Choose one or two symptoms you can see in your own French, match them to a skill in the table below, and bring a real example to the first lesson. A focused hour teaches more than a survey. This page helps you choose that focus before you begin.
The subject is Cambridge IGCSE French (Foreign Language), code 0520. The learning guide shows the full topic map, and the tuition page explains how the trial works.
How can you find your likely starting point?
Take your most recent marked work, or a fresh attempt if you have none. Ask these four questions.
- Did I understand what was asked? If not, the gap is in reading or listening for the task, not in writing or speaking.
- Did I cover every required point? If not, the gap is in planning a response to the task.
- Could a reader or listener follow me? If not, the gap is in connecting ideas and giving reasons.
- Was my French accurate enough to be clear? If not, the gap is in sounds, agreement, verb forms or tenses.
Work from the first question downward. Fixing a listening slip first is usually worth more than polishing sentences in an answer that responds to the wrong detail.
Which symptom points to which skill?
| What you notice | Likely skill | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| People do not understand my pronunciation | Sound and intelligibility | Sound, spelling and intelligibility |
| I spell words as they sound and lose accuracy | Sound-spelling links | Sound, spelling and intelligibility |
| Articles, adjectives and verbs do not agree | Agreement | Sentence foundations and agreement |
| My verbs are wrong even in simple sentences | Present tense | Present-time expression |
| I mix up past events and background description | Past and future | Past and future meaning |
| I copy a sentence from the text that does not answer the question | Finding the detail | Reading for meaning |
| I cannot guess a word from context | Inference | Reading for meaning |
| I write the wrong number or time | Listening for detail | Listening for key information |
| I miss that a plan was corrected | Listening for changes | Listening for key information |
| My paragraph is a list of separate sentences | Connecting and organising | Developing an original written response |
| My speaking answers are one sentence | Extending a response | Speaking preparation and interaction |
| I freeze when I do not know a word | Asking for clarification | Speaking preparation and interaction |
| I run out of things to say on a topic | Topic language | Everyday routines and arrangements and people and personal experiences |
| I understand each skill alone but cannot combine them | Integration | Integrating language skills |
If two symptoms compete, pick the one earlier in the list. Understanding the task and having secure foundations supports almost everything else.
What does a good first-lesson plan look like?
A plan that can be completed in one hour, using your own work, has four parts.
- Warm-up (5 minutes): you explain the task you found hardest and what you think went wrong.
- Diagnosis (15 minutes): the teacher reads or listens to your French and asks questions to separate what you understood from what you produced.
- Repair (30 minutes): you redo one sentence, one listening answer or one speaking response while the teacher watches and asks for reasons.
- Next steps (10 minutes): you agree one habit to practise before the next lesson.
The trial agenda builder produces a plan like this from your own answers. Afterward, the post-trial reflection guide helps you decide if the hour was useful.
What should you bring?
Choose items that show your real habits, not your strongest work.
- One short paragraph or message you wrote in French, with comments if you have them.
- One listening or reading question you got wrong and cannot explain.
- A speaking topic or question you find hard to develop.
- Your code and exam year. The assessment guide shows what to check.
Your writing and speaking remain your own. The teacher shows you how to see and repair problems, and you produce the repairs.
What if you want to try something before the trial?
You can test a focus on your own first. Choose one symptom, read the relevant lesson, and attempt a short task from the original practice sets.
The private speaking recorder lets you record an answer and listen back on your own device. If your result is still unclear after two or three attempts, that is a good sign a teacher could help.