TEF :(

[SumH12]

I have the diploma of French translator and I hope I can pass French for cbl 7 in order to participate in Ontario french speaking stream. I live in Ukraine and there are not a lot information about TEF. For example I was surprised that par A and b of speaking and writing have the same value in mark) I speak french fluently but I do not have the experience of passing this exam. currently I have lessons in order to prepare for EE (i know I can pass it for Cbl 7 because in December i passed TEF Quebec and received cbl 7 for speaking)
As for EO i can not find information about topics and requirements as there is for IELTS
I passed IELTS firs try for 6, 7, 8, 7 after one week of preparation
Thank you very much for your help

I suggest you take a look at the following link:
https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/
Also: application Français 3.0

I totally understand you... TEF is not only about knowing the language, it is also about giving references and examples to your points of view. It is important to be familiar with the exam format. Bonne chance!

 

[Holyange]

Hi Helene,
I presume your B2 was for the writing task? Here are the writing tasks I got in my test:

A) Fait Divers
Une jeune femme en robe de mariée faisait de l'auto-stop...
B)Ecrire une lettre en réponse à un journal
Les jeunes de 25-30 ans qui vivent toujours chez leurs parents, le font par facilité et fainéantise

For additional themes, take a look at this youtube channel:

Cheers.

@Peacekeeper87 Can you please post the link of the videos or the channel? I tried to open the video but it says “video unavailable” I am looking for tips to improve my French writing skills. I am retaking the test in December. Thank you! I got C1 in reading and listening except writing. Thank you again.

 

[Peacekeeper87]

@Peacekeeper87 Can you please post the link of the videos or the channel? I tried to open the video but it says “video unavailable” I am looking for tips to improve my French writing skills. I am retaking the test in December. Thank you! I got C1 in reading and listening except writing. Thank you again.

Hmmm weird. Video got taken down for some mysterious reason.
I'll dig in on writing practice tests and get back to you.

 

[Holyange]

Hmmm weird. Video got taken down for some mysterious reason.
I'll dig in on writing practice tests and get back to you.

Thank you!!!

 

[Holyange]

Hmmm weird. Video got taken down for some mysterious reason.
I'll dig in on writing practice tests and get back to you.

@Peacekeeper87 I hope you did not forget about me. Any tips for TEF writing will be appreciated. Thanks again. I am retaking the exam in 2 weeks.

 

[Bronwen]

Hi all, I've just taken the TEF for the second time, and once again just missed the magic 310 on the speaking test (all the others were fine). I am gutted at the prospect of having to go through it again!

I'm quite perplexed, as I felt as though the test was going well - I spoke plenty, managed to carry on the conversation and I don't think I made too many errors.

If possible, I would like to request a re-mark or explanation of my results - has anyone tried this?

Alternatively does anyone have any tips for maximising points on the oral exam? TIA

 

[Holyange]

Hi all, I've just taken the TEF for the second time, and once again just missed the magic 310 on the speaking test (all the others were fine). I am gutted at the prospect of having to go through it again!

I'm quite perplexed, as I felt as though the test was going well - I spoke plenty, managed to carry on the conversation and I don't think I made too many errors.

If possible, I would like to request a re-mark or explanation of my results - has anyone tried this?

Alternatively does anyone have any tips for maximising points on the oral exam? TIA

Hello the first time I took the TEF test I got 217 for my speaking. The second time I got 394.My advice is to practice your speaking using a YouTube channel called propulse training. She has a lot of videos where she stimulates the speaking parts with students and she has good tips. Also practice by timing yourself and recording your voice. By doing that you will see how fluent your are or how confident you are when you speak . Also you can use David leblanc channel for some types of questions and responses for speaking part 1. What review materials did you use for your TEF preparation ? I used prepmyfuture and it prepared me very well for my second time. Good luck!

 

[SumH12]

Also practice by timing yourself and recording your voice. By doing that you will see how fluent your are or how confident you are when you speak .

This is a really good tip.

