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HSC Stuff => HSC Languages => HSC Subjects + Help => HSC French => Topic started by: elysepopplewell on March 07, 2016, 10:32:20 am

Title: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on March 07, 2016, 10:32:20 am
Bonjour tout le monde!

Welcome to the "Tips and Tricks for French Beginners" post. I have written this guide in the hopes that you might be able to gain some tips and tricks from it, but also in the hopes that we can start a discussion here about French to help each other out! I did French in my HSC and received a high band 5. I’m continuing French in my second year of Uni in 2017! French beginners is not an easy subject by any means. French is largely a game of strategy and skill in the HSC. Staying on top of vocabulary sounds easy, until you realise you need to be familiar with words in their written form, their conjugated form, and their oral form. Mais comment?! (But how?!)

Speaking:

Personally, this was my favourite part of learning French. The mellifluous sounds of the language sound magical, and knowing that that magic rolled off my tongue makes the hard yards of French totally worth it. In saying that, speaking is a part that a lot of people struggle with. Part of this is the accent. You need to not be afraid of embracing the accent, even in fear of sounding silly! Sometimes I found myself trying a little too hard and slipping into a combination of a Spanish and Italian accent – quite off the mark. You’ve just got to laugh and slowly train your tongue into not rolling Rs, or train your voice to speak softer or lower, so that your words are correctly formed.

Once you are ready to have a good crack at the accent, you need to listen to how words are pronounced by someone who is not a novice French speaker. Your teacher should be able to express exactly how words would be accepted in an exam. Take note of this! If you are creating some prepared responses to speaking questions on palm cards, for example, write the word correctly spelt and then in brackets write the word the way it sounds in a different colour pen. If you are in a speaking exam and have been asked a predicted question, so you want to roll off exactly what you have on that card, the different coloured pen will stick to your memory so you can pronounce the word like a true francophone.

Of course, different areas of French speaking countries have different accents (watch the movie: Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis). So whilst watching French films, listening to French radio or watching the French news has merit, if you’re finding an inconsistency in pronunciation, speak to your teacher about that.

As for studying for speaking, I used palm cards. I made an exhaustive list of questions that I could be asked in an exam. On one side of the card, I wrote the question in French, and a few of the variations that the examiner could ask that question in. On the other side, I wrote a prepared response in French. I explicitly made sure that I used each of the tenses at least 6 times across all 40 or so cards, to increase my chances of being able to express proper use of tense. I incorporated idioms and qualifiers. I wanted my prepared responses to sound as natural as they could, at the same time ticking all of the syllabus’ boxes. You need to be prepared to be asked a question in a way different to how your teacher would express it. You also need to be prepared to expand on questions that you didn’t think you would be asked to expand on. For example, in my HSC I spoke for about 30 seconds about my mum’s career as a teacher, where I said she started as a Japanese teacher. Then my examiner asked if anyone else in my family knew how to speak Japanese, and why did my mum learn it. This was totally foreign to me and I could have prepared better by only talking about things I am comfortable discussing beyond what I have prepared. For example, I could have left out the Japanese teacher bit and only talked about what she teaches now, then I could have directed the conversation to saying that she has inspired me to be a teacher, for example.

You have a limited control in directing your speaking exam. You can’t sound like you are reading a monologue, you need to make sure that your conversation sounds natural. However, if your strengths of oral skills sit with talking about a certain topic, prepare ways to lead into that based on other questions you could be asked.
I had my sister ask me questions in French and then I would respond to her without looking at the card. This is important because you need to build up the skill of not relying on the cards in front of you. In a situation of panic, you need to be able to kind of wing it. You need to be able to string together a sentence to get you through the question, and be ready to move on to the next. My teacher also gave us “mock speaking exams” in the lead up to our final exam. We sat in a room, just the two of us, and she conducted a conversation in the way an examiner would while I spoke into a recorder (on my phone). For homework, I would play back the conversation and work out where I was weakest.

My final note on speaking is the timing. If you are finding that you aren’t hitting that 5-minute mark, try expand on your simplest responses. These responses are probably the ones you made first. Try add in “I think that…” or “I like it because…” or “in my opinion…” and expand like that. Most people get stuck at the 4 minute mark, so adding an extra 15 seconds to even just 4 of your responses makes the time up to 5 minutes! Also, don’t forget to count in the fact that you speak faster under pressure!

