*What I got asked in the French Oral '12*

bluugirl

Had mine today I got asked:
.My family
.My area
.My best friend
.What I do for enjoyment,sport etc
.What I'm doing this summer
.What I want to do after l.c,why
.Any social problems in my area,unemployment etc
.My document-went on for ages with this so that's why it seems so little!

Went pretty good I think apart from my nervous stammering which went away after a while! it went so quick! when she told me we were finished I was shocked!

Wesc.

Had mine today went perfectly! Some questions were tough but that's a good sign!

• Moi-Meme
• What are my bad traits
• Do I have a girlfriend
• Why not
• What are my past times
• Describe my last football match
• Did I score
• Obesity in sport
• Do I have any other past times
• Exam pressure (lead onto this by saying music relaxes me during the LC)
• What subjects I do
• Which ones do I dislike
• Do I get on well with the teachers
• What I would change about the education system
• Are private schools fair
• What I want to do in college
• Do I think it will be hard to adjust to college life
• DOCUMENT: Describe the photo
• How did I get around Paris
• Was the Metro efficient
• The went onto my part-time job of last year
• Did I think the cost of petrol is too much
• How much I got paid

And that was it! Wow, looking back on it it was a lot, but yeah I'm so happy with it. Got a few brilliant proverbs, subjunctive/plus-que-parfait phrases and jokes in too! Happy out

kippy

All of the language Orals are exams where it is pretty easy to go in there and lead the examiner into pre-prepared topics for yourself. Teachers of languages don't stat this enough in my opinion.
As stated above you could spin them an absolute yarn from start to finish, they just want to see whether you have a grasp of the language or not.

Smithwicks Man

Izymunz wrote: »

For anyone who still has it do not say that your level of french is really poor!! Instead say that you love french and that you like the sound of it etc.
Just thought I would throw that in there. Also saying that you are trying for high points would be recommended.

I said to my examiner I am not very good at French. I have difficulty with languages and I think French is difficult. Do you think this will have lost me many marks, just from her thinking I'm bad at french,even though it was grammatically correct?

GaryIrv93

Have to say I couldn't have asked for a better examiner for my oral on Monday. It didn't go perfectly, but the guy was Irish, didn't make anyone feel bad about making mistakes, and gave a helping hand to people struggling. Once I started talking to him, I felt like I knew him for 100 years. Really sound guy.

Izymunz

No you should not have! Remember that it is recorded so if you were grammatically correct she has to give you the marks.
Do not worry, I am sure you did brilliant!!

Smiley Laura

Ok, I'm only in fifth year, but I just really want to know was anyone really nervous about being a HL student, but fearing the examiner might think they are ordinary? My French is grand...but I am just scared that she/he could possibly think I really only have OL French

GaryIrv93

Smiley Laura wrote: »

Ok, I'm only in fifth year, but I just really want to know was anyone really nervous about being a HL student, but fearing the examiner might think they are ordinary? My French is grand...but I am just scared that she/he could possibly think I really only have OL French

I was always afraid that the examiner would think I was in HL - my french is fairly above OL standard. If i was in HL I'd still talk about the more basic stuff and pretend that I was in OL - in HL you'll probably get asked about politics etc which would be pretty hard and it would save you a lot of trouble by acting like an OL. I mean if you're good at HL French and are confident with talking about complicated topics to the examiner then do so. I don't know whether it makes a difference what level they think you are anyway.

partyatmygaff

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

I said to my examiner I am not very good at French. I have difficulty with languages and I think French is difficult. Do you think this will have lost me many marks, just from her thinking I'm bad at french,even though it was grammatically correct?

If you told the examiner this at the start of the oral you may have introduced an element of confirmation bias to your marking.

If you tell someone you're poor at something, they're likely to subconsciously become more watchful and critical of any mistakes you make.

That said... if your French was grammatically correct and you impressed them overall it won't make a jot of difference.

