How To Get A 9 In GCSE French!

French, or any other language for that matter, is usually one of those subjects people either connect with very easily on a linguistic level, or struggle to meet eye to eye with. For myself, I was lucky enough to connect with the language on such a level, as it gradually became one of my most favoured subjects. But connecting with a language isn’t one in a million; I attended an ordinary comprehensive school in the midlands and was taught by a fairly decent Modern Foreign Languages department. My view is that you’ve got to see it as a challenge you want to overcome in order to prove to yourself that you could communicate to others in their native language (if you had to). Then you are in a better position to develop a connection, and even a love for the language.

I did AQA GCSE French (specification here) and as it’s a language, most if not all of what I mention will be transferable to other exam boards. Generally speaking, topics relating to food, sport and free time activities are deemed the easiest, given the range of cognates (french words that are basically the same in English) included in these areas. I’d also say that when studying a language, people are inclined to learn about what they enjoy or what they would like to do, whether that be talking about holidays or becoming a professional footballer. My passion is football, and I’ve been playing Sunday league for over 10 years. I’d recommend that you can incorporate and frequently use your passions as ‘go to’ topics when studying French, this will inevitably make you more interested and therefore more likely to succeed.

The difficulties therefore include learning about niche areas which fail to grab your interest or just prove quite difficult when getting to grips with higher level vocabulary. For me, these were perhaps ‘social issue’ topics, dealing with homelessness and unemployment; these were two areas which contained some quite unusual vocab, and the difficulties were intensified by my lack of interest to learn about them.

By the way, I used The Exam Coach’s Online Exam Preparation Bootcamp to help me through my GCSE year. Now more than ever, students need all the help they can get, and this audio course would be my number one recommendation for you this year. You can also apply a huge 80% discount if you use the code: BOOTCAMP at the checkout after reading my post (available for a limited time only).

Classwork 

I thoroughly enjoyed my French class, even if I must admit that the double lessons dragged. In terms of approaching each lesson, I would make sure that I had my pen in my hand ready to make notes, even the Teacher hadn’t instructed to do so. This is a key thing; to succeed in languages, you can’t let a small grammar point slip, or just ignore the correct spelling of certain vocabulary, as you ‘can’t be bothered’ or because nobody else is writing anything down. You have to be the one responsible for making sure you’re up to date with everything going in class and your specification; if you’re out of the loop, then your grades will take a dip. Also, make sure you are tracking what you’re learning.

Has the teacher covered this part of the course?

Have you written notes down for that part?

Have you received the key vocab for this section of the spec?

Make sure you’re the one in control; you know what you’re doing next lesson and you know what to work on. Having this mentality will make you more likely to succeed.

And one last thing, ASK QUESTIONS. Whether in front of everyone or privately, asking questions will only lead to clarity on things you need, helping you better yourself as a language student. 

The Revision 

Now let’s get to business. French revision, I would argue, can be the most difficult subject to revise for, given that you need to revise: Speaking, Listening , Reading and Writing. And therefore, your revision should be broken up into four distinct parts.

Speaking: My approach for the speaking exam was simple: practice, practice and practice. Depending on your school, you should be provided with Speaking Booklets which give you GCSE practice questions. Many students write down answers and attempt to learn these answers by heart, hoping the questions come up in the exam. This is just impractical. Factoring in how many topic questions there could be, you will have to remember hundreds of sentences if you use that method.

My advice, and what I did, is to learn key phrases and vocab, and have in mind a few ideas you want to talk about if that topic comes up. For example, if in the exam the topic of leisure activities comes up, I will know that I will mention something along the lines of playing football or going out with friends. Having a rough idea for every topic area will only boost your confidence and fluency going into the exam. 

Top tip: Always include opinions (eg c’etait très fantastique ) and don’t be afraid to ask the examiner a question back! A question you can ask the examiner nearly every time after giving your answer: “Mais, quel est votre/ton avis?” (But what is your opinion?) 

