What should I do for my French 'Document'?

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I have to have done my French 'Document' by the time I'm back in school. What would you recommend? A famous person, holiday, etc.

Thanks.

raah!

I didn't do one and my oral went very well (he told me). If I were you I'd go for not doing it. You could spend time studything some other subject that's easier and that you could just bring up. Now mind you, you could just do a stupid concert picture or something and then just talk about music. But you can talk about music anyway, so it's needless hassle.

PurpleFistMixer

I didn't do a document either, but some people say it's good because then you can have stuff prepared. I didn't really prepare anything so I wasn't mad on the idea, but if you're worried about getting asked mad questions, it's a good way to soak up time on something you're comfortable with.

Just do something original... think of how many pictures of people in Lanzarote the examiner will have dealt with by the time he/she gets to you... if you've got something unusual it'll be interesting to talk about, and they'll be more inclined to spend longer on it.

Carsinian Thau

I did a project about the Divine Comedy (the band).
All I needed was a couple of photos and an article about them in French (they had some small success in France at the beginning of their career so that wasn't too hard to get).

The examiner had never heard of them so I was able to tell her all about them.


The more unusual it is, the more interesting the examiner will find it so they'll spend longer on it.

Just-A-Phase

I decided not to do one for my oral, and felt it went well without it. Most of my friends organised one but either decided to not do it at last minute and those who did do one, didn't find it a huge benefit so i heard. My teacher wasn't pushing them on us too much, basically if you wanted to do one you handled it yourself. the 13 minutes or whatever it is flies by so i was happy with not bringing one in!

When I did my french oral (back in 2002) the examiner was happy that someone had brought in a document (I brought in a photo of a city) which left plenty to talk about. So it really depends. If they're sitting listening the same old crap all day and you bring in something original it might go down well.

nerdysal

You should bring something unusual rather than a picture of a band or a holiday. They must get sick of that! I brought in a get well soon card that I got after I had an operation and I learnt off a whole page about it and came up with loads of possible questions. It went so well on the day because the examiner wasn't expecting it... and I got a B1!!!

genegenie

+1 for bringing in something unusual and personal. I brought in a photo series of me performing a dance. I had a whole spiel prepared beforehand on theatre, dance etc. which I was able to use and certainly boosted my confidence going in there. Plus because theatre is something I love, I spoke very animatedly about it, which would have left the examiner with a good impression of my conversational skills. Got me an A1 :cool:

me!

yeah i second that. unusual documents make your conversation more interesting and hopefully the you'll get more marks!! i didn't bring any but i know the majority of people do and if it's not one of your strong points it's easy marks cause you can just learn it off and repeat it on the day:)

Piste

I'm planning on bringing either the picture of me and my boyfriend getting married in the inflatable church at Electric Picnic this year or else the marriage certificate itself. Hopefully no one else will have anything like that!

KnifeWRENCH

If you're doing Higher Level, I would not recommend brining photos of holidays or family or pets - it's a bit too simplistic and examiners get sick of it.
Bringing something personal is a very good idea - if you have any unusual hobbies or like a very obscure band/film/whatever, you can have something to talk about that no one else will.
Alternatively, you could discuss current events. For my document I chose images of Saddam Hussein's execution - it gave me great leverage to talk about the Death Penalty and the war in Iraq. I even got a "Mon Dieu" out of my examiner - always a good sign!

As for not choosing one, imo you shouldn't go in without one unless you are very confident in your French speaking ability (or, at the very least, your bull****ting ability)
I strongly recommend brining in one - it is such a huge safety net. Every question I got asked I had prepared beforehand.

genericgoon

Did one on the French Revolution. A good number of them terms(revolution, histoire etc) and all the names are the same in french as in english so it was good.

KeyLimePie

Piste wrote: »

I'm planning on bringing either the picture of me and my boyfriend getting married in the inflatable church at Electric Picnic this year or else the marriage certificate itself. Hopefully no one else will have anything like that!

..........married for real or for play/?!?!!?:P

and eh i took in a picture of amy winehouse for my document but it wasnt for her music it was cause the problem of drugs was rising amongst young people and she was a bad influence!!!!!!!!! the examiner had NO interest in it whatsoever and it pissed me off a great deal

but i'm repeating this year so it's either gonna be a project on la place ( a book ) or else a project or picture of YELLE an amazing french singer !

or if ur in honours you could do something on french culture bla bla bla

jennyq

Bringing in something that's someway French related is good, I brought a picture of me at the top of the Eiffel Tower & that gave me the chance to talk all about my trip there & the different things in Paris. The examiner was into Impressionism which I was talking about a bit as I'd visited galleries so that was lucky, but I guess it is to be expected that French teachers will be into French culture! It might not apply as everyone hasn't been to France but if you have it's a really good way to make something basic like just talking about a holiday seem a little more impressive.

Even aside from the document generally it is sort of good to know even a tiny bit about topical French things as it just shows a little thought & effort, like the whole Sarkozy & Carla Bruni thing was topical this year.

Piste

KeyLimePie wrote: »

..........married for real or for play/?!?!!?:P

Well it's in an inflatable church at a music festival...work that one out for yerself

raah!

Piste wrote: »

Well it's in an inflatable church at a music festival...work that one out for yerself

So it's for real?!!! :O

Piste

Yeah, get an inflatable marriage certificate and all.

Signature

Thanks for the replies.

So basically, I'll have to get married to someone in an inflatable church in order to do well in my French Orals?

Merci!

Piste

No stealing my document!



Thank God Electric Picnic is sold out