Notes · FrenchUK · A-Levels

The place of voluntary work

Le rôle du bénévolat closes AQA's current-trends theme. It asks who volunteers are and what they do, what volunteering is worth to those who are helped, and what it is worth to those who help. The notes set out the French associative landscape - les associations loi 1901, le bénévolat as distinct from le volontariat, le service civique and the major charities - and teach the vocabulary of commitment, the pronominal verbs of engagement (s'engager, s'investir, se dévouer) and the purpose clauses with pour que and afin que that this sub-theme constantly requires.

5 sections~24 min reading time4 competenciesLevel Standard 4 · Advanced 1

T·0333 / 15

Exam profile

AO1 · Understand and respond, in speech and in writing, to spoken French on volunteeringAO2 · Understand and respond, in speech and in writing, to written French on the associative sectorAO3 · Manipulate the language accurately, using a range of lexis and structureAO4 · Show knowledge of, and respond critically to, voluntary work in French-speaking society

Operators:traduirerésumerdécrirejustifierévaluerconvaincre

basic level

AS French (7651) includes this sub-theme within the current-trends theme, expecting students to describe what volunteers do and give reasons for volunteering.

higher level

The full A-Level expects evaluation: whether voluntary work compensates for or conceals the retreat of the state, and whether the benefit to the volunteer is a legitimate motive - argued in French with purpose and result clauses and the subjunctive.

Depth

Text

Contents · 5 sections

The place of voluntary work

Who volunteers and what they do: qui sont et que font les bénévoles ?#

StandardAQA 7652 3.1.1 - Le rôle du bénévolat : qui sont et que font les bénévoles ?DfE GCE modern foreign languages subject content

À qui profite le bénévolat ?

Fig. 1The three-way benefit that structures this sub-theme: AQA examines the value to those who are helped and the value to those who help as separate questions, with the societal gain as the argument that joins them.

Begin with a distinction that French makes and English does not. Le bénévolat is entirely unpaid and freely given: le bénévole donne de son temps sans aucune contrepartie financière. Le volontariat is a formal, contracted commitment, usually full-time and for a fixed period, which carries an allowance - une indemnité - without being a salaried job; le service civique, created in 2010 and open to young people aged roughly sixteen to twenty-five, is the best-known French example. Conflating the two is a genuine error of fact, not just of vocabulary, and examiners notice it. A third term, le militantisme, means activism for a cause and carries a political charge that bénévolat does not.

The institutional container for almost all of this is l'association loi 1901 - an association governed by the law of 1 July 1901 on the contract of association, which established freedom of association in France and remains the founding statute of the voluntary sector. The vocabulary is worth precision: une association à but non lucratif (non-profit), les statuts (the constitution), le conseil d'administration, le président and le trésorier, une assemblée générale, une subvention (a public grant), un don, and le mécénat (corporate sponsorship or patronage). Collectively the sector is called le tissu associatif or le monde associatif, and French commentary treats it as a pillar of la vie civique.

What volunteers actually do is best learned as concrete verb phrases, because examiners set listening passages in which real people describe real tasks. L'aide alimentaire: distribuer des repas, préparer des colis alimentaires, faire la collecte devant un supermarché. L'aide aux personnes: faire une maraude (going out at night to find and help rough sleepers), rendre visite à des personnes isolées, accompagner des personnes âgées, tenir compagnie. L'éducation: donner des cours de soutien, faire de l'aide aux devoirs, apprendre à lire à des adultes. Le sport et la culture: encadrer une équipe, arbitrer, organiser un festival, tenir une buvette. L'urgence et l'environnement: participer à une collecte, nettoyer une plage, être pompier volontaire - a French particularity, since a large majority of French firefighters are volunteers.

Name the major French organisations accurately, because concrete reference is what separates an AO4 band-five answer from a band-three one. Les Restos du Coeur were founded in 1985 by the comedian Coluche and run food distribution and the annual charity concert Les Enfoirés. Emmaüs was founded in 1949 by l'abbé Pierre and combines shelter with work through the collection and resale of second-hand goods. Le Secours populaire français and le Secours catholique both operate large networks of local branches. La Croix-Rouge française covers first aid, social aid and emergency response. Médecins sans frontières, founded in 1971, and Médecins du Monde work internationally. Naming two of these and saying precisely what they do is worth more than a paragraph of generalities.

