HSC French Continuers common mistakes
HSC French Continuers · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In the Listening section, candidates write a full sentence answer that restates the question stem instead of extracting the specific detail (a time, a number, a reason) that the question asks for, so the response contains no new information from the recording.
Under time pressure candidates latch onto the question wording because it is the only French they are certain of, and they fear leaving a blank. They also confuse 'answering in French' with 'reproducing the prompt in French'.
What to do instead
Before the recording plays, underline the interrogative word in each question (quand, combien, pourquoi, où, qui) and note what type of detail is required. After listening, write only the answer plus the minimum grammar needed, and check that at least one content word in your answer did not appear in the question.
On listening items that require inference (the speaker's attitude, whether they will return, how they feel about a decision), candidates answer from general plausibility rather than from the cues actually in the text, and miss markers such as 'en fait', 'par contre', 'j'aurais préféré' or a rise in tone that signal the real position.
Inference questions feel like opinion questions, so candidates reason from their own expectations about how people behave rather than from discourse markers they may not have been taught to notice.
What to do instead
Train a marker bank: list contrast and stance markers (mais, pourtant, en revanche, heureusement, malheureusement, je regrette, ça m'étonnerait) and practise identifying which side of the marker the speaker's real view sits on. For each inference item, justify your answer by quoting the word or phrase in the text that supports it.
In Reading, candidates translate word by word from the first sentence and run out of time, leaving later questions unanswered or answered by guessing, even though the later items are often worth equal marks and easier.
School habits reward linear reading, and candidates believe they must understand every word before answering anything. They do not realise that the questions themselves locate the relevant paragraph.
What to do instead
Read the questions first and mark the key French word in each (a name, a date, a topic noun). Then scan the text for that word and read only the surrounding two or three sentences closely. Budget roughly one minute per mark and never leave an item blank; write a plausible French answer rather than nothing.
Candidates answer reading questions in English, or in a French that copies the source sentence verbatim, when the question says 'in your own words' or asks for a summary of several points.
Copying feels safe because the grammar is guaranteed correct, and switching to English happens when the candidate cannot construct the French and prioritises getting the idea down.
What to do instead
Practise reformulation drills: take a source sentence, change the subject and verb, replace a noun with a synonym, and merge two sentences with 'donc' or 'ce qui'. Confirm the rubric language requirement before writing, and if a mark scheme penalises lifting, always alter at least the sentence structure.
In the Writing section, candidates produce a response that ignores the stipulated text type and audience - writing a formal letter where a friendly email to a host family was required, or omitting the required salutation and closing - and lose communication marks despite accurate French.
Candidates prepare generic essays and rehearse them, then bend the task to the prepared material. They also under-estimate how much of the mark depends on register, layout and fulfilling each bullet point in the prompt.
What to do instead
Before writing, list the five or six conventions demanded by the text type (salutation, closing formula, tu/vous, subject line, paragraphing) and tick each one off. Number the bullet points in the prompt and write one short paragraph per bullet, so no required content is omitted.
Candidates write long, ambitious sentences with English word order and literal calques ('Je suis d'accord avec que...', 'J'ai 17 ans vieux', 'Je pense que c'est un bon idée pour moi de...'), producing errors that obscure meaning.
They translate mentally from English and reach for structures beyond their control because they believe length and complexity earn marks. They have not memorised the French construction for common verbs.
What to do instead
Keep a personal error log of your ten most frequent calques with the correct French pattern beside them, and drill them weekly. In the exam, prefer two short correct sentences to one long faulty one, and use a small set of memorised complex structures (si + imperfect/conditional, bien que + subjunctive, ce qui me préoccupe c'est) that you can deploy accurately.
Candidates describe personal identity, family and daily life using only generic vocabulary and the present tense, so responses stay at a basic level and cannot express nuance about relationships, obligations or change over time.
Topic vocabulary is learned as isolated lists rather than as collocations, and the past and future tenses are avoided because candidates are unsure of irregular forms.
What to do instead
Build topic phrase banks as collocations, not single words (s'entendre bien avec, faire des compromis, avoir des responsabilités, se disputer à propos de). Practise narrating one family anecdote in the passé composé and projecting a plan in the futur simple, so tense control becomes automatic within a familiar topic.
On questions about French-speaking communities and cultural diversity, candidates make sweeping generalisations or factual errors - treating 'la francophonie' as a single culture, misplacing countries, or inventing statistics about immigration, regional languages or laïcité.
Candidates rely on vague impressions from media and have not learned concrete, checkable examples. They also feel obliged to fill space with numbers when they have none.
What to do instead
Memorise a small portfolio of accurate, specific examples: a named overseas department and its linguistic situation, a named regional language such as le breton or l'occitan, the principle of laïcité and one current debate about it. Use hedged language ('environ', 'une grande partie de') instead of invented figures, and always anchor a generalisation to one named place.
On changing-world topics, candidates give one-sided answers that list problems (pollution, screen time, inequality) without causes, consequences or solutions, and without engaging with a counter-argument.
The topic is treated as a vocabulary test rather than an argument. Candidates have phrases for problems but none for weighing trade-offs, so the response stalls after two sentences.
What to do instead
Use a fixed four-move frame: constat, cause, conséquence, solution, plus one concession ('certes... cependant'). Prepare three reusable examples with real detail (a named policy, a local initiative, a personal observation) and practise applying the frame to any prompt in under five minutes of planning.
Candidates misread the requirements of a writing task under exam pressure - answering the wrong number of points, exceeding or falling far short of the word limit, or choosing the wrong option when the paper offers a choice - and so lose marks for content and range regardless of language quality.
Time pressure and anxiety cause candidates to start writing immediately after reading only the first line of the prompt, and word limits are estimated rather than counted.
What to do instead
Spend the first two minutes annotating the prompt: circle the text type, underline each required point, note the word limit and the register. Plan in bullet points before writing, then count words at the end and adjust by adding or cutting a whole sentence rather than trimming words.