Listening: A few weeks before the listening exam I would, every night before bed, listen to a French podcast on YouTube (intermediate level) that I could relatively understand. Even if I was completely lost, I would become accustomed to common phrases and pick up on words that I would have never heard before. AQA also provide past listening papers which I used in the lead up to the exam.

Reading: To revise for reading, I used the AQA GCSE CGP French book, which provided me with a variety of reading passages and questions, followed with answers at the back. This method of using revision guides proves most effective for developing my reading skills. Other ways include past paper reading passages, or even, on occasion, I’d read some articles on a French news website.  

This is the kind of mind map I’d create for each key topic in the syllabus. I’d break each one down into verbs, key vocab, opinion phrases + adjectives and problems + solutions. In this way I could piece together different types of sentences which I could use in any type of French exam. I used a bit of colour to help chunk the information up and organise my thinking.

Writing: Like Speaking, you just have to practice. Experiment with new phrases, try mastering new grammar techniques that can wow the examiners (the subjective being a go-to method to getting a top grade).

My experience is that I’d find writing questions online, complete them and then hand them into my French teacher. After receiving feedback, I would go home and adjust or just complete a new piece from a different question, applying new techniques each time.

Top Tip: here is a commonly used starter, including the subjunctive: “Autant que je sache, la metéo..( As far as I know the weather.) Most subjunctives form after the word “Que”, so keep an eye out!

Don’t over do it though! A couple of hours a week on French from the start of school in September can pay big dividends come exam day.

Here’s an example of revising sentences I could potentially slot into any writing paragraph. Below that I’d list handy vocab, the ‘matching of opposites’ is a great technique to easily double the amount of words you know.

The Exam 

For the French exams as a whole, the main strengths I think I had were those of concentration and determination. Before going into the exam, I was focussed on the format of the exam itself, knowing what I would need to do when I was in there, and when faced with a difficulty during the exam, knowing that I had to battle through and complete everything to my best ability, even if at first glance I didn’t have an idea.

Perhaps my weaknesses were overthinking and possibly rushing. When in the reading exam, it is very easy to skim read and miss out on information relating to the correct answer, but don’t be afraid to take your time and redo the question later. 

My recommendation would be to do the translation on the reading and writing FIRST. The task should only take around 5 minutes on AQA with 9 to 16 marks on offer, doing this first may settle you down into a confident working rhythm in the exam as you’ll know you’ve covered the section with the most marks available early.

In the exams I took, a wide variety of topics came up (eg. Holidays, healthy eating and the environment); the exam can throw any topics your way, and it’s not a wise thing to predict potential topics, especially for languages.

Here’s a link to the GCSE French AQA past paper resources, in case you’re interested. 

Summary 

Overall, practice with languages is the perfect way to prepare. But there are particular areas to target which will undoubtedly boost your performance when compared to your peers. 

Grammar

Mastering the grammar is a MUST for attaining the highest grades. Knowing the different verb conjugations and different endings relating to different pronouns and tenses opens up a whole new perspective for dealing with French. Start off with present, move onto perfect, then onto future, imperfect and if you’re feeling really in the mood, try and learn the pluperfect and subjunctive. 

Vocabulary

Another thing is vocabulary. Not knowing vocab shuts off the potential you have to achieve highly. At the end of the day, knowing vocabulary is a memory game, and as The Exam Coach has advised before, active recall is the best way. Use Quizlet or Memrise to make sure you’re going over all the key words, and if you are competent with grammar and tenses, then French will soon become the subject for you.

Thanks for reading. 😄

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The Ultimate Guide On How To Achieve Grade 9 In English Literature

My Background

I studied 10 subjects at GCSE level, I also played netball and basketball during exam season. As a result, I had to balance my time effectively in order to have sufficient revision time and also time for self care (which is just as important.) 

Personally I found the fact that we had to learn 3 books, 15 poems and context for the English Literature exams very overwhelming which made it difficult for me to know where to start my revision.

