Exam Tips – The Writing Exam

Exam Tips – The Writing Exam

by | Apr 8, 2024 | All posts

During the writing exam, students are asked to write a range of different types of language. 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 a greeting and a closing if it is an e-mail!

When it comes to marking, 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. 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:

1. Make sure that your written pieces contain work on each of the bullet points. For example, 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;

2. 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!);

3. 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;

4. Watch out for the little words that can change the meaning of a sentence. Words like “not”, “already”, “never” etc. provide key information for answering the question successfully, especially in the case of the translation passage. Try not to miss them out of your translation;

5. 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.

Exam Tips – The Writing Exam

Exam Tips – The Writing Exam

by | Apr 11, 2023 | All posts

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