Life at School/College: 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 ‘Life at school’ is one of the most common topics across all four exam skills

    • You might be asked to talk about your school subjects and teachers, describe your school facilities and daily routine, give your opinions on school rules or uniforms, or discuss your future education plans

  • You may also need to understand what other people think about their school life, including what they like or dislike about their school and their experiences in the past, present and future

  • Use the vocabulary, grammar and time frames we have seen so far to take a closer look at some typical exam questions and how you might tackle them

Life at school/college: listening

  • In the listening exam, there may be questions where you need to choose the correct statement from several options

  • Listen carefully to the whole extract — the speaker may mention more than one option, so you need to decide which statement best matches what they say

Foundation tier

Worked Example

Listen to Ania and Kuba talking about life at school.
You will hear each recording twice.

What do Ania and Kuba like and dislike about school?

A

lekcje

B

praca domowa

C

zasady szkolne

D

nauczyciele

E

mundurek szkolny

F

przerwy

G

szkolne jedzenie

H

sport

Write the letters in the boxes.

Likes

Dislikes

Ania

Kuba

Answers:

Likes

Dislikes

Ania

F- przerwy

B – zadania domowe

Kuba

H – sport

G – szkolne jedzenie

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • Listen for clear opinions. Look out for phrases such as lubię, nie lubię, najbardziej lubię and nie cierpię.

  • Don’t choose an answer just because you hear the word from the list. The speaker may mention a topic without saying whether they like or dislike it

  • Listen for negative words carefully. Words such as nie, ale and jednak can change the meaning of what the speaker says

Life at school/college: speaking

  • In the speaking exam, you will take part in a role-play conversation with the examiner

  • You will be given a situation and a number of prompts to help you know what you need to say

  • You should respond appropriately to the examiner and make sure you cover all the prompts

  • Listen carefully, as you may also be asked an unprepared question

  • This question will help you to practise taking part in a role-play conversation on the topic of Life at School and giving clear, relevant answers in Polish

  • The role-play lasts approximately two minutes at both Foundation and Higher tier

  • The format is similar at both tiers, but the Higher tier questions and tasks are generally more challenging and may require more complex language and more developed responses

  • At Higher tier, students are also expected to demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary and grammatical structures

Foundation tier

Worked Example

Prepare your answers to the five bullet points on your role-play card

During the conversation, listen carefully to the teacher's questions and respond in Polish.

You are talking to your friend about your school.

  • szkoła - wady i zalety

  • nauczyciele – opinia

  • mundurek szkolny – opis

  • ? Nieprzygotowane pytanie

  • pytanie – zapytaj o szkołę kolegi / koleżanki

Teacher: Cześć! Chciałbym / Chciałabym porozmawiać z tobą o szkole.

  1. Co sądzisz o swojej szkole? Podaj jedną wadę i jedną zaletę.

  2. A co sądzisz o swoich nauczycielach?

  3. Czy musisz nosić mundurek szkolny? Opowiedz mi o nim.

  4. Co robiłeś / robiłaś wczoraj po szkole?

  5. Czy masz pytanie o moją szkołę?

Answers

  1. Moim zdaniem moja szkoła jest bardzo dobra, ponieważ nauczyciele są mili, a zajęcia są interesujące. In my opinion, my school is very good because the teachers are nice and the lessons are interesting.

  2. Większość moich nauczycieli jest pomocna i przyjazna, chociaż czasami zadają nam za dużo pracy domowej. Most of my teachers are helpful and friendly, although they sometimes give us too much homework.

  3. Nie muszę nosić mundurka szkolnego, więc zwykle noszę wygodne ubrania, na przykład dżinsy i T-shirt. I don't have to wear a school uniform, so I usually wear comfortable clothes, for example jeans and a T-shirt.

  4. Wczoraj po szkole odrobiłem/odrobiłam pracę domową, a potem spotkałem/spotkałam się z przyjaciółmi. Yesterday after school, I did my homework and then I met my friends.

  5. A co ty najbardziej lubisz w swojej szkole? And what do you like most about your school?

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • one question will be unprepared, so you will need to react spontaneously

  • for one task, you will need to ask the teacher a question

  • try to give clear and relevant answers and use a range of vocabulary where possible

Life at school/college: reading

  • In the reading exam, you will read a variety of texts on different topics, including Life at School and College

  • You may need to find specific information, understand opinions, or identify information about different time frames, such as the past, present and future

  • The questions will test your understanding of the information in the text rather than your ability to translate every word

Worked Example

Read what two students say about their school and further education.

