French Leaving Cert Oral Exam – Part 1

French Leaving Cert Oral Exam – Part 1

FRENCH LEAVING CERT ORAL EXAM – PART 1

Firstly, preparing well for the leaving cert French oral exam is extremely important! Secondly, as you are all aware, the leaving cert pre or mock exams are a vital preparation for the “real thing”. If you are a member of our Leaving Cert plan, you have access to more than 700 sample sentences on a wide range of topics. However, the oral exam is also on its way. The oral exam accounts for 25% of your total marks in honours, and 20% at ordinary level. I have decided to do a series of blog posts on the subject of the oral, and welcome any questions that you might have. You can send your questions to [email protected] or comment in the section below.

At this stage, your teacher will have prepared quite a number of questions for you to take down for your french oral exam. You should be learning and modifying them to suit your own circumstances. These questions should be put under broad themes. As a former oral examiner, I would suggest that you cover the main themes first, as these themes are almost always asked:

Myself & My Family

  • Am I the youngest, the eldest, the middle child? What responsibilities do I have at home?
  • Do I help with the housework? What household jobs do I do?
  • Where I live, my area, my house.
  • My Friends and my Pastimes.
  • What I did last weekend and what I will do next weekend.
  • My experience of School. What are my favourite, least favourite subjects.  My school uniform/fashion
  • What do I think of the points system? Is it fair? Is it unfair?
  • What do I think of the school rules?
  • What I would like to do after school – further study etc..

Remember

That you should be able to pronounce your chosen career correctly, as pronunciation accounts for 20 marks or 20% of the exam.

  • The importance of sport and being healthy.
  • What are my plans for the summer? Do I have a part-time job and how does that impact on my school-work?
  • Will I be going on holidays? have I ever been to France? What are the main differences between France and Ireland?
  • Do I receive pocket-money? What do I do with this money?

Conditional Tense

Prepare yourself to be asked a question in the conditional tense.

  • What would you do if you won the lotto?
  • What would I do to improve my school if I was the principal?
  • What would I do if I was minister for health to improve the health service?

Remember

To try and make links to other themes. If for example, you are asked about your school uniform, you might look at the link to fashion and/or equality. (Students are not put under pressure to buy expensive clothes, as everyone is dressed the same.)

Variety of Vocabulary

I always try to get students to use a wide variety of vocabulary, as vocabulary also accounts for 20% of the exam. Try and say things in a different way.

For Example

  • C’est important d’être poli(e) et de respecter les règles de l’école 

It is important to respect the school rules

You Can Change This To

  • La bonne conduite et le respect du règlement scolaire sont de rigueur dans mon école.

Good behaviour and respecting school rules is essential in my school.

You are actually saying the same thing, but you have said it using richer vocabulary.

 

French Notes Oral Booklet

 

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.