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← Unit 5: La francophonie and Real-World Texts

FSF1D · Unit 5 test review

La francophonie and Real-World Texts: Test Review

Everything for the Unit 5 test on one page: the key facts from all 5 lessons, the mistakes that cost the most marks, and a practice test that points you back to the lessons you need.

Key facts

French-Speaking Africa

  • French spread in Africa through French and Belgian colonial rule; most countries became independent around 1960 and many kept French as an official language for government and schools.
  • French usually lives alongside African languages (Wolof, Lingala, Kinyarwanda, Malagasy, Arabic, Tamazight): most people are multilingual.
  • In the Maghreb (Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie) French is widely used but not official; in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger it is now a working language.
  • Léopold Sédar Senghor: poet, first president of Senegal (1960–1980), co-founder of la Négritude and one of the founders of la Francophonie.
  • To / in a place: à + city, en + feminine country, au + masculine country, aux + plural country. From: de / d', du, des.

French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean

  • Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia formed French Indochina until 1953–1954; today French survives mostly among older people, in some schools and in traces like the bánh mì and cà phê.
  • Lebanon (le Liban): French mandate 1920–1943. Arabic is official; French is widely used, and many people speak Arabic, French and English.
  • Indian Ocean: French is official in the Seychelles and La Réunion (part of France); Mauritius names no official language, but English and French are both used.
  • The OIF began in Niamey in 1970; its leaders meet at the Sommet de la Francophonie, and 20 mars is the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. Canada, Québec and New Brunswick all belong.
  • Masculine countries take au / du (au Vietnam, au Cambodge, du Liban); aux for plurals (aux Seychelles); à for cities and islands without an article (à Beyrouth, à Maurice).

Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules

  • Each text form has a layout: an invitation answers Qui ? Quoi ? Où ? Quand ? plus R.S.V.P.; an ad shows a slogan, commands, prices and a deadline; an email has an Objet line, a greeting and a closing.
  • 24-hour clock: 13 h 40 = treize heures quarante = 1:40 p.m. Subtract 12 for afternoon and evening hours.
  • Durée = arrivée − départ. Count up to the next full hour, add the whole hours, then the leftover minutes; an hour has 60 minutes.
  • Prices: a comma for cents, a space for thousands, the dollar sign after the number: forty-five dollars fifty is written 45,50 then the sign, and read quarante-cinq dollars cinquante.
  • Deux cents but deux cent cinquante; mille never takes -s (deux mille).
  • Informal email: Salut ... À bientôt, tu. Formal: Bonjour Madame / Madame, Monsieur ... Cordialement, vous.

Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph

  • Five stages: planifier, rédiger un brouillon, réviser, corriger, publier — and go back as often as needed.
  • Before writing, decide your purpose (informer, raconter, décrire, convaincre, divertir) and your audience (tu or vous).
  • Opinion openers: À mon avis, Selon moi, Personnellement, Pour ma part, Quant à moi, followed by a comma and your sentence (no que).
  • Il est important de + infinitive (d' before a vowel); il faut + infinitive; je pense / je crois que + sentence.
  • Paragraph: opinion sentence → arguments with examples (D'abord, De plus) → the other side (Par contre, Cependant) → conclusion (Pour conclure, En résumé).
  • Réviser = improve the ideas and organisation; corriger = fix agreement, accents, verb tenses and spelling.

Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families

  • Cognates (mots apparentés) share a root and a meaning: la nation, la musique, important. Patterns: é- = s- (école), circumflex = lost s (forêt), -eux = -ous, -té = -ty.
  • Faux amis: librairie = bookstore, assister à = attend, attendre = wait for, actuellement = currently, sensible = sensitive, rester = stay.
  • Prefixes: re- (again, back), dé- / dés- (undo), in- / im- / il- / ir- (not), pré- (before).
  • Suffixes: -tion (feminine nouns), -ment (adverb from the feminine adjective: lentement), -eur / -euse (a person), -té (= -ty).
  • Unknown word? Ask what kind of word it is (verb, noun, adjective) and what would make sense in context before reaching for the dictionary.
  • Dictionary: check the part of speech and gender (n.m., n.f., v.), read all meanings and examples, and check backwards.

