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IGCSE French in France?


Shelly
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My daughter is in college now. She will finish next month after her brevet. Is there any way she could take her IGcse french here in France. I think it will be useful for her future especially if she continues Her studies in the Uk.

Thanks.
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  • 4 weeks later...
I am a little confused, surely her french will be so good if she has her french BAC, which she will probably have to continue her studies in the UK  that I can but wonder why she would ever need this. Now if you were asking about GCSE english, I could perhaps understand.
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My nieces and nephews have made the tranfer back to the UK education system with no probs re their French bac/brevet etc (sorry, I'm not into kids so don't keep track much but O and A equivs) and have got into 6th form/Cambridge back in the UK without any doubt over the validity of French bits of paper!  Hope that helps a bit even if it doesn't directly answer your question.

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I am not sure where you are based, but there is an english run Charity called BEE. They are based in Eymet - dept 47. They do the IGCSE and my son has done it for the last 7 months and will restart the course in Sept. Depending on their english level, they can do it one year, but normally at least 4/5 terms of study.

http://www.bilingual.fr

EDIT - Sorry, just reread your post, you want French IGCSE, sorry, I was talking about the English IGCSE.
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Hi, thanks for the help. I have found a company in the Uk that allows her to do the course at home. She will then go to an international school to take the exam. After the Igcse she can go on to do her A level. I think it's worth having and will add to her qualification of her Bac Pro.
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  • 2 months later...
Shelly did your daughter do the DELF exams at college?  Our college puts

all non-French children in for them and they are expected to attain a

level of B1 to be considered capable of coping at lycee. 

I was

going to put my sons in for the IGCSE in French (and some others) but

found that the A1 they'd passed in primaire is the equivalent of a

foundation level GCSE, the A2 they passed in 6eme is the equivalent of a

higher tier GCSE, the B1 they took in 5eme is the equivalent of an AS

level and the B2 they'll take at the end of 4eme is the equivalent of an

A level - so there didn't seem much point in putting them in for a GCSE

exam!

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages
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[quote user="NormanH"]Just as an aside you might be interested to see the level of French now required to take French nationality

http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/F11926.xhtml  [:-))]

[/quote]B1 - equivalent of an AS level in the UK.  Also, as I said earlier, the level you're supposed to attain to be ready for lycee - or as they put it, by the end of compulsory education, ie age 16.

Our college seem to work in advance since mine did B1 in 5eme (and think they did B2 in the same day, though I'm not sure if they're not confused about the different parts of the B1 exam).  Still - at least they'll have a couple more chances to pass if they failed it last year!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

Thanks for the replys. No my daughter didn't have the Delph exam at college. I don't know if it's worth it or not. She's doing a Bac Pro now for 3 years. If she wants to continue and go to University in the Uk, she might need some A levels to boost her BAC. I'm not sure what the Bac Pro is equivalent to. Difficult one. Another english girl at her school is doing Gcse's in english and maths which will lead to A levels. I don't know if it might be too much work with everything else they have to do.

Anyone with experience of this, please advise.

Thanks

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[quote user="Debra"][quote user="NormanH"]Just as an aside you might be interested to see the level of French now required to take French nationality

http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/F11926.xhtml  [:-))]
[/quote]B1 - equivalent of an AS level in the UK.  Also, as I said earlier, the level you're supposed to attain to be ready for lycee - or as they put it, by the end of compulsory education, ie age 16.
[/quote]

As the nationality requirement doesn't include any written components you can't equate it to a standard academic exam. I'm planning to take it in the next few months, so I'll be able to report from personal experience then.

[quote]Le "TCF pour l'accès à la nationalité française" a été spécifiquement conçu pour ...contrôle de la connaissance de la langue française pour les postulants à l'acquisition de la nationalité française.

Le "TCF pour l'accès à la nationalité française" comprend deux épreuves obligatoires :

  • compréhension orale (30 questions). Durée de cette épreuve : 30 minutes. Modalité de passation : salle d'examen collective.