Worked example

Translation into English: a volunteer speaks

Translate into English: « Je suis bénévole aux Restos du Coeur depuis quatre ans. Au début, je venais surtout pour occuper mes soirées ; je ne m'attendais pas à ce que cela change ma façon de voir les choses. Ce qui m'a frappé, c'est la dignité des gens que nous accueillons. »

Handle depuis with the present
Je suis bénévole... depuis quatre ans uses the present where English needs a perfect: I have been a volunteer for four years. This is a guaranteed marking point; a literal I am a volunteer since four years scores nothing.
Distinguish the two past tenses
je venais and je ne m'attendais pas are imperfects describing an ongoing state at the time: I used to come / I did not expect. Ce qui m'a frappé is a passé composé: what struck me. Mixing these up flattens the passage.
Deal with s'attendre à ce que
s'attendre à ce que + subjunctive means to expect that. Here the subjunctive change is invisible in translation, but you must not read s'attendre as to wait: it means to expect. Another classic false friend.
Keep the cleft
Ce qui m'a frappé, c'est la dignité... fronts the striking element. English: What struck me was the dignity... Preserve the structure; it is the emotional centre of the passage.
Choose the right verb for accueillir
les gens que nous accueillons - accueillir is to welcome or to receive. Here the people we welcome or the people who come to us; not the people we host.

Result: I have been a volunteer with the Restos du Coeur for four years. At the start I mainly came to fill my evenings; I did not expect it to change the way I see things. What struck me was the dignity of the people we welcome.

Typical mistakes

Calling a volunteer un volontaire when the context is unpaid, occasional help - that person is un bénévole.
Writing une charité for a charity; French uses une association or une organisation caritative, and la charité means the virtue of charity.

Active revision

Décrivez en français, en 100 mots, trois activités bénévoles concrètes et l'association française qui pourrait les proposer.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level French (7652) specification - subject content (AQA) · GCE AS and A level subject content for modern foreign languages (Department for Education)

The value for those who are helped: quelle valeur pour ceux qui sont aidés ?#

StandardAQA 7652 3.1.1 - Le rôle du bénévolat : quelle valeur pour ceux qui sont aidés ?DfE GCE modern foreign languages subject content

The first layer of value is material and immediate: un repas chaud, un colis alimentaire, un hébergement d'urgence, des vêtements, un accompagnement dans les démarches administratives. Use precise French for the recipients: les bénéficiaires is the neutral administrative term, les usagers is used for service users, and les personnes accueillies is the phrase associations themselves prefer because it avoids labelling. That choice of word is itself an examinable point: le vocabulaire employé traduit un regard - the words chosen reveal an attitude - and noticing it in a reading text is exactly the kind of inference AQA sets.

The second layer is relational, and it is the one that lifts an answer. Isolation is a French public-health preoccupation, and the associative sector frames much of its work as rompre l'isolement - breaking isolation. The relevant nouns are le lien social, l'écoute, la présence, la chaleur humaine, and le regard des autres. A volunteer who visits an elderly person weekly delivers almost nothing material; what is delivered is a relationship. Say it in French as: ce que le bénévole apporte n'est pas tant matériel qu'humain - note the elegant ne... pas tant... que construction, which is a strong AO3 marker.

The third layer is about dignity and autonomy, and it is where the critical argument lives. Aid can help or it can humiliate. French discussion distinguishes l'assistanat - a pejorative term for dependency-creating handouts - from l'accompagnement, which walks alongside someone towards autonomy. The associative principle that answers this is la solidarité rather than la charité: charity flows downwards from giver to receiver, solidarity is mutual and horizontal. Many French associations therefore involve beneficiaries in running the service. The phrase to learn is: il ne s'agit pas d'assister mais d'accompagner vers l'autonomie.

