Healthy & Unhealthy Living: Exam Skills (AQA GCSE Polish): Revision Note

Exam code: 8688

Sylwia Jurczak

Written by: Sylwia Jurczak

Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett

Updated on

The topic of ‘Healthy lifestyles’ can appear in any of the exams - you might be asked to talk or write about your diet, exercise and lifestyle, or understand what other people say about their habits. Let’s use the vocabulary and grammar we have seen so far to take a closer look at some typical exam questions and how you might tackle them.

Healthy and unhealthy living: listening

  • In the listening exam, there will be questions where you need to identify the correct information from a list of options and write the matching letters

  • Some questions ask you to find two correct answers for each speaker

  • This question will help you to practise this skill

Worked Example

You hear an interview on Polish radio with two health experts. What two pieces of advice does each expert give? Write the correct letters in the boxes.

listening
00:00
/
00:00

A

do not smoke

B

do not work so hard

C

drink lots of water

D

get plenty of exercise

E

have a good breakfast

F

stay out of the sun

  • Expert 1:

  • Expert 2:

Answers

  • Expert 1: D, C

Exercise is very important for health. You should go to the gym at the weekend or go hiking. I also recommend drinking lots of water.

  • Expert 2: A, E

The day has to start with a good breakfast. Also, smoking is very bad for your health - you should avoid it.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • Use the five minutes' reading time before the listening exam starts to think about and/or note down possible Polish vocabulary for each option

  • This helps you listen out for key words when the recording plays

  • Remember that the speakers may not use exactly the words in the options - they might express the same idea differently

  • Always listen to the whole extract before deciding on your answers

Healthy and unhealthy living: speaking

  • In Part 1 of the speaking exam, you will take part in a role-play

  • Your teacher will play a role set on the card (e.g. a friend or a shop assistant) and will speak first

  • The card tells you whether to use ty or Pan/Pani

  • The role-play lasts approximately 2 minutes

    • You need to prepare answers to the prompts in advance

    • You need to ask your teacher a question when you see the ? symbol

    • Each response must include a verb, but you don't need to develop your answers as fully as you would in the conversation tasks

    • This question will help you to respond to role-play prompts on the topic of healthy lifestyles

Foundation tier

Worked Example

You are talking to your Polish friend about health and fitness. Prepare the following role-play.

  1. Say how often you do sport. (Give one detail.)

  2. Say one activity you do to stay healthy.

  3. Give one opinion about fruit and vegetables.

  4. Say what you like to drink. (Give one detail.)

  5. ? Ask your friend a question about smoking.

Answers

Here are some example responses.

  1. Często uprawiam sport. I often do sport.

  2. Chodzę pobiegać. I go jogging.

  3. Owoce i warzywa są bardzo zdrowe. Fruit and vegetables are very healthy.

  4. Lubię pić wodę. I like drinking water.

  5. Czy ty palisz? Do you smoke?

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • At Foundation tier, each task only needs one piece of information and a verb - keep it short and accurate

Higher tier

Worked Example

You are talking to your Polish friend about health and fitness. Prepare the following role-play.

  1. Say two things you do to keep fit.

  2. Say how often and when you do exercise.

  3. Say what you have drunk and eaten today. (Give two details.)

  4. Give your opinion of smoking and say why it is dangerous. (Give one opinion and one reason.)

  5. ? Ask your friend a question about their diet.

Answers

Here are some example responses.

  1. Pływam regularnie i czasami gram w piłkę nożną. I swim regularly and sometimes play football.

  2. Ćwiczę trzy razy w tygodniu, przeważnie wieczorami. I exercise three times a week, mostly in the evening.

  3. Wypiłam dużo wody i zjadłam owoc dziś rano. I drank lots of water and I ate fruit this morning.

  4. Palenie jest bardzo złe, ponieważ jest niebezpieczne dla twojego zdrowia. Smoking is very bad because it is dangerous for your health.

  5. Jaka jest Twoja dieta? What is your diet like?

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • At Higher tier, some tasks ask for two details or an opinion with a reason, so make sure you give enough information

  • A response without a verb cannot score full marks

  • Notice how the Higher sample answer for task 3 uses the perfect tense (wypiłam, zjadłam) - this is exactly the kind of grammar that impresses examiners

Healthy and unhealthy living: reading

  • In the reading exam, you need to answer comprehension questions in English. This question will help you to practise answering in English

Worked Example

A Polish teenager called Maria has written a blog about her lifestyle. Answer the questions in English.

