Exam Course or Conversation Class?

[Sue56]

As you may know from previous postings I have just completed GCSE French and am toying with the idea of going onto AS study.

Although its nice to have a defined goal to aim for and a certificate (hopefully) at the end, I can't help but question how useful and helpful is the examination path in everyday life. I'd be really proud to say I've got A level French but ultimately I need to be able to communicate with the French, particularly my neighbours who are very nice and patient but I still feel inadequate.

Would a conversational class geared at GCSE standard and above be better? There is one available through a local college with a naitive French speaker. I find the reading and writing not too bad, can manage the speaking just but have real trouble with the comprehension. Can understand my tapes, cd's but then they are clear and pitched at a certain level.

Exams or conversation class?

Sue

[letrangere]

Sue, I don't know the A level syllabus but would imagine it aims to provide all round competency in French and that would include oral ability. Conversation classes are, IMO, fine for advanced level students wanting to practice what they've learnt and keep their ear in but as you've got this far, I would certainly continue with a structured, formal course. I took O level French at school but felt I didn't really start using the language properly until I went beyond it, I felt it was really just a good foundation. And with the additional grammar and vocabulary you learn you'll find yourself increasingly confident when talking to your French friends and neighbours.

Margaret

[Richardrawlings]

Hi

I have just sat AS

To be honest while I am pleased that I am doing the A level. I still have doubts about the everyday use that it will give me. For example. I needed some spanners but couldnt ask for them at that time that but I could discuss the nuclear industry. (Perhaps I have have chosen a different topic.) I am now doing the A2 bit of it but I am also backing this up with regular letters to some of my french colleagues and I will be studing with a tutor for the oral stuff.

Having said all that th A level sylabus does give you a good insight into French culture and social life, it is quite a far reaching. It is a good step up from GCSE which I did last year

Do both

Richard

[Musicmonkey<ADDRESS><STRONG>Musicmonkey<STRONG><ADDRESS>]

LAST EDITED ON 27-Jun-04 AT 12:45 PM (BST)

I think it would depend a lot on the level and depth of the conversation class. My own local college offers around 5 different levels. Being in the process at the moment of taking my A2 level, I feel that I have undoubtedly progressed in all areas of the language, but in some ways not perhaps in the most appropriate way. Next September following my A2 course I am going to do a conversation class.

For example, for the literature part of the exam this year we had to study two authors. In our case it was Mauriac, whose book was based in the 1920-30's, and Maupassant who wrote about the Franco-Prussian War and its effects on the people. My French neighbours have never read these books and were surprised at their complexity (probably partly because I can find it hard to say the most simple of things at times).

There is an awful lot of essay writing about current topics, like cloning, the environment the death penalty and so on. At AS level, my exam board ask you to study a topic for the oral exam that has French roots and talk about it for 1.5 to two minutes then answer questions about it. I didn't find this at all helpful in expanding my knowledge of French. However, the A2 oral exam is much more helpful as you do an interpreting exercise. A kind of role play where you interpret French to English and vice versa.

I think it would depend a lot on how important the 'certificate' is for you. I have had to commit quite a lot of time to the course work. My tutors advised me to expect around 6 hours homework a week and I found that it went in peaks and troughs. Sometimes it was more, and somtimes less (taking into account that I am definitely slower than the young 16/17 year olds at absorbing information being a very mature student!)

Having outlined some of the pitfalls I have to say that I will be very proud to have got my A2 and I would do it again but it has taken an awful lot of commitment to get it.

Hope this is helpful.

[Hegs]

I would suggest looking at the syllabus online, it seems to me that as others have said it is more of an academic than practical exam.

To those of you who have done AS or A2 recently, has this been based in the UK or France? If so, with who? Correspondance course?