Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 29, 2024, 10:17:27 am

Author Topic: VCE French Question Thread  (Read 24180 times)  Share 

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

scout

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 116
  • Respect: +38
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #15 on: July 02, 2018, 05:40:36 pm »
+3
Hello, I'm aware that this forum isn't super active but I was hoping for a bit of assistance!
I'm approaching a listening SAC and frankly, listening has always been my least favourite and weakest aspect of VCE French. I know I'm not the only one, but I always manage to mishear/ get lost in/ misinterpret/ freak out during the text, even if the vocab/content is at a manageable level in terms of my French knowledge etc.

If anyone has ANY tips that could help me out, that would be much appreciated!! There is an extended response as part of it so I will have to be collecting as much information as possible (i.e. not limited to what the short answer questions are asking) which I also find difficult when trying to keep up with the text.
I've read tips before but if anyone has anything in particular, maybe about note taking, dealing with the situation where you've heard the text and feel lost, just staying focused and prepared in general? IDK, anything helps and is much appreciated!

Merci beaucoup!

Hey! I know this is late, but hopefully you find this advice useful for future listening SACs and the all-important exam.

It's completely natural to miss some words or to hear words that you've never heard of before. Passages are designed to contain several words that are beyond the VCE level. The key is to know what you're looking for (by reading the questions during reading time) and to filter through relevant and irrelevant information. A trick is to look for trigger words, or trigger passages, as often relevant information is clumped together (and likewise for irrelevant information).

Note-taking time is the most important time. But don't panic! And even if you panic, don't panic about panicking - it happens to everyone, I assure you.
1st playing: When you're overloaded with complex information, just write everything you possibly can in the order you hear them. If you don't know the relevant vocab, write phonetically - recommended for complex numbers. Write key words only, don't worry about grammar or full sentences. Use abbrev or symbols where appropriate to increase the amount of info you can physically write. Don't try to process/make logical sense of what you're writing down in the first playing, it's just too time-consuming (unless, of course, you can immediately and effortlessly translate something into Eng).

Before the 2nd playing : look at the info you've got, determine any holes in the info... and carry on!
ATAR: 99.70

chicken0909

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 3
  • Respect: 0
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #16 on: July 31, 2018, 08:49:03 pm »
0
Hey guys, I am in year 10 and we are choosing our VCE subjects right now. I dropped French in year 9, but had asked my school if I could retake it for VCE next year. But I am also stuck between either doing VCE French or History Revolutions. Is it worth doing French since I dropped it for a year?
2019 - Biology [ ]
2020 - Literature [ ] Chemistry [ ] Math Methods [ ]  Ancient History [ ] Revolutions [ ]
2021 to 2025 - Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine @ Monash

Maultima

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Respect: +3
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #17 on: December 01, 2018, 01:00:17 am »
+1
Hey Guys and Girls,

I am currently in Year 11 heading over to the infamous Year 12. I am undertaking French next year and although this forum is not very active, I was hoping someone would be able to shed some light and offer me advice and assistance as I am in hope of scoring a Raw 43+, It would be much appreciated.

1) Being a Francophone (bearing in mind I migrated when I was 4), I have never taken French too seriously but I do have relatively good listening and Oral skills but my Grammar drags these down alongside with writing. Anyone have any tips on how to master French Grammar easily for application? I am sure I am able to pick it up easily.
2) What should I be doing over the holidays and throughout the Year as LOTE subjects really lack clarity and do not have a set study design.
3) What writings should I be doing etc.
4) How should I prepare for SAC's and Exams?
5) Any Oral tips and must dos to increase marks
6) Any good sites for Resources etc.

Thank you :)
Monash Medicine [2024]

MissSmiley

  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 349
  • Respect: +84
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #18 on: December 01, 2018, 09:55:56 am »
+8
Hey Guys and Girls,

I am currently in Year 11 heading over to the infamous Year 12. I am undertaking French next year and although this forum is not very active, I was hoping someone would be able to shed some light and offer me advice and assistance as I am in hope of scoring a Raw 43+, It would be much appreciated.

1) Being a Francophone (bearing in mind I migrated when I was 4), I have never taken French too seriously but I do have relatively good listening and Oral skills but my Grammar drags these down alongside with writing. Anyone have any tips on how to master French Grammar easily for application? I am sure I am able to pick it up easily.
2) What should I be doing over the holidays and throughout the Year as LOTE subjects really lack clarity and do not have a set study design.
3) What writings should I be doing etc.
4) How should I prepare for SAC's and Exams?
5) Any Oral tips and must dos to increase marks
6) Any good sites for Resources etc.

