Advice to Non-Native Students Studying French A-Level

Roughly 50% of my A-Level French class were native speakers. This made for some pretty tough competition. Naturally, this varies school by school, but even if there aren't any native speakers in your class, there are, every year, thousands of students who take an A-Level in their native language. And there's nothing wrong with that. However, native speakers inflate grade boundaries, which often means non-native speakers have to work harder.

That said, non-native speakers have certain advantages when preparing for French A-Level. The most significant is that you likely have a better understanding of grammar and spelling rules than a native speaker. While Spanish is a highly phonetic language (meaning you mostly pronounce words as they are written), French is the opposite.

Take the conjugation of pouvoir (to be able to): je peux, tu peux, il/elle/on peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils/elles peuvent.

You, as a non-native speaker, have hopefully sat down and learned how to conjugate this verb properly. You've also likely learnt how adjectives change form with different gender nouns, and other grammar rules that can't be heard in speech but are spelled differently. A native French speaker was most likely not taught these rules in the same way, and is therefore more liable to basic mistakes. So, to a certain extent, non-native speakers have an advantage here.

My first piece of advice: lean into this. Make spelling verbs like pouvoir so second nature that you don't even have to think about it. Use apps like Quizlet or Anki, or good old-fashioned pen and paper. It doesn't take long, and chances are native speakers aren't bothering to perfect their spelling and grammar. Now you're at an advantage.

The biggest disparity between native and non-native students is, quite naturally, speaking ability. In my experience tutoring French GCSE and A-Level, this is often the area where non-native students feel least confident. The most important way to improve is to stop being afraid to make mistakes. Take risks in the classroom, try ambitious sentences even if you're not quite sure how the grammar works. If it's wrong, the teacher should correct you. Note the corrections down (a separate notebook or document works well) and refer back to it from time to time. It's cliché, but we do learn from our mistakes.

If you're too nervous to speak more, there's only one solution, I'm afraid: speak more. It doesn't matter to who. A French friend or teammate is handy, but you can also just talk to your dog or cat. If you're scared to make mistakes, your dog won't notice, so it doesn't matter. Speaking is muscle memory. The more you speak French, the easier it becomes.

Struggling with French A-Level and want a second pair of eyes on your speaking practice? Drop a comment or get in touch, we're always happy to help.