Oral format?

[Expired Manwich of Doom]

My French oral presentation/interview is in a week, and I'm just wondering about the format of it. I've been informed that it is about 3 minutes long, followed by a string of questions. However, for the presentation part, is it simply the student's opinion on the topic (our topic is more about current events), or does it have to have formal components, such as the introduction, body conclusion? Thanks

[ShineeLikeMe]

It's suppose to be conversation style. Go off on a rant if you must...I need to make an oral tip...goodness me.

If your topic is about current events, then by all means go ahead and state your opinions. The whole point is to test your understanding of the language as well as how you interact in a conversation with another person.

[elmar]

I just finished my oral, so I'll speak from experience.

My teacher instructed us to speak in a very essay-like way. The opinions of your topic are what's in the questions that follow your presentation, so I would suggest you stick to the facts about your topic. I did a little intro, came up with two major points, gave details of those points, and then concluded it. It's not that hard, plus it gives your teacher an idea of where your oral is going. S/he can only get the questions that they ask you from your oral, so if they know where you are in your oral, they can sort of understand how many questions they can get from that section.

In all, you should follow the basic method of presenting, especially seeing as you are doing it in a foreign language. It helps to keep the listener/grader along.

[Guest Pingg]

I recently just finished my oral and received a 6 (my teacher normally gets marked up).

I would recommend explaining the background of your current event and then give various perspectives such as your own.

But I recommend you keep some of your own opinions for the question section of your oral so you don't run out of things to say.

Try to include good phrases like à mon avi and je crois que...

Also including at least 3 or 4 subjunctive sentences can definitely boost your grade up.

I honestly wouldn't approach your oral at a formal point of view but more as if you are having a conversation...unless you are in HL.

[Expired Manwich of Doom]

Okay, so conversation style. What kind of questions (about my opinion) can I expect then? I'm planning on starting off with a sentence or two summarizing the article, then talking about my opinion, as well as pointing out whether it agrees/disagrees with the article. I'm kind of unsure of what I should do, because I'm predicted as a 7, and writing a History EE in French, but I usually get knotted up during presentations, and start speaking very quickly. I just don't want to blow it :/

Would it be suggestible to have some sort of conclusion, other than the cliché 'Merci'?

[Guest Pingg]

Okay, so conversation style. What kind of questions (about my opinion) can I expect then? I'm planning on starting off with a sentence or two summarizing the article, then talking about my opinion, as well as pointing out whether it agrees/disagrees with the article. I'm kind of unsure of what I should do, because I'm predicted as a 7, and writing a History EE in French, but I usually get knotted up during presentations, and start speaking very quickly. I just don't want to blow it :/

Would it be suggestible to have some sort of conclusion, other than the cliché 'Merci'?

Well your teacher will most likely ask you questions like, "what do you think of the IB program? Do you like it?" , "what do you want to be when you grow up?", "what university do you want to go to?", "why did you chose to talk about this topic?", and then they might ask you more questions about your topic.

What are you specifically talking about?

I would not include "merci" as an ending. Since you are talking about an event just say something like, "This event had a huge effect on people and therefore (Subjunctive time!) it is important that one knows about it."

I could give a better example if I knew your topic.

Also, practice your oral SLOWLY. If you do that, it won't be so hard to speed up during the real thing. Part of your oral grade reflects that you speak smoothly.

But just remember, the oral isn't that big of a deal. It's not some big TOK speech, it's just a simple conversation showing that you can speak French fluently and correctly.

If you really nail your conjugation and include subjunctive phrases and different tenses, you will definitely be able to get a 6 or a 7.

You can do it!

Edited March 14, 2011 by Pingg

[nuka]

i just did my oral..

basically my teacher let us speak - so present our prepared speech.

she told us that it should be based on a francophone country (as in related to a french-speaking country).

I talked about the festival of Tabaski in Mali.

Basically, it's generally a good idea to give an intro, and then explain what your topic is.. always give opinions!

the point of this oral is to show that you can research into a french-speaking country, find information about it, and have a discussion about it with the needed vocab. so yeah, opinions are crucial.

since i'm vegetarian, i talked about not liking the customs (because for the festival of Tabaski, they sacrifice a sheep)

the second part of the oral is just a discussion on a random topic.. so it's good to know some vocab from every unit.

don't worry about time. speak slowly and make sure your pronunciation is good. and be careful of silly grammar mistakes.

otherwise you should be fine!

bon chance!

[Expired Manwich of Doom]

My topic is a discussion about whether homework should be given (hehe...)

I'm having my ending including "Je pense que les devoirs sont importants, afin que les étudiants puissent développer un sens de responsabilité et de discipline." Or something along those lines.

So the second part is irrelevant to the first part?

The only way I'm ever able to speak slowly is if I'm speaking in a regular conversation, or if I fully memorize it (but it makes it sound like I'm reciting it)... Then I'll slur stupid stuff like futur instead of conditionel by accident :/

Merci pour l'encouragement!

Edited March 15, 2011 by DemonX01