1.3Core vocabulary
Split this theme into three: describing your school, giving opinions on subjects and teachers, and talking about what comes next. The third is where the higher marks are, because it demands the future or conditional.
- la matiere
- school subject
- le cours
- lesson
- le brevet
- the French equivalent of GCSEs
- redoubler
- to repeat a school year
- le stage
- work experience placement
- un emploi a temps partiel
- a part-time job
- le salaire
- salary
- l'apprentissage
- apprenticeship
- exigeant
- demanding
- l'avenir
- the future
1.3Talking about the future
The future tense is formed from the infinitive plus the endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. For -re verbs the final e is dropped first. The irregular stems are worth learning as a short list: j'irai (aller), je serai (etre), j'aurai (avoir), je ferai (faire), je pourrai (pouvoir), je viendrai (venir).
Worked example
Answer:
Common mistake
Writing 'quand je quitte le college, je prendrai...'. If the action is in the future, French requires the future after quand.
1.3Jobs and articles
French omits the article before a profession after etre or devenir. Je veux devenir infirmiere, not une infirmiere. The article returns if an adjective is added: c'est une infirmiere devouee.
Common mistake
Writing 'je suis un professeur'. After etre, the profession takes no article: je suis professeur.
1.3Answering on this theme
A strong answer on education gives an opinion with a reason, one past experience such as a stage, and one future plan. That covers three time frames in a single response, which is what the top band requires.
- Future tense is built on the infinitive
- Use the future after quand when the action is in the future
- No article before a profession after etre or devenir
- Cover three time frames to reach the top band