Listening:

Most students find that if speaking isn’t their most loathed part of French, it is the listening. For me, listening was so, so difficult. From as early as possible it is really important to be exposed to a lot of French speakers, and you do the translating. Getting your hands on past HSC audio, trials audio, workbook audio or half yearly audio is really helpful. These will help you to respond exam-style. If you have the comprehension questions specifically connected to the audio, you are simulating the exam experience.
However, these resources are limited. What is unlimited? French radio. French news. French music. French movies. For me, my incorporation of organic French listening was listening to French musical artists on the way to school and back each day. “Black M” was my favourite because he rapped, not sung, so I could pick up words in their “spoken” form rather than their sung form. French movies are great and whacky, and very, very French. Don’t hold back from watching one even with the subtitles. When you make the French-english-scenario connection, you gain a really great insight into the words. It is all exposure!

My last tip for listening is: because exposed to many different voices. Towards the end of the course I found a trend in my listening results: I was scoring lower on the questions where I listened to a male speaker. I found that it was because my ears weren’t always as tuned in to listen to voices with a lower tone. It was difficult for me to isolate words in a sentence because to me, the deep voice connected them too well. My classmate found that it was difficult for him to listen to female speakers because females tend to play around with tone in their sentences, almost as if they are singing the sentence. Little things like this can be off-putting, so you need to find the trends of your lowest scoring listening results and work on tuning your ears into responding to them better.

Reading:

Reading French is one of the easier techniques to master. The reason being, you are remembering words by sight, and you have a dictionary at your disposal if you ever get stuck. The less reliant you are on a dictionary, the better. The less time you spend flicking
through a dictionary, the more time you have to answer the question.

In the exam, I always looked at what the comprehension questions were and then I returned to the reading material and began reading. I approached sentences by reading them in full and then identifying which words I needed to know in order to understand the jist. Usually, this was a noun or a verb. You can fill in the little words in your head, but you need the staple parts of the sentence in order to translate the whole thing. In a typical reading section of an exam, you will not need every sentence in order to answer the questions. This is why it is so important to build up the skill of identifying the subject matter in each sentence before wasting time with a dictionary when you won’t need that sentence! You may find that underlining the parts of the sentence that you think are keys to answering the question to be helpful. This way, when it comes to writing your response, you just flick back to the underlined parts of the text to formulate a response.

You need to be familiar with what the question is asking of you. “Compare,” “evaluate” and “why” all direct your response in different ways. If the question asks you to specifically reference the text to justify your response, you more or less need to explicitly reference the exact point in the text that informed your response. This doesn’t mean quoting the text in French itself. If you do that, you will need to offer an English translation. It is actually just enough for you to give a direct English translation of the section of the text that informed your response! However, they may ask you for more than just textual referencing. In fact, they may ask you for your opinion! Your opinion is obviously based off something, and no doubt that something is part of the text. So you can have whatever opinion you like, as long as it came from somewhere in the text.

To better prepare yourself for the reading part of the exam, it is crucial that you expose yourself to various types of reading texts. This includes textbooks, online articles, magazines (try: Okapi) and even something as small and simple as following a French band on Facebook and reading their posts.

Writing:

The part of writing that I struggled the most with was: conjugating verbs correctly and quickly. In hindsight, I could have worked far more on verb conjugation than I did. I suggest that every Monday, you write a short weekend recount and submit this to your teacher. This helps you to use your knowledge of the past tense! Or, if you struggle with the future tense, spend 15 minutes on a Friday writing about what you will do on the weekend. This is a simple exercise that helps you to put conjugation into practice. When you get into the exam, there is nothing stopping you (after reading time) from writing a quick conjugation code up the top of your writing pages so that you can refer to that later on!

Be sure to address the text type. If you are asked to write a letter, start and finish with the typical letter conventions, (Dear… Write soon!). If you are writing an e-mail, you should forge an email address and work from there. The best way to prepare for the text types is to have a bank of vocabulary up your sleeve and be prepared to throw them into a response and continue with the writing!
You need to incorporate as many tenses into your response as possible. The syllabus requires that you know various types, so you need to show the markers that you know your stuff! The easiest tense to write in is the present tense, until you get a text type that funnels your response into the past or future tense. If you are writing a letter describing your time overseas, you are obliged to write the most of this in past tense. Don’t forget to add in some future tense by saying that you hope to return in the future! You have to make a conscious effort to involve as many of the tenses as possible, but when you do that, everything falls into place!

Using a dictionary:

Throughout the year, you should familiarise yourself with the dictionary that you intend to take into the exam at the end. You want to be able to know that the front of the dictionary is French to English translation, and the back is the opposite. You want to know which irregular verbs are conjugated in the middle section, and you want to be able to know it all at speed. In an exam you can waste a lot of time with dictionaries. You need to be able to improve your skills at locating words in the dictionary quickly, and understanding how YOUR dictionary works in terms of the examples in provides, the format and the parts of speech codes (noun, verb, adjective).

