Being sick is no joke , as a result as early as niveau A1 we are introduced to expressions relating to the parts of the body and going to the doctor . In the production orale section of the exam you might come across an option to do a role play under ‘La consultation chez le médecin’ in french.This guide is useful for any french exam that follows the CEFR scale of languages, such as the DELF, TCF, TEF.
In the DELF A1 You will be asked to speak for 3 minutes. While in the DELF A2 you will be asked to speak for 5 minutes.
You will need to know:
- 1.the vocabulary that relates to body parts and symptoms
- 2.how to speak about a problem relating to your body
- 3.how to make, cancel and postpone an appointment
Vocabulary relating to making, canceling and postponing an appointment can be placed under transferable knowledge. Meaning that the same sentence structure can be used to make an appointment at the dentist, the hairdresser etc. We will look at it a little more later.
How to plan your role play
If it is to make a doctor’s appointment by telephone here are a few things to remember during the time they will give you to prepare:
- 1. Who are you calling? ( If you are lucky you might be able to get the receptionist of your doctor, however If it is a medical center or cabinet médical, you might have to know the name of your doctor)
- 2. Who are you? ( always remember that you will need to identify yourself, never assume that they know who you are)
- 3. Why are you calling? ( You need to tell them why you are calling: is it to make an appointment, postpone an appointment or cancel an appointment?)
- 4. When are you available and when do you want the doctor’s appointment for? ( this is important because the time when you would like the appointment the doctor might not be available so you will need to be able to suggest another date and time if necessary)
Remember while it is good to plan your role play in advance, it is also necessary to be flexible and to have different possible answers available. In addition respect the order of the conversation.
Useful Expressions include:
To ask for an appointment we can say:
Je désirerais prendre rendez-vous avec………s’il vous plait
Je voudrais ( prendre) un rendez-vous avec… s’il vous plait
Je voudrais voir le docteur x.. s’il vous plait
To find out when it is possible to have the appointment we can say :
Quand le docteur peut-il me recevoir ?
C’est possible de venir….
Je pourrais venir…..
To accept or refused the proposed time, we can say:
Oui, ça va. C’est noté.
Non, ça ne va pas.
Oui d’accord
Non, je suis desole(e), je ne suis pas libre a cette heure-la
Example of Dialogue
Example of Dialogue, with expressions that are indispensable in bold and parts of the sentence that is interchangeable in italics.
Téléphonez à l’hôpital Prive de Parly II pour prendre rendez-vous avec un docteur.
Employé: Hôpital Prive de Parly II, bonjour. Je peux vous aider?
Le patient: Bonjour Monsieur (ou Madame). Je voudrais un rendez-vous avec docteur Renault s.v.p.
Employé: Alors, les heures de consultation sont le lundi de 9h à 10 h et le jeudi de 13h30 à 14h30.
Le patient: C’est possible de venir jeudi?
Employé: Oui, c’est urgent? ( – Non, il n’y a pas de place.)
Le patient: Non, pas vraiment, c’est pour un contrôle / (Oui, j’ai mal au ventre et je suis inquiet/inquiète.)
Employé: Le jeudi 12 juin à 10h, ça vous convient?
Le patient: Oui, ça va. C’est noté. .. Employé: Votre nom, s.v.p?
Le patient: LePont. Emile LePont Employé: Merci et au revoir.
References
To help you along you can check out the video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wou8GM8n6nw
Other Resources:
Websites:
http://lexiquefle.free.fr/vocab.swf
For practice for listening comprehension: Check out ‘La consultation chez le médecin’Tv5monde.com
Podcast:
1. Learn french by Podcast:
A really good example of making and canceling a doctor’s appointment is :
2. Yabla French- Manon et Clementine- Rendez-vous chez le medicin. It was released September 6, 2013.
This can be found on itunes under Yabla french.