The strongest critical line available to you is about the state. In France, where public social provision is extensive, the growth of associative aid raises a real question: le bénévolat comble-t-il les failles de l'État-providence ou le dispense-t-il d'agir ? Does voluntary work fill the gaps in the welfare state or excuse it from acting? Both positions are defensible. The evidence for the first is that associations reach people the administration cannot; the evidence for the second is that food aid has become structural rather than emergency provision. Advancing this question, and then taking a side, is exactly what a critical and analytical response means in the mark scheme.

Worked example

Translation into French: the purpose clause

Translate into French: Many associations do not simply hand out food. They want the people they welcome to regain a little autonomy, so that they can eventually manage without help. In order to achieve this, volunteers accompany them in their dealings with the administration.

Choose the verb for hand out
distribuer de la nourriture is correct but flat; distribuer des denrées alimentaires or simply se contenter de distribuer des repas is better. do not simply = ne se contentent pas de + infinitive, an idiomatic upgrade well worth learning.
Recognise the subjunctive trigger
They want the people... to regain = vouloir que + subjonctif: elles veulent que les personnes accueillies retrouvent un peu d'autonomie. English uses an infinitive after want; French cannot when the subject changes. This is one of the most reliably tested points in the whole translation.
Choose the right so that
so that expressing purpose = pour que or afin que + subjonctif: afin qu'elles puissent un jour se passer d'aide. Note se passer de = to do without. If so that expressed result rather than purpose it would be de sorte que with the indicative - the distinction is examinable.
Handle in order to achieve this
Pour y parvenir - with the pronoun y replacing à cela. This is more idiomatic than pour réaliser cela and shows control of pronouns.
Handle dealings with the administration
The fixed French is les démarches administratives, and to help someone with them is accompagner quelqu'un dans ses démarches. Do not calque with les affaires avec l'administration.

Result: De nombreuses associations ne se contentent pas de distribuer des repas. Elles veulent que les personnes accueillies retrouvent un peu d'autonomie, afin qu'elles puissent un jour se passer d'aide. Pour y parvenir, les bénévoles les accompagnent dans leurs démarches administratives.

Typical mistakes

Describing recipients as les pauvres throughout; French associations and texts use les bénéficiaires or les personnes accueillies, and the register matters.
Presenting food aid as an emergency measure only, when the standard French critique is precisely that it has become permanent.

Active revision

Rédigez un paragraphe de 120 mots répondant à la question : « Le bénévolat comble-t-il les failles de l'État ou le dispense-t-il d'agir ? » Prenez position à la fin.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level French (7652) specification - subject content (AQA)

The value for those who help: quelle valeur pour ceux qui aident ?#

StandardAQA 7652 3.1.1 - Le rôle du bénévolat : quelle valeur pour ceux qui aident ?DfE GCE modern foreign languages subject content

Motivations divide neatly into three, and structuring them this way turns a list into an argument. Les motivations altruistes: rendre service, se rendre utile, agir pour une cause, redonner ce qu'on a reçu. Les motivations personnelles: rompre sa propre solitude, donner un sens à sa retraite, sortir de chez soi, surmonter une épreuve. Les motivations instrumentales: acquérir de l'expérience, étoffer son CV, se former, développer un réseau. All three are legitimate; the exam-worthy point is that French discussion is comfortable with mixed motives - on peut être à la fois généreux et intéressé - and a candidate who says so sounds mature rather than cynical.

The concrete gains are easy to name and easy to credit. Les compétences: le travail en équipe, la gestion de projet, la prise de parole en public, l'écoute active, la gestion d'un budget. Le parcours: many French employers value associative experience, and France has a formal mechanism, le compte d'engagement citoyen, which allows certain volunteering commitments to generate training entitlements. Le bien-être: volunteers regularly report l'estime de soi, le sentiment d'utilité, la fierté, and la rencontre de milieux qu'on n'aurait jamais croisés. Note the conditional perfect in that last phrase - qu'on n'aurait jamais croisés - an A-level structure used naturally.

For young people specifically, the French state has built structures worth naming. Le service civique, created in 2010, offers a mission of several months in the general interest with an allowance, open to sixteen to twenty-five year olds. Le service national universel, launched in 2019, combines a short residential stay with a period of voluntary commitment. Schools run des projets citoyens and many lycées have a conseil de la vie lycéenne. Being able to say, in French, that l'engagement des jeunes passe désormais moins par les partis que par les associations et les causes - that young people's commitment now runs less through political parties than through associations and causes - connects this sub-theme directly to the political-life theme.

