AQA GCSE French 8658 Writing Paper 17 May 2019 [Exam Discussion]

Poll

Are you ready for your French exams?

Bonjour mes amies! :biggrin:

Our writing paper is on Friday 15th May, lasting for 1h 15mins.

Share your revision strategies and how you're feeling here. After the exam, this thread might be a good place to discuss what came up.

I hope people find this useful!

Link to the AQA GCSE French page (with specification link on the right hand side of the page *insert thumbs up emoji here* ) : https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/lang...on-at-a-glance

Bonne chance!

@Evil Homer, please add this to the list when you can!

[scrollr]Well done everyone! French is officially out of the way![/scrollr]

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

Smart_Cookie_

10

So basically what I have done to prepare is:

Made quizlets for all of the vocab that we are supposed to know directly from the specification and practice them for at least half an hour every day.

So much Duolingo like at least 20 minutes every day for the past couple of months

I've tried to memorise all of the verb endings for all of the tenses including MRS VANDERTRAMP etc.

Tried to memorise a good amount of idioms

Memorised some subjunctive stuff.

But honestly, the grade boundaries for French are considerably low so its not necessary to do all of it. This would get you a good mark but you don't need to do this much to get a good grade

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 2

Littlegeekgirl_

18

Wow! I really hope you do well, this revision is amazing

Original post by Smart_Cookie_

So basically what I have done to prepare is:

Made quizlets for all of the vocab that we are supposed to know directly from the specification and practice them for at least half an hour every day.

So much Duolingo like at least 20 minutes every day for the past couple of months

I've tried to memorise all of the verb endings for all of the tenses including MRS VANDERTRAMP etc.

Tried to memorise a good amount of idioms

Memorised some subjunctive stuff.

But honestly, the grade boundaries for French are considerably low so its not necessary to do all of it. This would get you a good mark but you don't need to do this much to get a good grade

Reply 3

mjhmichael18

19

I really want to get a 4 or 5 in French this year what can I do in the writing to make this more likely?

Reply 4

fish finger fan

18

With the word limit questions ( such as the 90 words one), It is hard to get exactly 90. How far above or below the limit can we go?

Reply 5

rohanodo

14

I think the environment is likely to come up in the writing!

OP

Original post by mjhmichael18

I really want to get a 4 or 5 in French this year what can I do in the writing to make this more likely?

Are you foundation or higher? You need to use negatives, a range of tenses, reflexive verbs (if you can), vocab (that's not basic) and perhaps 2 or 3 higher phrases. :yep:

Original post by fish finger fan

With the word limit questions ( such as the 90 words one), It is hard to get exactly 90. How far above or below the limit can we go?

I struggle with that too. :yes:

I think they allow around 10 words under or over the limit. They don't mark anything past 100-ish too. The bullet points tend to cover 3-4 tenses (generally past, present, future and conditional), so you need to focus on getting your star phrases/negs in there.

Original post by rohanodo

I think the environment is likely to come up in the writing!

Really? That would be a blessing. I've studied so much for that.

Reply 7

elob24

8

has anyone got any resources to help learn some higher grade phrases? I’m honestly stressing so much about science and maths that after my speaking I kinda pushed French to the side a little, and I’m now regretting it!

(edited 4 years ago)

OP

Original post by elob24

has anyone got any resources to help learn some higher grade phrases? I’m honestly stressing so much about science and maths that after my speaking I kinda pushed French to the side a little, and I’m now regretting it!

Check this thread from 7 years ago :lol:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1641188

I actually used the first comment for me speaking exam :wink:

Reply 9

elob24

8

Original post by RazzzBerries

Check this thread from 7 years ago :lol:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1641188

I actually used the first comment for me speaking exam :wink:

ahh thank you so much!

OP

Original post by elob24

ahh thank you so much!

No problem! :wink:

Reply 11

Smart_Cookie_

10

the examiner has to mark whatever you write down. So for the 90 words, you could write as much as you want. just make sure that you've got enough time for the rest of the paper

Original post by fish finger fan

With the word limit questions ( such as the 90 words one), It is hard to get exactly 90. How far above or below the limit can we go?

Reply 12

mjhmichael18

19

Original post by RazzzBerries

Really? That would be a blessing. I've studied so much for that.

Original post by RazzzBerries

Really? That would be a blessing. I've studied so much for that.

Original post by RazzzBerries

Really? That would be a blessing. I've studied so much for that.

Original post by RazzzBerries

Really? That would be a blessing. I've studied so much for that.

I am only on Foundation but if I don’t pass it this year I think I will change it to Higher.

Reply 13

labrador716

12

Original post by Smart_Cookie_

the examiner has to mark whatever you write down. So for the 90 words, you could write as much as you want. just make sure that you've got enough time for the rest of the paper

the exam board also said last year that people who wrote way more made more mistakes so it's best to stick roughly to the word count, but as long as you proofread well and cover all the bullet points they'll credit everything you do

Reply 14

lemonzfizz

3

Original post by fish finger fan

With the word limit questions ( such as the 90 words one), It is hard to get exactly 90. How far above or below the limit can we go?

i don't think it matters if you go over, they will mark the whole thing (unless it does take up like 5 pages or something). i wouldn't recommend going under 90 as you may not have enough detail to get a secure amount of marks. as long as you cover all bullet points, add opinions and tenses, you should be fine. bonne chance!

Reply 15

fish finger fan

18

Original post by lemonzfizz

i don't think it matters if you go over, they will mark the whole thing (unless it does take up like 5 pages or something). i wouldn't recommend going under 90 as you may not have enough detail to get a secure amount of marks. as long as you cover all bullet points, add opinions and tenses, you should be fine. bonne chance!

Thank you, or merci.

Reply 16

username4599420

10

Sooooo stressed for French. 🤤😯

Reply 17

daizu

15

Original post by lemonzfizz

i don't think it matters if you go over, they will mark the whole thing (unless it does take up like 5 pages or something). i wouldn't recommend going under 90 as you may not have enough detail to get a secure amount of marks. as long as you cover all bullet points, add opinions and tenses, you should be fine. bonne chance!

My teacher in school said that once it gets way too over the limit (eg if you have to write 90 words but you write 150-200 or something) they’ll ignore it even if you’re in the middle of a sentence and won’t mark it

Reply 18

lemonzfizz

3

nope, they are required to mark what you put on the paper, no matter how much you write. i usually just take the guide of how many pages they give you

Original post by daizu

My teacher in school said that once it gets way too over the limit (eg if you have to write 90 words but you write 150-200 or something) they’ll ignore it even if you’re in the middle of a sentence and won’t mark it