The Oral - Realview

exam b ief French
with
The Oral
school book).
The oral will take place in April
this year. It is worth 25% at Higher • Yourself and your family
Level. It will last for 15 minutes
• Your house and household tasks
approximately.
• The area where you live (what
is there for young people, for
The oral takes the form of straighttourists, advantages and disforward questions put to the
advantages, would you like to
student in a fairly direct way. The
continue living there)
main problem I find with the oral
• School (the atmosphere, faciliis that students have a tendancy to
ties, subjects, teachers, how you
get very nervous before the exam.
find the Leaving Cert, future
There are several ways to avoid
plans, rules)
this.
• Holidays (last year, next year,
have you ever been to France,
1. Remember the oral examidifferences between France and
nation is not an interview, it
Ireland and the French and the
should be seen as a friendly
Irish)
chat. Often the examiners are
• Pastimes (including the internet
themselves teachers of Higher
and friends)
Level 6th Year French so they
• Daily Routine (yesterday and
understand your nervousness.
tomorrow)
2. Practice is key in this area.
• The Weekend (last weekend and
In addition to classwork you
next weekend)
should avail of anyone you
• Transition Year
know who can speak French.
• What do you do for money?
Give them the list of topics
• If – if you won the lotto what
below and get them to ask you
would you do, if you were
questions on them. This perschool principal what would
son can be a French person, a
you change.
cousin or older sibling who sat
the Leaving Cert recently and
In terms of getting asked a queswho obtained a good grade in
tion on a topical issue such as the
it.
recession or climate change—the
examiner will only ask a question
Remember the more you speak
on these topics if you bring it up in
French, the more comfortable you conversation. For example, if you
will be on the day of the exam.
mention every weekend you see
fights outside nightclubs linked to
You need to have covered the fol- alcohol, then obviously the examiner may ask you why do you
lowing topics (your teacher will
think young people drink so much.
cover them with you in class and
you can also refer back to your
Abstract Topic
Abstract Topic
• Addictions
• Racism / Unemployment
• The Environment and Pollution
• Information Technology
• Violence /The Recession/ Politics
Be careful where you lead the
conversation. For example, if you
mention that you drive to school,
the obvious question will be, did
you sit your test yet, how do you
afford a car, where do you park,
etc. The ideal situation is where
you learn how to lead the conversation. For example, a question
about what you did last weekend
can lead to you discussing your
pastimes.
If there is a point you don’t want
to be asked about, don’t mention
it!
The most commonly asked question is Pourquoi?
Students may also choose to bring
in a document. No student is
obliged to take in a document but
I recommend it. The student will
be asked about the document at
the end of the conversation. The
discussion about the document
should last 3 minutes (approximately).
Some options for a document are:
• A French newspaper article
• A French book
exam b ief French
• A photo of a recent holiday or sporting hero
• A French advertisement
The student will be asked questions on whatever
they have chosen. For example:
• Where did you find this?
• Why did you choose this?
• Describe what’s going on in the image and who is
in it?
• When was it taken (if photo)?
Texts in languages other than French will not be accepted.
All students are marked out of 100. An adjustment
will be made for ordinary level students in June once
the student has sat the written/aural papers.
The examiner will not know if you are higher or
ordinary level.
Source: the best book for the French oral in my opinion is Accent Français by Cian Hogan (Folens)
Sources from other students:
• http://www.zulunotes.com/wiki/index.php/
French_Oral
• http://studynotes.ie/leaving-cert/french-leavingcert/french-oral-exam-tips-for-leaving-certificatevideos/
Error checklist for the French
oral
• Getting mixed up between deux (2) and douze (12)
• Getting mixed up between quatre (4) and quatorze
(14)
• Getting mixed up between Il and Elle
• Confusion between Jouer à and Jouer de. Je joue au
foot but je joue du piano
• Getting mixed up between C’est (it is) and Il y a (there
is/there are)
• Saying J’ai allé(e) instead of Je suis allé(e)
• Not knowing how to form reflexive verb in past Je me
suis levé(e)
• Saying À le week-end instead of Le week-end (at the
with
weekend/every weekend)
• Saying en Paris instead of à Paris
• Saying J’aime école instead of J’aime l’école
• If asked Est-ce que vous regardez…the student answers Je regardez instead of Je regarde
• Saying Je suis 18 ans instead of J’ai 18 ans
• Getting mixed up between voyager (to travel) and
travailler (to work)
• Getting mixed up between sujet (topic) and matière
(school subject)
• Not listening to time frames – eg hier = yesterday,
demain = tomorrow, l’été prochain = next Summer, la
semaine dernière = last week.
• Saying le samedi (every Saturday) instead of samedi
dernier or samedi prochain
• Saying le collège instead of la fac (college)
• Saying beaucoup des instead of beaucoup de
• Saying mon soeur instead of ma soeur etc
• The use of pour, pendant and depuis. Pour should be
used for the following verbs only: partir, s’en aller,
venir. Pendant should be used for duration of an
action which is limited in time. Depuis is used for an
action which is still going on.
• Incorrect use of prepositions:
Saying à France instead of en France
Saying en Waterford instead of à Waterford
Saying l’été instead of en été
Saying dans le matin instead of le matin
• Using prepositions with the following verbs: regarder
à, écouter à, chercher pour, attendre pour. These
verbs don’t take prepositions
• General failure to use object pronouns. Eg: Je la vois
chaque week-end.
• Incorrect past participles with the passé composé.
Saying j’ai finu instead of j’ai fini. Or j’ai li instead of
j’ai lu.
Even if you find the subjunctive difficult, here are a
couple of sample sentences to use in the oral:
Mes parents veulent que je sois travailleur/travailleuse
cette année
My parents want me to be a hard worker this year.
Qu’on le veuille ou non, cette année c’est boulot, boulot,
boulot
Whether we like it or not, this year it’s work, work, work.