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French Oral Exam

Okay, so I am doing AQA 9-1 French, Higher Tier.
I am targeted a 7.
So, in my mock oral exam I had a bit of a meltdown. French is my weakest subject and I don't feel very confident about speaking the language in front of someone; I need to have lots of stuff prepare so that I don't have to improvise, because otherwise I am going to panic in the exam.

-Does anyone have any tips? On how to do well in this exam? Thank you so much:smile:)
Reply 1
Think about questions that could come up for each area if the speaking exam and prepare answers for them. Or ask your teacher to give you some examples. Our teacher had given us speaking booklets with lots of questions that could come up in the exam and we have to write down our answers for all of them. If you struggle with pronunciation write down how to pronounce the words not how it’s written in French. Also practice in front of family or friends. I hope this helps.
Reply 2
Hi,
Thank you so much that’s really helpful :smile:
I did GCSE French about 5 years ago, and though I didn't like the speaking exams, I always found that fiddling with something - a paperclip or hair bobble - while I was talking kept me grounded and let me focus on something other than how nervous I was.

I managed to achieve a B overall, but I think that if speaking the language isn't the strongest part, perhaps add some element into adding more strength to your stronger areas (which for me was reading and listening)
Reply 4
Hey,
Thank you for your help, something to fidget with should help me and I’ll try that!
Yeah, my French writing is definitely my strength so I’m going to try and work on listening and reading, so that speaking won’t drag down my overall grade too much
Thanks for your help:smile: x
As someone who loves French, and managed to get the top score in my school for the overall Higher exam last year, I would say that the top things that helped me for the speaking part of the exam (I got 30/30) is to get your teacher to record your speaking on a phone or something that can record things. This helps with the pronunciation and the memorization as you will hear it repeatedly (an example of this is knowing every lyric of your favourite song or every line from your favourite movie.) Listening to French songs or watching French movies can also help with pronunciation. Try physically writing your speaking as well as this could help you with the memorization as well.

You could also try to translate the entire thing into English and write a paragraph on a flash card or index card( whatever you may call them) as I found this to be helpful when I had forgotten what was supposed to be said next.

I'm not sure how to AQA does their speaking exams but the SQA let us bring a piece of paper with 40 words on it (either in English or French) to help us, and I had one question that I could never remember but, luckily, it was exactly 40 words so I just copied it out word for word in French. If you don't want to do that you could also consider making short notes on each paragraph/ question so that when you go in you have a few prompts should you need them!


Hope this helps and bonne courage pour la examen!
Reply 6
Hi,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this, it’s so helpful!
Yeah I’m doing the 9-1 exams so we don’t know the questions in advance and we can’t bring anything in with us at all
But I’m going to try what you said, thanks again for your help xx
Original post by xoxcm
Hi,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this, it’s so helpful!
Yeah I’m doing the 9-1 exams so we don’t know the questions in advance and we can’t bring anything in with us at all
But I’m going to try what you said, thanks again for your help xx


How did you get on with the speaking if you don't mind me asking?
The best way is to get yourself used to listening and seeing the topics in the french news or the radio. I had the grading system rather than the number system during GCSE and literally had everything spoonfed to us for our exams. I chose French for A level and the jump was quite a big one because I thought it would be relatively easy. For you at GCSE now is the equivalent to A level. You have to put the same amount of independent effort in if you want to get a good grade. For oral exams, learn everyday phrases that you could say in your oral and incorporate them into your everyday language so that you get used to speaking French. If you're unsure about pronounciation and feel uncomfortable forming sentences in French then get a sixth former to help you out! I tutor a younger student and it's helpful for me and her because we both want to improve the way we speak in French. and as the other person said...watch and listen to the stuff that interests you! If it interests you, you're bound to pick up on new words that you can say in open conversation.

Hope this helps xx

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