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GCSE video listening resources

From the feedback I receive from French teachers, a popular resource on my site are the video listening worksheets. Finding appropriate video material for this level is a bit of a challenge, certainly harder than sourcing A-level video clips. In nearly all cases the worksheets would suit pupils aiming for Higher Tier at GCSE. I base the choice of videos on a number of factors:

- Interest level of the material
- Clarity of language
- Difficulty of language
- Length of video
- Relevance to GCSE topics

With these criteria in mind I have built up a set of worksheets linked to external videos. Here they are:

Future tense – song Octobre by Francis Cabrel
Conditional tense – song –Mourir demain – Pascal Obispo
Environment – eating meat
Why learn French?
Health – making vegetable soup
Technology – Ariane rocket
Migrants
Jobs – cartoon short film
Health/sport – roller blading in Paris
Health/sport – Papa Cochon fait de l’exercice
Home life/food – Peppa Pig – les crêpes
Home life – Peppa Pig – Noël
Home life/DIY – Papa Pig accroche une photo
Home life – Peppa Pig – une chasse au trésor
Home life – Philippe describes his daily routine
Perfect tense/holidays – silly song Si t’as été à Tahiti
Holidays – Visit to Venice
Holidays – favourite holidays
Holidays – a French camp site
Family – a mother describes her daughters
Health/sport – walking
Hobbies – tags and graffiti
Food – a “vinstub” restaurant in Strasbourg


The exercise types I use for each worksheet depend to some extent on the nature of the recording, but include true/false/not mentioned, gap-fills, comprehension questions, matching tasks and word lists to complete. In all cases the exercises require close listening to the texts and several listenings. The videos can be done in a computer room independently, led by the teacher or set as homework. I provide answer keys.

I imagine that teachers find other ways to exploit the clips apart from the exercises I suggest.

I am always on the look-out for good videos, so if you have any links do let me know. I should also mention that I have a number of videos on the Y8 and Y9 pages of the site which may also suit GCSE classes. On occasion links to videos go dead, so I also ask teachers to let me know when this happens. It's often possible to find the same clips elsewhere.



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