This module is about turning what you know into a piece of writing that answers a task. It covers four skills: planning around what the task asks, joining sentences, giving reasons for an opinion, and revising a draft with a checklist.
It follows the grammar modules in the French learning guide. The French pathway on this site is Foreign Language 0520, so check the current syllabus on the Cambridge page for how writing is assessed.
What does this module cover?
Original writing means you choose the ideas and words, rather than copying a model. The examiner reads whether you answered every part of the task, whether your French is accurate, and whether the text flows. These lessons train those three habits in small steps.
What should you know before you start?
You need simple sentences with correct agreement, as in sentence foundations and agreement. You also need the present tense from present-time expression and a first feel for the past and the near future from past and future meaning.
An orienting example
Task: write a short e-mail to a French friend about your town.
Salut Luc, j’habite à Ipoh, une ville tranquille dans le nord de la Malaisie. J’aime ma ville parce que la nourriture est délicieuse. Le week-end, je vais au marché avec ma famille, puis nous mangeons ensemble. Et toi, tu habites où ?
Notice what makes it work. There is a greeting and a question, so it reads like an e-mail.
Parce que gives a reason for the opinion. Puis shows the order of events. Every sentence uses grammar the writer controls.
In what order should you study the lessons?
- Plan a response around the actual task requirements: start here, because a perfect paragraph on the wrong question earns little.
- Connect short sentences into a coherent paragraph: once the content is chosen, learn to link it.
- Explain an opinion with a relevant reason: opinions need support, and this lesson shows what counts as support.
- Revise a short draft using a transparent self-review checklist: finish by checking your own work one item at a time.
Then try the integrated practice set, which mixes all four skills.
Which traps catch most learners?
- Starting to write before reading every bullet of the task.
- Answering in one tense when the task points to the past or the future.
- Linking every sentence with et, so the text never gets a shape.
- Giving a reason that only repeats the opinion.
- Reading a draft once and calling it checked.
How should you use the practice set?
Write each answer on paper before opening the worked solution. If you miss something, the practice page names the lesson to revisit. Then write a fresh paragraph on a different topic to test the same skill.
If you want a teacher to read your drafts with you, our online one-to-one French tuition starts from your own writing. After this module, speaking preparation and interaction applies the same planning habits to speech.