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French speaking help/tips

Hey guys...absolutely freaking out...I have my french speaking on the 30th of April and I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FRENCH. In my only french speaking mock i got 58% and that was me winging it. My teacher said that my accuracy was correct but I need to work on incorporating more tenses/high level vocab. Also I need to write my answers for all my questions since I feel like the ones I have are very basic. And I need to choose which topic I’m choosing for the general conversation. I’m doing AQA btw. If anyone can suggest which topic I should do and any tips/tricks they have to get a higher grade, 8/9, IT WOULD BE OF MUCH HELP!! Furthermore, if you have any other tips for the writing, reading and listening exam please share with me because I am only averaging about 50% in all the papers, but I would love a 8/9!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

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Hey, mine is at the same time and I am also doing AQA. I would recommend picking theme 1 BUT you still need to learn the other answers because they can still ask a couple from theme 2 and 3. Honestly just pick the one you feel the most confident on with vocab. Now, that means that your photo card can either be theme 2 or 3, so use Quizlet to write down words on the vocab list on the aqa website that you are unsure of. Mémorise phrases that can be applied to many situations, such as je dirais que, àpres être mangé etc which will score you marks. Hope this helped, I got an 8 in my speaking 😊
Also, ils pourraient être is a good one to put in the photo card
Original post by student4656789
Hey, mine is at the same time and I am also doing AQA. I would recommend picking theme 1 BUT you still need to learn the other answers because they can still ask a couple from theme 2 and 3. Honestly just pick the one you feel the most confident on with vocab. Now, that means that your photo card can either be theme 2 or 3, so use Quizlet to write down words on the vocab list on the aqa website that you are unsure of. Mémorise phrases that can be applied to many situations, such as je dirais que, àpres être mangé etc which will score you marks. Hope this helped, I got an 8 in my speaking 😊


Thanks for the help! Regarding choosing a topic from theme 1, I feel that since they all are fairly easy topics, it would be much helpful to choose the topic I find hardest and learn the questions to that, for me it would be Global/social issues. However, this is the only one I have not written my answers for and I would be quite shocked if it came up as the role play or photo card. Do you find Theme 1 the easiest, and is that why you chose it? And I have not learnt the vocab for most of the themes and grammar is a big issue for me. Do you think I will be able to work towards a grade 8 atleast if i spend a sufficient amount of time everyday revising? Thank you for the help!
Yeah, I chose it because it was the easiest for me but it’s completely your choice - you could easily get a grade 8 if you revise that much :smile: the examiners are looking for flowing conversation with good vocab, plus about 5 tenses. ( I used 4 and got away with it). Even if you just learn a set phrase from each tense, it’ll be fine, that’s what I did :smile: I understand your reasoning and think that would be a good thing to do
Reply 5
Avatar for lottiii
lottiii
3
my advice would be to learn some key phrases like
je trouve que (i find that)
il est donc question de (it is a question of, it is about)
je me sent que (i feel that)

and others to bump but your mark in converstaion. the other thing is to learn at least 2 tenses really well and use them after that you'll be able to write anything with the vocab you have. i hope this helps i can provide more help if needed :smile:
thank you so much! what topic did you choose for the general conversation, and also, do you have tips for the reading and listening section?
Original post by lottiii
my advice would be to learn some key phrases like
je trouve que (i find that)
il est donc question de (it is a question of, it is about)
je me sent que (i feel that)

and others to bump but your mark in converstaion. the other thing is to learn at least 2 tenses really well and use them after that you'll be able to write anything with the vocab you have. i hope this helps i can provide more help if needed :smile:
Reply 7
Avatar for lottiii
lottiii
3
for my general conversation i chose my home and region as i am a little shaky on that topic.
for reading i'd advise revising all verb endings, although they seem easy they're always surprisingly hard to remember, maybe try printing out a sheet with them on to put up on your wall or something. also use your tenses!! if you can switch between tenses in a writing your mark will shoot up even if you are a little lacking on vocab. for example if you get the question 'what is your experience with new technology?' try saying when i was younger technology was much simpler [...] but in the future things will be much more complicated [...] .

i personally find listenings really hard so all i can say is to latch onto any words/ phrases you know and try to puzzle together what you can. i spend a lot of time listening to french audio clips or have my french friends talk about some of my subjects so i can learn common phrases. sometimes i turn on french subtitles or audio on netflix so i can learn a few new words.

i really hope this helps sorry if i bombarded you with info, feel free to ask for any help :tongue:
Original post by forgottenflower
thank you so much! what topic did you choose for the general conversation, and also, do you have tips for the reading and listening section?
FYI, if anything, this means "having been eaten" so unless you're talking about a near encounter with a man-eating bear I'd avoid using it :rolleyes:
Original post by student4656789
àpres être mangé
Original post by forgottenflower
Hey guys...absolutely freaking out...I have my french speaking on the 30th of April and I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FRENCH. In my only french speaking mock i got 58% and that was me winging it. My teacher said that my accuracy was correct but I need to work on incorporating more tenses/high level vocab. Also I need to write my answers for all my questions since I feel like the ones I have are very basic. And I need to choose which topic I’m choosing for the general conversation. I’m doing AQA btw. If anyone can suggest which topic I should do and any tips/tricks they have to get a higher grade, 8/9, IT WOULD BE OF MUCH HELP!! Furthermore, if you have any other tips for the writing, reading and listening exam please share with me because I am only averaging about 50% in all the papers, but I would love a 8/9!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!