Staram się prowadzić zdrowy tryb życia. Codziennie jem owoce i warzywa oraz piję dużo wody. Nigdy nie chodzę do restauracji typu fast food, ponieważ uważam, że jedzenie tam jest bardzo niezdrowe. W weekendy chodzę biegać z moją przyjaciółką — obie to lubimy i jest to dobre dla kondycji.

Niestety czasami nie śpię wystarczająco dużo, ponieważ zbyt długo siedzę przed komputerem. Wiem, że to jest niezdrowe. W przyszłym miesiącu chcę chodzić spać wcześniej i dwa razy w tygodniu chodzić na basen.

  1. Give two things Maria does to eat and drink healthily. [2 marks]

  2. Why does she never go to a fast food restaurant? [1 mark]

  3. What does she do at the weekend and with whom? [2 marks]

  4. Name one unhealthy habit that she mentions. [1 mark]

  5. What two things does she want to do next month? [2 marks]

Answers
Here are the correct answers:

  1. She eats fruit and vegetables every day [1] and drinks lots of water [1]
    Codziennie jem owoce i warzywa oraz piję dużo wody.

  2. She thinks the food there is very unhealthy
    .....ponieważ uważam, że jedzenie tam jest bardzo niezdrowe.

  3. She goes running [1] with her friend [1]
    W weekendy chodzę biegać z moją przyjaciółką .....

  4. She sometimes does not sleep enough / she is on her computer too long
    Niestety czasami nie śpię wystarczająco dużo, ponieważ zbyt długo siedzę przed komputerem.

  5. She wants to go to bed earlier [1] and go swimming twice a week [1]
    W przyszłym miesiącu chcę chodzić spać wcześniej i dwa razy w tygodniu chodzić na basen.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • When answering reading comprehension questions in English, your answers do not need to be written as full sentences - concise, accurate answers are perfectly acceptable

  • Pay close attention to how many marks each question is worth: a two-mark question needs two pieces of information

Healthy and unhealthy living: 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 article about your lifestyle for a Polish school magazine. Write approximately 90 words in Polish. You must write something about each bullet point.

  • Co robisz, żeby zachować zdrowie?

  • Co robiłeś/robiłaś w zeszłym tygodniu, żeby być w dobrej formie?

  • Twoje plany dotyczące zdrowszego stylu życia w przyszłości

  • Czego nie powinieneś/powinnaś robić, jeśli chcesz zachować zdrowie?

Answer

Here is an example response of 93 words.

Staram się prowadzić zdrowy tryb życia. Jem dużo owoców i warzyw, piję dużo wody i często chodzę na spacery . W zeszłym tygodniu trzy razy poszłam pobiegać i ćwiczyłam jogę, żeby się zrelaksować. W sobotę byłam na basenie, co bardzo mi pomogło poprawić kondycję. Starałam się też spać więcej, bo odpoczynek jest ważny dla zdrowia. W przyszłości planuję mniej czasu spędzać na telefonie i chodzić na siłownię dwa razy w tygodniu. Nie powinnam jeść zbyt dużo posiłków typu fast‑food, bo to szkodzi zdrowiu ani palić papierosów, ponieważ jest to bardzo niebezpieczne dla organizmu.

I try to live a healthy lifestyle. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, I drink plenty of water and I often go for walks. Last week I went running three times and I did yoga to relax. On Saturday I went to the swimming pool, which really helped me improve my fitness. I also tried to sleep more, because rest is important for your health. In the future I plan to spend less time on my phone and go to the gym twice a week. I shouldn’t eat too many fast‑food meals because they are bad for your health, and I shouldn’t smoke cigarettes because it is very dangerous for the body.

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Sylwia Jurczak

Author: Sylwia Jurczak

Expertise: Content Writer

Sylwia Jurczak is a Content Writer at Save My Exams and an experienced Polish teacher with over 12 years of teaching experience. She specialises in GCSE and A-level Polish and has experience as an AQA examiner for the GCSE Polish Writing component.

Bridgette Barrett

Reviewer: Bridgette Barrett

Expertise: Development Editor

After graduating with a degree in Geography, Bridgette completed a PGCE over 30 years ago. She later gained an MA Learning, Technology and Education from the University of Nottingham focussing on online learning. At a time when the study of geography has never been more important, Bridgette is passionate about creating content which supports students in achieving their potential in geography and builds their confidence.