NZ Scholarship French study plan
NZ Scholarship French · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Listening comprehension (recorded or spoken French material) & Language accuracy and range (grammar, vocabulary, register)
Transcribe 90 seconds of authentic French audio (news bulletin, podcast extract, or film scene) daily and mark every liaison, elision, and swallowed e muet you hear
Build a personal listening log of 40 expressions that blocked comprehension, recording each with its spoken form and meaning in context
Review the passé simple and plus-que-parfait forms of 25 high-frequency verbs so narrative listening stops stalling on literary tenses
Shadow one 3-minute recording per session, matching rhythm and intonation rather than word-by-word accuracy
Your checkpoint
A 10-minute listening portfolio: weekly log of 40 blocked expressions plus five fully transcribed 90-second clips with self-corrections marked
Listening comprehension (recorded or spoken French material) & Reading comprehension (authentic written French texts)
Listen to two full-length authentic recordings (a radio interview and a short documentary) and answer eight self-written comprehension questions on stance, implication, and speaker attitude
Read three authentic written texts (a newspaper editorial, a literary extract, a blog post) and map their structure and argument in note form
Compile a glossary of 50 connecteurs logiques and discourse markers and classify each by function (concession, consequence, reformulation)
Practise identifying register in both modes: note five features that mark a text or recording as formal, familiar, or journalistic
Your checkpoint
A comparative analysis sheet of 400 words in French comparing how one radio interview and one editorial build and qualify an argument
Reading comprehension (authentic written French texts) & Translation and mediation between French and English
Read one 600-word authentic article daily and summarise each in three French sentences without consulting a dictionary on first pass
Translate two 200-word passages (one French-to-English, one English-to-French) and annotate every choice where literal rendering would fail
Identify and record 30 false friends, idiomatic expressions, and culture-bound terms with their working translations
Rewrite five complex French sentences in simpler French to confirm you have understood the syntax before translating
Your checkpoint
A translation commentary of 500 words in French justifying your renderings of eight difficult passages, with source and target versions side by side
Written production in French (structured and extended writing) & Language accuracy and range (grammar, vocabulary, register)
Write four 250-word structured texts in French across different genres (formal letter, opinion piece, narrative, report) using a planning stage before drafting
Self-edit each draft against a personal checklist covering agreement, tense sequencing, pronoun use, and register consistency
Learn and actively deploy 30 advanced structures (subjunctive after conjunctions, passive with par, nominalisation, inversion after adverbs) in your own sentences
Rewrite one draft entirely from memory of its plan to test whether structure or vocabulary is your bottleneck
Your checkpoint
A polished portfolio of four edited French texts totalling 1,000 words, each accompanied by a marked-up first draft showing your corrections
Written production in French (structured and extended writing) & Knowledge of francophone cultures and societies
Write two extended argumentative essays of 400 words in French on francophone social or political questions, each with a clear thesis and counter-argument
Research three francophone societies beyond France (for example Senegal, Québec, or Belgium) and note the specific institutions, linguistic politics, and cultural debates that distinguish each
Build a fact file of 25 concrete references (dates, names, policies, movements) you can cite accurately in an essay
Record yourself speaking for five minutes on one researched topic, then transcribe and correct your own errors
Your checkpoint
One 400-word French essay on a francophone cultural or social issue, with a source list of at least eight verified references
Spoken production and interaction in French & Knowledge of francophone cultures and societies
Hold three 10-minute unscripted French conversations (with a partner, tutor, or language exchange) on prepared cultural topics and record them
Practise four interaction functions aloud: interrupting politely, hedging, asking for clarification, and reformulating your own point
Deliver a three-minute formal presentation in French on a francophone cultural topic, then answer five impromptu questions on it
Review recordings and log recurring pronunciation, fluency, and grammar issues with a specific fix for each
Your checkpoint
A recorded 10-minute spoken sample (three-minute presentation plus seven minutes of questions) with a written self-assessment in French identifying five concrete improvements
Listening comprehension (recorded or spoken French material) & Reading comprehension (authentic written French texts)
Complete two full timed mock papers under exam conditions, one listening and one reading, and score them against clear criteria
Analyse every error from the mocks by cause: vocabulary gap, misread syntax, missed discourse signal, or time pressure
Re-listen to the mock audio at slower speed and identify the exact moments where comprehension broke down
Drill the 30 highest-frequency errors from your analysis until you can explain each rule without notes
Your checkpoint
An error analysis report of 600 words in French categorising every mock-paper mistake and stating the corrective action taken for each category
Translation and mediation between French and English & Written production in French (structured and extended writing) & Spoken production and interaction in French
Complete one full timed mock covering translation, extended writing, and spoken production in a single sitting
Refine your translation approach by completing two 150-word passages under time pressure and reviewing against your own commentary from week 3
Rehearse spoken responses to ten unpredictable prompts, limiting preparation to 30 seconds each
Consolidate a one-page personal error sheet covering grammar, register, and discourse traps, and review it before each practice session
Your checkpoint
A complete timed mock portfolio (translation, 400-word essay, and recorded spoken responses) with a final one-page error sheet and a written reflection on readiness
Milestones
Week 2: You can transcribe a 90-second authentic recording with fewer than five unresolved gaps and summarise an editorial's argument in three accurate French sentences
Week 4: You have produced 1,000 words of edited French prose and can name and correct your three most frequent grammar errors without prompting
Week 6: You can speak for three minutes on a francophone cultural topic and field five impromptu questions without reverting to English
Week 8: Your timed mock scores show no domain more than one band below your target, and your error sheet is short enough to review in ten minutes