You can study on Instagram…kind of…

I firmly believe that one of the best ways to remember things is to have them frequently pop up. You subliminally start to take in different words. It is for this exact reason, that if you grew up in a bilingual home, you would probably learn both languages organically. This isn’t going to guarantee you a Band 6, however it does help with expressions and vocabulary. There are two Instagram accounts that I recommend you follow if you don’t already: frenchwords and for more advanced vocabulary, frenchwordsjournal. Frenchwords posts a simple textbox with a French word and English translation.

(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e1/53/fc/e153fc88b4ea2d413177372a6937f1a7.jpg)

I love this because it exposes you to vocabulary that you won’t always find in your textbook, yet could prove very handy to know. The same page posts famous French quotes with their translation, and also holiday expressions. Frenchwordsjournal is run by the owner of frenchwords. The content here is more advanced, but the photos are pretty enough that you won’t mind it on your instafeed anyway.

Online Dictionaries

There are teachers who will warn against any kind of electronic dictionary because they are not welcomed in the exam. There is a lot of logic behind this and if you feel that you are forever fumbling through a paper dictionary at slow pace, you probably need to work up those skills. However, I want to talk about a certain online dictionary and app: WordReference. This here is your meilleure ami in French. WR is wonderful for many reasons, but a big part of the appeal is the conversational examples. For example, if I type in “how” in the English to French conversion, it offers translations with a supporting sentence so that you can choose the most appropriation translation of “how.”

Furthermore, it offers small expressions such as the translations for more conversational uses of language such as “how about that,” “how dare you,” “how many?” and “how often?” to select a few. If the app isn’t great enough already, WR also has a topic of discussion area. You can submit to this discussion; requesting a fluent French speaker to give you the most appropriate translation if it were not already listed above. Else, you can scroll through and probably find an expression that you’re looking for. This is typically the place where people discuss anglicisms or words with no direct translation from English to French.

Although I don’t encourage relying on this, you can enter verbs in their infinitive and select the option to have the conjugation chart pop up for the different tenses. As extremely helpful and tempting as this is, it does present a threat to you learning verb conjugation par coeur (off by heart). Essentially, word reference is wonderful for honing in on expressions, colloquialisms, selecting the most appropriate translation and for discussion with fluent French speakers! The cerise sur le gateau is: the app is 100% free! There is no premium account. Word Reference also carries more languages than English and French, so if you learn another language, definitely check to see if Word Reference can help you out there too!

Bonne chance!

French is not easy but it is very rewarding. Together we can work through whatever you may face throughout the course. Comment whatever is on your mind below!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: Jimmy Barnes on June 10, 2016, 01:21:10 pm
I'm making a list of written responses to possible speaking questions currently, I was wondering if you made a digital copy of your speaking answers or did you just keep them written on palm cards?
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on June 10, 2016, 01:32:23 pm
I'm making a list of written responses to possible speaking questions currently, I was wondering if you made a digital copy of your speaking answers or did you just keep them written on palm cards?

Hi there! I kept all of mine palm cards. I hand wrote them. I don't really know why this is, I just liked it better (and I am the queen of typing and laminating - so this is unusual!). Do whatever works for you! You'll probably find that you need to adjust your speaking responses as you get closer to the exams for various reasons, like learning new vocab, wanting to go the extra mile, and incorporating more tenses. So be prepared to re-write :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: shazzzzzz on June 14, 2016, 09:23:33 pm
Okay so I do Spanish Beginners but  I came to this thread since nothing much was going on in the Spanish one, and I wanted to know how you dealt with the pressure of the speaking exam? My teacher emphasizes that it's just a conversation not a test but I can't help feeling pressured either way and in my last speaking exam, I sort of sped up towards the end (sort of as a response to my teacher looking at the timer and not me, but whatever)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: vox nihili on June 14, 2016, 09:54:14 pm
Okay so I do Spanish Beginners but  I came to this thread since nothing much was going on in the Spanish one, and I wanted to know how you dealt with the pressure of the speaking exam? My teacher emphasizes that it's just a conversation not a test but I can't help feeling pressured either way and in my last speaking exam, I sort of sped up towards the end (sort of as a response to my teacher looking at the timer and not me, but whatever)

I'm actually a VCE kid, but I've done Spanish (and French!). There are two types of thing you can do for speaking exams: things you can do to prepare long-term, things you can do to prepare short-term.

