AQA GCSE French Reading + Listen Higher (8658/R+LH) - 23rd May 2023 [Exam Chat]

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How did you AQA GCSE French Listening and Reading Higher Tier exam go today?

AQA GCSE French Listening and Reading 8658- 23rd May 2023 [Exam Chat]

Welcome to the exam discussion thread for this exam. Introduce yourself! Let others know what you're aiming for in your exams, what you are struggling with in your revision or anything else.

Wishing you all the best of luck.

General Information
Date/Time: 23rd May 2023, am
Length: 45 mins (standard time), listening
1 hour, reading

Resources
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages/gcse/french-8658
2023 GCSE exam thread directory

if you want to discuss the reading exam, you can do so here:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7334547

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 1

greenthing

11

wooo french reading!!! :biggrin:

my favourite of the french exams, but I still suck at it!!! :cool:

I don't know how to revise for it really... do I just revise vocab? anyone got cool revision tips for it? or really just for french revision in general...

Reply 2

greenthing

11

how do I revise for this :confused:

Reply 3

taylor2317

Life & Style Forum Helper

16

Original post by greenthing

how do I revise for this :confused:

If you have online textbooks, they usually have listening exercises in them

Reply 4

taylor2317

Life & Style Forum Helper

16

Original post by greenthing

wooo french reading!!! :biggrin:

my favourite of the french exams, but I still suck at it!!! :cool:

I don't know how to revise for it really... do I just revise vocab? anyone got cool revision tips for it? or really just for french revision in general...

I wouls just focus on tenses and conjugations, and maybe research some well-used colloquial phrases that may be included (and ones you can include in the writing paper!)

Reply 5

SagaciousSag

20

Original post by greenthing

how do I revise for this :confused:

Revise the vocabulary that you’ve been given, look at words on the specification if you don’t know and try to learn the essentials that you haven’t come across. Then, use either listening exercises from your textbook or past/practice papers to improve your listening.

Reply 6

greenthing

11

oh good idea! sometimes I use languageonline.org.uk or languagegym for tenses revision but do you know of any other good websites that I could use? I also have trouble getting words that I have learnt to stay in my head - any tips on making it easier to memorise them?

Reply 7

SagaciousSag

20

Original post by greenthing

wooo french reading!!! :biggrin:

my favourite of the french exams, but I still suck at it!!! :cool:

I don't know how to revise for it really... do I just revise vocab? anyone got cool revision tips for it? or really just for french revision in general...

I agree with the above poster. Vocab, tenses and conjugations. As long as you understand what you’re reading and how to translate it to English, you’ll be fine.

Original post by greenthing

oh good idea! sometimes I use languageonline.org.uk or languagegym for tenses revision but do you know of any other good websites that I could use? I also have trouble getting words that I have learnt to stay in my head - any tips on making it easier to memorise them?

Revising at night or first thing in the morning is effective for most people. You could also revise for 10 minutes every day and perhaps revise in terms of topics (so holidays, festivals, school, healthy living) in order to make the vocabulary easier to retain.

OP

Original post by SagaciousSag

Revise the vocabulary that you’ve been given, look at words on the specification if you don’t know and try to learn the essentials that you haven’t come across. Then, use either listening exercises from your textbook or past/practice papers to improve your listening.

, the CGP textbook has listening exercises.

Reply 9

taylor2317

Life & Style Forum Helper

16

Original post by greenthing

oh good idea! sometimes I use languageonline.org.uk or languagegym for tenses revision but do you know of any other good websites that I could use? I also have trouble getting words that I have learnt to stay in my head - any tips on making it easier to memorise them?

Use flashcard sites like quizlet.com or knowt.io for general words and words you struggle with, but languagesonline.co.uk is great for conjugations!

Reply 10

hasankhwaja

8

Do you have any tips for cramming all the vocab in the last week or so. Theres abt 1200 words and i know abt 600 of them. any useful resources or specific reading practice techniques. or should i just do past papers?

Reply 11

SagaciousSag

20

Original post by hasankhwaja

Do you have any tips for cramming all the vocab in the last week or so. Theres abt 1200 words and i know abt 600 of them. any useful resources or specific reading practice techniques. or should i just do past papers?

If you haven’t learnt 600 words, you’ll have to cut your losses. You won’t remember them all and you’ll end up forgetting others. Choose the most essential ones (since there’s a translation) and the ones you’re least likely to guess, then leave the rest. If you’re just reviewing after a long time, work your way through them in bursts (50 at a time, perhaps) and tackle the difficult words with more revision.

As for techniques, it’s all about understanding. If you have no idea what to do with a sentence, identify the verbs and the tense. Think about the words that you do know. Look at the sentences surrounding that sentence. Then, try to guess from context. Doing a past paper or two should show you where this might come in handy, and if words come up frequently, it would be best to learn them. Quizlet is a good app for this.

Good luck!

Reply 12

Voxdei

13

Original post by greenthing

wooo french reading!!! :biggrin:

my favourite of the french exams, but I still suck at it!!! :cool:

I don't know how to revise for it really... do I just revise vocab? anyone got cool revision tips for it? or really just for french revision in general...

Try to use a dictionary for every word you don't know. Print a paper and write on it. If there's a grammatical phrase (venir de) make a note ("have just" xxx). They are obsessed with charity work (the French aren't btw). Go to the mark scheme, indeed work solely from the mark scheme, to learn the right answers by heart. Try to work fast, there are 20 pages. Start back to front.

Reply 13

SagaciousSag

20

Another tip I should mention is starting the paper with the translation while your mind is fresh. Read the entire text and think about the grammar points that you need to remember when translating. Don’t translate word-for-word, especially with difficult sentences.

Example:
Q: “Ce que font les associations caritatives ne suffit plus.”
A: “What charities do is no longer enough.”

Think about the sentence as “ce que” (what), “font les association caritatives” (what charities do/are doing) and “ne suffit plus” (is no longer enough). If you didn’t know what “suffit” was, but knew “suffisament” (sufficiently) or “suffisant” (sufficient), then in context, you could deduce that “ne suffit plus” means “no longer suffices”, “is no longer sufficient” or, to sound more natural, “is no longer enough”.

Reply 14

raantaaro

7

listening is my worst i am soo scared

Reply 15

chlo_01

3

Original post by greenthing

wooo french reading!!! :biggrin:

my favourite of the french exams, but I still suck at it!!! :cool:

I don't know how to revise for it really... do I just revise vocab? anyone got cool revision tips for it? or really just for french revision in general...

I would say that it's a good idea to revise general vocab (perhaps using flashcards) and then the next best thing to do would be to request practice papers from your teacher. If they can't provide you with any, there will most likely be some available online. Good luck :smile:

Reply 16

Voxdei

13

Read that this year there won't be any unrecognisable new word in either GCSE or Modern Langs A level. As Prince Charles said "whatever that means". As for vocab revision, try to throw in some idioms, to lighten the prose. Fixed locutions toutes faites would be nice. Grab a novel (eg Amelie Nothomb's) and crib from expressions from there, eg "Je n'y etais pour rien"