French teacher James Dempsey from Maryfield College in Dublin has some top tips on how to round off your study as the Leaving Cert French exam approaches.
He came in to the Study Hub 2026 studio to share his expert advice - watch the video up top now.
James has more detailed notes and 5 Top Tips for the aural exam here!
What to do the night before…
- Remember that you're not starting off at zero. The oral exams took place in the Easter holidays, and you’ve already completed 20-25% of the exam, depending on grade.
- Quick revision of tenses, their roles in sentences, the temporal markers that trigger them, how to make them.
- Quick revision of pronouns: subject, direct object, indirect object, adverbial pronouns. How they are used, and always remember number and gender.
- Quick revision of reusable phrases for opinion writing and diary writing. Develop richness in your expression by looking for synonyms for common adjectives, verbs, etc.
What to do the morning of…
- Reread questions from multiple reading comprehensions to make sure you understand what the questions are actually asking.
- NB: Citez la phrase… = the full (usually brief) sentence. Citez l’expression… = part of the sentence. Trouvez le mot… = One word only.
- Learn off a handful of generic idiomatic phrases.
Study Hub 2026 content is available:
- Via RTÉ Podcasts here!
- In full on YouTube - press play up top to see this episode
- And in bitesize bits on RTÉ Radio 1's Instagram and TikTok
Visit RTÉ Learn for more great content ahead of the Leaving Cert - we are here to help!