Elyse has given some great examples of things you can do to prepare for speaking exams. I really want to emphasise the importance, however, of trying to integrate the language you're learning into your actual life. Turn your phone into Spanish, Facebook too, look at Spanish memes, listen to Spanish music, swear in Spanish if you're frustrated etc. All these things help to get you more comfortable around Spanish, will actually improve your skills and really, are worth so little effort. It's almost an insultingly easy way to study a language, but it works really, really well. It should also help deal with your nerves, because if you can do things you enjoy in Spanish, you'll find you enjoy Spanish more full stop.

Things you can do in the short-term really just are things you can do on the day. Personally, I've found that for me (and my students) it's really important to try to approach a speaking exam in a good mood and with a good mindset. It sounds silly, but I think it's really valuable to try to chill out before an exam and try to have a bit of fun. Find a friend who can always make you laugh and who tells a great joke, and spend that time with them being a little silly. That way all the adrenaline coursing through your veins isn't wasted on nervousness, but actually on excitement. Obviously doesn't work for all people, but I've always had good results with it. :)

Buena suerte y si tengas más preguntas, no dudes en hacérmelas :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: shazzzzzz on June 14, 2016, 10:43:38 pm
I'm actually a VCE kid, but I've done Spanish (and French!). There are two types of thing you can do for speaking exams: things you can do to prepare long-term, things you can do to prepare short-term.

Elyse has given some great examples of things you can do to prepare for speaking exams. I really want to emphasise the importance, however, of trying to integrate the language you're learning into your actual life. Turn your phone into Spanish, Facebook too, look at Spanish memes, listen to Spanish music, swear in Spanish if you're frustrated etc. All these things help to get you more comfortable around Spanish, will actually improve your skills and really, are worth so little effort. It's almost an insultingly easy way to study a language, but it works really, really well. It should also help deal with your nerves, because if you can do things you enjoy in Spanish, you'll find you enjoy Spanish more full stop.

Things you can do in the short-term really just are things you can do on the day. Personally, I've found that for me (and my students) it's really important to try to approach a speaking exam in a good mood and with a good mindset. It sounds silly, but I think it's really valuable to try to chill out before an exam and try to have a bit of fun. Find a friend who can always make you laugh and who tells a great joke, and spend that time with them being a little silly. That way all the adrenaline coursing through your veins isn't wasted on nervousness, but actually on excitement. Obviously doesn't work for all people, but I've always had good results with it. :)

Buena suerte y si tengas más preguntas, no dudes en hacérmelas :)

Gracias señor, le debo una!!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on June 14, 2016, 10:55:50 pm
Okay so I do Spanish Beginners but  I came to this thread since nothing much was going on in the Spanish one, and I wanted to know how you dealt with the pressure of the speaking exam? My teacher emphasizes that it's just a conversation not a test but I can't help feeling pressured either way and in my last speaking exam, I sort of sped up towards the end (sort of as a response to my teacher looking at the timer and not me, but whatever)

Hey! Sorry that Spanish is a little dormant on the threads :(

Mr T-Rav has given some excellent advice!
It's worth knowing that I was very nervous in the speaking exam! It totally isn't just a normal conversation, it's an exam! It also didn't help that I was asked some really weird questions throughout. The number one thing for when you're in the exam is to maintain a steady, slow speed. I think this is important because if you are unsure of how to answer a question, that hesitation blends into the conversation far more smoothly than it would if you were talking at a thousand kilometres an hour. Also, your pronounce things clearer. AND, the slower you speak, the calmer you'll force yourself to be, you're less likely to get tongue tied, and you'll feel more in control of the conversation. Plus, if you talk super fast you have the potential to answer far more questions (some unnecessary and potentially unprepared for) because the other person is trying to stretch for five minutes (or ten, if you are a continuer).

I know you said you tend to speed up, but I think this is the thing that you have to be most conscious of. After the other person proposes a question, take a breathe, then answer. I always had that moment of breathe that appeared natural, gave me a second to think of my response, and reminded me to slooooow down!

As for nerves, speak to as many people as you can in Spanish beforehand. Your teacher, a friend, a sibling, classmate, exchange student if you're lucky, etc. The more times that you are in a situation of conversational Spanish, the better! You probably won't feel that need to speed up!

I totally understand that this is not just a normal conversation, it's an exam! My strongest advice is speaking slowly. You gain control of the conversation's speed and that results in you gaining some confidence because you feel like it is less at the hands of mercy and far more in your court.