  • expression orale (6 questions). Durée de cette épreuve : 15 minutes. Modalité de passation : entretien individuel avec un examinateur. [/quote]

This is taken from the FAQ for the exam: http://www.ciep.fr/tcf-anf/index.php

There's a simulation of the exam here: http://www.tv5.org/cms/chaine-francophone/enseigner-apprendre-francais/TCF-FLE/p-6820-Simulation-du-test.htm

I haven't gone through it yet, but the time allowed (90 minutes rather than 45) indicates that it might be the longer 'full' TCF, which does include reading and writing.

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Albert - I read on that site that a B1 level is required and that a B1 certificate is acceptable proof and as this is the exam two of my boys have just sat I know that there is a written component (45 mins) as well as a reading component (35 mins) along with the listening and speaking components.    Another choice, FLI, may not have? Here is a link to the DELF components info: http://www.ciep.fr/en/delfdalf/epreuves.php

Shelly, I would say these exams are well worth having and shouldn't put an extra burden on a child whether at college or lycee because it's only what they're already doing, every day, by speaking, listening, reading and writing in French.  They don't need to study for the exam - just sit for it and get the certificate to prove what they're already proving every day by simply succeeding in school.  At lycee, a B2 should be attainable and this is recognised as the equivalent of an A level in French.

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[quote user="Debra"]Albert - I read on that site that a B1 level is required and that a B1 certificate is acceptable proof and as this is the exam two of my boys have just sat I know that there is a written component (45 mins) as well as a reading component (35 mins) along with the listening and speaking components.    Another choice, FLI, may not have? Here is a link to the DELF components info: http://www.ciep.fr/en/delfdalf/epreuves.php
[/quote]

Debra,

It's a case of there being a minimal language test for nationality. If someone has already passed a more advanced/complete exam then that will presumably avoid the need to take the minimal one.

For nationality, B1 level in speaking/listening is required. In your sons' case they satisfy that by doing an exam that also includes reading and writing. That makes sense because they might need to convince employers that they are worth interviewing, or to do studies that require more than just oral skills.

For people like me there's the option of just doing the bits the government requires for the nationality test. As I'm lazy I'll go for that.

All my comments on the nationality French test relate to Norman's comment about the level, and to try to avoid putting off people who might want to take it but are worried about their reading & writing.

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Working (sort of) quite often with the Common European framework for both English and French, I should just add a word of caution. As Albert has alluded to above, the CEF indicates a series of levels and certain websites provide a table which attempts to align specific levels of exam with the CEF levels.

I've found from experience that (mostly pre- tertiary education, but in some cases at lower levels) the claims that such-and-such an exam is equivalent to such-and-such a CEF level are partially accurate, but having taught various different exam courses, I can say with some certainty that the argument falls down a bit when you start saying that it follows that if exam A equals CEF level B1 and exam B equals CEF level B1 then exam A equals exam B.

Probably the most striking example of this is IELTS versus, say, ESOL. The syllabus and exam content are so different that, although various comparisons suggest that ESOL Level 2 is "equivalent" to IELTS level 6, it's frankly rubbish. Ditto for comparisons with various of the Cambridge exams. I'm sure this must be equally true for French.

The TOEIC exam, so beloved of the French and Japanese, is a very good example, as it makes the assumption that, by testing someone's listening and reading skills, it can be assumed that their speaking and writing is on a par. Some exams focus on communication skills with less emphasis on accuracy than fluency. All the exams mentioned can be found with their "equivalent" CEF levels on various websites.

Cutting to the chase: if an exam is acceptable to a particular body or organisation as evidence of ability, IMO that's all you need to worry about. However, assuming  you've passed a different exam that claims to be the equivalent, don't assume it's equal in all respects.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Well of my two boys who took the B1 exam, only one came home with a certificate today, having been cornered by the headmaster in the playground during the recreation break.  I'm hoping that he just didn't find my younger son, as he'll be a bit miffed if his older brother passed it and he didn't, especially when he usually gets much better marks in French.  The only thing is though, that this level seems to emphasize the ability to argue and while I can see my eldest son having no trouble with that at all - the younger one is a bit shy......

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