French Document - worth it?

Calvin

Basically the title. Is the French document worth the effort in doing? Our class is currently forced into doing it and coming up with phrases etc, so I thought I'd go ahead and choose a picture of Anfield during my visit. Got a few sentences out of it, but I'm already stumped as to where an examiner can branch off from this. Seems like a lot of effort to me to learn off all these phrases on my topic.

Anyone have any experience in the orals of having no document prepared? All I know is that having a document can lead the conversation and that's about it..

robman60

My advice would be that it depends on your level.

If you're a good speaker, I wouldn't bring it as it's essentially extra work for yourself in preparation.

If you're a poor speaker, I would bring a document. It's the only thing you'll be guaranteed to be asked so you can prepare it and get yourself some marks.


Personally, I won't be doing a document.

Calvin

robman60 wrote: »

My advice would be that it depends on your level.

If you're a good speaker, I wouldn't bring it as it's essentially extra work for yourself in preparation.

If you're a poor speaker, I would bring a document. It's the only thing you'll be guaranteed to be asked so you can prepare it and get yourself some marks.


Personally, I won't be doing a document.

Thank you. Haven't had much practice speaking. Guess I'll judge in the next few weeks.

Luno

I got an A grade in my French oral without a document so definitely not something required, think teachers just want you to be as prepared as you can going into the oral instead of going in and having a natural conversation like you are supposed to!

It's just a personal preference. I brought a document into mine last year and without it I would have done so poorly! The examiner was asking horrible questions that I didn't know what to say for and then when it came to the document I redeemed myself as I had learned it very well.

Calvin

[Deleted User] wrote: »

It's just a personal preference. I brought a document into mine last year and without it I would have done so poorly! The examiner was asking horrible questions that I didn't know what to say for and then when it came to the document I redeemed myself as I had learned it very well.

What kind of document did you pick? What sort of topics did you also cover for it? That's where I'm stuck with this document.

Calvin Leong

Calvin Leong wrote: »

What kind of document did you pick? What sort of topics did you also cover for it? That's where I'm stuck with this document.

I picked a photo of me from a play I was in. I covered my interest in acting, what the play was about, the friends I made during it, where it was put on etc. It was a historical play based on Hitler's regimes during WW2. I got to show off a lot of vocabulary I had learned and the topic was genuinely interesting for the examiner to listen to so I think I stood out.

Calvin

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I picked a photo of me from a play I was in. I covered my interest in acting, what the play was about, the friends I made during it, where it was put on etc. It was a historical play based on Hitler's regimes during WW2. I got to show off a lot of vocabulary I had learned and the topic was genuinely interesting for the examiner to listen to so I think I stood out.

Ah yeah, I was trying to do that and pick a stand-out document, but resorted to the saturated document about sports :P

AtomicKoala

Calvin Leong wrote: »

Basically the title. Is the French document worth the effort in doing? Our class is currently forced into doing it and coming up with phrases etc, so I thought I'd go ahead and choose a picture of Anfield during my visit. Got a few sentences out of it, but I'm already stumped as to where an examiner can branch off from this. Seems like a lot of effort to me to learn off all these phrases on my topic.

Anyone have any experience in the orals of having no document prepared? All I know is that having a document can lead the conversation and that's about it..

Stumped? There is so much to say! Firstly, you must bare in mind les vacances are a staple of the oral.

So, what else did you visit?
Have you been to England before?
What are the differences between Ireland and England?
What did you like and dislike about Liverpool?
Would you visit again?
Why do you support Liverpool?
How are Liverpool doing at the moment?
How do you hope they do?

Calvin

AtomicKoala wrote: »

Stumped? There is so much to say! Firstly, you must bare in mind les vacances are a staple of the oral.

So, what else did you visit?
Have you been to England before?
What are the differences between Ireland and England?
What did you like and dislike about Liverpool?
Would you visit again?
Why do you support Liverpool?
How are Liverpool doing at the moment?
How do you hope they do?

Yup, I got most of the basics covered. I just still don't think that it's enough cos I've heard that they go through quite a lot of strange topics vaguely related to the document.

vamos!

I would prepare le dopage, if footballers are payed too much, possibly even your future career (but you should have that done already), celebrities, have you ever been to a match, importance of sport and healthy living, competition between teams. Some of the suggestions are a bit far out there but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. I think the document is well worth doing. Your oral is only 12 minutes long and you can control a section of it if you have done your document well. It needs to be well-prepared though, there is nothing worse that a student who brings along a picture for decoration and doesn't realise that they are supposed to talk about it!

Daniel2590

You could be thrown a curveball about sectarianism between Liverpool fans and Everton fans due to their religion, I got that during my oral at Christmas in relation to Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow. I'd be surprised if you did get asked about it though :pac:

Calvin

Daniel2590 wrote: »

You could be thrown a curveball about sectarianism between Liverpool fans and Everton fans due to their religion, I got that during my oral at Christmas in relation to Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow. I'd be surprised if you did get asked about it though :pac:

Damn, hopefully not! That'd be an awful curveball :P

AtomicKoala

Calvin Leong wrote: »

Yup, I got most of the basics covered. I just still don't think that it's enough cos I've heard that they go through quite a lot of strange topics vaguely related to the document.

Ah, it's just you said you only got a few sentences out of it, you should try to expand a bit more if you can, sorry I can't give any better advice

reap-a-rat

Daniel2590 wrote: »

You could be thrown a curveball about sectarianism between Liverpool fans and Everton fans due to their religion, I got that during my oral at Christmas in relation to Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow. I'd be surprised if you did get asked about it though :pac:

Just fyi, while some people may mention sectarianism/religion in relation to the Everton Liverpool rivalry, that is not the founding of it at all - it was due to a dispute with the club chairman in the 1890s when all but him agreed to move Everton from Anfield and your man stayed and founded Liverpool to spite them.

That's the gist but there's a really interesting history behind the rivalry that does not involve such contentious topics as religion, so if it happened to come up in the oral, you can avoid mentioning religion and thusly avoid steering yourself into a religious debate.