Hopefully this gives a helping hand! :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: shazzzzzz on June 15, 2016, 09:53:18 am
Thank you so much, really appreciate the advice  :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on June 15, 2016, 10:27:15 am
Thank you so much, really appreciate the advice  :)

Drop back any time :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: MarkThor on July 18, 2016, 07:51:45 pm
Hi Elyse,
I do French Continuers, and I was wondering if you have any tv series, or french movies that you recommend.
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on July 18, 2016, 08:13:03 pm
Hi Elyse,
I do French Continuers, and I was wondering if you have any tv series, or french movies that you recommend.

Hi Mark!
Some of my favourite French movies:
-BIENVENUE CHEZ LES CH’TIS!!! (favourite)
-The Intouchables (actually maybe this is my favourite)
-Amelie (weird movie, but good)

I didn't watch any French TV shows, but, I do recommend listening to French music, particularly rap. I thought rap was helpful because it was still spoken french, so each word could be made out clearly. Black M is awesome!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on July 18, 2016, 08:14:05 pm
Hi Elyse,
I do French Continuers, and I was wondering if you have any tv series, or french movies that you recommend.

I just found this link to French comedies, take a look!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: MarkThor on July 18, 2016, 08:45:26 pm
Awesome, thanks heaps  :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: Jacqui105 on July 18, 2016, 08:45:57 pm
Okay so I do Spanish Beginners but  I came to this thread since nothing much was going on in the Spanish one, and I wanted to know how you dealt with the pressure of the speaking exam? My teacher emphasizes that it's just a conversation not a test but I can't help feeling pressured either way and in my last speaking exam, I sort of sped up towards the end (sort of as a response to my teacher looking at the timer and not me, but whatever)

Can I just add: If you go on the Assessment Resource Centre website, they actually have the audio clips of Band 5/6 speaking exams and you'll notice that every single one (for French at least) either started with hesitation or hesitated when asked a question that they weren't comfortable with. Just remember that they are not going to mark you down for being nervous. The most important thing is being clear and articulating with the correct technique. :-) At least, that's what my teacher always says and it works for me.

Good luck and I recommend going online and listing to the speaking exams!!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on July 18, 2016, 11:12:58 pm
Can I just add: If you go on the Assessment Resource Centre website, they actually have the audio clips of Band 5/6 speaking exams and you'll notice that every single one (for French at least) either started with hesitation or hesitated when asked a question that they weren't comfortable with. Just remember that they are not going to mark you down for being nervous. The most important thing is being clear and articulating with the correct technique. :-) At least, that's what my teacher always says and it works for me.

Good luck and I recommend going online and listing to the speaking exams!!

That's spot on! I mean, even in your first language, speaking to a complete stranger about the details of your life involves some hesitation, so it is expected when you're speaking in a foreign language! Be slow, clear, articulate and fake your confidence whenever you can!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: sydneyg on August 10, 2016, 11:45:35 am
Hi Elyse!
How did you practice speaking before your exam? I only have limited access to my French teacher but I still feel I need the practice, what would you recommend?
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on August 10, 2016, 02:42:26 pm
Hi Elyse!
How did you practice speaking before your exam? I only have limited access to my French teacher but I still feel I need the practice, what would you recommend?
Hello!
I wrote out my prepared responses on palm cards with the possible corresponding question on the opposite side. I asked my sister to read out the questions (in terrible French) and I would respond without looking at the card and my sister would follow the card as I spoke to see if what I was saying was matching to what I had prepared. In reality, it doesn't matter if I matched to what I wrote down, as long as what I said made sense! But I wanted to make sure that I wasn't skipping any idioms or little things like that to elevate my work. Usually my sister wasn't available or her French was too poor (now she actually speaks French, funnily enough) so I would just read the question side of the card myself, and then say my response, and then check it. I also consistently said my more difficult responses over and over again. Some I can still say now off the top of my head! Responding to the question "do you balance work and leisure?" was my favourite. Now is the time to substitute a sentence, phrase or word for something else if it it too difficult to pronounce and there's a possibility it might throw you. This time is about knowing your responses well enough that you are confident to add or take things away in the exam as is required, but also this is a time for perfecting your pronunciation. If you have trouble with pronunciation, you can ask me here how I would pronounce it and I can give you a phonetic spelling, or else you might be able to find that stuff online!