The reflexive and pronominal verbs are the grammatical heart of this section, and they carry agreement traps. S'engager (dans une association, pour une cause), s'investir, se dévouer, se mobiliser, s'impliquer, se porter volontaire, se sentir utile. In compound tenses these take être and the past participle agrees with the subject: elle s'est engagée, ils se sont mobilisés. But beware the exception: when the pronoun is an indirect object, there is no agreement - elles se sont parlé, ils se sont rendu service. AQA's grammar list requires reflexive verbs and past-participle agreement explicitly, and this sub-theme is where they naturally appear.

Worked example

Justifying a personal commitment in the speaking test

The examiner asks: « Pourquoi les jeunes devraient-ils faire du bénévolat ? » Build a 45-second answer that argues rather than lists.

Refuse the flat list
A list of benefits scores in the middle bands. Open instead with a distinction: Il faut distinguer ce que le bénévolat apporte à la société de ce qu'il apporte au bénévole lui-même. That single sentence gives the answer a structure the examiner can hear.
Give the societal reason with a purpose clause
Les associations ne peuvent fonctionner sans bénévoles ; sans eux, des milliers de personnes resteraient sans aide. Note the conditional resteraient after an implied si-clause - an A-level structure in a natural place.
Give the personal reason honestly
Sur le plan personnel, l'engagement permet d'acquérir des compétences que l'école ne transmet pas : la prise de parole, le travail en équipe, la gestion d'un projet. Being concrete about skills is more persuasive than saying c'est enrichissant.
Concede the objection
Certes, on peut objecter que certains s'engagent surtout pour étoffer leur CV. Il n'en reste pas moins que le résultat, lui, est bien réel. Conceding then countering is the single most reliable way to reach the top AO4 band.
Close with a judgement, not a summary
En définitive, peu importe la motivation initiale : c'est l'engagement dans la durée qui compte. The cleft c'est... qui adds emphasis and structural range.

Result: Il faut distinguer ce que le bénévolat apporte à la société de ce qu'il apporte au bénévole lui-même. Les associations ne peuvent fonctionner sans bénévoles ; sans eux, des milliers de personnes resteraient sans aide. Sur le plan personnel, l'engagement permet d'acquérir des compétences que l'école ne transmet pas : la prise de parole, le travail en équipe, la gestion d'un projet. Certes, on peut objecter que certains s'engagent surtout pour étoffer leur CV. Il n'en reste pas moins que le résultat, lui, est bien réel. En définitive, peu importe la motivation initiale : c'est l'engagement dans la durée qui compte.

Typical mistakes

Writing j'ai engagé dans une association - the verb is pronominal: je me suis engagé(e) dans une association.
Treating instrumental motives (CV, experience) as shameful; French commentary treats them as normal and even desirable.

Active revision

Écrivez huit phrases en français au passé composé avec des verbes pronominaux d'engagement (s'engager, s'investir, se mobiliser, se sentir...), en veillant à l'accord du participe passé.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level French (7652) specification - subject content (AQA)

Le lexique et les tournures: the language of commitment#

StandardAQA 7652 3.1.1 - Le rôle du bénévolatAQA 7652 3.3 Grammar

The vocabulary blocks. Les acteurs: un(e) bénévole, un(e) volontaire, un(e) adhérent(e), un(e) donateur/donatrice, un(e) militant(e), une association, une ONG, une fondation. Les actions: donner de son temps, prêter main-forte, apporter son aide, s'occuper de, prendre en charge, encadrer, animer, collecter, distribuer, sensibiliser, récolter des fonds. Les valeurs: la solidarité, l'entraide, la générosité, l'altruisme, le dévouement, la citoyenneté, l'engagement, le sens du collectif. Les limites: le manque de moyens, le manque de bras, l'essoufflement des bénévoles, le turnover, la charge administrative, l'épuisement. That last block matters: an answer that acknowledges the fragility of the sector is more convincing than one that celebrates it uncritically.

