Category: 6th Year

2020/21 – 6th years – Le récit

LC 2018: Dans la Section I, Q.2, cet après‐midi en septembre ne s’est pas passé comme prévu. Décrivez une journée en septembre où vos projets ont changé au dernier moment. (Votre récit peut être réel ou imaginaire.)

 Le récit: (source: Frenchnotes.ie)

  1. Set the scene. Tell the reader where you were, and depending on the type of story, what the weather was like. (The imperfect tense is generally used to set the scene in the past tense. It is also used to express weather and feelings in the past tense).
  2. Who was there? Were you alone? Were others there or nearby? Animals?
  3. What happened (the substantial part of the récit). You would use a mixture of passé composé, imparfait and plus-que-parfait here.
  4. What was the result or consequence. The tense used here would be dependent on what you want to say.
  5. Your feelings about what happened. (Remember that you may have different feelings throughout the récit. In this particular récit, you may have started off feeling bored at school, but through the incident, you change your feelings accordingly. -> future tense / conditional tense.
  1. Set the scene.
  2. With whom?
  3. What happened?
  4. Consequences
  5. How I feel about it (throughout).

Exemple (source: Mr Porzadny):

C’était une belle journée de septembre : la rentrée des classes. Je marchais pour aller à l’école, il faisait beau même si la nuit avait été plutôt mouvementée, il y avait eu un orage. Je m’apprêtais à arriver à l’école lorsque j’ai vu mon ex-petit ami qui traversait la rue.

Il a commencé à s’avancer vers moi. Une sensation de peur s’est immiscée en moi. Je ne voulais surtout pas le revoir, c’est lui qui m’avait larguée. Mais bien sûr il m’a rattrapée et il a commencé à me parler. J’aurais dû le gifler et partir en courant…mais je n’ai pas osé et je suis resté là à lui sourire tout bêtement.

Finalement je suis arrivé à l’école toute triste, déçue et furieuse. Tous mes amis m’ont demandé ce qu’il s’est passé. Et moi, j’ai menti. J’ai dit que j’avais loupé le bus. Quelle idiote!

(145 mots)

Pour approfondir ses connaissances sur le récit:
  • Livre Mosaique page 410

2020/21- 6th years – La lettre/l’email formelle

The formal letter has only come up once since 2007, in 2016 
● This question usually asks you to write a letter in order to apply for a job/ make a complaint/ book a hotel room
● As it is a formal letter, you must use formal language and only ever address the recipient as “vous”
● Formal letters have a required structure:
○ On the top right, write the city and date of the letter eg. Dublin, le 8 mai 2018.
○ Under this, write the name, title and address of the person you are writing to
○ On the line below this, but on the left hand side of the page, write the name and address given to you as the sender by the question
○ Open the letter with Madame or Monsieur
○ Sign off with “Veuillez agréer Madame/Monsieur, l’expression de mes sentiments distingués” which means “Yours sincerely” and the name given to you in the question.
L’email formelle est arrivée en 2018:
Write an email in French to marine@jouffruit.fr applying for the above job as a fruit picker you saw advertised in the magazine L’Étudiant.
Introduce yourself, giving your name, nationality and age
Say that you are available to work for the months of July and August
Refer to any type of work you did in the past
Say how long you have been learning French and what your standard is
Ask if accommodation is provided.
(about 75 words)
The only difference with the formal letter is the layout:
A: marine@jouffruit.fr
De: johan@john.ie
Date: 14 mai 2018
Objet: Travail d’été en tant que cueilleur de fruits
Pour approfondir ses connaissances sur la lettre/l’email formelle:
  • Livre Mosaique page 114, 115, 116, 245, 246 et 247

2020/2021 – 6th year – Le journal intime

LE JOURNAL INTIME. HIGHER LEVEL

75 (-> 100 to 150 max) mots environ – (30 points)

Useful tips :

  1. Always start with the day and date: lundi, le 20 juin
  2. Continue with: Cher journal, / Mon très cher journal,
  3. End with: Je te laisse maintenant / A plus tard / A tout à l’heure
  4. Write about your personal feelings on a topic. Give your personal point of view, let your imagination lead the way.
  5. Use a more informal French. A journal intime is just for you, so write in it as if you were talking to a friend.
  6. In the statement at the beginning of the question, find the main points that you are asked to write about. Then in the introduction rephrase them using different words. Do not forget to change to the 1st person (Je)
  7. Look for verbs and tenses used in the question. This will help you to decide what tense to use in your written work. Past for description of what just happened, present for how you feel now about it, future about tomorrow.