So, essentially, if you want that emulation of a conversation like in an exam, ask a friend or sibling to give you a hand by reading from the cards or a piece of paper. and then you responding. I think that's as close as you will get to the real deal! If you want to adjust to the different accents, speeds and tones a marker may use when they use fluent french, try download some apps that will do a vocal translation. So type in what you want them to say and then hear it say it, so that you won't be thrown by their pronunciation being different from your teacher's! :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: yxrulz on August 15, 2016, 09:47:46 pm
Hello!! I have a listening exam for French Continuers in a couple days, and I am in need of help. Although I tend to do above average in all other areas (speaking, writing, reading), I absolutely fail in listening. I'm more or less at the bottom of my class for this and tend to get less than 50%. I'm not really sure how to improve? I simply find it so difficult to translate in my head instantly and even if I do, the recording has already moved on to the next couple of sentences which I have missed. Please help? thanks in advance :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on August 15, 2016, 09:52:11 pm
Hello!! I have a listening exam for French Continuers in a couple days, and I am in need of help. Although I tend to do above average in all other areas (speaking, writing, reading), I absolutely fail in listening. I'm more or less at the bottom of my class for this and tend to get less than 50%. I'm not really sure how to improve? I simply find it so difficult to translate in my head instantly and even if I do, the recording has already moved on to the next couple of sentences which I have missed. Please help? thanks in advance :)

I had this same problem, and unfortunately listening remained my weakest point! By the end, my strategy changed a bit though, and probably for the better. Rather than trying to write down as much of the sentence as I could when listening the first time, I'd write down any words that stuck out to me as being clear, whether or not I knew the translation or not. Then upon the second listening, I'd specifically listen out for more ways to connect the dots. Occasionally, I'd flick open the dictionary between the first and second hearing so I could translate some of the words I wrote and be prepared to listen for associated words in the second listening. Most of the time, I ended up with a few key words at the end and I'd try connect the dots with a hypothetical situation. What's your current strategy?
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: lha on September 25, 2016, 03:40:52 pm
Are there anny websites that have posted the past hsc french listening audios?
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: MarkThor on October 08, 2016, 03:11:33 pm
You can find most of them on the BoS website by clicking onto the respective year and going to the French courses;
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on October 09, 2016, 08:53:52 am
Are there anny websites that have posted the past hsc french listening audios?

Just a tip, I realised sometime just before the exam that I'm actually terrible at understanding male voices, as opposed to female voices. Is it because male voices are lower and the words blend together more? I don't know, but something to consider for you all so that if you're the same you can hone in on that! :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: pughg16 on October 15, 2016, 06:31:15 pm
Can I just add: If you go on the Assessment Resource Centre website, they actually have the audio clips of Band 5/6 speaking exams and you'll notice that every single one (for French at least) either started with hesitation or hesitated when asked a question that they weren't comfortable with. Just remember that they are not going to mark you down for being nervous. The most important thing is being clear and articulating with the correct technique. :-) At least, that's what my teacher always says and it works for me.

Good luck and I recommend going online and listing to the speaking exams!!

Wish I had read this earlier!!
My French speaking went okay i think.....I managed to answer all the questions!
One of them I wasn't sure if the examiner had asked If had had moved or done the housework...I hope it was housework!!! :P :-\
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: woman2womenblog.com on October 25, 2016, 07:51:26 am
Hi elysepopplewell,
First of all I wanted to thank you to link to my blog’s post on French movies:
http://wp.me/p508D7-yz
French is the third language I learnt, and I totally agree with your propositions! I used to watch French movies with English subtitles, and it helped me a lot!
Another great way to learn French is French songs. Like you say, there is an unlimited source of songs, many of them subtitled, but otherwise it’s very easy to find the lyrics online!
There are some great French singers to learn French; my French teacher loved Nino Ferrer…
You can check my list with 100 French songs and choose the ones you like!
http://wp.me/p508D7-1cF
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: stephsteph_xx on January 24, 2017, 06:47:08 pm
Can you come from france and pick like extension french up ? Or is that not allowed because obviously you can speak french
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on January 25, 2017, 03:35:19 pm
Can you come from france and pick like extension french up ? Or is that not allowed because obviously you can speak french

Hey there! I believe you fall into the French Native Speakers category if that's the case and aren't allowed to do continuers or extension, I think!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: janenmortimer on March 15, 2017, 06:40:24 pm
Hi Mark!
Some of my favourite French movies:
-BIENVENUE CHEZ LES CH’TIS!!! (favourite)
-The Intouchables (actually maybe this is my favourite)
-Amelie (weird movie, but good)

I didn't watch any French TV shows, but, I do recommend listening to French music, particularly rap. I thought rap was helpful because it was still spoken french, so each word could be made out clearly. Black M is awesome!

Love all of these! Just want to add La Famille Belier to this list. We had a substitute who showed us this movie at the end of the year, and it was absolutely beautiful!

