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The Written Section of the exam is worth 25% of the overall marks. Four questions appear in this section. You must answer three of them. Question 1 is compulsory. You must answer it! Then choose any two others from Question 2, Question 3 and Question 4.

Question 1
(90 Words; 40 Marks (10%) - 20 Grammar, 20 Ideas) While this question is compulsory, at least you will have a choice between two different topics, i.e. answer either (a) or (b).

Q 1 (a) will take its theme from the first reading passage but requires your own personal experiences and opinions in response. You may also be required to write a simple dialogue or an imaginary account of an incident.

Q 1 (b) will take its theme from the second reading passage, but again it requires your own personal experience or some imaginative dialogue or story-writing.

General Advice for Q. 1
(i) Gather together vocabulary related to emotions and to "incidents": fear came up in 1999. Perhaps students should now prepare: hope, conflict, happiness, optimism, pessimism, aggression, anger, love, ambition, worry, anxiety etc.

(ii) Revise the passé composé for actions/happenings in the past (provided that these are not repeated or interrupted actions).

(iii) Revise the imparfait for descriptions of people/things/emotions in the past as well as for repeated and interrupted actions.

(iv) Remember that the corrector does not expect a thesis. You are only seventeen or eighteen years old. Write from your life's experiences: family life, friends, school, exam pressure, peer pressure, career possibilities etc. Most of these involve hope, conflict, anxiety, happiness etc!! And some good news: most of these will have been well prepared for the oral exam!

Question 2
(75 Words; 30 Marks (7.5%) - 15 Grammar, 15 Ideas) Three types of exercise exist on the Q 2 syllabus but only two of the three will appear on the paper in any year. You must answer only one of the two that appear. The options are:

(a) Letter (formal of informal)
(b) Message / email / fax
(c) Diary entry ("journal intime")

Letters - General Advice
(i) Revise the format of both informal and formal letters. Informal ones show the place name and date only (on the right-hand side). Formal ones display both the sender's (LHS) and the recipient's (RHS) names and addresses as well as the date. Remember that a formal letter requires a formal ending!

(ii) The days of learning whole letters by heart and churning them out on exam day are gone! Focus instead on key phrases.
Learn a certain number of phrases which can be easily adapted to suit numerous situations and occasions.

Example 1:

Je te remercie de beau cadeau que je viens de recevoir
Je te remercie de ta gentille invitation que je viens de recevoir
Je te remercie de beau séjour que je viens de passer chez toi

Example 2:

Pourriez-vous me faire savoir à quelle heure vous arriveriez?
Pourriez-vous me faire savoir les dates qui vous conviendraient?
Pourriez-vous m'envoyer une liste d'herbergement abordable?

(iii) Identify and address all points mentioned in the question. There are usually four or five tasks. Develop each of these slightly, ticking off each one as this is accomplished.

Messages/Emails/Faxes - General Advice
(i) Write the time (twenty-four hour clock) and the date in the top right-hand corner. Use "cher" / "chère" plus "tu" for informal messages, and "Madame" / "Monsieur" plus "vous" for formal messages. Use "Cher M. X" / "Chère Mme. X" if provided with a surname.

(ii) Remember an informal "signing off" for friends, and a more formal "Meilleures salutations" for business correspondance.

(iii) Introduce your fax/email with: "Je (vous/te) envoie (ce fax/cet email) pour (vous/te) dire que..."

(iv) Again, identify and develop slightly all tasks mentioned in the question. Underline them and number them if necessary; tick off when completed.

(v) Revise the imperative for commands, suggestions and invitations.

Journal Intime - General Advice
(i) Put the place name (if particularly relevant) and the date in the top right-hand corner. It is somewhat unnatural, but most fictitious diaries do begin with "Cher Journal"! They also sign off in a rather "staged" fashion; e.g. "c'est tout pour aujourd'hui. A demain, Journal"!

(ii) In 1999, the diary question was somewhat bizarre. Most eighteen year olds whom I know haven't sorted out what they think about God even in English (let alone in French!). The diary should naturally focus on personal experiences and on adolescent life. Again, revise "incidents" and "emotions" as for Question 1.

Example 1:

First day in new job: experience and feelings

Example 2:

Night before the exams begin: feelings

Example 3:

Conflict: experience and feelings

(iii) Remember that the diary is informal. Use pre-learnt idiomatic phrases and expressions which can be adapted to a number of different situations.

Example 1:

J'ai passé deux heures à faire mes devoirs
J'ai passé deux heures à écouter de la musique
J'ai passé deux heures à nettoyer la cuisine

Example 2:

Je fais de mon mieux
J'ai fait de mon mieux
Je faisais de mon mieux

Question 3 and 4
(Each 75 Words; 30 Marks (7.5%) - 15 Grammar, 15 Ideas) You will be given a choice between two topics in both questions 3 and 4.

In Question 3, you will be asked to give your reaction to or opinion of one of the following stimuli: a headline, a short written piece, or a picture.

In Question 4, you will be asked to write a report, a summary, a commentary or a reaction to or opinion of one of the following stimuli: a short prose piece, a chart, graphics, a table, a cartoon, or a picture.

Questions 3 and 4 - General Advice
(i) Ask yourself the following question: on which of the two topics do I have more vocabulary and knowledge (in French!)?

(ii) Once you have decided on your best topic, mentally recall or even physically jot down some useful phrases or expressions.

(iii) Review this list, eliminating those which are not really suitable! Add others as they occur to you.

(iv) Review the list again. Given that this is your (probably) quite limited vocabulary, what kind of opinion/reaction can you pretend to have and begin to formulate. (Do not be obsessed with writing your heart-felt and true opinions as you may well do in an English essay. THINK IN FRENCH! Say: with what French I have, what kind of opinion/reaction/comment can I realistically claim to have?!!)

(v) DO NOT TRANSLATE LITERALLY! Try to use idioms and expressions learnt in advance and natural in French. Your textbooks are full of these. Learn a certain number which can be easily adapted/manipulated to suit different situations.

(vi) With the vocabulary and knowledge that you have at your disposal, begin to form "points" (two or three is plenty).

(vii) Organise these points (the last should be some form of "solution") into paragraphs - i.e. structure your arrangement in a logical sequence.

(viii) CRUCIAL NOTE: You must not regurgitate large chunks of notes which you have learnt off.You should manipulate and alter learnt-off material to suit the given topic. You must also refer to the picture/ written piece/cartoon during the course of your argument (ideally in the opening and in the ending). But you are expected to move beyond the article / picture towards your own personal opinion/experience.

(ix) In the case of summary, think in "topic sentences" or "key ideas". If there are five paragraphs, then your summary should contain five basic ideas (separate but connected to one another). Your summary should be in the usual seventy-five words.

Conclusion
Now, all you need to do is set to work on those phrases! Study hard. Stay calm. Good luck!

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