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How to ace French exams/revision? (A level)

hi :smile:

I really want to do well in French because I'm planning to take it alongside with Japanese at university, and my predicted is a B but I want to boost that to an A*, except I'm not entirely sure how :frown:

I've never really been great at studying as I never really feel fulfilled or content after studying, I always feel like there's gaps missing... I use BrainScape for flashcards, and LanguageNut for vocabulary, and a workbook for Grammar/AQA Specification website. The main problem is that I find that in French some things are super complex and you just HAVE to deal with that and some parts are fairly simple, I find it difficult to create links between the easy and the hard stuff.

I also have no idea how to achieve an A/A* because I don't know how people do it! Obviously the mark scheme is really strict at A-Level, but this one person in my class was getting full marks on essays and I don't understand how they didn't miss anything! I have asked him what he does, but not much help lol.

What am I doing wrong? I don't feel as though I am achieving a B, as it seems like I'm getting a lot of stuff wrong still and I feel like I should be progressing faster.

In brief I guess I'm asking how long to spend on everything to revise? For example how long to spend on grammar/vocab a week, AO4 knowledge, and how to organise my revision around French! Feeling a little overwhelmed and can't really choose/plan what to do, when. :frown:

Thank you :')
(Should probably mention my exam board is AQA)
Well I didn’t do french but my best friend did! I know she spent a lot of time creating knowledge organisers. Like on a4 for a page of topic based info. She practised loads of essays! For oral she used to write perfect answers for all questions she expected and could recite them word for word. She did a load of past papers and translations, even watched some films in french to get used to hearing french for her listening. Not sure how useful any of this is, but I know she did these things and got an A* at the end. Lots of memorisation and practise- the amount of hours, that’s up to however much works for you- just don’t overwork yourself :smile: xx
Reply 2
Original post by toomuchworktodo
Well I didn’t do french but my best friend did! I know she spent a lot of time creating knowledge organisers. Like on a4 for a page of topic based info. She practised loads of essays! For oral she used to write perfect answers for all questions she expected and could recite them word for word. She did a load of past papers and translations, even watched some films in french to get used to hearing french for her listening. Not sure how useful any of this is, but I know she did these things and got an A* at the end. Lots of memorisation and practise- the amount of hours, that’s up to however much works for you- just don’t overwork yourself :smile: xx

this is so so so helpful, especially for the oral!! thank you so much, i really appreciate it :smile::smile::smile: xx
Reply 3
hello!! i've applied for french and jap too, where are you applying?:-)
Reply 4
Original post by longszn
hello!! i've applied for french and jap too, where are you applying?:-)

newcastle, birmingham, leeds and UCLan!! wbu?? :smile:

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