Hi Elyse,

Not being creepy, but I have the same French and English teachers as you did! ;D
Firstly, thanks for all your posts and answering and marking on here. It honestly feels so reassuring to know that you all are here for us in times of indescribable stress and anxiety.
I was just wondering how you learnt your grammar for French? I understand you did beginners, I'm currently doing continuers, so I think there is more grammar involved there, however, I'm just struggling a little with remembering the rules and where and how to apply them. I write a lot of responses, but whenever I need to use a tense that isn't the present, I find myself picking up a dictionary again!

Thanks in advance! Hoping you're having a good time in Venice!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on March 15, 2017, 08:04:43 pm
Love all of these! Just want to add La Famille Belier to this list. We had a substitute who showed us this movie at the end of the year, and it was absolutely beautiful!

Hi Elyse,

Not being creepy, but I have the same French and English teachers as you did! ;D
Firstly, thanks for all your posts and answering and marking on here. It honestly feels so reassuring to know that you all are here for us in times of indescribable stress and anxiety.
I was just wondering how you learnt your grammar for French? I understand you did beginners, I'm currently doing continuers, so I think there is more grammar involved there, however, I'm just struggling a little with remembering the rules and where and how to apply them. I write a lot of responses, but whenever I need to use a tense that isn't the present, I find myself picking up a dictionary again!

Thanks in advance! Hoping you're having a good time in Venice!

Hey Jane! Nice to see a local online! :)

For grammar, I made palm cards that I would study from. When I studied French, I'd just memorise the irregulars because you have no choice. So I'd have in my head: "suis, es, est, sommes, etes, sont" and I would visualise the "je/tu/elle" that comes on the left of the little graphs we make in my head. So I could shift through them quickly to choose the one I needed. I'd love to say I knew it off by heart every time but I did have to come back to the little chant in my head! As for the regulars, I learnt to become quite quick at them throughout the year, but I started with the same kind of little conjugation chant. When I got into an exam, I'd write down the conjugation table at the top of the page as soon as I could, so when it came to the writing section I could just refer to my little graph at the top (which takes a whole 30 sections to draw up a few)! I know that some dictionaries have this little conjugation table in them, but you're right, we can't rely on that! So that was my technique.

In saying that, I'm studying Italian A1 in Uni now, and I'm taking a different approach. I'm committed to being able to know them off by heart and not relying on the little chant in my head so much. This is mainly because the purpose of my Italian here is so that I can speak it more than anything else, and I can't be pausing to chant the conjugation every time I talk. So, I've been doing exercises of writing the same sentence out, but with a different conjugation for me, for you, for him, for them, for us, etc, each time. So this is some self directed learning because I'm not studying this for a HSC exam, I'm studying this to be able to communicate, so it's a little different. If you have the opportunity, I'd try do something similar. In a way it's almost like you're making a worksheet for yourself! They say practice makes perfect, and I know grammar and verb conjugation makes me want to stick pins in my eyes but knowing conjugations quickly and accurately really saves so much time in an exam!

Hopefully this gives you a few ideas about how to go about it all :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: damecj on March 25, 2017, 08:08:52 pm
Hey,
I do French Continuers and just wondering what is the best way to study for Writing?
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on March 29, 2017, 12:57:19 am
Hey,
I do French Continuers and just wondering what is the best way to study for Writing?

Practice! Go through past papers and observe the different types of text types they require, and the different topics they cover. Have a go at responding to as many as possible, diversifying your responses while you have the chance. Include idioms where possible! When you have a few responses written, go through and identify the times you showed your prowess as a french writer. When did you vary tense? Use the subjunctive? Conditional? Idioms? You might find there are some areas you are shying away from without realising, but identifying what you are good at and what you lack in will help you improve.

Also, studying the grammar so that you can write fluently without stopping to think regularly will improve your exam results!
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: 16Elias on August 04, 2017, 12:45:08 pm
Hi Elyse,

I am curenntly in the middle of my Trial HSC Exams and the French countiners exam is fast approaching. 1. How did you study all/most of the tenses? Such as the stems, endings etc. 2. How did you memorise all the regular verbs? and 3. Is exposure the only way im really going to be fluent in French? Lastly, love all the tips for the French HSC speaking exam. I am for sure going to take them on-board!

Merci beaucoup,
Elias
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on August 04, 2017, 01:37:17 pm
Hi Elyse,

I am curenntly in the middle of my Trial HSC Exams and the French countiners exam is fast approaching. 1. How did you study all/most of the tenses? Such as the stems, endings etc. 2. How did you memorise all the regular verbs? and 3. Is exposure the only way im really going to be fluent in French? Lastly, love all the tips for the French HSC speaking exam. I am for sure going to take them on-board!