Thank you :)
Hey Maultima!

It's so great to see you setting goals for yourself and really starting to get ready for French next year! Great mindset! :)
1. With grammar, if it's mostly the case that you know it but you've just forgotten, I'd suggest starting from page 13 of the new study design @ https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/french/FrenchSD_2019.pdf and going through each grammar feature (all the past tenses, sentence types, etc) and making a checklist of which ones you're confident using and which ones you need to learn.
Then, every 2 days for example, take out 20 mins to learn a new grammar feature whether that be going through the Schaum's grammar book and for example studying about how to conjugate in the conditional perfect tense, if that's new for you. Or, these grammar sessions can be as simple as watching a youtube video on any French grammar feature! The grammar section really helps in the study design and once you've mastered each grammar feature (or you sorta know how it is used --- remember, you won't necessarily use each and every grammar feature in your exam, but you stand out, when you have advanced grammar features like the past tenses, y pronoun, reflexive in the past, subjunctive in the present and past).
Once you've learnt a grammar feature, put a phrase using that in a sentence so you can remember that sentence.
For example if you're revising the conditional perfect, this could be a really simple sentence you'll remember for how to conjugate it: Je serais venu
It can be as simple as that, and this sentence  could potentially go into a piece of personal writing! This is a good way to make sure new grammar sticks in your brain but also make sure you revisit new things even for 5 mins during the day.

2. The new study design is actually so much better than the last one, in its appearance, organisation, etc and setting out some suggestions of what could come under each topic tested in the different aos. I really recommend reading every word of it in the holidays! But apart from that, over the holidays, what's gonna be useful is you revising the features of every text type. For example, pay attention to the fact that both sender's and receiver's addresses need to be written on a formal letter ; how an article needs to have a big heading and then 2-3 summary lines, etc. So many people's letters or whatever may be extremely well written with little grammar mistakes, but then they forget these 'structural elements' and could lose marks when it comes to that 'appropriateness to the text type' criteria (outlined in the study design). Secondly, during holidays and throughout the year, apart from regularly watching french short films, movies, listening to songs, reading the news, etc, I'd really recommend doing little translation exercises.
This helped me tremendously during the year, especially for reading and writing. So, you go on any English news website, pick an article and pick a paragraph to translate into French! Use your dictionary to translate complicated English words into French, and when it comes to the grammar, really think in your brain how to formulate that sentence or how you can use grammar features that are new to you (it's so tempting to just copy paste a few sentences into google translate or collins translator or whatever, but really give your brain a challenge when you're thinking about grammar when translating from English to French). I've said news articles, but really you can work with anything. If you want to practice creative writing in French, then open up an English short story and start translating! (short stories are great to practice reflexives!) And obviously, this translation exercise can go either way. So open up a French news article, short story, report, speech, etc and translate a small paragraph into English or at least paraphrase it in your mind. This helped me heaps with challenging myself to think about grammar, the tenses especially, and also, I didn't get bored reading, because I'd select different genres of texts every time!
Another thing you could do during the holidays is, come up with 3 idiomatic phrases for each text type. For example, "Tant va la cruche à l'eau qu'à la fin elle se casse" (basically means Enough is enough!) could go into a speech that involves some collectivist action or something. A really simple one such as "La cerise sur le gâteau" could easily go into a letter when you're describing your positive emotions, for example. These idiomatic phrases really help you stand out and lets the assessor know that you're really thinking about 'cultural elements' (in the criteria), when you use these. As I said, the 3 best ones for every text type that you think you'll write, should be enough and try memorising them as much as possible!
Also, during the holidays, think about what topic you would like to do as your detailed study! Make sure there's a strong cultural connection to French society and/or social problems. For example, development of French fashion, the French cuisine (a really popular one!), or think of something unique and get it checked from your teacher next year. If you're really hyped up about detailed study, you could even start collecting 3 'texts' (for example a movie, an article or a big image) which you'll consult to help you prove your detailed study question. I found these 3 texts during the holidays and this helped me tremendously to stay organised and reduce my time during the year (especially time during Term 3 when it gets the busiest with SACs and exam prep for other subjects too). But this detailed study thing isn't an absolute necessary thing to do, so don't freak out if you don't have an idea before school starts. Still plenty of time :)

