GCSE French Revision Techniques

Vocabulary
Vocab list of key words from past papers
You have already seen that you can remember
the overwhelming majority of the words on
this list. Revise the list regularly or your
memory of the words will gradually fade.
Make sure you revise regularly during Study
Leave, or study leave will simply be
orgetting Leave. !lways begin each revision
session by going over everything you have
already revised. "se stories or images to link
the rench to the #nglish meaning. $he dafter
the story the better. %dentify words that cause
you problems each time you test yourself and
make a personal revision list just of these
words.
!"" most common words in French
$hese words make up &'( of everything you will see and hear. %f you know these
words you will already be able to understand half of everything in the e)am. !gain,
revise the list regularly or your memory of the words will gradually fade. "se the
same techni*ues for other vocab. !gain, identify words that cause you problems each
time you test yourself and make a personal revision list just of these words.
Further vocab revision
urther revision can be done from the vocab revision lists in the Language shared
area. #+mail the list home to yourself. "se the same techni*ues as described above.
!lternatively you can buy ,-S# revision books from bookshops such as .aterstones
or /orders or via the internet from suppliers such as !ma0on.
#ork smarter not harder
Start with the end in mind 1ecide what it is you will achieve from your revision
session. .rite it on a piece of paper or card and put it where you can see it. $his will
help you to know that you have achieved what you set out to achieve.
See the bi$ picture Look over your te)t book and your e)ercise books. Make sure
you have everything you need nearby.
%lan the time .ork out a manageable time slot for the revision session, then break it
down into chunks of no more than twenty minutes. !llow yourself short breaks
between each chunk of revision.
Get the mood ri$ht Revise where it is *uiet. .ork well away from distractions such
as $2, computer games, brothers and sisters. 3uiet, gentle+paced classical or chill+out
music without vocals help the brain learn more effectively. Save your favourite music
as a reward for when you have achieved what you set out to.
Start& $he hardest bit of revision you do is the first bit. 4nce you know what you
want to achieve from the revision session, have planned your time and sorted out the
necessary resources 5start6
Chunk it down 1o a bit at a time. !fter each chunk, review what you have achieved
and take a short break. /efore you start the ne)t bit briefly run through what you have
already done, and what you plan to do ne)t.
'raft and re(draft your notes in a way that helps you learn. "se different colours of
pens or paper or make a mind+map or poster. 7ut copies of the poster where you will
see it fre*uently. $he e)posure will help you learn it when you8re not even trying.
Test yourself !t the end of each revision session test yourself to see what you can
recall. Regularly test yourself on everything you have done since your first revision
session.
Rehearse Your oral e)am will be more successful as a result of rehearsing your
presentation and rehearsing e)tended answers on all the possible topics.
Reward yourself) when you8ve done what you planned. ,et yourself a drink, play
your favourite music, sit in the sun for ten minutes5
*ral e+am
Common words from past role plays
Revise this list as for other vocab. 9see above: ;<e
voudrais= will come up more than any other phrase.
%resentation
Learn it by heart. /reak your te)t down into
manageable chunks to learn. "se different colours for
the different chunks. .hen recalling the presentation
always begin at the very beginning and run through
everything you have learnt. 7lan your revision
programme so that you have learnt the presentation by
heart comfortably before the e)am, and then revise it
each day. You only need >' seconds to run through it
each day once you have learnt it.
,nswerin$ questions
7ractise talking for as long as you can on the following topics?
!im first for @' seconds, then A' seconds, then B' secondsC then try a different topic.
$he longer you talk the fewer *uestions you get asked6
ma famille
mes passe+temps
les films, la lecture
et la musi*ue
ma ville D mon
village
le collEge
le collEge de
l8avenir
mes projets pur
l8avenir
les vacances
ma maison
la nourriture
l8argent et le travail
mes copains D mes
copines
mon stage en
entreprise
ma carriEre
l8environnement
or each topic practise using?
past, present and future tenses
giving opinions
giving reasons
%,ST TE-SE
%t doesn8t matter whether you mean ;% bought= or ;% have bought=C it8s all the 7!S$
$#FS#. <ust follow the pattern you have been taught every time.
