The world around us: Edexcel IGCSE French Skills and Techniques

The world around us covers five sub-topics that connect French language skills to the wider world: environmental issues, weather and climate, travel and transport, the media, and information and communication technology.

This is the theme in the Edexcel IGCSE (4FR1) French specification where you step outside personal experience and engage with bigger topics. You are still using practical, everyday language, but the subjects are broader: recycling, public transport, social media, and climate. For the igcse 4fr1 the world around us section, you need topic-specific vocabulary, opinion structures, and the ability to discuss advantages and disadvantages. These edexcel igcse french revision notes walk you through each sub-topic with the vocabulary, grammar, and practice you need.

Environmental issues

This sub-topic asks you to discuss environmental problems, solutions, and personal responsibility. It is an area where opinion language and the conditional tense come together naturally.

Essential vocabulary

Expressing what you do and what should be done

A strong response combines personal actions with wider suggestions:

Chez moi, on recycle le papier et le plastique, et on eteint les lumieres quand on quitte une piece. Je pense qu'il faudrait utiliser plus d'energies renouvelables et reduire notre consommation de plastique. Si tout le monde faisait un petit effort, on pourrait proteger la planete.

This paragraph uses the present tense for current actions, il faudrait (conditional of falloir) for suggestions, and the imperfect + conditional (si... faisait... pourrait) for a hypothetical. That grammatical range is exactly what the the world around us edexcel igcse area rewards in writing and speaking tasks.

Weather and climate

You need to describe weather conditions, discuss seasonal changes, and talk about how weather affects daily life. Weather vocabulary is also essential for Paper 1, where listening passages often include weather forecasts or descriptions of conditions during events.

Weather expressions

Weather expressions in French use three different constructions: il fait + adjective, il + verb, and il y a + noun. Make sure you know which pattern each weather word follows. Saying il fait pluie instead of il pleut is a common error that sounds unnatural and loses accuracy marks.

Weather in past and future tenses

You should also learn seasonal vocabulary: au printemps (in spring), en ete (in summer), en automne (in autumn), en hiver (in winter). These allow you to make general statements about climate: En hiver, il fait froid et il neige souvent dans le nord de la France.

Describing past weather uses the imperfect: Il faisait tres chaud et le soleil brillait. Predicting future weather uses the simple future: Demain, il pleuvra dans le nord. Practise both forms, because weather descriptions often appear alongside holiday narratives (past) and travel plans (future).

Travel and transport

This sub-topic covers modes of transport, journeys, and the advantages and disadvantages of different travel options. It is practical and appears regularly across all three papers in the edexcel igcse french explained curriculum.

Transport vocabulary

• le train / le TGV - the train / the high-speed train
• l'avion - the plane
• le bus / l'autobus - the bus
• le metro - the underground/metro
• le velo - the bicycle
• la voiture - the car
• le bateau / le ferry - the boat / the ferry
• a pied - on foot

Discussing advantages and disadvantages

A common writing or speaking task asks you to compare transport methods:

Je prefere le train parce que c'est rapide et confortable. En revanche, c'est assez cher. Le velo est bon pour la sante et pour l'environnement, mais ce n'est pas pratique quand il pleut.

The connectives en revanche (on the other hand) and mais create a balanced argument. For higher marks, use cependant (however), neanmoins (nevertheless), or bien que + subjunctive if you are comfortable with it.

The media

This sub-topic covers different types of media and their role in daily life. You should be able to discuss newspapers, television, radio, social media, and their influence on young people.

Media vocabulary

When discussing the media, you can express strong opinions: A mon avis, les reseaux sociaux peuvent etre dangereux pour les jeunes parce qu'il y a du cyberharcelement. D'un autre cote, ils permettent de rester en contact avec ses amis.

Information and communication technology

This overlaps with the media sub-topic but focuses more on how technology is used in daily life. You should discuss the benefits and drawbacks of technology, describe how you use devices, and express opinions about screen time.

Technology vocabulary

• un ordinateur - a computer
• un portable / un smartphone - a mobile phone
• une tablette - a tablet
• un site web - a website
• telecharger - to download
• un mot de passe - a password
• en ligne - online
• le cyberharcelement - cyberbullying

Expressing balanced views on technology

La technologie a beaucoup d'avantages. On peut faire des recherches pour l'ecole, communiquer avec des amis a l'etranger et regarder des films en streaming. Cependant, passer trop de temps devant un ecran peut etre mauvais pour la sante et pour les etudes.

Grammar structures for this theme

The world around us lends itself to several grammar structures that earn high marks:

Self-check: edexcel igcse french practice questions

Answer each question in French, aiming for three or four sentences. Try to include an opinion and a reason in every response.

• Que faites-vous pour proteger l'environnement? (What do you do to protect the environment?)
• Quel temps fait-il normalement dans votre pays en ete? (What is the weather normally like in your country in summer?)
• Comment voyagez-vous pour aller a l'ecole? Quels sont les avantages et les inconvenients? (How do you travel to school? What are the advantages and disadvantages?)
• Utilisez-vous les reseaux sociaux? Quels sont les avantages et les dangers? (Do you use social media? What are the advantages and dangers?)
• Pensez-vous que la technologie est une bonne chose pour les jeunes? Pourquoi ou pourquoi pas? (Do you think technology is a good thing for young people? Why or why not?)

The edexcel igcse french the world around us area rewards students who can express opinions with reasons, use a range of connectives, and handle the conditional and imperfect tenses. The vocabulary is topic-specific, so build your word banks by sub-topic and practise using them in full sentences. Regular practice with these edexcel igcse french practice questions will build both your vocabulary and your confidence for the exam.

What makes this theme distinctive is its emphasis on expressing views about issues that matter beyond your personal life. Environmental responsibility, the role of technology in society, the impact of media on young people: these are topics where you need to argue a point, not just describe a situation. That means opinion phrases, conditional structures, and balanced arguments become your most valuable tools. If you can combine personal examples (Chez moi, on recycle...) with broader proposals (Il faudrait que tout le monde...), you demonstrate the kind of linguistic range that earns the highest marks. Work through these revision notes systematically, practise each sub-topic with real writing and speaking tasks, and build the habit of expressing balanced views in accurate French. That combination of vocabulary, grammar, and exam technique is what separates strong candidates from average ones.