 

[Bronwen]

Hello the first time I took the TEF test I got 217 for my speaking. The second time I got 394.My advice is to practice your speaking using a YouTube channel called propulse training. She has a lot of videos where she stimulates the speaking parts with students and she has good tips. Also practice by timing yourself and recording your voice. By doing that you will see how fluent your are or how confident you are when you speak . Also you can use David leblanc channel for some types of questions and responses for speaking part 1. What review materials did you use for your TEF preparation ? I used prepmyfuture and it prepared me very well for my second time. Good luck!

Thanks, those are great tips! I can only dream of getting 394! I have also been using PrepMyFuture, but mainly to practice listening and reading, and it was especially good for the writing practice exercises. I have been chatting twice a week for an hour with French language partners. I can converse with them quite easily, so I was really surprised that I only improved from 278 to 303 in the speaking test. I also listen to RFI every day, read French newspapers online and do Duolingo.

I will definitely check out those channels, and try recording myself, thanks again.

 

[fmr225]

Hi all, I've just taken the TEF for the second time, and once again just missed the magic 310 on the speaking test (all the others were fine). I am gutted at the prospect of having to go through it again!

I'm quite perplexed, as I felt as though the test was going well - I spoke plenty, managed to carry on the conversation and I don't think I made too many errors.

If possible, I would like to request a re-mark or explanation of my results - has anyone tried this?

Alternatively does anyone have any tips for maximising points on the oral exam? TIA

Hello, I have tried a remark and wouldn't recommend. My speaking test was a mess thanks to one of the interviewers only, who made the exact same question 4 times, ruining the flow of a normal conversation. Since I had got C1, C1, B2 in the other modules, and also did good with the first interviewer, I thought I had a pretty good case, given the circustances. Waste of money. I actually gave up after this episode.

 

[Bronwen]

Hello, I have tried a remark and wouldn't recommend. My speaking test was a mess thanks to one of the interviewers only, who made the exact same question 4 times, ruining the flow of a normal conversation. Since I had got C1, C1, B2 in the other modules, and also did good with the first interviewer, I thought I had a pretty good case, given the circustances. Waste of money. I actually gave up after this episode.

Oh no! How frustrating! You're really at the mercy of the local examiners for the speaking component. Maybe you'd get a better result at a different centre?

I'm going to do some serious exam-focussed speaking practice, take the exam again in 6 weeks, and if the results are still not good enough I'll take it further.

 

[Bronwen]

Hello, I have tried a remark and wouldn't recommend. My speaking test was a mess thanks to one of the interviewers only, who made the exact same question 4 times, ruining the flow of a normal conversation. Since I had got C1, C1, B2 in the other modules, and also did good with the first interviewer, I thought I had a pretty good case, given the circustances. Waste of money. I actually gave up after this episode.

Hi fmr225,

How do you request the remark? Do you ask your local exam location or the head office in Paris and do you need to pay for this?

I am seriously thinking about it, as I was less than 2% off my target, and I would really very much rather not have to take the test for a third time (sigh)!

 

[Camilarodign]

I started studying French from scratch on 22 nov 2017. I scheduled my test on 27 mar 2018. As I just had around 4 months to study, I studied hard. I bought an online course called cursodefrancesonline.com.br (is for Brazilian mainly, although it's possible to study from other mother tongue). There, I studied mainly writing (which they offered correction by french teachers for every unit studied), grammar, listening and reading. For the speaking skill, I started having classes with Iya (a Ukrainian girl who knows everything about TEF, TEFaQ, TCF, DALF, DELF, actually she is an examinatrice). She is quitte expensive for Brazilians, but I paid the price. I had 12 classes within those 4 months. She also helped me to tackle with writing test which I had to write by myself and she corrected before classes.

I used a piece of software to calculate how much time I spent studying not only on my mobile but also on my computer (RescueTime) and during this time I'd studied for around 550 hours and had those 12 hours of online private classes.