3. With writing, I would look at the list of text types that can be assessed in each aos, and practice writing in one of the text types every week. Hopefully writing 250-300 words throughout the whole week shouldn't be too hard. For example, one week, you might practice writing an informal letter, the next week an article, etc. As you change between text types, you'll very clearly, notice the differences in your grammar features. For example, an article would have heaps of formal grammar like using the passive, and definitely not any colloquialisms like quoi de neuf? which would go perfectly in an informal letter, on the other hand. Things like this help you memorise useful grammar phrases as well!
Also, if you decide to do any writing SAC (or actually any SAC) under timed conditions, make sure you leave at least 5 mins for proofreading at the end, so you can hopefully pick up any conjugation, agreement errors. make a small checklist of these errors as well and write them in a small diary, like I carried a really really small cute diary with me full of French useful phrases, verbs, and my errors, with me everywhere I went haha!

4. Do practice SACs under timed conditions, as you get closer to your SACs. With exams, it's great when you have the time to do full on practice exams under the 2 hours (and you should be doing at least 2 of these), but if you don't have time to do the complete exam, you can just do individual sections of it under timed conditions, for example, make sure you can finish the reading section both eng and fre in 40 mins for example, or make sure you can finish your writing in 50 mins, etc. When you're preparing, I recommend making a list of useful vocabulary relating to that theme you're studying. For example when we studied immigration and cultural diversity, I had a vocab list relating to this and then I'd review it every few days. This sort of thing especially helps for a listening SAC, because when you have a variety of good vocab, then there's a higher chance you can detect complex words in the recording

5. When you're practicing for an oral SAC, make sure you can pronounce your words correctly and for this I recommend using google translate to type in any word which you're ensure how to pronounce, and then clicking the sound icon on google translate to hear its pronunciation. As you hear different sounds, you'll notice how certain combination of vowel sounds are pronounced, etc. Be alive to these! For example, look at where the nasal is used and where it isn't. The assessor is really impressed when you pay fine attention to your pronunciation!
Another really big thing is, please try and practice staying 'free' when you speak. Although you might have memorised an answer, make it seem that you're saying it as if you're not prepared! Really make sure your facial expressions are switched on haha! Because I've seen so many people just not looking at the assessor, not using their facial features and instead looking around the room, because they're trying to recall what they've memorised. The conversation just doesn't seem 'real' if you know what I mean? So be natural and switched on in terms of your communication strategies - eye contact, vary your tone a little big, raise your voice here and there, speak softly, etc)
In the oral exam, having 3 si clauses (with different tenses) can make you stand out, because the assessor knows that this person can use si clauses not just in writing!

6. There are absolutely amazing websites on AN, like these:
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=172648.0 -- amazing guide for every skill written by Kate
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=136390.0 -- huge and amazing list of resources both online and suggested textbooks
Additionally, search up small articles, short stories, podcasts, videos, you name it in French! Keep practicing listening, reading and speaking amongst people in your class or to your teachers!

Sorry for the long post, but I hope some of these things help! :)
Good luck!! and make sure you enjoy some free time in the holidays too! Don't study all the time!

2017 : Further Maths [38]
2018 : English [45] ;English Language [43] ; Food Studies [47] ;French [33] ;Legal Studies [39]
VCE ATAR : 98.10
2019 - 2023 : Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts at Monash University

I'm selling a huge electronic copy of  VCE English essays and resources document (with essays that have teacher feedback and marks) for $10. Feel free to PM me for details!

w0lfqu33n89

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 168
  • This is my text until I find another poetic quote
  • Respect: +151
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #19 on: February 17, 2019, 08:12:35 pm »
0
Hey guys! This thread hasn't been used for a while but I am hoping I can still get some help. I am currently in year 10 and doing French, wondering if it is worth doing in VCE for year 11 and 12? Is it stressful? like is there a big workload or is it manageable? any tips or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated xx

K888

  • VIC MVP - 2017
  • National Moderator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 3705
  • Respect: +2877
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #20 on: February 17, 2019, 09:54:48 pm »
+3
Hey guys! This thread hasn't been used for a while but I am hoping I can still get some help. I am currently in year 10 and doing French, wondering if it is worth doing in VCE for year 11 and 12? Is it stressful? like is there a big workload or is it manageable? any tips or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated xx
I definitely recommend it :) I didn't find it as stressful as some of my other subjects (for me it was a walk in the park compared to methods!) and enjoyed its difference to other subjects. I guess it ultimately it comes down to a number of individual factors as to whether it's a hard subject or worth it/not worth it but I reckon it's not as big of a deal as people make it out to be. It seems hectic because you go from not really being able to hold a conversation at the end of year 10 to being able to talk for 15 minutes to some assessors in French, but to me it felt like a natural progression - the things you've learnt in the past start to click together and you just feel a lot more familiar and comfortable with the language.

