Introducing Yourself

We all like to talk about ourselves! Being able to say your name and information about yourself is vital if you want to get to know French-speaking people. This topic focuses on words you learnt when you first started French. Most of the content is straight forward and if you know this topic really well, you can pick up lots of points on basic stuff - like spellings and numbers. So, make sure you know this topic inside out! Greetings You need to be able to use the correct way of saying hello to people, depending on the time of day or who they are. In addition, you may want to say how you are feeling (good, bad...). This may come up in your speaking exam in a role-play or in a listening exam. In the next exercise, look at the English text in blue and type in the French translation. Make sure that you write both the question and the response before you mark your answer. Name, age and birthday Numbers Knowing your numbers is absolutely essential, whether you want to tell the time, understand how much something costs or tell someone how old you are. This next exercise will help you revise. Look at the word in the speech bubble, then click on the correct number in the blue boxes and mark your answer. Then move on to the next question and try another! So, you thought you were just doing some French revision and you had left your Maths behind! Practising your numbers can be fun - honest! And they are extremely useful things to know in your exams. You can be guaranteed that they will turn up in some form in several parts of your exams, so make sure you know them really well! Months When you're talking about yourself, you may want to say when your birthday is. In order to do so correctly, you must know your French words for months. Luckily, a lot of the names are the same, or nearly the same as the English words! This exercise will help you to see how good you are at spelling the words for months. Type the correct French word for each month (don't worry about the accents on letters - however, if you would like to check where they are, click on "Show answer" if you get it wrong). Mark your answer and then press "next question":

Dates Knowing how to say the date in French is essential, whether saying when your birthday is, booking into a hotel, or saying when you are going on holiday. Remember: When saying a date, you say... 1. le then add the number. So, on 5th November = le cinq novembre. Unfortunately, exceptions do exist, but there's only one - this is: On 1st = le premier. How to say when your birthday is: Mon anniversaire est le vingt et un octobre. = My birthday is on the 21st October. Your name, age and birthday are important facts about yourself. It is very likely you will have to say these things in your speaking exam. Or, you may have to understand details about other people in the reading or listening exam. These are very straightforward things, so learn them carefully - you can then guarantee yourself easy marks. Nationality Countries Knowing your countries is essential, especially as you could be tested on them in your speaking, listening or reading exams. Learn the spellings carefully. As well as knowing the words for countries, it is essential to know how to say your own nationality and be able to recognise the words for other people's nationalities. If you are asked the question, "Tu es de quelle nationalit?" (Where do you come from?), you can answer by saying, "Je suis + nationality" (don't forget 'e' on the end for feminine). For Example, "Je suis anglais (m)/ anglaise (f)" Remember: The words are always slightly different depending on whether the person speaking is masculine or feminine - make sure you know the difference! This exercise will help you remember how to say nationalities...

Describing Others
Family members

Talking about your family members is almost bound to come up in your speaking exam. You will be using the word "my" - for example, my mother is called... In French, the word for my is mon (m) or ma (f) and will change depending on whether the person you are talking about is male or female. For Example: Mon pre a 40 ans. Ma mre s'appelle Suzanne. (Mre is feminine, so in this example, you have to use ma). Describing people You may have to describe a family member or friend in your speaking exam, or you may need to understand a description in the reading or listening exams. You will need to be able to describe hair and eyes. This exercise will help you revise this all-important vocabulary. Describing people Apart from describing what people look like physically, you need to be able to say what sort of character they have. This exercise will help you to remember some useful words. Pets Lots of us own pets. You may have to talk about them in your speaking exam. Even if you don't have one, you can pretend you do! Just be careful when you say "I have a..." You need to know whether the word is a masculine or feminine word and the only way is to learn as you go along - you can't always guess!

Further Practice
Spellings In your speaking exam, you may need to spell your name in a role-play - you may need to be able to understand spellings in the listening exam. If you are not sure how French letters are pronounced, this table will help you: A = ah (as in 'car') J = zjee S = ess B = bay K = cah (as in 'car') T = tay C = say L = ell U = ooh D = day M = em V = vay E = euh N = en W = doubl vay

F = eff G = zjay H = ash I = eeh (as in see)

O = oh P = pay Q = coo R = air

X = eex Y = ee greck Z = zed

Making a telephone call We all like spending time on the telephone talking to friends, catching up on the latest news. In your speaking exam, you may need to make a telephone call as part of a role-play. Numbers You need to know your numbers really well - you can be certain that numbers will come up more than once in your exams. Nationality Nationalits You need to be able to talk about yourself, say where you come from and what nationality you are. This exercise will help you to see whether you are confident in the basic phrases you need to talk about yourself. There is a lot of vocabulary in this topic - family members, description, characteristics, colours, nationalities... We all like talking about other people, so this is a really useful topic to know when you talk to French-speaking people - it will also gain you loads of marks in the exams! You may need to write about yourself - your family, pets. How much do you know? The following letter contains lots of essential words and structures.