My Family and Friends: Exam Skills (AQA GCSE French): Revision Note
Exam code: 8652
The topic of ‘my family and friends’ 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.
My family and friends: listening
In the listening exam, there will be some multiple-choice questions where you need to select a certain number of correct answers from all of the options provided. This question will help you to practise this.
Worked Example
Which family members does each speaker mention? Write the two correct letters for each person.
A | mother |
B | father |
C | brother |
D | sister |
E | aunt |
F | uncle |
Chloé
Ahmed
Answers:
Chloé - D, B
Ma sœur habite en France avec mon père. J’y vais la semaine prochaine !Ahmed - C, E
J’habite avec mon frère, mais j’aime visiter ma tante chaque week-end.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You can use the five minutes' reading time before the listening exam starts to note down the French vocabulary for the English options in multiple-choice questions:
A | mother | mère |
B | father | père |
This will help you to listen out for key words, but beware of distractors!
My family and friends: 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. This task will help you to practise answering questions on the topic of my family and friends.
Worked Example
Answer these questions in French.
Décris-toi.
Quelle est ton opinion sur les animaux ?
Parle-moi de ta famille.
Décris ton meilleur ami / ta meilleure amie.
Answers:
Here are some example responses. You should have included a similar level of detail.
J’ai les cheveux blonds et les yeux bleus, et je suis petite.
J’adore les animaux ! J’ai un chien et je voudrais un oiseau.
Il y a sept personnes dans ma famille. J’ai une famille assez grande.
Ma meilleure amie s’appelle Freya. Elle a quinze ans.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is important to answer in sufficient detail - one-word answers are not enough! A well-developed answer includes at least three verb clauses.
My family and friends: reading
In the reading exam, there will be questions where you need to decide who says what. The answer could be more than one person, so it is important to read each person’s text carefully. Look for synonyms (words which have the same or similar meanings). For example, instead of ‘children’, you may see the word for ‘son’ or ‘daughter’.
Worked Example
Yasmina and Mathis are talking about their family and friends. Match the correct person with each question.
Write Y for Yasmina.
Write M for Mathis.
Write Y+M for Yasmina and Mathis.
Yasmina - J’habite avec mon mari et ma fille. Nous n’avons pas d’animal parce que je n’ai pas assez de temps ! Ma mère habite en Angleterre.
Mathis - J’ai un fils qui s’appelle Camille et un chien qui s’appelle Alex. Nous visitons mon frère chaque été parce qu’il habite à Suisse.
Who is married?
Who has children?
Who has a pet?
Who has a brother?
Who has family in England?
Answers:
Who is married?
Y - Yasmina lives with her husband (mon mari).
Who has children?
Y+M - Yasmina has a daughter (fille), and Mathis has a son (fils).
Who has a pet?
M - They both mention pets, but Yasmina says that she doesn’t have time for one.
Who has a brother?
M - Mathis mentions his brother (frère).
Who has family in England?
Y - Yasmina mentions England (Angleterre). Mathis' brother lives in Switzerland (Suisse).
My family and friends: writing
Foundation tier
In the Foundation writing exam, you have to write five sentences about a photo, with two marks awarded per sentence. This question will help you to practise describing a photo on the topic of my family and friends.
Worked Example
What is in this photo? Write five sentences in French.
Answers:
Here are some example responses.
Il y a quatre personnes.
C’est une famille.
Il y a un petit chien.
Il y a deux parents et deux enfants.
Ils sont à la plage.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
The phrase il y a (‘there is, there are’) is very useful and can be repeated as a sentence starter. Keep your sentences short, simple and factual - they must accurately describe what is in the photo!
Foundation and Higher tier
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 emailing your French exchange partner about your family and friends.
Write approximately 90 words in French.
You must write something about each bullet point.
Mention:
a description of somebody in your family
something you have done recently with a family member
something you will do soon with a friend
Answer:
Here is an example response of 86 words.
J'adore ma famille et nous sommes cinq personnes. Ma mère s'appelle Louise et elle a les yeux bleus et les cheveux noirs. Elle est grande et très gentille. Mes parents sont canadiens.
Hier, j'ai joué dans le parc avec mon père et notre chien, et c'était amusant. Mon chien s'appelle Bailey et il est petit et noir. Il aime manger et courir !
Demain, je vais aller au cinéma avec mon meilleur ami. Mon meilleur ami est Noah, il est allemand mais il habite en Angleterre.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
This paragraph includes:
different subjects - ‘I’, ‘we’, ‘he’, 'she'
correct forms of the key verbs avoir and être
a range of possessive adjectives - mes, ma, mon, notre
Check that your answer includes a variety of language and that you have written something about each bullet point.
Unlock more, it's free!
Join the 100,000+ Students that ❤️ Save My Exams
the (exam) results speak for themselves:
Was this revision note helpful?