The way I overcame this was by splitting the work into manageable tasks - which I will talk about later in the blog. My learning style is very much visual as I find myself visualising my notes in the exam, therefore I made flashcards and tables (which I will show you later) to aid me in my English Literature revision. 

Classwork

In class, all I did was make sure I  listened to the main points and got them down into my book as I knew I could use these for starting my revision. When you’re reading the books in class make sure you listen and actively read along otherwise you will not understand the text! 

Top Tip: At the end of reading a scene, act or chapter I would usually make a short summary in my book which I could read the next lesson to keep me up to date. 

In English we seemed to have more freedom in the way we structured our notes so do it in a way that benefits you not what the person sitting next to you is doing. I would usually make a timeline that I would add to after reading the next section of the book, adding diagrams would help trigger my memory about that particular scene. But do what works for you!

The Revision

• Table Method

  • I used a table method which enabled me to remember around 40 quotes per exam. First of all, ask your teachers or check past exam questions to see what types of exam questions have been asked in the past. So for me, I did ‘An Inspector Calls’ and questions would often be focused on a character or a theme. Therefore, I divided my revision and notes into characters and themes. 

  • Whereas, for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I split the book up into the important scenes to enable me to understand the storyline better and memorise a broad spread of quotes from the entire play. This approach helps breaks the content up into manageable sections and makes it so much easier to learn a good number of quotes, I also used a table for the context. I’ve copied some examples below: 

 So first of all I would sort my quotes according to how the essay was structured, then create a blank copy of table along with it. 

Top Tip: Every single morning for around 2-3 weeks I would blurt quotations for 10-15 minutes each morning. This is where you get absolutely everything you remember onto the blank table then check back with the original version you have already written out and add things you missed in another colour. 

At first you will have lots of red quotes however the number should start to go down, here you can see visual progress which can be quite motivating for some people who struggle to revise. 

Also, re read your books and pick out your own quotes this makes it different to everyone else in your class and will make your essay stand out to your teacher and examiner as you can make varied and different points, re reading also gives you a better affirmed understanding of the book as I found it quite hard to concentrate reading in class. Also, ask your teacher if you can borrow the book to read at home so you don't need to spend any money!

YouTube

If you're struggling to understand the plot, YouTube videos will help you get a better grasp of the whole play or novel. But, if you’re aiming for grade 8’s and 9’s, there are specific videos which I found helped the most. I have linked to them below...These 3 channels have many books and poems so just search for your book in their channel, these will really help you to start thinking on a higher level and help you qualify for the top grade bands in the exam. 

• Stacey Reay - The Inspector Grade 9 Analysis 

• Mr Bruff - ‘An Inspector Calls’: Top Set Analysis 

• Mr Salles Teaches English - Grade 9 Analysis Poppies, by Jane Weir

I then created some wrote some structured notes. For these, I would condense the information in the video and add my own knowledge onto a single flashcard, you need to remember thousands of other students will be watching these videos so make sure to add your own quotes and opinions. 

Here are a couple of examples:

Essay Plans 

I often used the ‘rule of three’ to help me make quick essay plans when under time pressure in the exam. Here’s how to do it...

Whatever the question all you need to do is make 3 detailed points about it, this helps you cover a range of the text without writing too much and running out of time. So if the question is “Explore the theme of hatred” you will come up with 3 points in the play where hate is shown, demonstrate this through a quotation and then explain your point and contextualising it within the play as a whole.

Pro tip: Check the mark schemes to see how many marks are available for context as this differs from book to book and you want to make sure you don't over or under do it.

In your essay plans make sure you outline the 3 different things you would talk about depending on what theme came up in the question and decide what context you’re going to link your points to. Do this before the exam! You’ll be able to write far more quickly if you already know roughly what you’re going to say, making it up as you go wastes time and there’s a chance your essay might not flow as well as it could do.  

For character based questions talk about the character at the beginning, middle and end (note: this still uses the rule of three). I allows for a detailed, well-rounded analysis of the character’s development through the novel or play. 

