This exam tips covers Exam Tips & Common Errors within Media and technology for GCSE French. Revise Media and technology in Theme 3: Communication and the World Around Us for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 16 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 4 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
💡 Exam Tips & Common Errors
- Always use les réseaux sociaux (plural) — writing "le réseau social" for social media generally sounds wrong. The plural form is the standard.
- For writing tasks, structure your answer: use → benefits → drawbacks → personal opinion with justification. This maps directly onto AO2 communication marks.
- The imperfect vs perfect contrast is tested here: use imperfect for past habits ("avant, on regardait la télé") and perfect for specific completed past events ("j'ai regardé un film hier soir").
- Include both avantages and inconvénients for higher-level answers — one-sided responses limit your AO2 mark ceiling.
- Don't confuse envoyer un mail (to send an email) with envoyer un message (to send a text/message). Both are useful but distinct.
❌ Common error: J'ai perdu mon mobile.
✓ Correct: J'ai perdu mon portable.
Why it costs marks: English-speaking students write le mobile because "mobile" exists in English. In standard French, the correct everyday word for a mobile phone is un portable. While un mobile technically exists in French, it is rarely used for a phone and can confuse a French reader (it more often means "motive" or "mobile art"). Using le portable demonstrates authentic lexical knowledge.
❌ Common error: Je regarde les informations dans internet.
✓ Correct: Je regarde les informations sur internet.
Why it costs marks: The correct preposition with internet is sur (on/over): sur internet, surfer sur internet, trouver quelque chose sur internet. Using dans (in) is an anglicism based on "on the internet".
Practice questions for Media and technology
What does 'le portable' mean in French?
A student reads: 'Je lis le journal chaque matin.' What does 'le journal' mean here?