Name French GCSE - Heritage High School
NameFrench GCSEReading & ListeningRevision Booklet1
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Get ready for your listening examTo help you prepare for the Listening Test in your French GCSE, follow these 10 top tips. They are groupedinto 3 categories:A. PreparationB. Revising for the listening testC. During the listening testThere is also an ‘On the day’ checklist to help you not to forget the important tips for the day of your exam.A. Preparation1. Use past exam papersLook back at any past examination papers or sample papers and make a list of key words that appearregularly as well as vocabulary you do not know. Examination boards often have their ‘favourite’ words theylike to test. Keep a list of these words in a separate book or folder. In the days just before the listening test,look through and learn these lists. These items of vocabulary are very likely to appear again.At foundation and higher tier, it is important to use the word lists in the exam specification and learn asmany as you can.2. Get used to hearing French people speakingYou will always be asked to listen to real French speakers in listening examinations, so try not to base yourpractice only on listening to your teacher or other native English speakers who speak French. Your coursebook will help you to listen to appropriate voices at appropriate pace and degree of difficulty, but it mightalso be useful to find other commercially produced material to listen to, or simply to watch French films orlisten to French radio. Try to listen to the recordings that go with past examination or sample papers, too.B. Revising for the listening test3. Learn ‘families’ of words with related meanings4
Learn as many ‘linked words’ as you can manage. Some examples of the sorts of things often tested inFrench listening examinations include:a. piscine/natation/nager/lacb. cheval/équitationc. ski/sports d’hiver/neige/pisted. barbant/ennuyeux/pas intéressante. cinéma/filmsf. heureux/contentg. triste/malheureux/pas contentMake your own lists and keep them together so that you can revise them quickly and easily.4. Learn your negativesListen very carefully for negatives. If you miss a negative, you will think a sentence means the exactopposite.Learn the most commonly tested:ne pas (not)ne jamais (never)ne personne (nobody)ne .rien (nothing)ne plus (no longer)ne ni . ni (neither . nor)There are other words which express negatives indirectly, such as sauf (except).Look at the following example:A question in the exam paper asks “When is the market open?”The answer to that question is contained in the sentence “Le marché est ouvert tous les jours sauf lemardi.”5
If you don’t know the word “sauf” or don’t listen carefully to all the words, you might think the answer waseither “every day” (tous les jours) or “Tuesday” (mardi). However, if you catch the word “sauf” you will beable to give the correct answer of “every day except Tuesday”.5. Similar spelling, different pronunciationCognates (words which are spelt the same in French and in English) are not tested very often in listening,except at the easiest level. However it is worth noting down words such as “théâtre” which means theatrebut is pronounced so differently that you might have difficulty understanding it. You might find it helpful tonote down roughly how the word is pronounced, too. E.g. tay-ah-tr.6. Similar sound, different meaningPay special attention to ‘false friends’ – words which sound like English words but actually have acompletely different meaning. For example, if you hear, “j’ai les cheveux raides”, you might think thespeaker has red hair, as “raides” sounds like the English word “red”. In fact, it means, “straight”, so you’dhave lost a mark. Make lists of as many words like this as you can and listen out for them in the exam.C. During the listening test7. Use your preparation time wellMake good and effective use of your preparation time immediately before the recording begins by readingthrough the question papers and thinking of the French for any pictures or icons there. For example, if thereis a picture of a tree think of as many French words as possible associated with that picture e.g.arbre/bois/forêt and listen out for them during the recording.In addition, it is a good idea to check at the start of the test what type of answers you are going to have togive for each question, so you don’t waste time when you’re listening, wondering exactly what you have todo. For example, decide whether you have to fill a gap with a word/letter or select an answer from aselection of pictures, etc.8. Listen all the way throughBe 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 orcontradictory information may follow, which could be vital in getting the correct answer.6
For example, if you are listening for a specific place that the speaker has visited and hear, “je suis allé à lapiscine”, you might believe that you have found the correct answer and stop listening, only to miss the vitaladdition, “mais c’était fermé, alors je suis allé au cinéma.”9. Watch out for twists and turnsSome questions appear straightforward, but you might hear ‘extra’ information on the recording which couldmislead you.In listening for the speaker’s opinion about something you might hear other opinions too. Make sure youlisten carefully to work out who is saying or thinks what.For example, if you are asked what the speaker thinks about skiing and hear “Mon frère aime le ski, mais jedéteste ça.” don’t just write down the first thing you hear. The speaker hates skiing, it’s his brother wholikes it.10. Listen for tone of voiceListen to the way things are said on the recording as this can often help with questions about opinions. Ifthe speaker sounds negative or enthusiastic this can help you assess his or her opinion, even if you areunsure of the exact vocabulary they useOn the dayIn the tension of the exam it’s all too easy to forget some of the things you’ve practised so hard.So learn this simple list and say it to yourself at the start of your exam to remind you what to listen out forand how to act.1. Word families2. Negatives3. Cognates and false friends (sounds like )4. Question types5. Listen to everything6. Twists and turns7. Tone of voice7
