Hey,
I'm in year 11 about to make subject choices. I was just wondering what the French Extension course is like and whether you would recommend it based on the workload etc.
My French is ability is pretty good with consistent exam results of 90+%
Cheers
Hey there,
I would definitely recommend taking the extension course. It's so rewarding and very good for the general flow of your french when both speaking and writing.
The course is pretty much like taking an ESL course, but of course, it's in French
You have your prescribed text which is a movie called Neuilly Sa Mere which you study in relation to three prescribed issues; Tolerance, Impact of Social Class, and Relationships.
The exam structure is as follows
Section 1
Part A - Analysis of NSM in English in relation to one/multiple issues
Part B - Empathy Task - Writing 200 words as one of the characters from the film (eg. You are Charles and you write a diary entry on your first impressions of Sami)
Section 2 - Extended Response on an Issue/Multiple Issues in French
I say extended but it's only about 300 words but it's definitely my favourite part of the exam haha I always do it first because it gets me in the groove. Like continuers you have to adhere to a text type but it's not "Write a letter to your friend saying why you had a bad day" it's like
"You have been asked to write an article on the subject "We become more tolerant the more comfortable we are" write the article"
and then of course, there's the dreaded Monologue. It's impromtu (that is, you don't get your question until the day you do the exam) There's a choice of two questions and then you have seven minutes to plan and then you have to speak for three minutes - and it's in relation to one/multiple issues. Not going to lie to you it's VERY daunting - like i was crying because I was so nervous before my first assessment, but it gets better after that point - you familiarise yourself with the action of performing a monologue and the tactics which work to keep your french flowing (for me, I dip every time i finish a sentence because i'm of the weird variety and do them standing up)
But all in all the course is so rewarding and I actually like it a lot better than continuers. The workload, however is the equivalent of three units. My teacher gives me so much freaking homework I could barely keep up at the beginning and I nearly dropped because of it, but It's all about finding a balance between Ext and your other subjects and once I did that it was pretty cruisey.
But yeah! Let us know what you decide!