verbs that take avoir
./ai
.e n/ai pas
on a
on n/a pas
quelqu/un a
achetG
fait
eu
vu
lu
visitG
trouvG
dit H 5.. I
perdu
oubliG
volG D pi*uG
entendu
GcoutG
appris
travaillG
jouG
bought
did D made
had
seen
read
visited
found
said
lost
forgotten
stolen D nicked
heard D understood
listened
learned
worked
played
verbs that take Jtre
.e suis
.e ne suis pas
on est
on n/est pas
quelqu/un est
mort D morte
revenu D revenue
descendu D descendue
allG D allGe
montG D montGe
parti D partie
sorti D sortie
tombG D tombGe
arrivG D arrivGe
venu D venue
entrG D entrGe
restG D restGe
nGD nGe
devenu D devenue
retournG D retournGe
died
came back
went down
went
went up
left
went out
fell
arrived
came
went in D entered
stayed D remained
born
became D got
returned
%RESE-T TE-SE
%t doesn8t matter whether you mean ;% play= or ;% am playing=C it8s all the 7R#S#F$
$#FS#. <ust follow the pattern you have been taught every time.
French Re$ular (ER Verbs
Key regular (er verbs
aimer to like or to love
arriver to arrive or to happen
chanter to sing
chercher to look for
danser to dance
demander to ask for
d0tester to hate
donner to give
0couter to listen to
0tudier to study
.ouer to play
man$er to eat
na$er to swim
parler to talk or to speak
penser to think
re$arder to watch or to look at
r1ver to dream
skier to ski
travailler to work
trouver to find
visiter to visit 9a place:
the pattern for Ler verbs?
Sin$ular %lural
je parle nous parlons
tu parles vous parle0
il D elle D on parle ils D elles parlent
French Re$ular (RE Verbs
Key regular (re verbs
attendre to wait 9for:
descendre to descend
entendre to hear
perdre to lose
rendre to give back, to return something
r0pondre to answer
vendre to sell
$he pattern for Lre verbs.
Sin$ular %lural
je descends nous descendons
tu descends vous descende0
il D elle D on descend ils D elles descendent
Mere are some of the many (ir verbs that you will soon be able to conjugate?
abolir to abolish
avertir to warn
b2tir to build
choisir to choose
0tablir to establish
finir to finish
$rossir to get fat
nourrir to feed, nourish
r0fl0chir to reflect, think
remplir to fill
r0ussir to succeed
the pattern for Lir verbs?
Sin$ular

%lural
je choisis nous choisissons
tu choisis vous choisisse0
il D elle D on choisit ils D elles choisissent
Say 3don/t4 3didn/t4 3doesn/t4 etc in French
Making sentences negative in rench is a bit different than in #nglish. $he key is
nepas. 4nce you understand nepas, you can make just about any sentence
negative.
$o make a sentence or *uestion negative, place ne in front of the verb and pas after it.
-epas translates roughly as not.
<e suis riche N <e ne suis pas riche. O %Pm rich N %Pm not rich.
F5T5RE TE-SE
%n rench, there are two ways to e)press an event that will occur in the future? le
futur and le futur proche.
Le futur is used for upcoming events. %t is usually translated as will.
<Pirai au magasin demain + % will go to the store tomorrow.
%ls mangeront sur lPavion + $hey will eat on the plane.
$o form the future tense of (ER and (6R verbs, add the appropriate ending to the
infinitive. or (RE verbs, drop the final # before adding the ending.
Sin$ular %lural
je (ai nous (ons
tu (as vous (e7
il (a ils (ont
Some important verbs are irregular in the futur
Verb Future stem
acheter ./ach8terai
aller ./irai
avoir ./aurai
devoir .e devrai
Jtre .e serai
faire .e ferai
pouvoir .e pourrai
venir .e viendrai
voir .e verrai
Le futur proche is used when the upcoming event is to occur in the near future. %t is
usually translated as $oin$ to. %t is formed by simply using the verb aller 9to go: with
an infinitive.
<e vais aller au magasin + %Pm going to go to the shop
%ls vont manger dans & minutes + $hey are going to eat in & minutes
$he distinction between le futur and le futur proche is not always clear + there are
many situations where you can use either one.
You can find more practice of rench verbs at
www.happychild.org.ukDfreewayDfrench