Revision S4 (and S1)

S4 are only two weeks away from prelims. Remember that some of them, French Listening included, will take place before official exam leave. Click on the label SG Revision for tips and links to revision sites. However, I do expect that you should already be revising a little each evening - don't forget all your previous hard work! Your vocab booklets should help and, should you have lost yours, try

Green book.

Red book.

In each case you will need to supplement this with work you have done in class and vocab that you have encountered in past papers.

Don't forget to click on the label SG revision for many more hints, tips and places to revise.

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S1: if you have lost your copy of the vocab the Blue book is what you are looking for.

A few reminders

S3 Spanish: You have a written folio piece to learn by heart and complete on Monday 24th October. This was prepared and, if not corrected in class, you were asked to leave it to be corrected and collected by the end of Thursday 13th October.

S2 French You have Reading and Listening to prepare for. This is on module 5 and covers everything we have gone over so far. 2X1 should be ready for Tuesday 25th October and 2Y4 will do theirs on Thursday 27th October.

H and Intermediate 2 French Language NABs in Reading and Listening from Wednesday 26th October.

Exam dates 2011

Good luck to all candidates for all of your exams. Continued revision and practice will help you approach the exams with confidence. You might also find guides like BBC Scotland Revision Tips useful.

Exam Dates

Standard Grade French - Wednesday 11th May

Standard Grade Spanish - Wednesday 25th May

Higher and Intermediate 2 French - Tuesday 17th May

Higher and Intermediate 2 Spanish - Thursday 2nd June

Standard Grade Revision

This should be well underway. You have worked hard for Speaking assessments and to complete Writing folios, so make sure that it doesn't all go to waste. The exams for French will take place on the 11th May 2011. It might seem like a long way off but, in fact, exam leave will be here before you know it!

You will need time to identify what you need to do most urgently and plan accordingly. This is best done as soon as possible.

Look over your work from S3 and S4 and use the vocabulary sheets we provided. Some of your revision time should be chunked up for vocabulary learning - the 'little and often' approach usually works best but you should know what works best for you by now. You also need to practise Reading tasks and ensure that your dictionary skills are up to scratch.

I have already made a list of recommended sites but feel free to tell me about any more you come across.


A few pointers for Listening

Pupils are often unsure as to how to prepare for this element and find these tasks hardest to do well in. The vocabulary isn't necessarily more difficult, but it can sound a lot different to what you might expect.

There are things you can do.

Adverse Weather etc: what to do at home.

If you are unable to come to school because of adverse weather or any other unexpected circumstances there are still things you can do, once any homework is completed. For instance:

* Revise vocabulary recently done in class
* Review recent work and check you still understand.
* Prepare for any tests that may be coming up.
* Practise at any of the sites I have recommended on the blog or in class.
* Check the school website for any updated information that may have been given.

Some of the things you should be doing may depend on the time of year or your stage of study.

S1 and S2
Useful websites for now include
A tantot - you have been given a copy of the username and password. If you are in the middle of a Spanish block, there are also exercises here you can do.

Wild French - There are exercises to help you with the vocabulary topics you have looked at in class.

S3 and S4
You should revise using your vocabulary sheet in the first instance.

You may have Writing or Speaking assessments to prepare for and/or learn.

Click on the labels SG or SG revision for a list of sites.

France Live sheets provide useful reading/cultural awareness exercises which you can also mine for vocabulary.

S5 and S6
Again, look over current and previous work in class.

If you have a copy of the H or Int 2 pack, look over any exercises the teacher has not done in class.

Take some time to revisit any Listening exercises already done in class - this time listen to the clip while reading the transcript in order to familiarise yourself with pronunciation.

SCHOLAR - it is important that you use this as you work your way through topic areas - your teachers can and do check how often you use this.

Check for any previous instructions, advice and website recommendations on this blog.

Reminder: S4 pupils

Last-minute cramming does not work for Modern Languages. Revision for exams should be well underway. Look at small chunks of your topic areas and extra vocabulary looked at in class for a short time every day.

Click on the labels SG and SG revision for advice on revising for the exam.

S4 Reminder

Supported Study is available to my classes on Monday lunchtimes starting at 1:15.