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Alliance Francaise//VCAA oral exam discussion

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vox nihili:
It's very risky business being colloquial at all. My strength in French was certainly in speaking and particularly doing so in an informal manner, but even with that in mind, I was completely reluctant to use idiom. They want you to be charming and to be polite. Making cheap jokes is something I would advise against.

For example, in my oral they asked me what aspects of French cuisine I liked the most and I remarked "but this is only a 15 minute interview..." and they loved that kind of "wit". Incidentally, it was also a good way to get out of a question I had absolutely no answer for haha

Vermilliona:
Yeah idk that makes sense, sometimes idioms are just a better/more interesting to express something though, they're not necessarily cheap jokes. But ok wait I was thinking of this today, coz I was doing a practice with my lonely self and I said at one point "je veux faire ca parce qu'il faut mordre la vie à pleines dents pendant qu'on a des dents avec lesquelles la morde" so would it be ok to use a line like that? Idk if it constitutes cheap joke, i just think it's mildly amusing? (but I am a bit delirious à cause des examens donc)

alondouek:

--- Quote from: Vermilliona on October 07, 2014, 11:09:23 pm ---je veux faire ca parce qu'il faut mordre la vie à pleines dents pendant qu'on a des dents avec lesquelles la morde

--- End quote ---

Haha that's a great turn of phrase! I think this would be fine IN CLEAR CONTEXT because it i) fulfils the cultural language component and ii) is pretty clear and unambiguous. If you do use this sort of thing though, use it sparingly and correctly otherwise you'll look a bit silly.

And I agree in part with Travis, have a bit of banter with the examiners because they're more likely to mark you favourably if you liven things up a bit for them.

P.S. Never, NEVER ask them a question in return. People have done this in the past et ils ne la regardent pas favorablement du tout. The setting may be conversational but it's important not to entirely forget that there are expectations and criteria to be met.


Alors, je pars bientôt, donc meilleurs voeux (à tout le monde!) pour demain :)

vox nihili:

--- Quote from: Vermilliona on October 07, 2014, 11:09:23 pm ---Yeah idk that makes sense, sometimes idioms are just a better/more interesting to express something though, they're not necessarily cheap jokes. But ok wait I was thinking of this today, coz I was doing a practice with my lonely self and I said at one point "je veux faire ca parce qu'il faut mordre la vie à pleines dents pendant qu'on a des dents avec lesquelles la morde" so would it be ok to use a line like that? Idk if it constitutes cheap joke, i just think it's mildly amusing? (but I am a bit delirious à cause des examens donc)

--- End quote ---

God I'm glad Alon got to that before me, because I have no idea what that means. Unfortunately, my French has suffered quite a bit since I left year twelve because I haven't spoken it at all. Silly me!

In my mind though, the examiners want to see that polite, kind and witty youth who is going to restore their faith in the youth of Australia. If you aim for that, they'll love you. I wouldn't try to preplan exactly what you're going to say too much as well. Focus more on just getting the opportunity to talk and practise (which it looks like you are). Personally, I just used to go for chats with our Physics teacher (who was Egyptian French). They'd start off on what we were meant to be doing, but then he got board and decided to try to debate me on anything and everything...mainly about whether I thought our school was doing a good job actually haha! I think that prepared me really well for the oral exam :)

catnus:
I second T-Rav... talking about having la geule de bois is very risky in the exam situation you are in, not just the phrase but the subject matter itself. I understand that in context, you were trying to distance yourself from that scene, but it is a risk that you might not want to take when every little bit counts. Par contre, j'aime bien cette tournure: mordre la vie à pleines dents pendant qu'on a des dents avec lesquelles la mordre. You've found une facon to show off your skills and playing with (and not just using) french expressions will speak favorablement about your confidence, aisance avec la langue and your intellegence.

Je dirais bonne chance mais, d'apres ce que je vois, tu n'en as pas besoin :)

P.S. Sorry about the franglais...

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