Ahhhh…. The GCSE exams are over and a long summer stretches ahead of you. Sun (maybe), friends, relaxation, summer homework…! Hang on! Summer homework?
It may come as a surprise to some of those preparing for sixth form, but it isn’t unheard of for sixth form colleges to set homework for the new intake to complete over the summer. This may seem a bit unfair, mean even, but you will be in a much stronger position to start your A Levels in September if you have taken some time over the holidays to review what you know and start on your more advanced material.
What would our suggestions be for those who are looking at an A Level in a modern foreign language such as German, French or Spanish?
I would always recommend finding out which board your school/college will be using and to check out the details of the specification online. You can find out what is expected in the exams, what you will be studying and even some information about the marking scheme.
A good second step is to find out which film and/or book you will be studying. Make sure that you have a copy of your own and try to watch/read it at least TWICE before the start of the term. It is true that the teachers are paid to go through the material with you, but it will make much more sense to you if you have at least some idea of the plot. Buy a copy in the target language (e.g. German) and see if you can also get a good English translation. In this way you can read the English quickly to grasp the key points, then read the target language version in more detail as you have some idea of what is happening. Many schools and colleges will look at either the film or the book in the first year of A Level and then tackle the other one in the second year. This is helpful as it spreads the workload more evenly – so be prepared to do similar studying in the summer holidays following your first year of the course, so that you are in good shape for the second year.
Take time to look at and learn some of the grammar. The jump from a good grade at GCSE to the higher expectations of A Level can be a large one. It is possible to get a higher grade at GCSE by essentially learning blocks of text (useful phrases and grammar constructions) but not really understanding them. Buy a good grammar guide and get practising so that you have less work to do at the beginning of the new term. Make sure that you understand all the tenses you will be required to use, how to form them, when to use them, how the irregular verbs behave. As a guide, get comfortable with the present, past (perfect, imperfect, pluperfect), future (both kinds for French) and conditional. Really comfortable, not just “well, yes, sort of”.
It is important to get as much listening practice as possible. Use online resources such as news websites to find articles that you can listen to as well as read. Euronews (www.euronews.com), Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com) and 1jour1actu (www.1jour1actu.fr) are all good examples.
Consider whether it would be helpful to set up or join a conversation group to improve your confidence in speaking your target language. This doesn’t have to be an expensive option as you may be able to find like-minded students from your own sixth form or from another local one so you can meet together for the price of a coffee.
Teri Fleetwood is an experienced language tutor with over 16 years experience of tutoring to the GCSE and A Level curriculum. For more information please look at the rest of the posts in this blog and also check our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LanguageLearnersSurrey/ If you would like to discuss 1:1 or small group tuition, whether for exam preparation or pleasure, then do get in touch! teri@language-learners.com
There are some ways that you can prepare yourself before you even read a word of the actual paper:
Make sure that you know how long each exam is. What are the requirements of that paper? What will you need to do for each section and how long should you spend on it? Which paper is to be taken on which day? Be sure to prepare for the right one!
Time management is key in exams. Keep a close eye on the clock and make sure that you don’t get so involved in one section of the paper that you forget to leave enough time to do the rest!
So, now let’s look at the reading exam itself. Extracting the important information from a text in your target language is a key skill and probably one of those that you will use most in real life – from menus to museum leaflets. A few key tips could make a significant difference in the way you approach this part of the assessment and also in the score that you receive.
The reading paper presents a range of text types from picture-heavy “adverts” to extracts from works of literature. One of the first things I would say is that you shouldn’t allow yourself to be intimidated by the literature component – the extracts have been chosen very carefully and the key parts will be using the vocabulary and grammar that you have already been taught.
The main hints that I have for the reading exam are these:
When it comes to the reading paper, make sure you read the questions BEFORE you read each text! It may sound odd, but the questions will give you a good idea of what the text is about. Then you can read the text and already have in mind which information is likely to be important.
NEVER leave an answer blank. An intelligent guess is more likely to gain marks than a blank, which is guaranteed not to score at all!