Merci beaucoup,
Elias

Bonjour Elias!

For the tenses, I did a lot of boring worksheets where I was just writing out the words in the different tenses over and over...but then I began putting it into oral circulation and thinking to myself "How would I say that in French?" Tenses are just something you need to know unfortunately, but they do come with practice. Exposure to them really helps you to memorise the patterns so you don't have to think about calculating a word in a new tense, it just becomes natural. Regular verbs...well the conjugations came somewhat easily after I became quick at being able to do this in my head instead of needing to write things down. It was never instantaneous for me, even when I was at my peak, I still would have a 0.5 second delay. I've just started studying French at TAFE again, starting right from the beginning so I can learn it all again, and I'm finding it's coming back to me quicker this time - but I still notice myself pausing ever so briefly to make sure the conjugation is right. But actually in terms of memorising the verb: sometimes they get mixed up! It's really about using the words back to yourself. If they aren't cognates, I never managed to find a trick for them! :( But when I'd study, I'd group certain verbs together. So I'd make a study point of looking at "my day at the shops" and I'd look at verbs for walk, buy, look, drive, carry, eat. And by studying the verbs in association groups they were easier to commit to memory.

As for fluency...c'est difficile. I'm hoping to become fluent by the end of next year...or at least fluent "enough" :P I learned Italian last semester, and I realised part of the reason I learned it so slowly at first is because I wasn't really engaging with the language beyond what I needed to, and then I started to do everyday narrations in my head with Italian. I still remember the very first sentence I put together..."Sono felice" (I am happy). I was about to blurt out "I'm so happy!" to the person I was walking through Venice with, and then I thought "Do I know how to say that in Italian?" It became a habit, from then on, to consider situations in advance and think "Do I know the vocabulary for this?" and I'd say something in English, and then think "do I know how to say that in Italian?" and I'd begin the sentence, and once I got to a word I couldn't work out, or find a substitute for, I'd pull out my phone and jump onto word reference immediately to see what they had to say, and I'd add it to my vocab. By the end, I had Italian friends I could speak to - which is a huge bonus. But now it's time for French, and I'm doing the same thing again, trying to consider "How would I say this in French?" all the time. So it's exposure, but in an internal way - you don't rely on anyone but you for that exposure, you can make it happen anywhere, anytime! :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: 16Elias on August 04, 2017, 01:47:34 pm
Super! Merci pour le reponse. Aussi, what application did you use for the music part of french? Or did you just use youtube when you where studying french?
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on August 04, 2017, 01:52:40 pm
Super! Merci pour le reponse. Aussi, what application did you use for the music part of french? Or did you just use youtube when you where studying french?

Do you mean, when I was studying from songs what did I use? I used Apple music. I just googled top french charts and downloaded songs..their Eurovision songs...rapper Black M was good because I found rap easier to take words from. If you use spotify there's probably something there but it's out of my realm :P
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: dancing phalanges on August 04, 2017, 01:55:40 pm
I have a little game with myself for learning French verbs (lame I know) where I chose 4 verbs (one er, one ir, one re, and one reflexive) and conjugate them in present, imperfect, passe compose, conditional and future simple (just the regular ones can do other ones subjunctive etc. if you want). Basically I then mark it with word reference and see how well i go out of 20 and just try to continually beat myself :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: 16Elias on August 04, 2017, 02:00:26 pm
cool thanks! :) My goal is to also be fluent in French by the end of my schooling year. I just feel like i haven't put in as much work as i would of like to.
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: elysepopplewell on August 04, 2017, 02:10:01 pm
cool thanks! :) My goal is to also be fluent in French by the end of my schooling year. I just feel like i haven't put in as much work as i would of like to.

I haven't done this for french so I didn't do it for my HSC, but in Italy I made a point of reading and translating the entire front page of the newspaper each day. I learned a lot more vocabulary this way. If it sounds like it would work for you, maybe look for an online French mag or paper :)
Title: Re: Tips and tricks for French Beginners
Post by: abhiroop.pal1 on September 12, 2019, 12:14:02 am
I am either rank 1 or 2 right now at the end of my internals and i am faced with a dilemma.

Despite my final internal mark being, i believe, above 90, I FLOPPED my hsc oral and i am devastated. I feel like that 20% is going to ruin my french mark in the atar :( any advice on how screwed i am and how it will affect my hsc?

I am defs gonna try ace the listening reading and writing portion but damn im mad these are 30% together and speaking being 20% smh ugh