GaryIrv93

Anyone else have this effin Irish oral on Monday? I found out today and I was damn well pissed off - already up to my eyes in work, all due for next week. :mad:

FreeFallin94

Just wondering about the length of the replies in French. My teacher says that it's different to the Irish oral in that they don't want you to be constantly talking so all of our answers are quite short (although could be combined with one another). I don't think that makes much sense but she says that all the examiner wants is correct French. She's an amazing teacher for all the written stuff but I do know that a lot of other people in my year are also worried about the length of the answers. So basically, are the answers meant to be short, or should I try and talk for as long as possible?

partyatmygaff

Talk as you would in English but keep in mind that the less you talk the less material they have to mark you on. If you say nothing, they'll assume you know nothing.

If you make silly mistakes early on, calm down and try and shine through near the end with good French.

ChemHickey

Here's mine

Name/Birthday
What I do for my birthday/what I did last year
Family
What does my sister do
What is her degree in
What is she hoping to do in a few years
What are my parents jobs
Where do I work
Where do I live
Tell me about Queen Maedbh's grave ( I live in Sligo btw)
Talk to me about Carrowmore tombs
Any other tourist placeS/Who visits sligo
Talk to me about the beaches
Where do I work
How are the waves formed on the beaches
Are there any bays to make big waves
Which beaches have the nicest/biggest waves
Do you like English
What novels are you studying
Do you like music
Tell me about music in Sligo
Is there a great traditional music in sligo
Are your grandparents from Sligo
Where are they from?
Tell me about your ski trip
Terll me about your music trip to Budapest
Tell me about your document -- Describe the photo ( Photo of our pond and Peacocks) why do we have them/ what do they do/ do they climb trees/ what do they eat/ do they raise their feathers/ what colours are they
Will you leave or stay in Ireland in the future


I'm almost certain there is more questions... In there for 14/15 mins, so happy enough but didn't go as well as hoped! :L What crazy questions though.. :l He wouldn't let me talk at all!


GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE!

K_1

ChemHickey wrote: »

Here's mine

Name/Birthday
What I do for my birthday/what I did last year
Family
What does my sister do
What is her degree in
What is she hoping to do in a few years
What are my parents jobs
Where do I work
Where do I live
Tell me about Queen Maedbh's grave ( I live in Sligo btw)
Talk to me about Carrowmore tombs
Any other tourist placeS/Who visits sligo
Talk to me about the beaches
Where do I work
How are the waves formed on the beaches
Are there any bays to make big waves
Which beaches have the nicest/biggest waves
Do you like English
What novels are you studying
Do you like music
Tell me about music in Sligo
Is there a great traditional music in sligo
Are your grandparents from Sligo
Where are they from?
Tell me about your ski trip
Terll me about your music trip to Budapest
Tell me about your document -- Describe the photo ( Photo of our pond and Peacocks) why do we have them/ what do they do/ do they climb trees/ what do they eat/ do they raise their feathers/ what colours are they
Will you leave or stay in Ireland in the future


I'm almost certain there is more questions... In there for 14/15 mins, so happy enough but didn't go as well as hoped! :L What crazy questions though.. :l He wouldn't let me talk at all!


GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE!

How did that come up in conversation?!

Je pense que je devrai dire que l'histoire/ les attractions touristique ne m'interessent pas beaucoup!!!

Wesc.

ChemHickey wrote: »

Here's mine

Name/Birthday
What I do for my birthday/what I did last year
Family
What does my sister do
What is her degree in
What is she hoping to do in a few years
What are my parents jobs
Where do I work
Where do I live
Tell me about Queen Maedbh's grave ( I live in Sligo btw)
Talk to me about Carrowmore tombs
Any other tourist placeS/Who visits sligo
Talk to me about the beaches
Where do I work
How are the waves formed on the beaches
Are there any bays to make big waves
Which beaches have the nicest/biggest waves
Do you like English
What novels are you studying
Do you like music
Tell me about music in Sligo
Is there a great traditional music in sligo
Are your grandparents from Sligo
Where are they from?
Tell me about your ski trip
Terll me about your music trip to Budapest
Tell me about your document -- Describe the photo ( Photo of our pond and Peacocks) why do we have them/ what do they do/ do they climb trees/ what do they eat/ do they raise their feathers/ what colours are they
Will you leave or stay in Ireland in the future


I'm almost certain there is more questions... In there for 14/15 mins, so happy enough but didn't go as well as hoped! :L What crazy questions though.. :l He wouldn't let me talk at all!


GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE!

My teacher is an experienced oral examiner, she says the harder the questions are, the better you'll do. With some of the questions you got there, and the fact that he persisted in giving you hard questions, probably means you got at the least an A2. So don't worry about it!


But jesus.. how the hell did you describe how waves were formed on a beach!? :P

jack.h

Just a warning if anyone says they say they do applied maths and maths in the french oral make sure you know how to explain the differences between them.I got asked this in my oral.

ChemHickey

K_1 wrote: »

ChemHickey wrote: »

Here's mine

Name/Birthday
What I do for my birthday/what I did last year
Family
What does my sister do
What is her degree in
What is she hoping to do in a few years
What are my parents jobs
Where do I work
Where do I live
Tell me about Queen Maedbh's grave ( I live in Sligo btw)
Talk to me about Carrowmore tombs
Any other tourist placeS/Who visits sligo
Talk to me about the beaches
Where do I work
How are the waves formed on the beaches
Are there any bays to make big waves
Which beaches have the nicest/biggest waves
Do you like English
What novels are you studying
Do you like music
Tell me about music in Sligo
Is there a great traditional music in sligo
Are your grandparents from Sligo
Where are they from?
Tell me about your ski trip
Terll me about your music trip to Budapest
Tell me about your document -- Describe the photo ( Photo of our pond and Peacocks) why do we have them/ what do they do/ do they climb trees/ what do they eat/ do they raise their feathers/ what colours are they
Will you leave or stay in Ireland in the future


I'm almost certain there is more questions... In there for 14/15 mins, so happy enough but didn't go as well as hoped! :L What crazy questions though.. :l He wouldn't let me talk at all!


GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE!

How did that come up in conversation?!

Je pense que je devrai dire que l'histoire/ les attractions touristique ne m'interessent pas beaucoup!!!

I had a little learned on it! i said they were older than stonehendge in England and i threw in a subjunctive too! but he was asking me where i live and I said i live at the foot of the mountain beside a bay. but i don't mind! it's not like he let me talk. i basically said 5 words and he cut me off! it was the same with all the questions he asked me! I didn't get to talk!

Izymunz

Hey!!
I got pretty basic stuff... thought I would get asked a lot more.
Here is what I was asked.
1. Family
2. would I like to emigrate.
3. brought in past times
4. brought in future plans
5. brought the recession.
* forgot to put in.. the examiner asked me about my parents jobs*!
6. What do you usually do for your birthday.
7. what are some of the main differences between Ireland and France
8. a really open school question.. I think it was tell me about your school.
9. this was followed by the rules
10. the document was left till the end and I am not going to post those questions up as I don't think that they would help anyone!

As a side note when you actually do it you say less than half of the stuff you know!! Seriously do not worry about it as long as you are confident and have a decent attempt with it; you will be grand. lol
Bonne Chance!

ChemHickey

Wesc. wrote: »

ChemHickey wrote: »

Here's mine

Name/Birthday
What I do for my birthday/what I did last year
Family
What does my sister do
What is her degree in
What is she hoping to do in a few years
What are my parents jobs
Where do I work
Where do I live
Tell me about Queen Maedbh's grave ( I live in Sligo btw)
Talk to me about Carrowmore tombs
Any other tourist placeS/Who visits sligo
Talk to me about the beaches
Where do I work
How are the waves formed on the beaches
Are there any bays to make big waves
Which beaches have the nicest/biggest waves
Do you like English
What novels are you studying
Do you like music
Tell me about music in Sligo
Is there a great traditional music in sligo
Are your grandparents from Sligo
Where are they from?
Tell me about your ski trip
Terll me about your music trip to Budapest
Tell me about your document -- Describe the photo ( Photo of our pond and Peacocks) why do we have them/ what do they do/ do they climb trees/ what do they eat/ do they raise their feathers/ what colours are they
Will you leave or stay in Ireland in the future


I'm almost certain there is more questions... In there for 14/15 mins, so happy enough but didn't go as well as hoped! :L What crazy questions though.. :l He wouldn't let me talk at all!


GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE!

My teacher is an experienced oral examiner, she says the harder the questions are, the better you'll do. With some of the questions you got there, and the fact that he persisted in giving you hard questions, probably means you got at the least an A2. So don't worry about it!


But jesus.. how the hell did you describe how waves were formed on a beach!? :P

For the waves, i said that I didn't know really (i couldn't even remember the name for waves!) and he moved on!

I hope i got that! i doubt it highly but here's hoping! I had loads of idioms learned and i only got 1 or 2 in
'Je travaille comme un bœuf'- i work like a trojan/ox! i love that one! also twilight is 'entre chien et loup' << my favourite ever!

Mysteriouschic

1.Name
2. Age and I spoke about my birthday and starsign
3. Tell me about your personality
4. How many are in your family
4. Describe your mother (I hadn't prepared for this)
4. Does she work?
5. Where do you live? Describe my house ? describe my room?
6. What is there do do in the area?
7. She said that again but phased differently (she might have asked is there many things for kids to do, I know people were asked that)
8. Do I have a job?
9. Vacances not sure if it was about this or last year but I brought up last year
10. School I mentioned the people are friendly she then went on to ask me to describe my friend (I hadn't prepared for this either) Describe the school. How many subjects
11. Hobbies - I brought up music , tv, film
Tv- my favourite show - I brought up my favourite character.
Music - My favourite genre and group and I brought up my favourite singer
12. Document - London , I told her about it. (picture of London Eye) asked if I went on it. Do I have family living there. I didn't prepare for that only the differences and where I prefer she didn't asked I should've brought it up.

RedTexan

Got it done today, was absolutely delighted with it! Introduced my document (international soccer) about 3 minutes in and spent about 6/7 minutes discussing professional athletes (money, drugs, lifestyle etc.). and the rest regarding my future career. From my experience at this year's orals on the whole it seems as though the examiners are not there to catch you out and will encourage you to speak about what you want. To all those yet to go, bonne chance.

skanger

Our entire school got off very lucky, we got an examiner that would not leave the basic topics even when they were brought up. I tried to bring up the french election a and alcohol abuse but he kept moving back to my area and my school.

I'm not sure what to think of that to be honest, everyone else was happy but I wanted to show I had a good level of french

work.inprocess

Wesc. wrote: »

My teacher is an experienced oral examiner, she says the harder the questions are, the better you'll do. With some of the questions you got there, and the fact that he persisted in giving you hard questions, probably means you got at the least an A2. So don't worry about it!


But jesus.. how the hell did you describe how waves were formed on a beach!? :P

If they give you harder questions they feel you can handle them so there's no need to worry it's when they start simplifying questions with actions or turn off the tape to let you know what they've just said, that's a sign it's not going too well (happened to me in my Irish oral)

skanger wrote: »

Our entire school got off very lucky, we got an examiner that would not leave the basic topics even when they were brought up. I tried to bring up the french election a and alcohol abuse but he kept moving back to my area and my school.

I'm not sure what to think of that to be honest, everyone else was happy but I wanted to show I had a good level of french

That was the same when I did mine, was sitting it in a school that I didn't usually attend and so I was the first person in the oral, went in and he asked me about my area 4 times in the 15 minutes we were talking, I tried to bring up more abstract topics and he kept bringing me back to what I wanted to do in college and did I play any sports - I wouldn't worry about it, some examiners don't feel comfortable deviating from the 'normal' set questions and like our teacher said, some of us would have just as high of a level if not higher (evidenced by the fact that during the introductory meeting when they come and talk to you in French and English, the examiner made a couple of mistakes using the subjunctive and the plus-que-parfait). You made the effort to bring up different and more abstract topics and that can only go in your favour - remember that's points for communication and that's what most marks go for