Reading and Listening Skills

Strong reading and listening skills are essential for GCSE French — these papers typically account for 50% of your final grade. This lesson covers exam strategies, how to use cognates and avoid false friends, how to make inferences, and key phrases for time, opinion and quantity that frequently appear in exam texts.

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General exam strategies

Before you read or listen

1. Read the questions first. They tell you what information to look for.
2. Identify the topic. The title, introduction or images will give you context.
3. Predict vocabulary. If the topic is "holidays", you can expect words like vacances, hôtel, plage, avion.

During reading

1. Don't panic if you don't understand every word. Focus on what you do understand.
2. Look for cognates — words that look similar to English.
3. Watch out for negatives — a single ne…pas can change the meaning entirely.
4. Underline key words in the text that relate to the questions.
5. Re-read the relevant section before writing your answer.

During listening

1. Listen for the gist on the first play. Don't try to understand every word.
2. Write notes during the first listening.
3. Focus on detail on the second play. Check your answers.
4. Listen for tone of voice — it can indicate opinions (positive/negative).
5. Be aware of distractors — the recording may mention multiple options, but only one is correct.

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Cognates (Les mots apparentés)

Cognates are words that look and sound similar in French and English because they share a common origin.

French	English
la musique	music
le restaurant	restaurant
la télévision	television
le chocolat	chocolate
l'hôpital	hospital
la pharmacie	pharmacy
l'animal	animal
le problème	problem
la différence	difference
confortable	comfortable
populaire	popular
important	important
nécessaire	necessary

Recognising patterns

Many French words follow predictable patterns when converted to English:

French ending	English equivalent	Example
-tion	-tion	éducation → education
-ment	-ly	rapidement → rapidly
-eux	-ous	dangereux → dangerous
-ique	-ic / -ical	fantastique → fantastic
-é	-ed / -y	fatigué → fatigued / tired
-aire	-ary	nécessaire → necessary

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False friends (Les faux amis)

False friends are words that look like English words but have completely different meanings. These are a common trap in reading and listening exams.

French	Looks like…	Actually means…
actuellement	actually	currently / at the moment
assister à	to assist	to attend
la librairie	library	bookshop
la bibliothèque	—	library
le collège	college	secondary school (11–15)
le magasin	magazine	shop / store
la journée	journey	day
le voyage	voyage	journey / trip
la figure	figure	face
sensible	sensible	sensitive
raisonnable	reasonable	sensible
sympathique	sympathetic	nice / friendly
regarder	to regard	to watch / look at
attendre	to attend	to wait for
la monnaie	money	change (coins)
l'argent (m.)	—	money / silver
blesser	to bless	to injure
la chair	chair	flesh
la chance	chance	luck
passer un examen	to pass an exam	to sit / take an exam
réussir un examen	—	to pass an exam

Exam tip: If a word in the reading paper looks identical to an English word, be cautious — it may be a false friend. Always check the context before committing to your answer.

flowchart TD
    Word[Unknown French word] --> Look{"Looks like<br/>English word?"}
    Look -->|Yes| Check{Check context}
    Look -->|No| Pattern{"Recognise<br/>pattern?"}
    Check -->|Fits sentence| Cog["Cognate<br/>e.g. restaurant, important"]
    Check -->|Doesn't fit| FF["False friend<br/>e.g. librairie = bookshop<br/>sensible = sensitive"]
    Pattern -->|"-tion / -ique / -aire"| Cog
    Pattern -->|No pattern| Skip["Skip + use context<br/>surrounding words"]

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Inference and context clues

Sometimes the answer is not stated explicitly — you must infer it from the context.

Techniques for inference

1. Look at surrounding words. If someone says Je déteste le lundi parce que j'ai maths, you can infer they do not like maths.
2. Notice adjectives and adverbs. Words like malheureusement (unfortunately), trop (too much), ne…plus (no longer) signal negative meaning.
3. Identify the overall tone. Is the person complaining, praising, describing or persuading?
4. Connect ideas. If a text says il pleuvait (it was raining) and then on est restés à l'intérieur (we stayed inside), you can infer the weather affected their plans.

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Key reference phrases

Time expressions

French	English
maintenant	now
aujourd'hui	today
hier	yesterday
demain	tomorrow
la semaine dernière / prochaine	last / next week
le mois dernier / prochain	last / next month
l'année dernière / prochaine	last / next year
autrefois / avant	in the past / before
à l'avenir	in the future
de nos jours	nowadays
il y a (deux ans)	(two years) ago
pendant (les vacances)	during (the holidays)
depuis (cinq ans)	for / since (five years)
tous les jours	every day

Opinion phrases