A useful worksheet that walks you through how to tackle the topics/card section of your French A-level speaking exam. With a guide on how to approach each question, reminders of what you need to include, examples of complex language to bake-in to your responses, and pro tips about the exam
French speaking strategy
First and foremost: Read the text for comprehension! Try to use context to
o Addition: de surcroît, en outre
Language checklist:
figure out words you o Opposition: mais, cependant, sauf, en revanche, toutefois
Q1 - rephrase the text in your own words don’t know. But if
you’re confused, you o Justification:
Connectives par conséquent,
- Start every grâce à with a connective
idea and subclause
can avoid mentioning oo Explanation:
Addition: de àsurcroît,
savoir, c’est-à-dire,
en outre autrement dit
some parts of the
text oo Example:
Opposition: parmais,
exemple, notamment,
cependant, telrevanche,
sauf, en que toutefois
oo Outcome:
Justification:en conséquence,
par conséquent, c’est pourquoi,
grâce à de façon que
Opinion o phrases
Explanation:– ‘Quant à moi’,
à savoir, ‘de mon point
c’est-à-dire, de vue’,
autrement dit‘Je dirais
que’,o‘J’opine que’
Example: par exemple, notamment, tel que
Pronouns – ‘à mon en
o Outcome: avis’ ‘Je n’y avais c’est
conséquence, pas pensé avant’
pourquoi, de façon que
Tenses
Opinion– phrases
‘Quand j’avais
– ‘Quantseize ans…’,
à moi’, ‘de‘Dans
mon le futurdeil vue’,
point faudra…’
‘Je dirais que’,
Q2 - make sure to justify your opinions (complex sentences) and think about A‘J’opine
si clause ‘Si c’était ma
que’, ‘à mon avis’ decisión, je changerais le système en…’
APronouns
subjunctive– ‘Je– n’y
‘Bien qu’ilpas
avais soitpensé
difficile de comprendre/croire…’,
avant’, ‘Je leur conseillerais de…’ ‘afin
qu’on
Tensespuisse…’
– ‘Quand j’avais seize ans…’, ‘Dans le futur il faudra…’
AApresent
si clauseor‘Sipast participle
c’était – ‘En lisant
ma décision, cette carte’,
je changerais ‘Ayant entendu
le système en…’
l’argument
A subjunctive opposé’
– ‘Bien qu’il soit difficile de croire…’, ‘…afin qu’on
puisse…’, ‘Autant que je sache…’
A present or past participle – ‘En lisant cette carte’, ‘Ayant entendu
l’argument opposé’
how this affected you in the past or future (easy way to include tenses) Pro tips:
Q3 - think of one or two real-world examples relevant to the card from the Always mention at least 2 or 3 ideas per question (don’t
textbook or your own research wait for the examiner to prompt you with a follow-up
question) - expand your arguments, justify, draw
conclusions
If you forget how to say something, find a work-around –
explain it in a different way, describe the thing
Language checklist: Practise!!!
o Arrange with classmates to meet up and practise
Connectives - Start every idea and subclause with a connective
speaking, even just 10 minutes before class
o Record yourself speaking and listen back to self-
evaluate
Think about two questions to ask the examiner! –
try to slip them “naturally” into the conversation
‘Qu’est que vous en pensez?’, ‘Quelle est votre
opinion de…?’ ‘Qu’est-ce que vous feriez si vous
étiez dans cette situation?’
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