French GCSE A booklet

French GCSE A/A* Booklet
General- Top Tips & Resources
Listening/reading
- Higher tips for listening/reading questions
Speaking/writing
- Tips for success in controlled assessment
- Model paragraphs/answers A*-C
- A/A* phrases to use in speaking/writing
French Top Tips & Resources!
 Practise key vocabulary
-
Make a mind map or revision poster of the key vocabulary . You can use
the link below to create an online revision map .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/maps/index.shtml)
- Vocab Express (www.vocabexpress.com) You should be using this
website weekly to practise key vocabulary and focus on the topics you
need to revise or find more difficult. (Higher Tier Vocab Section )
- Online revision tools:
You can use the websites below to complete exercises interactively for revision
www.languagesonline.org.uk
www.linguascope.com
 Complete practise higher level questions- Make a list of key
words that appear regularly.
- Edexcel Revision Workbook (available to buy from school or online)
Complete the higher listening and reading graded exercises in each topic and
check your answers. Each page also offers examiner tips which you should read
through carefully.
- BBC GCSE Bite size
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/french/) You can use this
website to complete practise listening and reading activities and check
your answers.
- Past papers(available on the school website)
You can complete higher tier listening and reading past papers from the Edexcel
Exam board. It is also useful to practise using the AQA/OCR papers also
available here. The markschemes are online as well as the audios for you to
access.
Bonne chance!
LISTENING
Use the 5-minutes pre-listening
• Underline question words e.g. WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW,
HOW MANY…
• Underline the mark allocations (1), (2), (3)
• Anticipate what words will come up and note them down
•
Read the questions FIRST
• And use the example
• Use clues the texts give away
When listening…



When you hear the words, write the KEY words on the exam paper,
Be clear about positive/negative language and opinions, one small word can
change meaning.
What tense is the question in? Make sure you know your tenses!
Practise synonyms:
Some examples include:
a. piscine/natation/nager/lac
b. cheval/équitation
c. ski/sports d’hiver/neige/piste
d. barbant/ennuyeux/pas intéressant
e. cinéma/films
f. heureux/content
g. triste/malheureux/pas content
Practise negatives
Listen very carefully for negatives. If you miss a negative, you will think a
sentence means the exact opposite.
ne
ne
ne
ne
ne
ne
… pas (not)
… jamais (never)
… personne (nobody)
...rien (nothing)
… plus (no longer)
… ni ... ni (neither ... nor)
There are other words which express negatives indirectly, such as sauf
(except).
EXAMPLE:
The question “When is the market open?”
The answer to that question is contained in the sentence “Le marché est ouvert
tous les jours sauf le mardi.”
If you don’t know the word “sauf” or don’t listen carefully to all the words, you
might think the answer was either “every day” (tous les jours) or “Tuesday”
(mardi). However, if you catch the word “sauf” you will be able to give the
correct answer of “every day except Tuesday”.
Listen for tone of voice
Listen to the way things are said on the recording as this can often help with
questions about opinions. If the speaker sounds negative or enthusiastic this
can help you assess his or her opinion, even if you are unsure of the exact
vocabulary they use
Be prepared for traps
Be prepared for answers to come anywhere on the recording, so listen
immediately and do not switch off, even if you think that you have heard the
answer you are listening for. Sometimes additional or contradictory information
may follow, which could be vital in getting the correct answer.
EXAMPLE
For example, if you are listening for a specific place that the speaker has
visited and hear, “je suis allé à la piscine”, you might believe that you have
found the correct answer and stop listening, only to miss the vital addition,
“mais c’était fermé, alors je suis allé au cinéma.”
Watch out for twists and turns
Some questions appear straightforward, but you might hear ‘extra’ information
on the recording which could mislead you.
In listening for the speaker’s opinion about something you might hear other
opinions too. Make sure you listen carefully to work out who is saying or thinks
what.
EXAMPLE
For example, if you are asked what the speaker thinks about skiing and hear
“Mon frère aime le ski, mais je déteste ça.” don’t just write down the first thing
you hear. The speaker hates skiing, it’s his brother who likes it.
READING
Spot references to the past and future
a) You can tell that an event happened in the past
by identifying the verb form e.g. “je suis allé” (I went)
from the use of a time phrase such as “l’année dernière” (last year).
b) You can tell that an event happened in the future by spotting
a straight future tense e.g. j’irai (I will go) the near future using aller +
infinitive e.g. je vais jouer (I’m going to play)
other phrases which indicate the future e.g. avoir l’intention de (to intend),
espérer (to hope), compter ( to plan), etc.
the use of a time phrases such as “la semaine prochaine”
Be careful of false friends
.
. For example,
“travailler” is to work, not to travel. “assister à” (to attend), “pays”
(country/countries), “demander” (to ask), “journée” (day), “location” (rent/hire).
Different ways of giving opinions
“pour” (for/in favour of), “contre” (against)
“plaire” (to please) as in “ce qui me plaît”(which pleases me/which I like), “ce qui
me déplaît” (which displeases me/ which I don’t like).
Read questions carefully and don’t just pick the first word you recognise
The texts will usually be about similar topics,
. For example, one statement could say “Je ne fais jamais de natation.”,
another might write, “Je suis allé à la piscine hier.” and the final one might add,
“Je vais nager demain.” If the question asks, “Who has recently been
swimming?” you will need to study each passage in depth and
use your language skill to decide the correct answer, as all 3 mention the sport
in their texts.
Watch out for traps
Some questions appear more straightforward, but can trick you.
If you are asked for the writer’s opinion about something, there will often be
another person’s opinion, which will not be the correct answer. “Mon père
trouve le golf barbant, mais selon moi c’est génial!” is an example where the
initial comment is negative but the writer’s opinion is positive.
Make sure you read carefully to work out who is saying or thinks what.
When you have to answer in English…
Always read the questions thoroughly and give as much information in your
answers as is necessary- look at numbers in brackets
. For example, if a question asks you where the writer lives and the answer can
gain you 2 marks, you would need to include 2 pieces of information. If in the
passage it says “J’habite une maison à la campagne” you need to write that
he/she lives in a house (1) in the countryside (1).
SPEAKING/WRITING
- Tips for success in controlled assessment
- Use the “Look, cover, write, check” technique to prepare
- Prepare more complex sentences using connectives (e.g. mais –
but, quand – when, où – where, ou – or, pourtant/cependant –
however, néanmoins – nevertheless, etc.) adverbs (e.g.
parfois/quelquefois – sometimes, seulement – only, également –
equally, etc.) adjectives (making sure they agree with the noun
they describe ,expressions using verbs (e.g. avant de+infinitive,
après avoir/être+past participle)
- To achieve the higher GCSE grades, you will need to vary the
way to give reasons and justifications for your opinions using
opinion expressions (je pense que/je crois que (I think that), on
dit que (people say that), à mon avis/selon moi (in my opinion).
Model paragraphs/answers A*-C
Talking about school and lunchtime
GRADE C
Je mange des sandwichs, je bois de la limonade, je parle avec mes amis et je
joue au tennis.
GRADE B
C’est très court. Cinquante minutes. Normalement, après avoir mangé quelque
chose, je joue avec mon portable. Je peux naviguer sur le Net. Hier, à l’heure du
déjeuner, j’ai vu un film. Et demain je vais jouer dans une compétition d’échecs.
Je vais gagner.
GRADE A
C’est vraiment court. Cinquante minutes. Normalement, après avoir mangé
quelque chose, sans perdre un instant, je prends mon portable neuf qui a
internet bien sûr. Hier, à l’heure du déjeuner, j’ai vu un film inoubliable. Et
demain je vais participer à une compétition d’échecs. Je veux gagner.
GRADE A*
Malheureusement c’est vraiment court. Que cinquante minutes. Quel dommage!
Cependant, normalement, après avoir mangé quelque chose, sans perdre un
instant, je prends mon portable neuf qui a internet bien sûr. Je viens de
l’acheter. Ma soeur cadette m’accompagne. Hier, à l’heure du déjeuner, j’ai vu un
documentaire inoubliable sûr les émeutes récentes. Et demain je vais participer
à une compétition d’échecs. J’ai envie de gagner. Cela serait merveilleux. Que
fais-tu à midi?
A/A* phrases to use in speaking/writing
Use CE QUI + verb (what/which)