Purpose is the dominant logical relation in this sub-theme - people volunteer in order to achieve something - so master the three ways to express it. With a change of subject, use pour que or afin que plus the subjunctive: les bénévoles distribuent des repas pour que personne ne dorme le ventre vide. With the same subject, use pour or afin de plus the infinitive: elle s'est engagée afin de se sentir utile. And with a negative purpose, use de peur que or de crainte que plus the subjunctive, optionally with the expletive ne: de peur que la situation ne s'aggrave. Choosing correctly between the que and the de forms depending on whether the subject changes is a precise, examinable skill.

Result and cause complete the toolkit. Result: si bien que, de sorte que (indicative when the result is real), au point que, tellement... que. Cause: parce que, car, puisque (for a known reason), étant donné que, grâce à (positive cause) and à cause de (negative cause). The grâce à / à cause de distinction is a classic marking point: grâce aux bénévoles, l'association a pu ouvrir tout l'hiver is positive; à cause du manque de moyens, elle a dû fermer is negative. Using à cause de for a positive outcome is a genuine error, not a stylistic preference.

Finally, learn a small set of persuasive frames, because this sub-theme frequently produces a card that asks you to convince. To urge: il est grand temps que + subjonctif, il faudrait que + subjonctif, on gagnerait à + infinitif, rien n'empêche de + infinitif. To value: cela vaut la peine de, le jeu en vaut la chandelle (idiomatic, it is worth it). To appeal to the interlocutor: ne serait-ce que pour... (if only to...), quitte à + infinitif (even if it means...). For example: Il est grand temps que les lycées valorisent l'engagement, ne serait-ce que pour montrer aux élèves qu'ils peuvent agir.

Worked example

Choosing between pour and pour que

Put the correct form in each gap and justify the choice: (1) Elle donne de son temps ___ aider les autres. (2) L'association organise une collecte ___ les familles puissent passer l'hiver. (3) Il s'est engagé ___ ne pas rester inactif. (4) On a créé ce dispositif ___ les jeunes découvrent le monde associatif.

Ask one question only: does the subject change?
If the person doing the purpose is the same as the person doing the main action, French uses pour or afin de plus an infinitive. If it is a different person, French must use pour que or afin que plus the subjunctive. That single test resolves every case.
Apply it to (1) and (3)
(1) Elle donne... elle aide - same subject, so pour aider. (3) Il s'est engagé... il ne reste pas inactif - same subject, so pour ne pas rester inactif. Note the position of the negative: it wraps the infinitive, ne pas rester, not ne rester pas.
Apply it to (2) and (4)
(2) L'association organise... les familles passent - different subjects, so pour que les familles puissent (subjunctive of pouvoir). (4) On a créé... les jeunes découvrent - different subjects, so pour que les jeunes découvrent (subjunctive of découvrir, which happens to look like the indicative in the third person plural - that is fine and still correct).
Check the subjunctive forms
puissent is the present subjunctive of pouvoir - an irregular form worth memorising alongside soient, aient, fassent, aillent, sachent, veuillent. These six carry most of the subjunctives you will ever need.

Result: (1) pour aider - same subject, infinitive. (2) pour que les familles puissent - subject changes, subjunctive. (3) pour ne pas rester - same subject, negative infinitive. (4) pour que les jeunes découvrent - subject changes, subjunctive.

Typical mistakes

Writing pour que + indicative: pour que les gens ont de la nourriture. It must be pour que les gens aient de la nourriture.
Using une organisation charitable as a calque; the standard French is une association caritative or simply une association.

Active revision

Écrivez six phrases sur le bénévolat : deux avec « pour que » + subjonctif, deux avec « afin de » + infinitif, une avec « grâce à » et une avec « à cause de ».