My results were:

COMPRÉHENSION ÉCRITE 259 C1 CLB 9
COMPRÉHENSION ORALE 271 B2 CLB 7
EXPRESSION ÉCRITE 308 B2 CLB 6
EXPRESSION ORALE 205 B1 CLB 4

I had to stop learning french because I needed to get my CLB 9 in the IELTS test. So, I tried the IELTS the first time on 10 apr 2018, without studying, and I got an overall 6.5, so I saw what I needed to focus on. I retested on 28 sep 2018 and got the CLB 10 (=D), and then switched to French again. I started studying seriously on 05 dec 2018 to revise everything, all the grammar again until advanced level.

From 01 feb 2019 I've been studying the test format again. I bought 7 private classes with Iya. 10 classes with another Brazilian teacher and other 15 classes with other two French teachers. I wanted to mix not to be stuck in one way of thinking. Moreover, I'm taking online virtual classes everyday in a new type of classes in cursodefrancesonline.com.br, there are 4 conversational class per day, with guided speaking, so I really hope to achieve the 310 I need in Writing and speaking. If I would say the total of hours I studied, I'd say almost 900 hours. I will retake the test on 13 mar 2019 and if I need to do it again, I'll redo on 07 july 19.

I really appreciate the links and sources you all have shared here. Thank you so much!

As soon as I have my new results I'll come back here.

But just to clarify, I think it is possible to get a CLB 7 in every skill as long as you study hard. I suggest to count your time and be strategist.

 

[Hopeful007]

I started studying French from scratch on 22 nov 2017. I scheduled my test on 27 mar 2018. As I just had around 4 months to study, I studied hard. I bought an online course called cursodefrancesonline.com.br (is for Brazilian mainly, although it's possible to study from other mother tongue). There, I studied mainly writing (which they offered correction by french teachers for every unit studied), grammar, listening and reading. For the speaking skill, I started having classes with Iya (a Ukrainian girl who knows everything about TEF, TEFaQ, TCF, DALF, DELF, actually she is an examinatrice). She is quitte expensive for Brazilians, but I paid the price. I had 12 classes within those 4 months. She also helped me to tackle with writing test which I had to write by myself and she corrected before classes.

I used a piece of software to calculate how much time I spent studying not only on my mobile but also on my computer (RescueTime) and during this time I'd studied for around 550 hours and had those 12 hours of online private classes.

My results were:

COMPRÉHENSION ÉCRITE 259 C1 CLB 9
COMPRÉHENSION ORALE 271 B2 CLB 7
EXPRESSION ÉCRITE 308 B2 CLB 6
EXPRESSION ORALE 205 B1 CLB 4

I had to stop learning french because I needed to get my CLB 9 in the IELTS test. So, I tried the IELTS the first time on 10 apr 2018, without studying, and I got an overall 6.5, so I saw what I needed to focus on. I retested on 28 sep 2018 and got the CLB 10 (=D), and then switched to French again. I started studying seriously on 05 dec 2018 to revise everything, all the grammar again until advanced level.

From 01 feb 2019 I've been studying the test format again. I bought 7 private classes with Iya. 10 classes with another Brazilian teacher and other 15 classes with other two French teachers. I wanted to mix not to be stuck in one way of thinking. Moreover, I'm taking online virtual classes everyday in a new type of classes in cursodefrancesonline.com.br, there are 4 conversational class per day, with guided speaking, so I really hope to achieve the 310 I need in Writing and speaking. If I would say the total of hours I studied, I'd say almost 900 hours. I will retake the test on 13 mar 2019 and if I need to do it again, I'll redo on 07 july 19.

I really appreciate the links and sources you all have shared here. Thank you so much!

As soon as I have my new results I'll come back here.

But just to clarify, I think it is possible to get a CLB 7 in every skill as long as you study hard. I suggest to count your time and be strategist.

Cette fois tu le feras, courage!

Peut-être tu le sais déjà, mais tu pourrais apprendre des idiomes. Je crois que ça m'a aidé.

 

[Camilarodign]

Cette fois tu le feras, courage!

Peut-être tu le sais déjà, mais tu pourrais apprendre des idiomes. Je crois que ça m'a aidé.

Merci beaucoup ! Je sais que je suis meilleure qu'avant, mais cet astuce que vous m'avez donnée, sera très utile ! Je vais essayer de les utiliser pendant mes expressions.