Ce qui est important, c’est de manger sain (what is important is to eat
healthy)
 Si j’avais le temps, je pourrais le faire (If I had the time, I could do it)
Use perfect infinitive
Après avoir lu son livre, il a regardé la télé (After he
read his book, he watched tv)
Connecting phrases
Quand/lorsque: lorsque je suis en vacances, je lis beaucoup. (when on holiday, I
read a lot)
Qui/que:Nous avons visité Nice, qui se trouve dans le sud de la France, et c’était
vraiment très jolie! (we visited Nice, in the south of France, which was very
pretty)
Mais/cependant: le voyage s’est bien passé cependant mon petit frère a été
malade après.(the journey went well, however my little brother got ill
afterwards)
Exclamations
 Quelle belle journée ! Quelle surprise !
Quelle catastrophe !
Comparatives/superlatives
C’était bien plus interessant que l’année dernière.
C’est bien moins loin qu’on ne pensait.
C’est ma meilleure amie.
C’est la plus belle ville que je connaisse!
Ce sont les plus belles vacances que j’aie jamais eues.
Adverbs
Il est bien plus beau
Il travaille bien/dur/efficacement
C’est la pire journée de ma vie!
C’est vraiment interessant
Il joue bien/habituellement/patiemment
C’est extrêmement important (it’s extremely important)
Subjunctive:
 Bien que ce soit loin, nous irons en Australie l’année prochaine. (although
it is far away, we’ll go to Australia next year.)
 Nous passerons un mois en Allemagne pour que je puisse pratiquer mon
allemand. (we’ll spend a month in Germany so that I can practise my
german).
Use an infinitive to start a sentence
 Partir à l’étranger permet de connaître d’autres cultures. Travelling
abroad helps to know other cultures)
 Voyager en avion, c’est tout de même plus pratique (travelling by plane is
nonetheless more convenient).