Marek

Kilka lat temu zmieniłem szkołę, ponieważ moja poprzednia szkoła była za daleko od domu. Teraz uczę się w liceum i bardzo lubię moich nauczycieli. W przyszłym roku będę zdawał maturę i chciałbym potem studiować na uniwersytecie.

Zosia

W zeszłym roku rozpoczęłam naukę w nowej szkole. Teraz mam wielu przyjaciół i najbardziej lubię lekcje biologii. Po skończeniu szkoły chciałabym pójść do szkoły zawodowej, ponieważ chcę zdobyć nowe kwalifikacje.

What happened in the past, what is happening now and what will happen in the future?

Complete the table using information from the texts.

Osoba

Przeszłość

Teraz

Przyszłość

Marek

Zmienił szkołę.

__________

__________

Zosia

__________

Ma wielu przyjaciół.

__________

Answers

Marek: teraz: uczy się w liceum, w przyszłości: będzie zdawał maturę,

Zosia: w przeszłości: rozpoczęła naukę w nowej szkole, w przyszłości: chciałaby pójść do szkoły zawodowej,

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • Look for time expressions. Words such as kilka lat temu and w zeszłym roku often refer to the past, while teraz refers to the present and w przyszłym roku can signal the future

  • Focus on the key information. You do not need to understand or translate every word in the text to find the correct answer

  • Match the information carefully. Make sure that the answer refers to the correct person and the correct time frame: past, present or future

Life at school/college: writing

Foundation Tier

  • In the Foundation writing paper, there will be a question where you need to describe a photograph in Polish

  • You will need to write four sentences about what you can see in the picture

Worked Example

You are looking at a photograph in a Polish youth magazine. Describe what you can see in the photograph. Write four sentences in Polish.

school subjects and my studies

Answers

  1. Na zdjęciu widzę uczniów w klasie.

  2. Dziewczyna czyta książkę z języka angielskiego.

  3. Chłopiec pisze w zeszycie.

  4. Na tablicy widzę zadania z matematyki.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • describe people, objects and actions in the photograph;

  • use the present tense accurately;

  • use relevant vocabulary from the topic;

  • write four clear and complete sentences in Polish.

Higher Tier

  • In the Higher writing paper, there will be a question where you need to write a 90-word response guided by bullet points

Worked Example

Write approximately 90 words in Polish about life at school or college. You should include:

  • Co lubisz, a czego nie lubisz w swojej szkole?

  • Jak wyglądało twoje życie szkolne w przeszłości?

  • Jakie problemy lub wyzwania masz obecnie?

  • Jakie masz plany dotyczące swojej edukacji w przyszłości i dlaczego?

Answer

Moje życie w szkole jest zazwyczaj ciekawe, chociaż czasami bywa stresujące. Najbardziej lubię język polski, ponieważ interesuję się kulturą i chcę dobrze mówić po polsku. Nie lubię jednak dużej ilości prac domowych. W przeszłości moja szkoła była mniejsza i miałem mniej obowiązków. Obecnie mam dużo egzaminów, dlatego muszę regularnie się uczyć. W przyszłości chciałbym kontynuować edukację i zdobyć dobre kwalifikacje. Mam nadzieję, że dzięki ciężkiej pracy osiągnę swoje cele i znajdę interesującą pracę. Chciałbym również poznać nowych ludzi i rozwijać swoje zainteresowania. Moim zdaniem edukacja jest bardzo ważna.

My life at school is usually interesting, although it can sometimes be stressful. I like Polish the most because I am interested in the culture and I want to speak Polish well. However, I do not like having a large amount of homework. In the past, my school was smaller and I had fewer responsibilities. Currently, I have many exams, so I have to study regularly. In the future, I would like to continue my education and gain good qualifications. I hope that, thanks to hard work, I will achieve my goals and find an interesting job. I would also like to meet new people and develop my interests. In my opinion, education is very important.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

  • Use a range of connectives, e.g. jednak, chociaż, dlatego, ponieważ, poza tym

  • Include some complex structures, such as mam nadzieję, że… or chciałbym/chciałabym….

  • Avoid repetition by using a variety of vocabulary and sentence structures

  • Leave a few minutes to check your grammar, verb endings, spelling

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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.