Being Famous: Exam Skills (AQA GCSE French): Revision Note
Exam code: 8652
The topic of ‘being famous’ can appear in any of the exams - you might be asked to speak or write about yourself, or understand information about others. Let’s use the vocabulary, grammar and phonics we have seen so far to take a closer look at some typical exam questions and how you might tackle them.
Being famous: listening
In the listening exam, you need to identify key details from longer passages. This task will help you to practise this.
Worked Example
Foundation tier
Mehdi is talking about his two favourite celebrities. Which aspects of fame are mentioned? Write the four correct letters.
A | working long hours |
B | earning lots of money |
C | winning awards |
D | lack of freedom |
E | travelling the world |
F | press attention |
Answers:
Here are the correct answers:
A, B, D, E
Mehdi said: Il est célèbre pour chanter. Il gagne beaucoup d’argent, cependant il a peu de liberté. Elle est écrivaine. Elle peut voyager dans le monde, mais elle n’aime pas travailler des longues journées.
Worked Example
Higher tier
Lola is talking about her favourite celebrity. Which aspects of fame are mentioned? Write the four correct letters.
A | working long hours |
B | impact of wealth |
C | winning awards |
D | lack of freedom |
E | travelling the world |
F | press attention |
Answers:
Here are the correct answers:
B, D, E, F
Lola said: Il est célèbre pour chanter. Je pense qu’il aime faire des tournées, parce qu’il peut voyager dans le monde, et il dit que sa richesse rend sa vie plus facile. Cependant, la presse le critique toujours et il n’a pas de liberté parce que le public le reconnaît toujours.
Being famous: speaking
In part 2 of the speaking exam, you will read aloud a text and answer four unprepared questions based on the topic of the text. Here is a question to practise both elements of this task - reading aloud and answering questions on the topic of being famous.
Worked Example
Read aloud the following text in French.
Je suis beaucoup de célébrités en ligne.
Hier j’ai lu un entretien avec un influenceur.
On dit que les médias peuvent être dangereux.
Donc je ne voudrais pas être célèbre.
Il y a trop d'inconvénients.
Answers:
You should have identified the silent final consonants in words like dangereux, médias, trop
You should have correctly pronounced the [ien] sound
You should have remembered that the -ent ending in verbs is silent
Answer these questions in French.
Qui est ta célébrité préférée ?
Que penses-tu de la télé-réalité ?
Pourquoi les gens veulent-ils devenir célèbres ?
Pourquoi les jeunes aiment-ils les influenceurs ?
Answers:
Here are some possible responses.
Ma célébrité préférée est Adele car ses chansons sont belles.
Je n’aime pas la télé-réalité, mais mes amis la regardent toujours.
Beaucoup de gens veulent devenir célèbres pour gagner d’argent.
Les influenceurs partagent leur vie quotidienne et les jeunes pensent qu'ils sont leurs amis.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Je suis can mean both 'I am' and 'I follow'.
Being famous: reading
It is important to be able to identify key information in the reading exam, but you don’t always need to understand every word.
Worked Example
You see some French headlines about celebrities. Which headline matches each topic?
A | Cet influenceur de mode a son propre style |
B | Pourquoi son équipe a perdu ? |
C | Les médias parlent de son mariage |
D | Quel écrivain a gagné le prix ? |
E | Réservez vos billets pour son tour |
Personal life
Winning a prize
Fashion
Answers:
The correct answers are:
Personal life
C - The headline means ‘the media is talking about his/her wedding’
Winning a prize
A - The headline means ‘which writer has won the prize?’
Fashion
A - The headline means ‘this fashion influencer has his/her own style’
Being famous: writing
In the writing paper, there will be one question where you need to write a 90-word response guided by bullet points. The same question will appear on both Foundation and Higher papers.
Worked Example
You are writing an online article about a celebrity.
Write approximately 90 words in French.
You must write something about each bullet point.
Mention:
a celebrity you like
something positive that they have done recently
something related to this celebrity that you will do in future
Answer:
Here is an example response of 92 words.
Ma célébrité préférée est Aya Nakamura parce que j’adore ses chansons et ses paroles. Elle est très populaire et riche et elle est fière de son succès.
Récemment, elle a participé à un entretien à la télévision pour parler de sa carrière et encourager la nouvelle génération de chanteurs. C'était intéressant et elle a donné beaucoup d'informations utiles.
Je vais acheter des billets pour son prochain concert et aller avec tous mes amis. J’ai aussi décidé de pratiquer plus de musique et de chanter parce que je voudrais être célèbre à l’avenir.
My favourite celebrity is Aya Nakamura because I love her songs and lyrics. She is very popular and rich, and she is proud of her success.
Recently, she took part in a television interview to talk about her career and encourage the new generation of singers. It was interesting, and she gave a lot of useful information.
I am going to buy tickets for her next concert and go with all my friends. I have also decided to practice more music and singing because I would like to be famous in the future.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
This paragraph includes:
a range of tenses to match the bullet points - present, perfect, imperfect, and simple future
many third-person verbs and possessive adjectives (‘she’, ‘her’)
a range of adjectives with correct agreement - fière, utiles, nouvelle
Check that your answer includes a variety of language and that you have written something about each bullet point.
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