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Listening: Comprehension Skills

FoundationHigherAQA

Understand Listening: Comprehension Skills for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Listening tasks test understanding of spoken French across the three themes.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

WorksheetFoundation · PDFMark SchemeFoundation · PDF

Higher

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Topic overview

Listening comprehension is difficult because the audio moves at its own pace, so preparation before it starts is what makes the difference.

Use the reading time to study the questions and predict what you will hear. If a question asks about a time, listen for numbers. If it asks about an opinion, listen for aimer, détester or trouver. Knowing what to listen for narrows attention usefully.

The main obstacles are liaison, which removes word boundaries, and silent endings, which make verb forms sound identical. Parle, parles and parlent are indistinguishable, so the subject pronoun carries the information. Answer during the first playing and use the second to check rather than to start.

Revision notes

Using the reading time

Study the questions and predict what you will hear.

A question about a time means listening for numbers. A question about an opinion means listening for aimer, détester or trouver. This narrows your attention to what matters.

The main obstacles

Liaison removes the boundaries between words, so les amis sounds like one word.

Silent endings make verb forms identical: parle, parles and parlent all sound the same. The subject pronoun is what distinguishes them.

Using both playings

Answer during the first playing and use the second to check.

Waiting for the second playing to start answering wastes half the available opportunity. An imperfect answer written first time can be corrected; a blank cannot.

Key points

  • Use the reading time to predict.
  • Listen for numbers in time questions.
  • Listen for opinion verbs in opinion questions.
  • Liaison removes word boundaries.
  • Silent endings make verb forms identical.
  • Answer during the first playing.

Worked examples

Example 1

Explain why the reading time is important. [2 marks]

Working

It lets you study the questions and predict what to listen forstate the purpose
so your attention is directed at the relevant information rather than everything equallyexplain the benefit

Example 2

Explain why parle and parlent sound identical. [2 marks]

Working

The endings -e and -ent are both silent in Frenchstate the reason
so the subject pronoun is the only way to tell which form was usedexplain what to listen for

Example 3

Explain why you should answer during the first playing. [2 marks]

Working

The second playing can then be used to check and correctstate the strategy
whereas waiting to start wastes half the available opportunityexplain the risk

Common mistakes

  • Waiting for the second playing.

    Answer during the first and check on the second.

  • Listening for whole words.

    Liaison merges them together.

  • Relying on verb endings.

    Many are silent; listen for the pronoun.

  • Not using the reading time.

    Prediction narrows your attention usefully.

Exam tips

  • Predict content during the reading time.
  • Listen for the subject pronoun, not the ending.
  • Expect word boundaries to disappear.
  • Answer first time, check second time.

Key terms

Liaison
Linking that removes word boundaries in speech.
Silent ending
A verb ending that is written but not pronounced.
Prediction
Working out in advance what you will hear.
Reading time
The period before the audio begins.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.