Reading - NCEA Level 1 French
Reading: what NCEA Level 1 French tests
NCEA Level 1 French Reading is an external assessment of your understanding of written French texts on areas of most immediate relevance. Texts may include emails, messages, notices, invitations, short articles and simple stories. You answer questions in English. The paper tests general meaning, specific details and, at higher grades, implied meaning or the writer's purpose.
Core rules and concepts
- Skim first for text type, sender, receiver and purpose.
- Scan for names, dates, times, prices and places.
- Recognise tense shapes: passé composé (j'ai mangé, elle est partie), imparfait (il faisait), futur proche (je vais partir).
- Watch for negation and limiting words: ne ... pas, jamais, seulement, sauf.
- Learn false friends: actuellement = currently; éventuellement = possibly; librairie = bookshop; bibliothèque = library.
- Use connectives to follow logic: parce que, donc, mais, cependant, d'abord, ensuite.
Worked example
Email: « Salut, je t'écris parce que je ne peux pas venir à ta fête samedi. Mes grands-parents arrivent de Lyon vendredi et nous allons passer le week-end avec eux. Je t'appelle dimanche. Amuse-toi bien ! » Questions: Why can the writer not come? When will they phone? Answer: They cannot come because their grandparents arrive from Lyon on Friday and the family will spend the weekend with them; they will phone on Sunday. Reasoning: « parce que » introduces the reason; « ne peux pas » is negative; « arrivent » is present; « nous allons passer » is futur proche; « dimanche » is the phone call, not the party.
Traps that cost marks
- Translating actuellement as actually and losing the meaning.
- Ignoring a negative and giving the opposite reason.
- Confusing the party day (samedi) with the phone-call day (dimanche).
- Copying a whole sentence instead of answering the question.
- Missing the question focus: why, when, where, how much.