French Opinion Pieces

Maniamax

Does anyone have a list of the must-hit topics in French? I had presumed that I've gone over most of them, but it would be helpful if I could compare them to a list.

robman60

-alcohol/smoking
-drugs
-obesity
-sport
-health generally (overlaps with sport)
-racism
-sponsorship in sport

I'm expecting something linked to sport due to the world cup, but that could be any of the last four really.

KellyR18

I think something on the neck-nominations will come up!

Junokevv

How long do the opinion pieces need to be? I generally do like a page and a half to 2 pages but my teacher says all that's needed is 70 words.

On the other hand though the other teacher in my school, who is a really great teacher, has been telling her class that for a high grade you would be looking at a 1.5 to 2 pages. I'm currently in fifth year and am hoping for an A1.

Anyone have any insight?

vamos!

Junokevv wrote: »

How long do the opinion pieces need to be? I generally do like a page and a half to 2 pages but my teacher says all that's needed is 70 words.

On the other hand though the other teacher in my school, who is a really great teacher, has been telling her class that for a high grade you would be looking at a 1.5 to 2 pages. I'm currently in fifth year and am hoping for an A1.

Anyone have any insight?

They give the word count under the question. It is difficult to answer well in that word count. About a page answers the question in a good format with a conclusion. 2 pages is madness!The risk of making mistakes is way higher and timing would be an issue. You need to factor in time to read over your work and catch your errors. Be wary of 'great teachers' you hear about. They don't always know better and might not have corrected or spoken to correctors. I have had students whose 'grinds teacher' a.k.a college students made blase statements with authority and therefore knew better than me (qualified teacher).

robman60

It says 90 words for the first question and 75 for the others. I think it would be almost impossible to get full marks just hitting that word count. I always do approximately twice as much as the question suggests. It's not too advisable to be counting words continuously. Write as much as you feel is necessary really.

LoveLamps

A good concise answer with few errors around the 75 or 100 mark (depending on the q) would surely score higher than a longer piece riddled with errors. You don't need to go above and beyond the call of duty to score higher unless your answer is sub-par.

robman60

LoveLamps wrote: »

A good concise answer with few errors around the 75 or 100 mark (depending on the q) would surely score higher than a longer piece riddled with errors. You don't need to go above and beyond the call of duty to score higher unless your answer is sub-par.

75 words is barely two paragraphs. I don't see how you can adequately expand on your points and have a reasonable conclusion in that many words.

Writing 140 or so words doesn't mean you're suddenly going to drop your standards and make errors everywhere.

Daniel2590

What we've been told to do is have an intro and conclusion (around 3 lines each) and then two points in between (maybe 4/5 lines each). That's generally around 150 words for either the 75 & 90 word ones. I would say 2 pages is far too much tthough.

Junokevv

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll try and keep the essays to no longer then a page and a bit.. as someone said just because you go over the word count doesn't mean your standard of French will automatically fall but I do understand that 2 pages is probably a bit excessive!

rorrissey

Sorry for bumping this thread a bit, but is there anywhere online that has good, free notes for opinion pieces?

What I'm mainly looking for is stuff on terrorism and maybe racism/equality as well. I have some notes on racism, but not enough.

Also, if anyone knows where I can get a list of phrases for intros/conclusions. I only have 3 double and 2 single french classes left and I'm not sure if my teacher will be giving me this vocab, seems that she's set on doing listening comprehensions from now on.

Martin16

Junokevv wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll try and keep the essays to no longer then a page and a bit.. as someone said just because you go over the word count doesn't mean your standard of French will automatically fall but I do understand that 2 pages is probably a bit excessive!

They give the word limit for a reason. I always do around the 75 or 90 words and get almost full marks. As long as you answer the question, get 3 main points in and your grammar is ok, you' ll get the marks. They are grading on your ability to answer the question, vocab and grammar! Not the amount of stuff you know on a particular topic. That's just a bonus. I've rambled before and lost so many marks. And the more you write the more likely you will make a mistake!

Source: Grade A student.

robman60

Martin16 wrote: »

They give the word limit for a reason. I always do around the 75 or 90 words and get almost full marks. As long as you answer the question, get 3 main points in and your grammar is ok, you' ll get the marks. They are grading on your ability to answer the question, vocab and grammar! Not the amount of stuff you know on a particular topic. That's just a bonus. I've rambled before and lost so many marks. And the more you write the more likely you will make a mistake!

Source: Grade A student.

Well, it was nice of you to share your secrets as a grade A student! I'd love to see one of your pieces with 3 main points in 75 words. Including an introduction and conclusion, that's a maximum of 20 words per point. I just don't see how that's possible.

vamos!

I don't count words and it is no big deal to go a little over words. Make sure you keep the marking scheme in mind. To get top marks in the communication section you need little or no irrelevant material. Writing 2 pages means you will inevitably have irrelevant material. If you are concerned about it ask your teacher for feedback after having written a long piece. They should be able to point out if it was excessive and which points/phrases could have been omitted.

Martin16

robman60 wrote: »

Well, it was nice of you to share your secrets as a grade A student! I'd love to see one of your pieces with 3 main points in 75 words. Including an introduction and conclusion, that's a maximum of 20 words per point. I just don't see how that's possible.

The girl I sit next to gets full marks and she writes half a page at most? And she even won an award for French this year. An introduction is only one sentence? Par exemple: Pour commencer je voudrais dire que, a mon avis.....blah blah blah. Conclusion is similar. They give a word limit for a reason....if they expected loads of complicated sentences and points then it would be higher. Complicated sentences are good but you need to be concise when writing your answer and also show off your vocab. Rambling won't get you extra marks. So it's pointless wasting time writing loads when it really could lose you marks for silly mistakes

oncex

Martin16 wrote: »

The girl I sit next to gets full marks and she writes half a page at most? And she even won an award for French this year. An introduction is only one sentence? Par exemple: Pour commencer je voudrais dire que, a mon avis.....blah blah blah. Conclusion is similar. They give a word limit for a reason....if they expected loads of complicated sentences and points then it would be higher. Complicated sentences are good but you need to be concise when writing your answer and also show off your vocab. Rambling won't get you extra marks. So it's pointless wasting time writing loads when it really could lose you marks for silly mistakes

Hi would you mind posting up a quick sample essay that you got an A1 for? Please Plus it would prove your point with the other posters :pac:

Daniel2590

This would be a typical one for me, I normally get 37+/40 in Q1 and then 28+/30 for the others. If any of you have the book Triomphe au Bac there are a tonne of phrases for intros, middles and conclusions in that which I litter throughout my reactions. I also try to fit in le subjonctif when I can.