When I decided to do French in VCE I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into because people always talk it up as a huge thing but honestly, it's no different to doing any other subject. If you're interested in doing French, go for it - worst comes to worst, you can always drop it and pick up a different subject :)

I hope this helps somewhat - I realise it's a pretty jumbled answer haha. It's probably also worth having a chat to your French teacher to get their opinion too.

w0lfqu33n89

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 168
  • This is my text until I find another poetic quote
  • Respect: +151
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #21 on: February 17, 2019, 11:49:51 pm »
0
I definitely recommend it :) I didn't find it as stressful as some of my other subjects (for me it was a walk in the park compared to methods!) and enjoyed its difference to other subjects. I guess it ultimately it comes down to a number of individual factors as to whether it's a hard subject or worth it/not worth it but I reckon it's not as big of a deal as people make it out to be. It seems hectic because you go from not really being able to hold a conversation at the end of year 10 to being able to talk for 15 minutes to some assessors in French, but to me it felt like a natural progression - the things you've learnt in the past start to click together and you just feel a lot more familiar and comfortable with the language.

When I decided to do French in VCE I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into because people always talk it up as a huge thing but honestly, it's no different to doing any other subject. If you're interested in doing French, go for it - worst comes to worst, you can always drop it and pick up a different subject :)

I hope this helps somewhat - I realise it's a pretty jumbled answer haha. It's probably also worth having a chat to your French teacher to get their opinion too.

Thankyou so much K888! personally I love speaking French as the language is just beautiful, I just hate the whole sitting in class and learning how to write it when all I wanna do is speak to people en Francais!  ;) but yeah, Thankyou for the help, will defiantly see my teacher x

smamsmo22

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 141
  • Respect: +34
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #22 on: February 18, 2019, 12:04:56 am »
+1
I agree with all of what K888 said!!
The fact that you like engaging in French will really help you too - I feel like French for me was a subject where putting in more effort beyond assigned work/classwork (ie; listening to/speaking/reading French outside of class) made a lot of difference and was really helpful, so that kind of attitude is great :D
Honestly, apart from writing tasks and prep, I didn't find that I spent all that much time "sitting and learning how to write" French so I wouldn't be too concerned about that; IMO the more "practical" activities I mentioned above were probably more significant than the writing, which is something which is pretty unique but refreshing about the subject! And, the good thing is, it's all linked anyway; your speaking will help your writing, your listening will help your speaking etc etc.
Personally, French was one of my least stressful subjects; it just involved a bit more self-directed/external learning/practice. If you're happy to put that in and have a love for the subject, it'll only make it easier for you to do well and in that case I'd also recommend it to you :)
2018 - VCE - ATAR: 99.75 [English, Chemistry, Methods, French, PE, Bio]
2019 - Monash

atty942

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 1
  • Respect: 0
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #23 on: April 23, 2019, 07:27:20 pm »
+1
Bonjour tout le monde!

I have my writing SAC tomorrow, so would really appreciate a reply to my quick question :)

I searched up in my dictionary how to say "I'm dreaming"
and there were so many translations!! (obviously for different contexts, but still)
and I found this one really interesting: "j'étais dans les nuages" or "j'étais dans la lune" Now I get how it's metaphorical and how it's a nice expression, but if I wrote that in my SAC to say I was dreaming, would it be clear?
Would my teacher deduct marks for not saying "je rêvais" ?

I really wanted to sounded metaphorical and have that colloquial feel to it with that expression, but if it's gonna compromise clarity, should I just stick with "je rêvais" ?

Thanks so much everyone! :)

Really looking forward to a reply!

Hey!
'J'étais dans les nuages' doesn't actually mean 'I was dreaming'; it literally means 'I was in the clouds', as in physically.

I think the expression you mean is 'j'avais la tête dans les nuages', which means 'I had my head in the clouds', an idiom which means someone is absent-minded, impractical, day-dreaming, or is a 'dreamer', as in an artist or a romantic. It does not mean you are actually, physically dreaming.