Watch out for the little words that can make all the difference. Words like “not”, “already”, “never” etc. can change the whole meaning of a sentence and provide the key information for answering the question successfully.
Check WHO is doing the action in the sentences. It is not uncommon to find that someone does the action mentioned in the question, but not necessarily the person you might think. For example, if Jenny is talking about her weekend and says that her brother tidied his room, then tidying the room is NOT an activity that Jenny did!
Practice question words and question formation. Some of the tasks may be explained in your target language rather than in English, so do be sure that you can understand what you need to do.
Remember to answer the questions in the language in which they are set. So, if the question is written in English then answer in English. If it is written in your target language, then answer in the target language.
Look carefully at the tenses! There will probably be occasions when an activity in the question is mentioned in the text, but in a different time frame. For example, don’t get confused between what a character did last weekend and what they plan to do next week.
Likewise with the section which requires translation into English. The text itself is quite short but it will be full of little details which make all the difference. Tenses are important again, as are negatives, time phrases and prepositions. Try to fit in all the little bits of information in order to gain maximum marks.
Try to get as much practice of the reading paper skills as you can.
BBC Bitesize offers a range of resources to help you and there are also revision books that you can get which have the answers in the back so you can check how you are doing. As with so many things, little and often is key, so start revising soon!
Teri Fleetwood is an experienced language tutor with over 16 years experience of tutoring to the GCSE and A Level curriculum. For more information please look at the rest of the posts in this blog and also check our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LanguageLearnersSurrey/ If you would like to discuss 1:1 or small group tuition, whether for exam preparation or pleasure, then do get in touch! teri@language-learners.com
During the writing exam, students are asked to write a range of different types of language in the same time period (i.e. during the exam). You may, for example, be asked to write an article for a school newspaper, or it may be a letter (formal or informal). Make sure you know how to set out each different type of writing, and remember to include your town, the date, a greeting and a closing if it is a letter!
When it comes to scoring maximum marks, there are a range of techniques which will help to open up the higher grades.
One key point is to answer the correct number of questions! For some questions you will have a choice of which question to answer. Don’t try to answer them all as you will run out of time, and some of your answers will be ignored. Try to pick the question for which you have the most ideas that you can express in your target language, and be sure to cover each bullet point.
In order to score well you should also show a range of grammar knowledge and constructions.
GCSE examiners are very keen to give out points – it’s a bit like Tinkerbell and fairy dust! Sadly, if there is nothing there to see, then the dust won’t stick!😊
Higher Level candidates should try to include as many of the following list as possible:
A range of tenses (past, present and future as a minimum, but for a higher mark then present, perfect, imperfect, future, conditional and pluperfect if possible);
Complex grammatical structures – e.g. um…zu for German, après avoir +past participle and avant de +infinitive for French;
A range of people doing the verbs (to show you can use correct endings);
Opinions (3 different ways of showing what you think);
Modal verbs (can, should, must);
A set phrase or two using the subjunctive;
Word order: especially for German but also with French (adjective order);
Correct endings depending on gender (and “case” for German);
Time phrases – not just “at 12 o’clock” or “tomorrow” but also “rarely”, “often”, “never”, “always”, etc.;
A negative or preferably two;
A question where possible.
Additional things for all candidates to think about:
NEVER leave an answer blank. An intelligent guess is more likely to gain marks than a blank (which is guaranteed not to score at all!);
Make sure that your written pieces contain work on each of the bullet points. If there are four bullet points (Edexcel) then make sure that it is clear that you have answered all of them, otherwise you lose marks. Check to see that you have used the relevant tense or tenses for each point. If there are two bullet points (AQA) then be sure to expand on each and use a variety of tenses as well as giving your opinion;
Read the translation passage twice before you start to translate any of it. Get a good idea of what it all means in English, as that will keep you on the right track in your target language. Then if you have a tricky sentence, you can make sure it matches with the general idea of the passage, rather than mistranslating sections you were confident with in order to make them match with your guess for the tricky part;
Pay careful attention to the use of tenses in the translation section. Past, present or future DOES make a difference and you should be able to recognise which one is needed;
Watch out for the little words that can make all the difference. Words like “not”, “already”, “never” etc. can change the whole meaning of a sentence and provide the key information for answering the question successfully, especially in the case of the translation passage. Try not to miss them out of your translation.