Where marks get lost

  • Writing Je vais à Sénégal or en Sénégal. Le Sénégal is masculine, so it takes au: Je vais au Sénégal. (French-Speaking Africa)
  • Assuming every country ending in a consonant is masculine and every one ending in -e is feminine — mostly true, but le Mexique and le Cambodge are masculine. When unsure, check the article in a dictionary (le or la). (French-Speaking Africa)
  • Saying French is the official language of Morocco or Algeria. It is widely used there, but the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. (French-Speaking Africa)
  • Capitalising nationality adjectives: une ville Sénégalaise. As adjectives they take a small letter: une ville sénégalaise (only a person-noun is capitalised: un Sénégalais). (French-Speaking Africa)
  • Treating Africa as one country: They speak African in Africa. Africa has 54 countries and hundreds of languages; name the country and the language (On parle wolof et français au Sénégal). (French-Speaking Africa)
  • Writing en Cambodge because the name ends in -e. Le Cambodge is masculine: au Cambodge. (French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean)
  • Saying French is the official language of Lebanon. Arabic is official; French is widely used alongside it. (French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean)
  • Saying French is still the main language of Vietnam. It was the colonial language, but today Vietnamese is the national language and French is spoken mostly by older people and in some schools. (French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean)
  • Dropping the article from La Réunion: Je vais à Réunion. The article is part of the name: Je vais à La Réunion. (French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean)
  • Forgetting to double the n: vietnamiene. Adjectives in -ien become -ienne: vietnamienne, cambodgienne. (French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean)
  • Reading 17 h 45 as 7:45. On the 24-hour clock, subtract 12: 17 h 45 is 5:45 p.m. (Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules)
  • Subtracting times like decimals: 12 h 05 − 9 h 30 is not 2 h 75. Count up instead: 9 h 30 → 10 h 00 (30 min) → 12 h 00 (2 h) → 12 h 05 (5 min) = 2 h 35. (Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules)
  • Writing prices English-style in French: 45.50 dollars or the dollar sign in front. In French, use a comma for the cents and put the sign after the number: 45,50 dollars. (Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules)
  • Writing deux cent for 200 or deux mille as deux milles. It is deux cents (but deux cent cinquante), and mille never takes -s. (Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules)
  • Closing a formal email to a camp director with À plus ! or greeting with Salut. Use Bonjour Madame / Bonjour Monsieur and Cordialement. (Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules)
  • Writing Il est important pour recycler (copying English important for). The structure is il est important de + infinitive: Il est important de recycler. (Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph)
  • Dropping que: Je pense c'est une bonne idée. French always needs it: Je pense que c'est une bonne idée. (Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph)
  • Adding que after an opener: À mon avis que c'est utile. Openers take a comma, not que: À mon avis, c'est utile. (Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph)
  • Writing the whole paragraph in English and translating it word by word. Plan in French with structures you know, and use the dictionary to check words, not whole sentences. (Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph)
  • Switching between tu and vous in the same letter. Choose the register for your audience once and keep it all the way through. (Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph)
  • Je vais à la librairie pour emprunter un livre. You borrow books at a library: la bibliothèque. A librairie sells them. (Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families)
  • Writing J'attends le concert to mean I'm attending the concert. Attendre means to wait for; use J'assiste au concert. (Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families)
  • Starting a sentence with Actuellement to mean actually. Actuellement means currently; for actually, use en fait. (Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families)
  • Taking the first dictionary entry without checking the part of speech: Je montre la télé for I watch TV. You need the verb: Je regarde la télé. (Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families)
  • Building a -ment adverb on the masculine adjective: heureuxment. Start from the feminine: heureuse → heureusement. (Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families)

Practice test

25 questions from across the unit. Each one shows the lesson it comes from.

  1. French-Speaking Africa
    1
    What is the capital of Senegal?
  2. French-Speaking Africa
    2
    In which country is French widely used but NOT an official language?
  3. French-Speaking Africa
    3
    Fill in the preposition: Nous allons ___ Kinshasa.
  4. French-Speaking Africa
    4
    Complete with the nationality adjective for a girl from Senegal: Awa est ___.
  5. French-Speaking Africa
    5
    Put these events in chronological order, earliest first.
    1. 1Abidjan hosts the Jeux de la Francophonie (2017)
    2. 2Ottawa and Hull host the Jeux de la Francophonie (2001)
    3. 3Leaders meet in Niamey to found the agency that became the OIF (1970)
    4. 4France begins its rule of Algeria (1830)
    5. 5Senegal becomes independent, with Senghor as president (1960)
  6. French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean
    6
    Which three countries made up French Indochina?
  7. French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean
    7
    Which statement about Mauritius is accurate?
  8. French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean
    8
    Fill in the preposition: Mon oncle travaille ___ Beyrouth.
  9. French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean
    9
    Complete with the nationality adjective for a girl from Vietnam: Linh est ___.
  10. French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean
    10
    Put these events in chronological order, earliest first.
    1. 1Vanuatu becomes independent (1980)
    2. 2The agency that became the OIF is founded in Niamey (1970)
    3. 3Beirut hosts the Sommet de la Francophonie (2002)
    4. 4The French mandate in Lebanon begins (1920)
    5. 5Lebanon becomes independent (1943)
    6. 6The Geneva agreements end the French period in Vietnam, and Pondichéry passes to India (1954)
  11. Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules
    11
    A schedule says Départ : 13 h 40. What time is that on the 12-hour clock?
  12. Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules
    12
    Using the schedule, what do a Toronto–Ottawa ticket (89,50 dollars) and an Ottawa–Montréal ticket (45,50 dollars) cost together, in dollars?
    dollars
  13. Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules
    13
    How is the price forty-five dollars and fifty cents written on a French-Canadian price tag?
  14. Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules
    14
    Match each text form to a feature you would expect in it.
    le courriel
    l'invitation
    la publicité
    l'horaire
    le blogue
  15. Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules
    15
    Which number is written correctly?
  16. Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph
    16
    Which phrase means As for me, used to contrast your view with other people's?
  17. Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph
    17
    You are writing to your city council to ask for a new skate park. What is your main purpose?
  18. Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph
    18
    Put the stages of the writing process in order.
    1. 1publier
    2. 2corriger
    3. 3réviser
    4. 4planifier
    5. 5rédiger un brouillon
  19. Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph
    19
    Match each connector to its job in a paragraph.
    D'abord
    De plus
    Par contre
    Par exemple
    Pour conclure
  20. Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph
    20
    What is the difference between réviser and corriger in the writing process?
  21. Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families
    21
    What is une librairie?
  22. Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families
    22
    Use the é- = s- pattern: what does l'étudiant mean in English?
  23. Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families
    23
    Add a prefix to make the opposite of possible.
  24. Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families
    24
    Match each faux ami to what it really means.
    sensible
    rester
    la lecture
    actuellement
    joli
  25. Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families
    25
    Using prefix, root and suffix, what does inoubliable mean?

Endless drill

Fresh numbers every time, for the calculation questions in this unit.

Endless drillnew numbers every time

Generating a problem…

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