The same principle applies with 'j'étais dans la lune' - 'I was daydreaming'. Both idioms can't be used to refer to actual dreams, so I guess the answer to your question is no, you can't use them in that context. However, they are super useful to use in other situations and I used both those phrases a lot in my writing as they are quite poetic.  :)

Hope this was helpful to you!

dan0013

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Respect: 0
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #24 on: April 23, 2019, 09:19:59 pm »
0
Hey guys, I am in year 10 and we are choosing our VCE subjects right now. I dropped French in year 9, but had asked my school if I could retake it for VCE next year. But I am also stuck between either doing VCE French or History Revolutions. Is it worth doing French since I dropped it for a year?

Hi there! I'm currently doing year 12 french in year 11 :) My piece of advice to you is if you're willing to work for it, go for it! French is a great subject (very stressful but always worthwhile and rewarding) - but it is difficult to cram!
Acquiring any language, not just French, is a gradual process. Every day, you learn new things about the language, whether that be a new grammar rule or a new word. Consistency is key in learning any language. If you haven't studied French at all for a year, it might be a good idea to catch up on key grammar and immerse yourself in the language as much as you can, as it's very easy to forget a language if you don't use it.

I say go for it, if you are willing to work hard. French takes up a lot of time, but rightfully so. It's a foreign language, so be prepared to give it your all! Once you do, you'll be so happy with your progress, trust me!

Hope this helped!
2019: French [40]
2020: ATAR 99.60 English [50], Chemistry [41], Biology [44], Legal Studies [48], Methods [37]
2021-2025: Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine @ Monash University

dan0013

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Respect: 0
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #25 on: April 23, 2019, 09:34:22 pm »
0
Hey guys! This thread hasn't been used for a while but I am hoping I can still get some help. I am currently in year 10 and doing French, wondering if it is worth doing in VCE for year 11 and 12? Is it stressful? like is there a big workload or is it manageable? any tips or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated xx

Hi there! I'm doing 3&4 french this year, so I'll try to answer your question to the best of my ability :) If you want to, then you should go for it! Learning a foreign language is different to a subject like methods or biology, where you can study the textbook and do well. It's a slow, gradual process of constant improvement and growth. It's stressful (for me at least :)) but is always so rewarding when you get a good mark after working hard. I wouldn't say the workload is big, or maybe that's just my class. In fact, throughout year 11 and 12 french, you should be doing as much extra work as you can. Whether that be learning new vocab or grammar, it's bound to help you one day. Tips: start practice in listening and writing early especially so you can build confidence! They're tricky but come with practice. Give your teacher writing tasks frequently, they'll be more than happy to mark them (I hope :)) That way, you can get feedback and know what to look out for in your next piece of work. Listening to french radio, particularly the SBS one, helped me a lot in listening practice and kept me up to date with the news which is a bonus. Honestly, IMMERSION IMMERSION IMMERSION in the language is the best thing you can do. Watch french movies, go to a french film festival, read books and magazines...etc.

I hope this helps!  :)
2019: French [40]
2020: ATAR 99.60 English [50], Chemistry [41], Biology [44], Legal Studies [48], Methods [37]
2021-2025: Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine @ Monash University

Rameen

  • Trailblazer
  • *
  • Posts: 30
  • Respect: +1
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #26 on: June 30, 2019, 04:35:49 pm »
0
Bonjour,
What is the french detailed study? I have heard about it but is it still in the current study design? I am currently doing french 1/2.

Sophia-MacDonald

  • Fresh Poster
  • *
  • Posts: 3
  • Respect: 0
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #27 on: August 20, 2019, 05:22:47 pm »
+1
Do any of you know any good VCE french tutors in the Melbourne area? I'm looking for one but I'm having trouble fining one I think is good.

radiant roses

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 15
  • Respect: 0
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #28 on: February 16, 2020, 08:55:50 pm »
0
Bonjour!

I have been told that it is useful to use an index book for French. For eg, in the 'g' section, you would make a glossary of new words, and in the 'a' section, you would write the grammar rules for adjectives.
Has anyone used this or have any experience with it? Is it helpful?

K888

  • VIC MVP - 2017
  • National Moderator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 3705
  • Respect: +2877
Re: VCE French Question Thread
« Reply #29 on: February 16, 2020, 09:05:45 pm »
+1
Bonjour!

I have been told that it is useful to use an index book for French. For eg, in the 'g' section, you would make a glossary of new words, and in the 'a' section, you would write the grammar rules for adjectives.
Has anyone used this or have any experience with it? Is it helpful?
I made a bit of an index of new words when I did French but didn't do the full thing like you're describing. I certainly found what I did really helpful in terms of building my vocab and expression! :)