The Individual and the Community: Personal Identity, Family, Friends, Daily Life, Education and Work
Core concepts
This domain asks you to talk about yourself and the people around you in accurate, natural French. You need a reliable set of reflexive verbs (se lever, s'habiller, se dépêcher, s'entendre avec, se disputer), family vocabulary including less obvious terms (un demi-frère, une belle-mère, un couple marié, vivre en concubinage), and school and work lexis (une filière, le bac, un stage, un apprentissage, un CDD, le chômage). You also need to handle relations between people: s'entendre bien/mal avec, avoir des points communs avec, faire confiance à, se fâcher contre.
Grammar that earns marks
Use the present tense for habits, the passé composé for events and the imparfait for description and background. Remember agreement of the past participle with preceding direct objects and with reflexive verbs (elle s'est levée; ils se sont parlé - no agreement because parler takes an indirect object). Comparatives and superlatives are frequent: plus âgé que, moins strict que, le plus proche de moi.
Traps
Questions often test register: tu versus vous, and the difference between mon père and mon papa. Watch false friends: actuellement means currently, not actually; assister à means to attend, not to assist. Do not confuse savoir (facts, how to) with connaître (people, places). In work contexts, distinguish un emploi, un métier, un poste and une carrière.
Rule of thumb
When describing a person, build the answer in three moves: identity and relationship (Qui est-ce ?), one concrete detail with a tense change (Que fait-il/elle ? Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé ?), and your opinion with justification (Je m'entends bien avec elle parce que...). This structure satisfies both content and language criteria.