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level French (7652) specification - grammar (AQA)

En épreuve: the card, the summary and the translation#

AdvancedAQA 7652 4.4 Paper 1 - Listening, reading and writingAQA 7652 4.6 Paper 3 - Speaking, part one

This sub-theme produces a particular kind of listening passage: a personal testimony. AQA states that at least one listening passage involves more than one speaker and that questions target opinions, views, emotional reactions and personal experiences. Testimony passages reward two habits. First, track who is speaking; French speech marks this with alors moi, personnellement, pour ma part, en ce qui me concerne. Second, listen for the turning point, almost always signalled by au début... puis, à l'époque... maintenant, or ce qui a tout changé, c'est. Comprehension questions on testimony almost always target that pivot.

The reading section is more likely to give you an argumentative or institutional text: an association's appeal, a press piece on the fragility of the sector, an interview with a president of an association. Institutional French uses nominalisation heavily - la mobilisation des bénévoles, la reconduction du dispositif, la baisse des subventions - so practise unpacking a noun back into a verb, because comprehension questions usually ask about the action, not the noun. La baisse des subventions a contraint l'association à réduire ses activités means the grants fell, which forced the association to cut back.

For translation into French, this sub-theme brings a predictable set of items: to volunteer = faire du bénévolat or être bénévole (never volontariser); to raise money = récolter or collecter des fonds; to give up your time = donner de son temps; a charity = une association caritative; homeless people = les sans-abri or les personnes sans domicile fixe; to take care of = s'occuper de. Also expect a purpose clause, because the English of this topic is full of in order to and so that. Identify the subject of each purpose clause before you write a word.

For the card, prepare one concrete personal example, because the examiner will almost certainly ask whether you have volunteered. You do not need an impressive story: a school collection, coaching a younger team, helping at a local event is enough, provided you can say what you did in precise French and what you drew from it. Have ready one sentence of narrative in the passé composé, one of description in the imperfect, and one of evaluation in the present: J'ai participé à une collecte alimentaire. Nous étions une dizaine et il faisait un froid glacial. Depuis, je regarde autrement les gens qui font la queue.

Worked example

Unpacking a nominalised sentence in a reading text

A reading text contains: « La reconduction du dispositif dépendra de la mobilisation des bénévoles et du maintien des subventions publiques. » The question asks: De quoi dépend l'avenir du dispositif ? Answer it.

Identify the nominalisations
Three abstract nouns hide three verbs: la reconduction (on reconduit - the scheme is renewed), la mobilisation (les bénévoles se mobilisent), le maintien (on maintient les subventions - the grants are kept).
Rebuild the sentence as verbs
Le dispositif sera reconduit si les bénévoles se mobilisent et si les subventions publiques sont maintenues. Once rebuilt, the answer is obvious - which is precisely why the technique is worth practising.
Note the future tense
dépendra is future simple, so the question is about l'avenir. An answer in the present would be a comprehension error, not just a stylistic slip.
Answer with only what is asked
AQA is explicit that in comprehension questions you should give only the information required, and that padding with irrelevant material forfeits the mark. Two conditions are asked for; give exactly two.

Result: Il dépend de deux conditions : que les bénévoles continuent à se mobiliser et que les subventions publiques soient maintenues.

Typical mistakes

Inventing an elaborate volunteering history that collapses under follow-up questions; a small, precisely described experience scores better.
Translating to volunteer as se volontairer or volontariser - the French is faire du bénévolat, être bénévole or se porter volontaire.

Active revision

Préparez trois phrases sur une expérience bénévole réelle : une au passé composé (ce que vous avez fait), une à l'imparfait (le contexte), une au présent (ce que vous en retirez).

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA A-level French (7652) specification - scheme of assessment (AQA)

References & sources

Sources

AQA

Department for Education

GCE AS and A level subject content for modern foreign languages

The place of voluntary work

5 sections~24 min reading time4 competenciesLevel Standard 4 · Advanced 1

The place of voluntary work

Key points

Translation into English: a volunteer speaks

Key points

Translation into French: the purpose clause

Key points

Justifying a personal commitment in the speaking test

Key points

Choosing between pour and pour que

Key points

Unpacking a nominalised sentence in a reading text

Sources

The place of voluntary work

Key points

Translation into English: a volunteer speaks

Key points

Translation into French: the purpose clause

Key points

Justifying a personal commitment in the speaking test

Key points

Choosing between pour and pour que

Key points

Unpacking a nominalised sentence in a reading text

Sources