Get ready for your reading examTo help you prepare for the Reading Test in your French GCSE, follow these top tips. They are groupedinto 3 categories:D. PreparationE. Revising for the reading testF. During the reading testThere is also an ‘On the day’ checklist to help you not to forget the important tips for the day of your exam.A. Preparation1. Use past exam papersLook back at any past examination papers or sample papers and make a list of key words that appearregularly as well as vocabulary you do not know. Examination boards often have their ‘favourite’ words theylike to test. Keep a list of these words in a separate book or folder. In the days just before the listening test,look through and learn these lists. These items of vocabulary are very likely to appear again.At foundation and higher tier, it is important to use the word lists in the exam specification and learn asmany as you can.2. Become familiar with question typesThe more familiar you can become with question types the less there will be for you to panic about whenyou open your exam paper!Here’s a good example of how knowledge of a certain type of question can help you answer morequestions correctly.In some multiple choice questions you may be asked to indicate whether a piece of information is true,false or not mentioned in the text. It is unlikely that there will be more than two ‘not mentioned’ statements.The reason for this is that the examiner mainly wants to find out what you understand about the text. Therewouldn’t be much point in giving you lots of questions that had nothing at all to do with the text!In such cases, statements which are not mentioned are often opinions or simple statements about topicsnot covered in the passage. If you are unsure of a response, it is probably better not to guess at “notmentioned” as there are usually fewer of these answers than true or false.8
B. Revising for the reading test3. Spot references to the past and futureLook for ways of identifying whether an activity takes place in the past future.a) You can tell that an event happened in the past by identifying the verb form e.g. an auxiliary verb and a past participle, such as in “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”4. Learn commonly recurring vocabularyMake lists of different ways of saying that things are positive and negative as opinions play a vital part inmany reading texts. Apart from the obvious ways of expressing likes/dislikes, remember vocabulary itemssuch as “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” (whichdispleases me/ which I don’t like).5. Know your grammarYou will need to be able to cope with questions which test grammar and awareness of structure. Gap-filltests are popular at GCSE as they enable students to show their grammatical knowledge in a specificcontext. Such questions give gaps in sentences which students must fill, selecting the correct answer from9
a number of alternatives, usually given in a box. Here it is important to focus not solely on the wholesentence but on what comes immediately before and after the gap in the sentence, as this can give clues tothe correct alternative to choose. For example, “Marc travaille à la tous les vendredis,” tells you thatthe word in the gap is feminine. Similarly, “Il a reçu des pour son anniversaire,” requires aplural word to fill the gap. Make your own list of eventualities by studying examples of this type of question.6. Beware of ‘false friends’Take special care with words which look like English words but have a different meaning. For example,“travailler” is to work, not to travel. Similarly, don’t be tricked by “assister à” (to attend), “pays”(country/countries), “demander” (to ask), “journée” (day), “location” (rent/hire). Make lists of these wordsand revise them in the days before your exam.7. Final revisionIn the days just before the listening test, look through and learn the list of words which you have madewhen you practised previous exam papers or exemplar GCSE papers. These items of vocabulary are verylikely to appear again.C. During the reading test8. Read questions carefully and don’t just pick the first word you recognise.Reading examinations often test your ability to differentiate between similar passages, written by differentyoung people. The passages will usually be about similar topics, such as sport, so there will be somecommon ground within each passage. For example, one person may write, “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.” Ifthe question asks, “Who has recently been swimming?” you will need to study each passage in depth anduse your language skill to decide the correct answer, as all 3 mention the sport in their texts.9. Give enough information to gain full marksAlways read the questions thoroughly and give as much information in your answers as is necessary. Youwill always be told how many marks are available for every question (usually shown by a number inbrackets). 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 lacampagne” you need to write that he/she lives in a house (1) in the countryside (1).10
10. Watch out for twists and turnsSome questions appear straightforward, but passages often contain “extra” information that can misleadyou.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 response. “Mon père trouve le golf barbant, mais selon moi c’est génial!” is anexample 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.On the dayIn the tension of the exam it’s all too easy to forget some of the things you’ve practised so hard.So learn this simple list and say it to yourself the start of your exam to remind you what to watch out for andhow to act.1. Past, present and future2. Common vocabulary3. False friends (looks like )4. Read every single word5. All marks for each question6. Twists and turns11
