GCSE French Conversation Questions, by Theme

No one can tell you the exact questions in advance. AQA says pupils must not know beforehand which questions, theme or topic will come up. But the questions are predictable in kind. They're personal and concrete, they follow the specification's themes, and they ask about your life, your opinions, and what you did and will do. Practise answering questions like the ones below out loud, and the real ones will feel familiar.

The questions are grouped under AQA's three themes. Edexcel and Cambridge IGCSE organise the same ground into their own topic areas: see the Edexcel French and Cambridge IGCSE French guides. Taking Spanish? Here are the same questions in Spanish.

Is there still a "general conversation"?

Not as a separate part in the new GCSE. For AQA, the conversation comes straight after the photo card, on the same theme. For Edexcel, it follows the picture task, on the theme you chose two weeks before the exam. Cambridge IGCSE has two topic conversations of about four minutes each.

People and lifestyle

Identity and relationships with others

• Décris ta famille. Describe your family.
• Tu t'entends bien avec tes parents ? Pourquoi (pas) ? Do you get on well with your parents? Why (not)?
• Qu'est-ce qu'un bon ami, pour toi ? What makes a good friend, for you?
• Raconte-moi ton dernier week-end avec tes amis. Tell me about your last weekend with your friends.

Healthy living and lifestyle

• Comment est-ce que tu restes en forme ? How do you keep fit?
• Qu'est-ce que tu as mangé ce matin ? What did you eat this morning?
• Qu'est-ce que tu vas changer pour être plus en forme ? What are you going to change to get fitter?

Education and work

• Quelle matière est-ce que tu préfères, et pourquoi ? Which subject do you like best, and why?
• Décris une journée typique à ton collège. Describe a typical day at your school.
• Quels sont tes projets pour après les examens ? What are your plans for after your exams?
• Tu voudrais travailler dans un autre pays un jour ? Would you like to work in another country one day?

Popular culture

Free-time activities

• Qu'est-ce que tu aimes faire le week-end ? What do you like doing at the weekend?
• Tu as vu un bon film récemment ? Have you seen a good film recently?

Customs, festivals and celebrations

• Comment est-ce que tu fêtes ton anniversaire ? How do you celebrate your birthday?
• L'année dernière, tu as célébré quelle fête ? C'était comment ? Which celebration did you have last year? What was it like?

Celebrity culture

• Qui est ta célébrité préférée, et pourquoi ? Who's your favourite celebrity, and why?
• Tu penses que les célébrités sont de bons modèles pour les jeunes ? Do you think celebrities are good role models for young people?

Communication and the world around us

Travel and tourism, including places of interest

• Où est-ce que tu es allé(e) en vacances l'année dernière ? Where did you go on holiday last year?
• Pour les vacances, tu préfères partir à l'étranger ou rester chez toi ? For holidays, do you prefer going abroad or staying at home?
• Quel pays est-ce que tu aimerais visiter un jour ? Which country would you like to visit one day?

Media and technology

• Tu utilises ton portable pour faire quoi ? What do you use your phone for?
• À ton avis, quels sont les dangers des réseaux sociaux ? In your opinion, what are the dangers of social media?
• Tu pourrais vivre sans ton portable ? Could you live without your phone?

The environment and where people live

• Décris ta ville ou ton quartier. Describe your town or neighbourhood.
• Qu'est-ce que tu fais pour protéger l'environnement ? What do you do to protect the environment?
• Comment est-ce qu'on pourrait rendre ta ville plus agréable ? How could your town be made a nicer place to live?

How to turn any question into a top-band answer

Short, correct answers are safe, but they don't reach the top marks. Cambridge's examiners say so directly: "Accurate but brief answers do not give candidates the chance to access the higher marking bands." Use a three-step answer:

1. Answer and add a detail.
2. Give an opinion and a reason.
3. Move to another time frame: what you did, or what you're going to do.

Comment est-ce que tu restes en forme ? "Je joue au foot deux fois par semaine parce que c'est bon pour la santé et j'adore être avec mes copains. Le week-end dernier, j'ai fait une longue promenade avec mon chien, et l'année prochaine je vais essayer la natation."

That one answer gives a present, a past and a future. Edexcel's top band for the Higher conversation asks for "Consistently successful use of three timeframes". AQA's Higher top band asks for "Consistent good development with regular extended responses".

Practise them out loud

Reading the list isn't practice. Answering it out loud is. Ask someone to read questions to you at random. A parent can do this with the English beside each one, even without speaking French. Or record yourself answering five questions and play them back: did every answer have a reason and a second time frame? An AI examiner such as Tête-à-Tête asks conversation questions on your board's themes and follows up on what you say, as a real examiner does, so you practise answering the question you didn't expect.

Sources

Every board fact on this page was checked against these documents on 26 October 2026. The questions are our own.

• AQA GCSE French (8652): specification (themes and topics, the photo card conversation, the mark scheme)
• Pearson Edexcel GCSE French (1FR1): specification and sample assessment materials
• Cambridge IGCSE French (0520): syllabus for 2025–2027 and the principal examiner's report, June 2024