Modern Foreign Languages > French
Theme 2 Coursework – An Account of a Holiday

Approximately 150 words

You need to cover the following points:

• A description of your destination.
• How you travelled to that area.
• Your accommodation.
• Activities undertaken.
• Your opinion. (compare the area to where you live and say if you would like to return)

To do this successfully, you will need to write mainly in the past tenses. You will need the future and conditional tenses to say if you will/would return. You will need to use the words and phrases you have been taught in class and check everything carefully to avoid losing marks for unnecessary mistakes.

Which tense should I use?

• As a general rule, if you are talking about something which happened once or at a specific time, use the PERFECT TENSE. e.g. I travelled by train. Yesterday, I visited the cathedral. One day, we went to Paris.
• If you are describing something, giving your opinion or if you are talking about something that used to happen every day, use the IMPERFECT TENSE. e.g. The village was pretty. The hotel was lively. In my opinion it was too quiet. Every morning, we used to go to the beach. You also need the imperfect tense to talk about the weather and the time. e.g. It was sunny. It was 4pm.
• If you want to talk about what you will do next time, use the FUTURE TENSE. To say what you would like to do, use the CONDITIONAL TENSE.

Some useful words and phrases

Destination

Aller / Visiter / Choisir / Décider de	To go /to visit / to choose / to decide
Dans le nord /l’est / le sud / l’ouest de	In the north / east/ south / west of
Près de / loin de / entre	Near to /far from / between
La plage / la mer / la montagne / la campagne	The beach / the sea / the mountain / the countryside
C’est une ville/région connue / célèbre pour	The town /region is well known/ famous for
Intéressant(e) / sale / propre / anîmé(e) / joli(e)	Interesting /dirty/ clean / lively / pretty
Pittoresque / touristique / calme/ laid(e)	Picturesque / touristy / quiet / ugly
Le / la meilleur	The best thing
Le / la pire	The worst thing

Travel

En avion / bateau /aéroglisseur/ train/ voiture	By plane / boat / hovercraft / train /car
En car / taxi / autobus	By coach / taxi / bus
Partir / voyager / prendre / se mettre en route	To leave / to travel / to take / to start out
À …………….. heures	At ……………….. o’clock
Le ………… août	On the ………… .. of August
Le voyage a duré …… heures	The journey lasted ……… hours
C’était la première fois que …	It was the first time that ..
Passionnant / incroyable / inoubliable	Exciting / unbelievable / unforgettable
Ennuyeux / barbant / effrayant	Boring / boring / frightening
Pendant le voyage / le vol / la traversée	During the journey / the flight / the crossing
Lire / dormir / voir	To read / to sleep / to see

Accommodation

Un hotel de ….. étoiles	A …………. Star hotel
C’était / ce n’était pas comme prévu	It was /was not as expected.
J’aurais préféré	I would have preferred
Il faudrait payer ……. euros pour	We had to pay ….. euros for
Les facilités étaient ..	The facilities were ….
Pension complète / demi pension	Full board /half board

Activities

Pendant les vacances	During the holidays
Le matin / l’après-midi / le soir	In the morning /afternoon / evening
Tous les jours + Imperfect tense	Every day ( I used to …)
Un jour + Perfect tense	One day (one specific time)
Faire de la natation / de l’équitation / de la voile	To do swimming / horse riding / sailing
Faire du surf / du canoe-kayak /de la planche à voile	To do surfing / canoeing/ windsurfing
J’ai essayé …….. pour la première fois	I tried …………. For the first time
Je le / la recommanderais parce que ….	I would recommend it because …….
Il faisait chaud / froid / du soleil / du vent	It was hot / cold / sunny / windy
Il pleuvait / neigeait	It was raining / snowing
Je voulais ... mais à cause du temps on ne pouvait pas	I wanted to … but because of the weather I couldn’t
J’ai attrapé un coup de soleil / je me suis bronzé	I got sunstroke / a sun tan

Opinions

A mon avis	In my opinion
Je pense que / je crois que	I think that / I believe that
Je voudrais y retourner l’année prochaine	I would like to go back there next year
C’était plus / moins ……. que Manchester	It was more / less ….. than Manchester

Joining words and phrases

Malgré	In spite of
Au début (de) … / à la fin (de) ….	At the start (of) / at the end (of)
Donc	Therefore /then /so
Un peu plus tard	A bit later
Normalement / d’habitude / pendant	Normally / usually/ during
Après avoir + past participle	After having (done)
Avant de + infinitive	Before (doing)
Après ça	After that
Heureusement /malheureusement	Fortunately / unfortunately
Au lieu de	Instead of
D’abord	First
Mais	But