French Oral Exam photo

sci0x

Im looking for a photo that I can print off to use for my French Oral pre exam 2moro. Something thats easy to talk about. Anyone got a photo I could use?

angeldelight

Do you not have a family holiday photo or anything? They're very easy as you already know the vocab for them... the examiners can start wandering down into obscureish topics if you bring e.g. a pic of a band or something. They are presuming you have preapared and chose it cause you've learned the necessary french so I'd stick with a family one if you can for now and then you could find one you like for the real thing and get your teacher to help you with any words or phrases that'd be helpful for it? Thats what I did anyway

sci0x

Yeah, a pic of my family wud be best. Very easy to talk about too. Ok thanks

angeldelight

Bonne chance! I know its silly saying this but try not to be nervous, they're generally nice and let you control where the conversation goes

sci0x

Moi, nerveuse? Je suis un peu timide quand je parle francais avec les autres. J'éspere que j'aille bien.

sci0x

sci0x wrote:

J'éspere que j'aille bien.

not to knock ur confidence but I dont think thats right

angeldelight

Deleted User wrote:

not to knock ur confidence but I dont think thats right

it's a possibility so subjunctif can be used after "que"? 9 months since I've done any french though!

sci0x

Yep j'aille after que jabba.

bombjack

Yes, Il faut que je parte en vacances !!!

*Angel*

On the subject of the French oral, can anyone think of potential topics that would be worth knowing the vocab for? And any hints for people (like me) that are really nervous about this kind of meetings never mind the speaking french part (which I suck at)?

angeldelight

The usual topics :
yourself
your family including what parents/siblings do
school
plans for next year, including are you looking forward to it
music
sport
fav actors actresses
if u have a bf/gf stuff about them, best friend
holidays
ever been to france
pressure on young ppl


All I can think of right now. What's your photo of? When the examiner sees the photo they won't only ask you to describe it they'll talk about the subject e.g. I brought in a photo I took of my parents on holiday in France so she asked me about whether I liked France, what didn't I like, what was the weather like, did I enjoy going on hols with my parents, do young ppl prefer having freedom.

Don't panic, just prepare well. They think you've brought a photo relating to something you want to talk about and have prepared so they'll give you the oppurtunity to talk about it. It's good cause it can be prepared in advance.

I was the same, very shy naturally so hated having to go in and talk to someone bu I just thought she doesn't care if I'm not nice, she'll never see me again and all that matters is that this is an exam so deal with that. I said some really stupid stuff in both my french and irish orals but I said them correctly so they didn't pass any remarks!

*Angel*

Thanks but do you think subjects like the tsunami will come up? I wasn't going to bring a photo in, maybe I'll change my mind.

angeldelight

A prepared photo is a really good idea cause it can take up an extra 3-5 mins on quite simple questions. It could but only if you somehow wander into the area. e.g. if you say my names is... i haev a brother and a sister the examiners not gonna say right so what you think of the tsunami at christmas? Just try and be a little careful. If there's something you're very interested in prepare it well and keep mentioning it til hte examiner starts asking you Qs about it

iMax

Man. Talk about a misleading thread title.....

Gone West

iMAX: sounds like a porno audition!

Seriously though I am going to bring in a photo of myself beside the eiffel tower or something. Cant go too wrong there.

Bah

angeldelight wrote:

A prepared photo is a really good idea cause it can take up an extra 3-5 mins on quite simple questions....If there's something you're very interested in prepare it well and keep mentioning it til hte examiner starts asking you Qs about it

I think the best option is to go the "document" route - prepare a few photos and give them headings. The easiest thing is to do a family holiday - something that you can learn/have already learned all the vocab for. Print it up nicely, get it bound, make it look professional - like you've put a lot of effort into it (which you should).
In my oral (last year), we spent approximately 9 minutes (it was a little hard to keep track properly, with the sweating and the shaking, the intense nerves and the migraine I got on the day), out of 16 mins in total. The questions remained fairly easy - but they get a little more abstract when they see you have a decent level of french.
Just be pleased when questions are getting tough/abstract - it shows that the examiner thinks you have a high standard - as long as you make a decent attempt at answering you'll do fine. But just try not to make things up when you're stuck for answers (it's hard to give an example of when you feel the need to make up an answer to a question, but it happens) - it's easy to get caught out and make it seem like your french was at fault.
I'm not sure when the orals are this year, but you've got a great opportunity during the easter break to revise vocabulary/prepare documents/practicse speaking french/watching TV5.