State your position, support it with two or three arguments and examples, and close. No preparation time.
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A monologue with a visible skeleton
Tâche 3 draws a short prompt on a general or social theme and asks you to argue a position for around four and a half minutes. It is the longest stretch of uninterrupted French in the exam, and the examiner is listening for structure at least as much as for language.
The safest plan has four movements and works for any theme. Announce, argue twice, concede, conclude. Said out loud with connectors between the movements, it sounds prepared even when the topic is a surprise.
1. Reformulate and announce
Le sujet nous demande si… Selon moi,… Ten seconds, and the examiner already knows where you are going.
2. First argument plus example
D’abord,… Par exemple, dans mon pays… The example is not decoration, it is what makes the argument count.
3. Second argument plus example
Ensuite, il ne faut pas oublier que… Choose an argument of a different kind from the first: practical after social, personal after general.
4. Concession
Certes, on peut objecter que…, mais… One sentence. This is the cheapest way to show nuance.
5. Conclusion
Pour conclure, je pense que… Restate the position in different words, then stop and stay quiet.
The connectors that hold a monologue together
Spoken argument in French is signposted much more explicitly than in English. The connectors below are not filler; they are what tells the examiner which movement of your plan you are currently in, and they give you a fraction of a second to think.
Announcing a position
- À mon avis · Selon moi
- Je suis convaincu que…
- Il me semble évident que…
Ordering the arguments
- tout d’abord · ensuite · enfin
- d’une part · d’autre part
- de plus · par ailleurs
Conceding and concluding
- certes…, mais…
- même si · bien que (+ subjonctif)
- en somme · pour conclure
Themes that keep coming back
The prompts stay inside a small set of everyday social questions, so preparing vocabulary by theme pays off quickly. Work through these six and you will rarely be caught without words: technology and screens in daily life, work and the balance with private life, the environment and individual habits, education and how children should be taught, city life against life in the country, and health, food and sport.
Checklist for the monologue
- A position announced in the first fifteen seconds.
- Two arguments of different kinds, each with a concrete example.
- One concession, then a return to your side.
- A conclusion that reformulates rather than repeats.
- Connectors between every movement, said clearly.
- The full time used, without rushing the last sentence.
For the concession structures with bien que and for comparison, see connectors and cause and comparison in the grammar guide. If the sounds rather than the structure are what slow you down, the rhythm and stress section is the one that makes a monologue easiest to follow.
Questions people ask
What if I have no opinion on the topic?
Choose one anyway, in the first five seconds, and choose the side you can argue with the vocabulary you have. You are not graded on the sincerity of the view, only on how clearly you build and support it.
Should I present both sides?
Briefly, as a concession, then return to your own side. Certes…, mais… is enough. A monologue that stays balanced to the end has not defended a point of view, which is what the task asks for.
What do I do if I finish early?
Add a third argument, or develop the example you gave. A useful reserve is a personal illustration: Je pense par exemple à ce qui se passe dans ma ville… Never end at half the time.