The tutor who is taking my German speaking exam says that for general questions, all the examiners want is for you to tick the boxes. So that means for every answer you give, try and include and opinion and a reason (Je pense que...parce que.../ A mon avis... car...), a past tense, a future tense, present tense obviously, and if possible a conditional tense and an idiom (but they aren’t essential). I’m doing Edexcel but I doubt they’d be much different when it comes to what the examiners want. I have my exam on 8th May, and I’m also freaking out a bit but hopefully it will be ok......
If it's of any help, I'm a French-speaker and would be happy to chat to you via PM in French to give you a bit of practice.
Reply 11
Avatar for Ðeggs
Ðeggs
22
I would recommend focusing on which part of the exam is your weakness/ what you struggle with. Practice reading and listening exercises using kerboodle and old AQA french listening and reading papers on line. I completed every one I found, even though they're easier. You can go on the teaching materials section of the AQA French specification website, there are more translation practice documents on there. Otherwise if speaking is what you struggle with, then I used flashcards to write out focused answers. For writing, try and learn and memorise some different phrases instead of boring "je pense que" and "de plus" all the time. You can use "je soutiens que" = I maintain that, "de surcroit" = moreover, "je suis peu convaincru que" (+ subjunctive) = I am not really convinced that", "à ceci s'ajoute" = to this can be added... , "par ailleurs" = moreover, furthermore, "on témoigne que" = we witness that, "il (m')aparaîtrait que" = it would appear (to me) that etc. You can also sort of make up helpful expressions using "il est + adjective (masc sing)+ que" eg il est evident que, il est probable que etc.
Research different websites, and you can write some phrases you like on flashcards and incorporate them into essays and speaking tasks, https://www.talkinfrench.com/french-essay-phrases/ for example. You can also watch French With Alexa on you tube if you're bored or before bed or when you cba to do actual revision, she helps with speaking situations, eg at the shops. For context, I am doing a level french this year and got a 9 last year in GCSE.

Je te souhaite bonne chance! :smile:
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 12
Avatar for Ðeggs
Ðeggs
22
Original post by lottiii
my advice would be to learn some key phrases like
je trouve que (i find that)
il est donc question de (it is a question of, it is about)
je me sent que (i feel that)

and others to bump but your mark in converstaion. the other thing is to learn at least 2 tenses really well and use them after that you'll be able to write anything with the vocab you have. i hope this helps i can provide more help if needed :smile:

Je me sens que avec "s" est la conjugaison correcte :smile:
Original post by Kinyonga
FYI, if anything, this means "having been eaten" so unless you're talking about a near encounter with a man-eating bear I'd avoid using it :rolleyes:


My bad - àpres avoir mangé, meaning after having eaten 🙂
Also just out of interest why is everyone going for the theme for the general convo that they are the least confident on? :smile: just curious seeing as it holds half the marks x
Reply 15
Avatar for Op09
Op09
6
So that it doesn't come up on the photocard. TBH it doesn't particularly matter what Theme you pick as long as you will be able to revise it.
Original post by student4656789
Also just out of interest why is everyone going for the theme for the general convo that they are the least confident on? :smile: just curious seeing as it holds half the marks x
Ah ok :smile:
Reply 17
Avatar for Ðeggs
Ðeggs
22
Haha you said after having been eaten 😂😂
Original post by student4656789
My bad - àpres avoir mangé, meaning after having eaten 🙂
thank you so much! i'll def use those!!
Original post by lottiii
my advice would be to learn some key phrases like
je trouve que (i find that)
il est donc question de (it is a question of, it is about)
je me sent que (i feel that)

and others to bump but your mark in converstaion. the other thing is to learn at least 2 tenses really well and use them after that you'll be able to write anything with the vocab you have. i hope this helps i can provide more help if needed :smile:
Merci beaucoup!! :smile: Thank you for all the help!!
Original post by Deggs_14
I would recommend focusing on which part of the exam is your weakness/ what you struggle with. Practice reading and listening exercises using kerboodle and old AQA french listening and reading papers on line. I completed every one I found, even though they're easier. You can go on the teaching materials section of the AQA French specification website, there are more translation practice documents on there. Otherwise if speaking is what you struggle with, then I used flashcards to write out focused answers. For writing, try and learn and memorise some different phrases instead of boring "je pense que" and "de plus" all the time. You can use "je soutiens que" = I maintain that, "de surcroit" = moreover, "je suis peu convaincru que" (+ subjunctive) = I am not really convinced that", "à ceci s'ajoute" = to this can be added... , "par ailleurs" = moreover, furthermore, "on témoigne que" = we witness that, "il (m')aparaîtrait que" = it would appear (to me) that etc. You can also sort of make up helpful expressions using "il est + adjective (masc sing)+ que" eg il est evident que, il est probable que etc.
Research different websites, and you can write some phrases you like on flashcards and incorporate them into essays and speaking tasks, https://www.talkinfrench.com/french-essay-phrases/ for example. You can also watch French With Alexa on you tube if you're bored or before bed or when you cba to do actual revision, she helps with speaking situations, eg at the shops. For context, I am doing a level french this year and got a 9 last year in GCSE.

Je te souhaite bonne chance! :smile:

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