 

Useful expressions :

  • Quelle bonne nouvelle ! What a good piece of news.
  • Quelle surprise ! What a surprise.
  • Quelle chance ! How lucky.
  • Je peux à peine le croire ! I can barely believe it.
  • Quelle malchance ! How unlucky.
  • Quelle déception ! What a disappointment.
  • Quel dommage ! What a pity.
  • Quel soulagement ! What a relief.
  • Quelle catastrophe ! What a disaster.
  • Quel plaisir ! How enjoyable.
  • Quelle honte ! How embarassing.
  • C’est très grave ça ! That is very serious.
  • C’est chouette ! It’s fun!
  • J’étais choqué(e) ! I was shocked.
  • J’étais bouleversé(e) ! I was deeply shocked.
  • C’est affreux ! It’s terrible.
  • C’est horrible ! It’s horrible.
  • C’est sensationnel ! It’s terrific!
  • J’en suis bien content. I am very happy about it.
  • C’est bien mérité ! Well deserved.
  • C’est surprenant! It’s surprising.
  • Je n’en crois pas mes yeux ! Je n’y crois pas ! = I can’t believe it !
  • C’est (vraiment) trop cool ! C’est (vraiment) pas cool ! = It’s so cool/uncool !
  • Ca claque ! Ca déchire ! = It’s great !
  • Qu’importe ! Peu m’importe.. = I don’t care
  • A quoi bon ? = What’s the point ?
  • C’est incroyable ! = It’s incredible !
  • Ca ne me surprend pas. = I’m not surprised.
  • Ca vaut le coup ! = It’s worth it !
  • C’est pas terrible.. = It’s not so good..
  • C’est banal. = It’s too common.

 

Useful link words :

Well.. bon                               But, well.. mais, bon                          Oh well.. Tant pis

And then.. et puis                    By the way.. à propos                         Even better ! Mieux encore !

After that.. après ça                In fact.. en fait                                    In very truth.. en vérité

After all.. après tout               Besides.. d’ailleurs                             But.. en revanche

Plus.. de plus                           Let’s say.. disons que                          There, that’s all.. voilà, c’est tout

 

 

Exression écrite et exemple de réponse:

Cela fait plusieurs années que vous êtes sur Facebook. Vous partagez avec vos amis toutes vos idées, vos photos, vos souvenirs. Du jour au lendemain le site devient payant. Qu’écrivez-vous dans votre journal à ce sujet ?

 

Lundi 6 mai

Cher journal,

 

Express your surprise / disappointment / happiness :

Je suis énervé! / Ca m’énerve ! / Quelle surprise ! / Ce n’est pas possible ! / Je n’y crois pas (mes yeux)!

 

Rephrase the main idea in your own words :

Ce matin, je suis allé voir mon profil de Facebook et quelle horreur ! Le site est maintenant payant.

 

Develop (here you can say what you used Facebook for):

J’utilisais ce réseau social pour rester connecté avec mes amis. On s’envoyait des liens de vidéos youtube ou des petits messages sympas. En plus, je pouvais discuter avec mon ex-petite amie qui habite en Californie. Comment je vais faire maintenant ?

 

(find a solution to the issue)

Peut-être qu’il y a une solution… Mes amis se servent de (se servir de) Snapchat ou W(h)atsapp. Ou alors je pourrais aussi me remettre à (se remettre à = to come back to something) écrire des lettres…

 

Conclude:

Bref, je ne veux plus entendre parler de (to hear about something) Facebook. C‘est fini !

 

Je te laisse,

John O’Mahony

 

Pour approfondir ses connaissances sur le journal intime:

  • Mosaique p42/43

2020/21 – 6th years – La lettre informelle/le courriel/la note

■ Informal letter: ​The informal letter has not come up since 2007 
● This question usually asks you to write a letter to a friend, a family member or a penpal
● As it is an informal letter, slightly more casual language can be used, and the recipient can be addressed with “tu” or “vous”, depending on their age
● Informal letters have a set structure:
○ In the top right corner, write the city and date of the letter eg. Dublin, le 8 mai
○ Open the letter with “Cher/ Chère [name of recipient]”
○ Close letter with something like “À bientôt” and sign off with the name given to you in the question
■ Email: ​A question asking you to write an email has come up 10 times since 2007 (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019) 
● Emails usually have the question style and contents as an informal letter to a friend or family member
● It is not impossible however that you get asked to write a formal email in response to a job advertisement or to make a formal complaint via email
● Emails have a set structure:
○ On the first line, write “À: [recipient’s email address]”
○ On the second line, write “De: [sender’s email address]”
○ On the third line, write “Date: [date]”
○ On the fourth line, write “Objet: [subject of the email]”
○ Open the email with “Cher/Chère [name of recipient]” if it’s informal, or “Madame/Monsieur” if it’s formal
○ Close the email either with an informal ending (as in an informal letter) or with your sincerely (as in a formal letter) and sign off with the sender’s name
■ Note:​ In 2008 and 2013, students were asked to write a message or a note for somebody 
● These can be formal (as in 2008, when students were asked to write a request to hold a party) or informal (as in 2013, when students had to leave a note for the family they were staying with)
● They are otherwise very similar in content and style to the letter and email
Pour approfondir ses connaissances sur la lettre informelle et le courriel:
  • Livre Mosaïque p178, 179, 180, 411 et 412