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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
Forgetting Leave. Always begin each revision
session by going over everything you have
already revised. Use stories or images to link
the French to the English meaning. The dafter
the story the better. Identify words that cause
you problems each time you test yourself and
make a personal revision list just of these
words.
100 most common words in French.
These words make up 50% of everything you will see and hear. If you know these
words you will already be able to understand half of everything in the exam. Again,
revise the list regularly or your memory of the words will gradually fade. Use the
same techniques for other vocab. Again, identify words that cause you problems each
time you test yourself and make a personal revision list just of these words.
Further vocab revision
Further revision can be done from the vocab revision lists in the Language shared
area. E-mail the list home to yourself. Use the same techniques as described above.
Alternatively you can buy GCSE revision books from bookshops such as Waterstones
or Borders or via the internet from suppliers such as Amazon.
Work smarter not harder.
Start with the end in mind. Decide what it is you will achieve from your revision
session. Write it on a piece of paper or card and put it where you can see it. This will
help you to know that you have achieved what you set out to achieve.
See the big picture. Look over your text book and your exercise books. Make sure
you have everything you need nearby.
Plan the time. Work out a manageable time slot for the revision session, then break it
down into chunks of no more than twenty minutes. Allow yourself short breaks
between each chunk of revision.
Get the mood right. Revise where it is quiet. Work well away from distractions such
as TV, computer games, brothers and sisters. Quiet, 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! The hardest bit of revision you do is the first bit. Once you know what you
want to achieve from the revision session, have planned your time and sorted out the
necessary resources …start!
Chunk it down. Do a bit at a time. After each chunk, review what you have achieved
and take a short break. Before you start the next bit briefly run through what you have
already done, and what you plan to do next.
Draft and re-draft your notes in a way that helps you learn. Use different colours of
pens or paper or make a mind-map or poster. Put copies of the poster where you will
see it frequently. The exposure will help you learn it when you’re not even trying.
Test yourself. At 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 exam will be more successful as a result of rehearsing your
presentation and rehearsing extended answers on all the possible topics.
Reward yourself, when you’ve done what you planned. Get yourself a drink, play
your favourite music, sit in the sun for ten minutes…
Oral exam
Common words from past role plays.
Revise this list as for other vocab. (see above) “Je
voudrais” will come up more than any other phrase.
Presentation
Learn it by heart. Break your text down into
manageable chunks to learn. Use different colours for
the different chunks. When recalling the presentation
always begin at the very beginning and run through
everything you have learnt. Plan your revision
programme so that you have learnt the presentation by
heart comfortably before the exam, and then revise it
each day. You only need 90 seconds to run through it
each day once you have learnt it.
Answering questions.
Practise talking for as long as you can on the following topics:
Aim first for 10 seconds, then 20 seconds, then 30 seconds; then try a different topic.
The longer you talk the fewer questions you get asked!
ma famille
le collège
ma maison
mes passe-temps
le collège de
l’avenir
la nourriture
les films, la lecture
et la musique
ma ville / mon
village
l’argent et le travail
mes copains / mes
copines
mon stage en
entreprise
mes projets pur
l’avenir
ma carrière
les vacances
l’environnement
For each topic practise using:
 past, present and future tenses
 giving opinions
 giving reasons
PAST TENSE
It doesn’t matter whether you mean “I bought” or “I have bought”; it’s all the PAST
TENSE. Just follow the pattern you have been taught every time.
verbs that take avoir
j’ai
je n’ai pas
on a
on n’a pas
quelqu’un a
verbs that take être
je suis
je ne suis pas
on est
on n’est pas
quelqu’un est
acheté
fait
eu
vu
lu
visité
trouvé
dit « ….. »
perdu
oublié
volé / piqué
entendu
écouté
appris
travaillé
joué
bought
did / made
had
seen
read
visited
found
said
lost
forgotten
stolen / nicked
heard / understood
listened
learned
worked
played
mort / morte
revenu / revenue
descendu / descendue
allé / allée
monté / montée
parti / partie
sorti / sortie
tombé / tombée
arrivé / arrivée
venu / venue
entré / entrée
resté / restée
né/ née
devenu / devenue
retourné / retournée
died
came back
went down
went
went up
left
went out
fell
arrived
came
went in / entered
stayed / remained
born
became / got
returned
PRESENT TENSE
It doesn’t matter whether you mean “I play” or “I am playing”; it’s all the PRESENT
TENSE. Just follow the pattern you have been taught every time.
French Regular -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
détester
to hate
donner
to give
écouter
to listen to
étudier
to study
jouer
to play
manger
to eat
nager
to swim
parler
to talk or to speak
penser
to think
regarder
to watch or to look at
rêver
to dream
skier
to ski
travailler to work
the pattern for –er verbs:
trouver
to find
visiter
to visit (a place)
Singular
Plural
je
parle
nous
parlons
tu
parles
vous
parlez
il / elle / on
parle
ils / elles
parlent
French Regular -RE Verbs
Key regular -re verbs
attendre
to wait (for)
descendre
to descend
entendre
to hear
perdre
to lose
rendre
to give back, to return something
répondre
to answer
vendre
to sell
The pattern for –re verbs.
Singular
Plural
je
descends
nous
descendons
tu
descends
vous
descendez
il / elle / on
descend
ils / elles descendent
Here are some of the many -ir verbs that you will soon be able to conjugate:
abolir
to abolish
avertir
to warn
bâtir
to build
choisir
to choose
établir
to establish
finir
to finish
grossir
to get fat
nourrir
to feed, nourish
réfléchir
to reflect, think
remplir
to fill
réussir
to succeed
the pattern for –ir verbs:
Singular
Plural
je
choisis
nous
choisissons
tu
choisis
vous
choisissez
il / elle / on
choisit
ils / elles choisissent
Say “don’t” “didn’t” “doesn’t” etc in French
Making sentences negative in French is a bit different than in English. The key is
ne...pas. Once you understand ne...pas, you can make just about any sentence
negative.
To make a sentence or question negative, place ne in front of the verb and pas after it.
Ne...pas translates roughly as not.
Je suis riche > Je ne suis pas riche. = I'm rich > I'm not rich.
FUTURE TENSE
In French, there are two ways to express an event that will occur in the future: le
futur and le futur proche.
Le futur is used for upcoming events. It is usually translated as will.
J'irai au magasin demain - I will go to the store tomorrow.
Ils mangeront sur l'avion - They will eat on the plane.
To form the future tense of -ER and -IR verbs, add the appropriate ending to the
infinitive. For -RE verbs, drop the final E before adding the ending.
Singular
Plural
je
-ai
nous
-ons
tu
-as
vous
-ez
il
-a
ils
-ont
Some important verbs are irregular in the futur
Verb
Future stem
acheter j’achèterai
aller
j’irai
avoir
j’aurai
devoir
je devrai
être
je serai
faire
je ferai
pouvoir je pourrai
venir
je viendrai
voir
je verrai
Le futur proche is used when the upcoming event is to occur in the near future. It is
usually translated as going to. It is formed by simply using the verb aller (to go) with
an infinitive.
Je vais aller au magasin - I'm going to go to the shop
Ils vont manger dans 5 minutes - They are going to eat in 5 minutes
The 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 French verbs at
www.happychild.org.uk/freeway/french