about a wide range of subjects that correlate roughly to the syllabus - Le Monde is a great paper for this. Second, go through the vocab lists that are provided by the exam boards, ESPECIALLY the GCSE ones. These are so often forgotten, yet contain an enormous amount of basic words that can help in almost all translations. You also should have vocab lists at the back of your A level textbooks which are worth learning as well. Third, learn more obscure prepositions. These can be found listed in almost all French grammar books (though in my opinion Shaums is the best) and are expressions such as 'au dela de' (beyond) - I mention this specifically because this was on the OCR A2 translation this year and was vital for getting all available marks.
- Use exemplars: The availability of these depends on the exam board - AQA has a bunch and OCR has none from what I've seen. However, finding good ones can really help you see how others have structured their essays. The best one I've ever come across is student 8 from the following link:
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects...-E-U3-1203.PDF
Note in particular how he has used impersonal expressions such as 'il s'agit de' to improve his grammatical range
If you want, I'm more than willing to look at your French essays to see if there is anything specific that you could improve.
Best of luck with everything!
Hi thank you so much for taking time to write this. As a gcse student I should be aiming for 7... I’m currently a U. I am being entered into foundation paper however I still don’t understand. I also do every single french catch up. I am really just so stuck on what to do. It makes me so so so stressed as I need to pass this to get a high average gcse grade, at the moment it’s bringing it down. I know my exam board is EDEXCEL,but I know all my role plays/ themes I have had to learn are all wrong
this is more of a general tip, but familiarise yourself with the language - i study spanish so i can’t help with specifics but i do know if you do things like listen to french music/watch french tv shows like peppa pig in french (or english ones with subtitles)/change your phone to french/reading any labels with french on them ,, it will help a lot ! another thing you should TRY is when you’re thinking in your head, try to translate your thoughts into french?? it is a bit weird but if you do it in those moments when you’re simply occupied by your thoughts, you’re also practicing it???
to be honest, i feel like the place where a lot of people go wrong with languages is knowing the grammar and structure, it’s one thing knowing words and phrases, but if you’re able to form sentences using your knowledge of tenses/structure etc. you’ll understand the language better . so if that is an issue you’re struggling with then perhaps ask your teacher to go over tenses and structure of sentences. this might not be the case however i know it is something a LOT of my friends struggle with
to be honest, i feel like the place where a lot of people go wrong with languages is knowing the grammar and structure, it’s one thing knowing words and phrases, but if you’re able to form sentences using your knowledge of tenses/structure etc. you’ll understand the language better . so if that is an issue you’re struggling with then perhaps ask your teacher to go over tenses and structure of sentences. this might not be the case however i know it is something a LOT of my friends struggle with
Original post by jas21
this is more of a general tip, but familiarise yourself with the language - i study spanish so i can’t help with specifics but i do know if you do things like listen to french music/watch french tv shows like peppa pig in french (or english ones with subtitles)/change your phone to french/reading any labels with french on them ,, it will help a lot ! another thing you should TRY is when you’re thinking in your head, try to translate your thoughts into french?? it is a bit weird but if you do it in those moments when you’re simply occupied by your thoughts, you’re also practicing it???
to be honest, i feel like the place where a lot of people go wrong with languages is knowing the grammar and structure, it’s one thing knowing words and phrases, but if you’re able to form sentences using your knowledge of tenses/structure etc. you’ll understand the language better . so if that is an issue you’re struggling with then perhaps ask your teacher to go over tenses and structure of sentences. this might not be the case however i know it is something a LOT of my friends struggle with
to be honest, i feel like the place where a lot of people go wrong with languages is knowing the grammar and structure, it’s one thing knowing words and phrases, but if you’re able to form sentences using your knowledge of tenses/structure etc. you’ll understand the language better . so if that is an issue you’re struggling with then perhaps ask your teacher to go over tenses and structure of sentences. this might not be the case however i know it is something a LOT of my friends struggle with
Thankyou xx
Hi, I am now doing A Level French; although I did the old French GCSE I have tips for you my friend.
Basically, when I did GCSE (although yours is different to mine) I found that grammar was less important than just knowing loads of vocab. So, ask your teacher if they can provide you with an extensive list of key vocabulary. Or, if you are studying from a textbook specific to your exam board, there's a chance that at the end of each topic there should be vocabulary lists.
