Great Ways to Improve LC.fm

Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Great Ways to Improve Your Grade
in the French Leaving Cert Oral
Breakdown of Marks
Pronunciation
Vocabulary
Communication
Structure
20
20
30
30
1. Make Out Your CV in French
sr
es
ou
rc
e
s
The examiner will not know if the student doing the oral is an Higher Level student or
and Ordinary Level one. All students are marked out of 100% and adjustments are made
by computer afterwards to compensate for the fact that the oral is 25% of the Higher Level
paper and 20% of the Ordinary Level paper.
The examiner will start the oral by asking lots of SHSH (self, home, school and hobby)
questions so be sure to have these perfectly prepared.
he
r’
Be sure to show off all you know as the examiner will give you lots of opportunity to talk
on with open-ended questions like ‘Parlez-moi un peu de votre famille’.
te
2. Do a Document
ac
A good oral is one where you do most of the talking!
Ed
co
Your topic can be as simple as a photo of a pop star, sports personality, film, holiday photo
or picture of a family pet.
If you’re good at French you might like to make a montage of a current topic like road
traffic problems, drugs or alcohol.
Look down the road and see where the topic can lead. For example a document ’Le tabac’
would probably lead onto health, the rights of non-smokers, smoking and ads etc…
Try to have a different topic to the rest of your classmates as that way your examiner will
have more to talk about to you.
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
3. Practice Drills
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Most questions use the word vous
■
Most answers use the word je
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Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Practise in 3 stages:
A. -er verbs in the Present Tense
■
Vous parlez?
Je parle… (remember no -ez sound!)
■
Vous travaillez?
Je travaille…
B. Irregular verbs in the Present Tense
■
Vous sortez?
Je sors…
■
Vous allez?
Je vais…
s
C. All tenses
Vous restez?
Je reste…
■
Vous êtes resté(e)?
Je suis resté(e)…
■
Vous allez rester?
Je vais rester…
4. Practise and Don’t Panic
sr
es
ou
rc
e
■
r’
If you don’t understand any question stay calm
he
It’s useful to know strategies like:
‘Je ne comprends pas la question’ or
■
‘Pourriez-vous m’expliquer le mot…..,s’il vous plaiît?
ac
■
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Practise as much as possible before your exam.
Ed
co
If someone at home knows a little French let them ask the questions in English if needs be
while you answer in French!
Tape yourself
Record yourself.
Nobody likes to listen to themselves on tape but it’s a great way to work towards fluency
and it’s a super way of checking on your r and u sounds.
5. Avoid Using English Expressions
If you don’t understand any question stay calm.
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Avoid using English expressions like ‘well’! Learn French ones like:
■
Eh bien (at the beginning of a sentence)
C’est ça (that’s right!)
■
En effet (indeed)
Absolument (absolutely)
■
Bien sûr! (Certainly)
Pas du tout! (not at all)
■
C’est à dire que (that’s to say that)
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Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
6. Correct Pronunciation and Form
■
■
Be careful of the correct pronunciation and form when answering in the
present tense:
Vous aimez?
J’aime (no -ay sound)
Vous regardez?
Je regarde
Vous travaillez?
Je travaille
Remember the present tense of irregular verbs.
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Je sors / je vais / je lis
Note your possessive adjectives
s
■
■
sr
es
ou
rc
e
mon père/ ma mère/ mes amis
Remember avoir for age also remember this when talking about your age
Mon frère a dix ans et mes deux petites soeurs (les jumelles) ont trois ans.
■
Mind your negatives
Je n’ai jamais visité la France
Loin = far
près = near
à côté de = beside
r’
■
Conjunctions are handy.
ac
■
he
Cela me prend seulement dix minutes pour aller à l’école car j’habite près de l’école.
car = because
Don’t confuse dernier(ère) (last, i.e. past tense) and prochain(e) (next, i.e. future)
Ed
■
co
donc = thus
te
parce que = because in answer to a question
Je suis allé(e) en ville samedi dernier mais
samedi prochain j’irai au concert
■
Remember the correct auxiliary when using the passé composé.
J’ai travaillé / j’ai joué / j’ai visité
Je suis arrivé(e) / je suis allé(e) / je suis resté(e) / je suis sorti(e)
Finalement ……
Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie
Be cool, be calm, be confident! Bon courage!
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Edco teacher’s resources www .edco.ie