Get ready for your speaking assessmentTo help you prepare for your GCSE French speaking controlled assessment, follow these 10 top tips. Theyare grouped into 3 categories:G. PreparationH. Revising for the speaking assessmentI.During the speaking assessmentThere is also an ‘On the day’ checklist to help you not to forget the important tips for the day of yourassessment.A. Preparation1. Know what’s expected of youBefore you begin any speaking assessment, make sure that you are aware of the grade criteria and markschemes for the GCSE which you are doing. These are all available on the internet or you could ask yourteacher for help in finding them. They will let you know what you need to do to achieve the grade which youare targeting and will help your preparations for the speaking tasks.2. Classwork and homeworkLearning a language takes time. Do not neglect your classwork and homework. You need to learnvocabulary and practise skills constantly, so working hard in class all the way through your course is vital.Learning French is different from learning history or maths, for example. To learn to speak a language youhave to practise speaking it. You can’t catch up on work you’ve missed by reading through someone else’snotes.3. Predict the unexpectedDuring the course of your speaking tasks, there will be an unexpected element. You can prepare for this bydrawing up lists of questions you think might be asked in the context of your interview. For example, itmight be that the unexpected element covers an opinion or a different time frame. It is very likely that anysuch question will enable you to give a personal response or opinion. Look at exemplar materials written bythe examining body and find the sort of things they are expecting to include.4. Check your notes12
Just before your assessment begins, make sure that any notes you are allowed on the day are helpful,accurate and legal. Check the things you are permitted to include and make sure that you keep to the rules.There is no point in including obvious things that you know, so use the notes to prompt you for things ofwhich you are not so sure.B. Revising for the speaking assessment5. Learn the French question formsYou will be asked questions in your controlled assessment. This can be daunting. How do you know what’scoming? You don’t for certain, but you can limit the damage in advance:a) Look carefully at the task and predict what the teacher might ask you. Are there any obvious ‘missing’pieces of information in the task? If there are, it’s quite likely they’ll come up as a question.b) Know the common French question words and learn how to recognise a question. Your course book willteach you them and there will be a reference list for you. However, here are the most common ones:quandwhenqu’est–ce quewhatquiwhooùwherecommenthowpourquoiwhyquel, quelle, quels, quelleswhich6. Know your past, present and futureTry to include references to the past, present and future. This isn’t absolutely essential (you can get aGrade C without necessarily using all three of these tenses), but it is something which is typical of work at ahigh standard and will impress the examiner. Present tenses are usually easy to include, but past andfuture references can sometimes be more complicated. As you will have a good idea as to what you aregoing to say or be asked, draw up a list of useful verbs in the appropriate tenses in preparation for thetasks.7. Tell them what you thinkRemember to include regular opinions in your speaking assessments. These can be basic: j’aime – I like, je déteste – I hate, j’adore – I love, je n’aime pas – I don’t like.13
You can also express an opinion with c’est and an adjective, for example, c’est genial (it’s great) orc’est nul (it’s rubbish). You might need an opinion in a different time frame, c’était barbant (it was boring) or ce seraintéressant (it will be interesting). Try to vary the way you express opinions, using je pense que/je crois que (I think that), on dit que(people say that), à mon avis/selon moi (in my opinion).8. Tell them whyTo achieve the higher GCSE grades, you will need to give reasons and justifications for your opinions.Practise using as many as possible in classwork and homework.This will normally involve using a connective such as parce que/car (because) or puisque (since). Forexample, je l’aime bien parce qu’il m’aide avec mes devoirs (I like him because he helps me with myhomework) or il me déplaît car il m’énerve – I don’t like him because he gets on my nerves.Try to vary what you say. The complexity and range of your vocabulary will be vital if you are hoping for ahigh grade.9. Practice makes perfectPractise your interview with a friend. This will give you greater confidence and help calm any nerves youmight have. Practice in advance is also vital for you to check your timing as there will be a time limit for yourtask. If you speak for longer than the time allowed you won’t gain any marks for the ‘extra’ things you say.C. During the speaking assessment10. The calmer the betterStay calm and confident in the task itself. There will be few surprises, except for the unexpected questions,so don’t try to change something you have prepared beforehand. If you are unsure, ask for a repetition orrephrasing of a question (make sure you know how to do this in French). Your teacher wants you tosucceed too, so don’t see him/her as the enemy!14
On the dayIn the tension of the assessment it’s all too easy to forget some of the things you’ve practised so hard.So learn this simple list and say it to yourself or write it down at the start of your assessment to remind youwhat to include and how to act.1. Past, present and future2. Question forms3. Opinions4. Reasons5. Keep calm15
Get ready for your writing assessmentTo help you prepare for your GCSE French writing controlled assessment, follow these 10 top tips. Theyare grouped into 3 categories:J. PreparationK. Revising for the writing assessmentL. During the writing assessmentThere is also an ‘On the day’ checklist to help you not to forget the important tips for the day of yourassessment.A. Preparation1. Know what’s expected of youBefore you begin a controlled assessment writing task, look carefully at the grade criteria for GCSE toensure that you are going to cover the things you have to in order to obtain a certain grade at GCSE. Thisinformation is usually available on the internet in the specifications for GCSE. If you cannot find thisinformation, ask your teacher.2. Learn how to use a dictionaryIn your preparation for controlled assessments, make sure that you use a dictionary correctly. Rememberthat dictionaries are most useful for looking up unknown or forgotten nouns, adjectives, adverbs,prepositions and conjunctions, but not always so good for verbs, apart from the infinitive. Check the F
To help you prepare for the Listening Test in your French GCSE, follow these 10 top tips. They are grouped into 3 categories: A. Preparation B. Revising for the listening test C. During the listening test There is also an ‘On the day’ checklist to help you not to forget the i
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