Sec. V French, Language of Instruction, Exam : How to Prepare

You’re likely wondering just what the French uniform examination looks like. The exam is essentially a writing exercise that your child will have 3 hours and 15 minutes (not including the preparatory sessions) to complete. More specifically, they’ll be asked to write a 500-word open letter.

The exam assesses the competency Writes various types of texts within the Supports their ideas with evidence and arguments family of situations.

The French uniform examination assesses how well students are able to plan, write, revise, and evaluate a French text. The grading rubric is used to evaluate the following criteria:

• Adaptation to the communication situation
• Coherence of the text
• Use of appropriate vocabulary
• Sentence structure
• Proper lexical and grammatical spelling
• Etc.

During the compulsory French examination, your child will be allowed to use the following materials:

• Notes sheet detached from the exam preparatory documents
• Standard or specialized unilingual French dictionary
• Grammar rule book or textbook
• Conjugation book

Your child will NOT be allowed to use the following materials:

• Exam preparatory documents
• Electronic dictionary
• Notes prepared at home
• Electronic or translation device

In class, your child will have two periods to prepare for their exam. It may be helpful to go over the tasks they need to do during this key step:

• Read the texts
• Take notes
• Discuss questions they have about the texts with their classmates
• Etc.

Your child can also prepare for the exam independently, outside of the time allotted in class. Consider encouraging them to do the following:

• Do additional readings related to the exam topic
• Take a position on the topic
• Develop their line of argument
• Prepare their notes sheet
• Etc.

Your child is free to organize their notes however they like, whether they prefer drawing tables and boxes or using keywords and abbreviations. What matters is that they’re able to quickly find the information they need:

• Relevant points that illustrate their ideas
• Grammar rules
• References
• Ideas
• Exact quotes
• Etc.

It goes without saying that you can’t write the exam with your child. However, you can be with them in spirit by offering helpful advice. Here are some tips you can give them:

• Use your time wisely
• Make connections between different parts of the text
• Narrow down your argument
• Think about how you want to organize your text
• Choose the right tone
• Make sure to use strong ideas, facts, and examples
• Check for grammar and spelling mistakes
• Put all quotes in quotation marks
• Etc.

You can also help your child by suggesting they try some of our online study tools:

• Secondary V French study guide (French only)
• Alloprof’s featured tools (French only)
• our CyberRévisions (French only)
• our MiniRécups (French only)