Teri Fleetwood is an experienced language tutor with over 16 years experience of tutoring to the GCSE and A Level curriculum. For more information please look at the rest of the posts in this blog and also check our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LanguageLearnersSurrey/ If you would like to discuss 1:1 or small group tuition, whether for exam preparation or pleasure, then do get in touch! teri@language-learners.com
The second part of our blog series on the GCSE language exams looks at the listening paper. Sometimes students can get quite worried about this paper, or can be left wondering why they missed out on marks when they thought they had understood what was being said. These tips will help you to prepare well, and also give you some idea of the little examiner “tricks” to look out for.
What can I do to prepare for my listening exam?
When it comes to the listening exam, there is one way to prepare which you can start now, which only needs to be done for 10 minutes or so at a time, but which should be done consistently to get the best results.
What could it be?
Listening!
Specifically, listening to as much of your target language as possible, in as many different accents as possible, and as many different contexts as possible. While the exam board is not going to present you with an impossible accent, getting practice with as many native accents as you can will prepare you better than if you have only ever heard your teacher speak.
What should I listen to?
Pretty much anything. To get you started, here are some ideas that we have used with past and current students:
Try a music radio station using your chosen language. Make sure that it is one which plays music in your target language rather than just American music!
Alternatively, use the internet and look for “Extra!” in the relevant language – it’s a great little sitcom aimed at language learners and available in French, German, Spanish and English.
Use BBC Bitesize – this revision website has a range of activities together with the answers. You can choose Foundation or Higher Level.
You could try looking for TV shows online as well. There are many clips on popular video sharing websites. Or you can see if your favourite show is also available in another language via your streaming service.
If you are reasonably confident, then you could try using the news. Deutsche Welle have the “news read slowly” in German and there are several sites offering something similar in French. Alternatively, Euronews can be good (although rather fast) as you can read the text at the same time.
What else can I do to prepare?
Try some exam papers, which can be found on the exam board website. Your school teachers may want to use it too, so you can always look for past papers from other years – all practice is good practice. There are several GCSE revision workbooks available, with web links to listening tracks. Use them regularly, in small bursts rather than one long session.
Do you have any tips for the actual exam?
Of course! Here are some helpful pointers:
You will be given some time to read the questions before the test starts. Do use that time wisely and get some idea of the different types of question and what you have to do. It may sound odd, but the questions will give you a good idea of what each extract is about.
Remember each extract will be played twice, so you don’t have to get ALL the information the first time you hear it.
Also, make sure you have put some sort of answer for every question, even if you are not sure it is right. A blank answer is guaranteed to get zero points, but if you put something logical and sensible then you have a better chance.
Listen carefully for the “stretch” questions. You may think that you have a good idea of what the extract was about, but did you hear the words “not”, “often” or “rarely”? Sometimes the different options for a question will all be mentioned in some way, but there will be other words like these which change the meaning of the answer. Here is an example in English:
Q: What did Ben do at the weekend?
Extract from Ben: “I wanted to go to the cinema at the weekend but I didn’t have any money so we played football in the park instead”.
If you answer “went to the cinema” then you won’t get the point as this is what he WANTED to do, but couldn’t. The correct answer is that he played football in the park.
If you found these tips helpful then please feel free to share them with your friends. There will be more useful hints like these in the next few weeks as I cover the Reading and Writing papers. If you are looking for information about the Speaking test then please look for my blog post on the subject.
Teri Fleetwood is an experienced language tutor with over 16 years experience of tutoring to the GCSE and A Level curriculum. For more information please look at the rest of the posts in this blog and also check our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LanguageLearnersSurrey/ If you would like to discuss 1:1 or small group tuition, whether for exam preparation or pleasure, then do get in touch! teri@language-learners.com
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