Topic 4: Travel and tourism — AQA GCSE French

Topic 4: Travel and tourism in French (AQA GCSE) explores the vocabulary and structures needed to discuss holidays, travel experiences, and tourism. You'll learn to describe past, present, and future trips, book accommodation, give opinions about destinations, and talk about environmental issues in tourism. This topic is essential for both the speaking and writing exams, as it appears frequently in role-plays, photo cards, and essay questions.

Mastering this topic allows you to use a range of tenses (present, perfect, imperfect, future, conditional) and opinions, which are key to achieving higher grades. You'll also develop cultural knowledge about French-speaking countries and their tourist attractions. The topic connects to broader themes like environment, technology (booking online), and healthy living (active holidays).

In the exam, you may be asked to compare different types of holidays, discuss advantages and disadvantages of tourism, or describe a memorable trip. Strong performance here demonstrates your ability to narrate, justify opinions, and use complex sentences—skills that examiners reward.

• →Holiday vocabulary: types of holidays (les vacances à la mer, à la montagne, en ville), accommodation (l'hôtel, le camping, la location), transport (en train, en avion, en voiture), and activities (faire du tourisme, se baigner, visiter des musées).
• →Using multiple tenses: present (je vais), perfect (je suis allé(e)), imperfect (c'était), future (j'irai), and conditional (je voudrais) to describe holidays across time.
• →Opinions and justifications: phrases like 'à mon avis', 'je pense que', 'selon moi' with reasons (parce que, car) and adjectives (intéressant, ennuyeux, magnifique).
• →Booking and transactions: vocabulary for reserving a hotel (réserver une chambre), asking about prices (combien ça coûte?), and dealing with problems (il y a un problème).
• →Environmental impact of tourism: terms like le tourisme durable, la pollution, protéger l'environnement, and discussing eco-friendly practices.

• Ability to identify and describe specific festivals (e.g., Fête des Mères, Fête des Rois, Fête du Travail, Jour de l'An, Saint-Sylvestre, Saint Valentin, Toussaint, veille de Noël, Pâques, poisson d'avril).
• Ability to use vocabulary related to celebrations (e.g., cadeau, fête, fêter, feux d'artifice).
• Ability to discuss religious aspects (e.g., église, mosquée, juif, musulman, religieux).
• Ability to express opinions about festivals and customs.
• Ability to use appropriate time frames (past, present, future) when narrating experiences of festivals.

• 💡Ensure you can use a variety of time frames to describe festivals you have attended or plan to attend.
• 💡Practice using opinion phrases (e.g., 'à mon avis', 'ça me plaît') in the context of cultural events.
• 💡Learn the specific vocabulary for religious and secular festivals provided in the specification.
• 💡In the speaking exam, be prepared to ask a question about festivals to the examiner.
• 💡Use communication strategies like paraphrasing if you forget a specific word for a custom or festival.
• 💡Use a range of tenses in your answers. For example, in a photo card, describe what you can see (present), what happened (perfect), what you used to do (imperfect), and what you will do next (future). This shows linguistic flexibility.
• 💡Always justify opinions with reasons. Instead of just saying 'j'aime les vacances à la plage', add 'parce que je peux me baigner et me détendre'. This demonstrates higher-level thinking.
• 💡Learn key phrases for the role-play: 'Je voudrais réserver une chambre pour deux nuits', 'Est-ce qu'il y a une piscine?', 'Combien ça coûte?'. Practise these with a partner to build fluency.

• Confusing the names of specific festivals or their dates.
• Over-reliance on pre-learnt responses in the speaking exam, failing to show spontaneity.
• Inability to use appropriate past or future tenses when describing a festival attended in the past or planned for the future.
• Lack of justification for opinions expressed about customs.
• Misconception: 'Je suis allé' is always correct for 'I went'. Correction: It must agree with gender and number: 'je suis allé' (male), 'je suis allée' (female), and with 'nous' or 'ils' the past participle changes (nous sommes allés, elles sont allées).
• Misconception: 'C'était' and 'c'étaient' are interchangeable. Correction: 'C'était' is used for singular nouns (c'était un bon hôtel), while 'c'étaient' is for plural (c'étaient de bonnes vacances).
• Misconception: 'Je voudrais' is the only way to say 'I would like'. Correction: You can also use 'j'aimerais' or 'je préférerais' for variety, which impresses examiners.