Here is an example of a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ essay plan where I chose the 3 key scenes I was going to write about and the context to go with it:

Here’s an example of the beginning of an essay, this time on the theme of ‘love’:

Here’s another one in a similar ‘plan then practice essay format’ for ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’:

Here is a more detailed character essay plan for ‘An Inspector Calls’. I didn’t always write out my plans in this much detail, many of them were short and punchy which made them easier to remember and made me feel more confident: 

As you can see, the plan above includes a general introduction, you can use this introduction structure in any essay you write. I like to do this because all you need to do is memorise the basic structure and then adjust slightly to fit the character or theme you are discussing. This lets the examiner know you have a good understanding of the play/novel and sets you up for a good essay. It can also be a good opportunity to frame up the points you’re going to discuss in your essay. 

Analysing Texts 

In the exam you will also get some questions with text from a book you have studied, this requires you to analyse language and structure. To revise for this, find any conversation between two people in your studied book and analyse language form and structure and plan some points you could make about the characters. If you practice doing this regularly it will come more naturally to you in the exam and a section you've already analysed may come up!

The Exam

My strength in an exam is usually my memory, I never seem to forget anything. I attribute this to the repetitive ‘blurting’ revision method I use. My weak point is coming up with the three points I’m going to discuss in relation to the question which has been asked on the exam. I find this quite stressful as the time in the exam is always ticking. Nevertheless, I’d always recommend you go into an essay with a clear plan even if you do take a little longer to get clear on what points you’re going to make. Making sure your essay is clear and easy to follow is so important. 

Stick to the timings of each question, which is usually between 30 and 45 minutes depending on the amount of marks. I’d recommend you’re fairly strict with yourself and move on even if you haven’t fully finished, you will usually find you will have spare time at the end to go back and add details. 

Top Tip: I don't recommend completing past papers…. Hear me out, those questions pretty much have a 0% chance of coming up. Instead, I recommend you use the same format of question but change the character or theme to something which hasn't come up recently. You should absolutely use past papers to predict the trends in what the examiners ask so you can better predict what might come up, this helps when doing poetry, you can make it easier for yourself by not learning the most recent poems and focusing on those which haven’t come up. 

I created essay questions by myself and completed around 10 to 15 of them. In my real exam everything I had practiced and planned came up and I was able to use my table for relevant quotes to support my points. That said, I didn’t know much about the poem which came up. As a result, I picked a poem I knew lots about to compare it to.  In the specification it doesn't mention a balanced comparison is compulsory, therefore it is acceptable to write more about one poem than the other and still achieve top marks. This was clear to me after looking at my grade breakdown - I only missed out on 3 marks in both papers. A clear example of why knowing the specification and how the examiners are instructed to grade your papers really matters! 

Past exam questions and papers:

• Edexcel

• AQA

Summary

All in all, have fun with your revision, using the table method you could turn this into a game with your friends to see who can remember the most quotes, you can also do by picking a character or theme and shouting/saying quotes at each other (this is helpful for auditory learners). As long as you have learned your quotes and know the basic plot of the book or play, you can use your own unique knowledge to ace your exam!

I hope my tips have helped. I’ve tried to be as specific as possible about what I believed helped me achieve a grade 9. I would love to see your feedback on this article and let me know if it helped you. I wish you the best of luck in all of your exams, go smash it!

Want some more help from The Exam Coach this year?

ONLINE EXAM PREPARATION BOOTCAMP

Learn how to prepare for your GCSE and A Level exams like the top performing students in the UK 🇬🇧

Improve your grades by one and a half grade boundaries (on average). 

This audio programme will make you: 

• More disciplined  

• More motivated 

• Revise faster and better 

For a limited time only, we’re offering you an 80% discount on this course!

Enter discount code BOOTCAMP at the checkout (available for a limited time only). Take a look and find out more about the Online Exam Preparation Bootcamp by clicking the button below.