French Learning Habits

SIX BONNES RÉSOLUTIONS POUR 2020

SIX BONNES RÉSOLUTIONS POUR 2020

Ok so you have woken up to a new year, realising that the Junior Cert & Leaving Cert is only a few short months away.

What should you be doing every day to maximise your learning potential in French.  Follow these 6 tips and maximise your potential.

SIX BONNES RÉSOLUTIONS POUR 2020

  1. VERB LIST…

Concentrate on trying to learn a new verb every single day. On our website, you will find verb drills for both Junior & leaving cert students. Pick one from the list, and practice writing it in the following tenses…

  • Junior Cert | Present, Past & future.
  • Leaving Cert |  Present, past, future, imperfect, conditional & subjunctive. There are actually a lot of tenses for the Leaving cert, but if you can write using the above, you are doing incredibly well.
  1. LISTENING…

Go to your exam papers and take a section of the listening comprehension every single day, and listen to it, trying to answer the accompanying questions. Section D of the junior cert is the longest section, but should not be ignored.

  1. SPEAKING…

While a lot of students at Junior Cert level will not have to do the oral exam, it is a huge chunk of the leaving cert. 20-25% of your total marks will depend on a 12-15 minute performance, so you have to make every minute count! On the website, we have over 60 clips designed and spoken by a state examiner. We have divided the clips into 10 videos, which cover you for typical questions which WILL be asked. Watch these videos, and then jot down your own responses to fit your specific experience.

  1. WRITING…

A lot of students ask me how to write French, and I take the analogy of driving. The only way to learn how to drive is by driving, albeit with an instructor for the first few months. Writing for the leaving cert requires dedication and commitment. You must take yourself out of your comfort zone, and begin. You are not expected to come up with revolutionary ideas, or be expected to quote facts and figures. At leaving cert level, you are however expected to have an opinion, and to be able to express it, using correct French. At Junior cert level, practice writing notes, postcards and letters. Our website contains sample writing pieces, which you can check off against your own work, and take the odd phrase which will help your own technique. At Leaving Cert level, we have quite advanced sample written pieces, but are in the process of putting together some easier sample sentences on a wide variety of topics, which will make the whole process more manageable.

  1. VOCABULARY…

Take the time to learn a few new words on a given topic every day. We have vocabulary lists on the website, with accompanying tests, so that you can print the list, learn it and then check whether or not you really know the words.

  1. EXPRESSIONS À LA FRANÇAISE…

For the diary entry and narrative writing, a nice turn of expression adds richness to your writing. The key here is not to overdo it! Frenchnotes.ie contains a host of written expressions, and constructions to help you develop a grammatically flawless writing technique.

French Annual Plans

Keep Focused On These Six Bonnes Resolutions Pour 2020…

 

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.