Education and work: Vocabulary in context
Vocabulary for education and work covers school, study and the world of work: nouns such as une matière (a school subject), l'emploi du temps (the timetable), un stage (a work placement), un métier (a job/profession) and le chômage (unemployment); verbs including réussir à un examen (to pass an exam), échouer à un examen (to fail an exam), redoubler (to repeat a year) and gagner sa vie (to earn a living); and the phrases used to talk about ambitions, such as je voudrais devenir plus job noun. Examiners test whether candidates can talk about present school life and future plans using accurate tense and vocabulary choices, not vague generalisations.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn subject and school-life nouns with gender: une matière, l'emploi du temps (masculine, always singular), les études (feminine plural), un cours (a lesson), un examen, la rentrée (the start of the school year).
- Learn the false friend un collège: in French it means a secondary school for 11 to 15 year olds, not a British or American collège - the closest French equivalent of an English sixth-form collège is un lycée.
- Learn the false friend un stage: it means a work placement or internship, not a stage/platform (which is une scène) - faire un stage means to do work experience.
- Learn the exam verbs precisely: réussir à un examen (to pass), échouer à un examen (to fail), rater un examen (informal, to fail/mess up), redoubler (to repeat a year) - all take a preposition or object differently, so learn each in a short phrase.
- Learn the work-related set: un métier/un emploi (a job), le chômage (unemployment), un CV, postuler pour un emploi (to apply for a job), un entretien d'embauche (a job interview), gagner sa vie (to earn a living), le salaire (the salary).
- Learn the ambition structure je voudrais devenir plus profession (no article before the job noun: je voudrais devenir professeur, not je voudrais devenir un professeur).
- Practise linking a subject you like to a future career with parce que, to show the examiner you can build reasoned opinions, not just list facts.
Worked example
Build a full answer to 'Que voudrais-tu faire comme métier, et pourquoi?' combining a job noun, an opinion and a reason.
- Choose the job noun and remember no article follows devenir: je voudrais devenir infirmière.
- Add a reason linked to a subject you study: parce que je suis forte en sciences.
- Extend with a further justification using a set phrase: et j'aime aider les autres.
- Add a plan expressed with a near-future or simple-future verb: après le lycée, je vais faire un stage dans un hôpital.
- Combine into one continuous answer: 'Je voudrais devenir infirmière parce que je suis forte en sciences et j'aime aider les autres. Après le lycée, je vais faire un stage dans un hôpital.'
Practice questions
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Q1What does un collège mean in French, and how does this differ from the English word 'collège'?Show answer
Answer: It means a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 15; it does not mean a sixth-form or higher-education collège, which is un lycée or une université.
Q2Translate into English: 'Mon frère a rate son examen de maths.'Show answer
Answer: My brother failed his maths exam.
Q3Give the French verb meaning 'to repeat a year' at school.Show answer
Answer: redoubler
Q4Translate into French: 'I would like to become a doctor.'Show answer
Answer: Je voudrais devenir médecin.
Q5What is un stage, and what English word does it NOT mean?Show answer
Answer: A work placement/internship; it does not mean a stage or platform, which is une scène.
Q6Give one French phrase meaning 'to apply for a job.'Show answer
Answer: postuler pour un emploi
Q7What is the gender of chômage, and what does it mean?Show answer
Answer: Masculine - le chômage means unemployment.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Lisez ce texte, puis répondez aux questions en anglais. 'L'année dernière, j'ai fait un stage de deux semaines dans une école primaire, et cela m'a donné envie de devenir professeur des écoles. Cette année, je travaille dur car je dois réussir mes examens pour aller au lycée. Ma soeur, elle, a déjà quitté le lycée et elle cherche un emploi, mais c'est difficile a cause du chômage dans notre région.' (a) What did the writer do last year, and for how long? (2 marks) (b) What career ambition did this give the writer? (1 mark) (c) Why is the writer working hard this year? (1 mark) (d) What problem is the writer's sister facing, and why? (2 marks)
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Translate this passage into English: 'Après avoir échoué à son premier entretien d'embauche, mon cousin a décidé de faire un stage pour améliorer son CV. Il espère gagner sa vie comme ingénieur, mais il sait qu'il faut d'abord réussir ses examens.'
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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