MATSEC IM French study plan

Map the full MATSEC Intermediate French syllabus requirements (four skill areas, oral, aural, written, reading) and list every task type you will be examined on

Diagnose your baseline by completing one past-paper reading section and one listening section under timed conditions and tabulate your raw scores per task type

Build a personal vocabulary log of 150 high-frequency Intermediate-level words and phrases, grouped by theme (daily life, school, work, travel, environment)

Establish a daily 20-minute listening routine using authentic French audio at natural speed and note unfamiliar structures rather than only unknown words

Consolidate the core verb system: present, passé composé, imparfait, futur simple and conditionnel, producing 10 original sentences for each tense

Practise choosing correctly between passé composé and imparfait in 30 narrative gap-fill items and justify each choice in writing

Drill agreement rules for adjectives, past participles and pronominal verbs until you can explain each rule aloud without notes

Write a 150-word account of a past event using at least six different tenses and check it against a grammar checklist

Master pronoun systems (direct, indirect, y, en, relative qui/que/dont/où) by rewriting 40 sentences with pronoun substitution

Practise the subjunctive after expressions of necessity, doubt and emotion in 25 transformation exercises

Read two Intermediate-level authentic articles (400-500 words each) and extract main idea, supporting details and inferred meaning

Answer 20 reading-comprehension questions in the target language, writing full sentences rather than single words

Complete a full timed past paper under exam conditions (reading, writing, listening) and record section-by-section scores

Analyse every lost mark and classify errors as vocabulary, grammar, comprehension or exam technique

Write a 200-word structured composition (opinion or narrative) using a planned introduction, two developed points and a conclusion

Refine pronunciation and fluency by recording yourself speaking for two minutes on a familiar topic and reviewing the recording against a checklist

Target your two weakest task types identified at week 4 with 45 minutes of focused practice each

Expand the vocabulary log to 350 entries, adding connectives, opinion phrases and formal register expressions

Practise listening for specific detail and gist using three different audio texts, answering questions without pausing the recording

Write a 120-word formal message (letter or email) using appropriate register, salutation and closing formulae

Sustain a five-minute spoken monologue and a three-minute interactive dialogue, using structured discourse markers

Reduce hesitation and repetition by rehearsing three prepared topics and then delivering them unprepared

Complete a second full timed mock paper and compare scores with week 4

Review all grammar error-log entries from weeks 1-5 and re-test yourself on the 20 most frequent errors

Complete two timed writing tasks (one narrative, one argumentative) in 45 minutes each to build speed and structure under pressure

Answer a full reading section within the official time limit and review every distractor to understand why it was wrong

Revise the full 350-entry vocabulary log using spaced repetition, retiring mastered items and flagging persistent gaps

Practise listening under exam conditions twice, including one session with no replay

Sit two complete mock papers on separate days under strict exam conditions and record final scores

Consolidate exam technique: time allocation per section, question ordering, and checking routines

Review the error log one final time and confirm that no recurring error remains unresolved

Taper workload in the final two days, revising vocabulary and structures only, and confirm exam logistics