Well I just signed up for my Phonétique exam

31 May, 10h30, straight after Littérature Actuelle. 1/2 hour. This is what I'll have to do:

Part 1 - pull a passage out of a hat.

a. Read the passage. Marks taken off for dodgy pronunciation, hesitation, deviation, repetition, lack of expression, bursting into tears.

b. Practical questions about the text. e.g. Mes amis sont là. Should you do liaisons, if so where and why? (Mes amis sont là is the least of my worries, frankly!)

c. Questions about the course, which covered:

1) the disappearance of the amazing disappearing e, which also pops up into situations where it doesn't belong, like hymn-numbers, for example. Deux cent-er vingt-er sept.

2) liaisons, when to do them, when to not do them and when it doesn't matter either way.

3) how to speak in incredibly long sentences in one breath, going up for commas and down at the end, and zoom up and zoom down for emphasis and speak on a monotone to be slightly "arch"..

Part 2 - pull a tape out of a hat and

a. listen to it twice and make notes

b. do an oral summary of the tape for the "jury". (JURY???)

c. argue about the tape with the jury, losing marks for anything you say that's dodgy.

Nightmare! Cauchemar!