Once you have your vocabulary, create yourself a Memrise account and make your own course where you add all the vocab (you need to do this on a computer). Create different chapers for each topic just for organisation and clarity purposes if you want to. Also, during lessons I highly suggest that you write down as many new words that you come across during lessons and add those words to the suitable chapters that day! Stick to spending at least 5 minutes a day on each chapter/level.
Grammar is important too. If you want to go over the basics of grammar you could try out Duolingo. The present, imperfect, perfect, both futures and the conditional tenses are tenses that I suggest you try to revise. There's plenty of good Memrise courses for verb conjugation.
Less important and very situational adive: (don't take this too seriously. It's just something odd and amusing that I noticed when I did the GCSE)
Strange exam tip! I know this also sounds odd, but there's something I noticed from the past papers and exams I did. I don't know the structure of your exams, but I found that the French exams is that it helped to put your politically correct and environmentally friendly hat on. Nearly every topic in past papers/listenings I did was able to bring up these ideas. When answering questions or doing multiple choice questions, and you have no clue what to say, there's nothing to lose if you just say what the exam board wants to hear. I mean, you're never going to be asked to write about why it's not important to look after the environment, or cons of immigration are you? So just say what fits their agenda if you're stuck lol
Basically, when I did GCSE (although yours is different to mine) I found that grammar was less important than just knowing loads of vocab. So, ask your teacher if they can provide you with an extensive list of key vocabulary. Or, if you are studying from a textbook specific to your exam board, there's a chance that at the end of each topic there should be vocabulary lists.
Once you have your vocabulary, create yourself a Memrise account and make your own course where you add all the vocab (you need to do this on a computer). Create different chapers for each topic just for organisation and clarity purposes if you want to. Also, during lessons I highly suggest that you write down as many new words that you come across during lessons and add those words to the suitable chapters that day! Stick to spending at least 5 minutes a day on each chapter/level.
Grammar is important too. If you want to go over the basics of grammar you could try out Duolingo. The present, imperfect, perfect, both futures and the conditional tenses are tenses that I suggest you try to revise. There's plenty of good Memrise courses for verb conjugation.
Less important and very situational adive: (don't take this too seriously. It's just something odd and amusing that I noticed when I did the GCSE)
Strange exam tip! I know this also sounds odd, but there's something I noticed from the past papers and exams I did. I don't know the structure of your exams, but I found that the French exams is that it helped to put your politically correct and environmentally friendly hat on. Nearly every topic in past papers/listenings I did was able to bring up these ideas. When answering questions or doing multiple choice questions, and you have no clue what to say, there's nothing to lose if you just say what the exam board wants to hear. I mean, you're never going to be asked to write about why it's not important to look after the environment, or cons of immigration are you? So just say what fits their agenda if you're stuck lol
Hi,
I feel you pain with GCSE French. I'm currently in Year 10 and I absolutely hate french. I'm predicted a 6 but is working at a 7. I'm also on the exam board Edexcel so hopefully my tips should be helpful.
My school provides us with the edexcel GCSE french revision guides - not the CGP guide but the actual guide. I don't really use it but you may find it helpful when not understanding a topic.
A key tip to passing GCSE French is learning the vocab - I can't explain how important it is to do this. The link that I've attached scroll down to page 77 and there will be a long, long list of vocab you need to know.
https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/French/2016/specification-and-sample-assessments/Specification-Pearson-Edexcel-Level-1-Level-2-GCSE-9-1-French.pdf
I know it looks like a long and boring list, but I promise you that if you learn all the vocab - French will be so easy for you. To learn all of the vocab I suggest you make a Quizlet course which will be helpful.
As well as this you need to learn your tenses. This includes imperfect, present, simple future etc.
Hope this helped
I feel you pain with GCSE French. I'm currently in Year 10 and I absolutely hate french. I'm predicted a 6 but is working at a 7. I'm also on the exam board Edexcel so hopefully my tips should be helpful.
My school provides us with the edexcel GCSE french revision guides - not the CGP guide but the actual guide. I don't really use it but you may find it helpful when not understanding a topic.
A key tip to passing GCSE French is learning the vocab - I can't explain how important it is to do this. The link that I've attached scroll down to page 77 and there will be a long, long list of vocab you need to know.
https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/French/2016/specification-and-sample-assessments/Specification-Pearson-Edexcel-Level-1-Level-2-GCSE-9-1-French.pdf
I know it looks like a long and boring list, but I promise you that if you learn all the vocab - French will be so easy for you. To learn all of the vocab I suggest you make a Quizlet course which will be helpful.
As well as this you need to learn your tenses. This includes imperfect, present, simple future etc.
Hope this helped
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