Allez, un dernier coup de reins avant les examens externes!

Predict B4 listening Think of the vocab related to the question (eg: if it’s about the weather, what words associated with the weather can you think of?) Draw on your knowledge of the world (eg: if it’s a question about the weather in Nice, France, what would it be like in general? Answer: warm as the South of France is usually warmer) Draw on your common sense

Summarise in key words what the questions are in the listening boxes provided So you don’t have to flick over the page to see what section the information you hear is related to

Write 1 or 2 words max. in the listening boxes while listening So you are fully focused on the listening; you can’t write and listen at the same time!

Write more detailed information during the pauses in the listening boxes If you haven’t finished when the next passage is read out, don’t panic because you have plenty of time at the end of the listening part As You have plenty of details in your listening boxes, you will make connections and remember what to answer Some students write out all their answers when the listening exam is over, so here you go!

If the question requires a top-down approach (attending to the overall meaning), Like giving your opinion, summarising, recommending, clarifying, concluding, …, then you need to back up your answer with evidence And use expressions such as “which shows/implies, although, on the one hand, on the other hand, …” to force you to give evidence

If the question requires a bottoms-up approach (focusing on the words and phrases), Asking for specific information like a flight number, a time, … then you need to have plenty of specific details in your answer

At the end of the 3 readings for each passage, Write out your answers in the spaces allocated: Neatly In full sentences Cross out your notes from your listening notes as you go along to make sure you haven’t left out any details Proofread to make sure your answers make sense and relate to what the questions are asking

For the reading comprehension exam in particular, When you don’t recognise a word, work out its cognates (different bits that make up the word) eg: can you work out what the longest word in French is: anticonstitutionnellement? Have an educated guess to see if you can replace the word you don’t understand by another one!

Make sure you: Revise numbers because they are in everything and there’s no excuse for not understanding times, phone numbers, dates, …! Recognise the tenses of the verbs in the questions because you don’t want to answer something in the future when the question requires you to use the past tense for instance! Understand: adverbs (eg: lentement, …), intensifiers (eg: vraiment, …), quantifiers (eg: trop, un peu, souvent, d’habitude, assez, …)