GCSE French Vocabulary: The Environment and Where People Live

The reformed GCSE French is built on a defined vocabulary list: the DfE subject content requires about 1,200 words and phrases for Foundation tier and a further 500 for Higher tier, most of them chosen for their frequency in modern French, and every reading, listening and writing task is written from that list. Each exam board publishes its own list; the words here are taken from AQA's list, the most widely taught, and most of them are high-frequency words found on other boards' lists as well. This material works on the words of one topic: the environment and where people live — town, village and countryside, neighbourhoods, suburbs and neighbours, traffic and cleanliness, and the environmental words for rubbish, recycling, pollution, global warming and endangered species.

The quiz has twelve questions. Each shows a short French sentence with one word or phrase in capitals, and you choose its English meaning from four options. The sentences give context, so you practise the skill the reading paper also tests: working out meaning from the rest of the sentence. The words tested are le quartier, la banlieue, les déchets, les voisins, le réchauffement, jeter, tranquille, propre, l'arbre, la circulation, and two Higher words: l'espèce and sauver. Words marked Higher tier are on the Higher list only. The explanation of each question gives the meaning, related forms and, where useful, the word that is often confused with it.

The flashcards give eighteen words and phrases with their English meanings: la ville, le village and la campagne, le quartier, la banlieue, le voisin, la maison and l'appartement, le magasin and le jardin, tranquille, propre and sale, la circulation, l'environnement and la planète, le réchauffement de la planète, les déchets, recycler and jeter, la pollution and polluer, protéger, l'arbre and la nature, plus Higher words.

The written work has eight tasks to complete on paper: translating sentences both ways, a gap-fill text about a neighbourhood, a short reading text about a teenager living near Marseille with questions in English, opposites and a comparison of town and countryside, a 50-word paragraph about where you live and what you do for the environment, working out derived words (protection, habitant, recyclage, propreté), and explaining the two meanings of propre and circulation. Each task comes with a model answer and marking points.

All sentences and texts are original and use high-frequency vocabulary; nothing is taken from any exam paper. Use the flashcards first, then the quiz to test yourself in context, then the written tasks to use the words actively.

• Understand and use key words for towns, villages and neighbourhoods
• Describe where you live with tranquille, propre, sale and la circulation
• Understand and use key environmental words such as déchets, recycler and réchauffement
• Work out the meaning of a word from its sentence context
• Recognise derived forms such as habitant and recyclage

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the DfE GCSE subject content for French, German and Spanish (September 2025 version: vocabulary requirements) and the AQA GCSE French (8652) vocabulary list (topics: The environment and where people live).