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TEF :(

1357908642

Newbie
Mar 6, 2020
5
0
I just sat through TEF Canada on Monday, March 2 2020. I felt it went ok. However, during speaking test, I did stumble and also make some grammatical mistakes. I hope it goes well... I am really curious what exact level CLB 7 means for speaking session.
 

Ramor02

Hero Member
May 3, 2019
247
28
I just sat through TEF Canada on Monday, March 2 2020. I felt it went ok. However, during speaking test, I did stumble and also make some grammatical mistakes. I hope it goes well... I am really curious what exact level CLB 7 means for speaking session.
Be positive, mistakes happen during the speaking test. Was this your first attempt?
 

Ramor02

Hero Member
May 3, 2019
247
28
They are not exactly as IELTS. But because of limited resources for TEF, I used IELTS as general topics to write about (Publicity, environment, social media, social issues, sports...etc). Besides In IELTS, the first task is writing a letter and the second one is saying your opinion, wherein TEF the first one is to complete an article and the second one is to express your agreement or disagreement to a statement in an article in the form or writing a letter to the auditor of that article expressing your agreement, disagreement, or partially agreement to a statement, and explaining why using three reasons with examples when applicable. Therefore, the format, in general, is different. But for example, I take an IELTS Statement that says, for example, School uniform negatively affects students, express in which way, and how can this be managed" this can be used to train for TEF as a statement you read in an article that states" Using uniform render students equal therefore it should be mandatory", in this case, you start with introducing yourself and your opinion ( disagree or agree with the writer) and in the three following paragraphs you mention your three reasons and explain why using an example, and finally conclude your letter, then greet and close.
 

1357908642

Newbie
Mar 6, 2020
5
0
Be positive, mistakes happen during the speaking test. Was this your first attempt?
Yes. This is my first attempt, in quite a while. I learned French more than 10 years ago out of passion. This time, I threw in three weeks to review. Thanks for the encouragement!
 

jerry@za

Full Member
Aug 6, 2019
31
3
I just sat through TEF Canada on Monday, March 2 2020. I felt it went ok. However, during speaking test, I did stumble and also make some grammatical mistakes. I hope it goes well... I am really curious what exact level CLB 7 means for speaking session.
Welldone friend. I am also studying French.

But for second language which grade is required, CLB 5? And which one is easier TEF or TCF.
 

vvik33

Star Member
Aug 8, 2019
147
66
Category........
FSW

vvik33

Star Member
Aug 8, 2019
147
66
Category........
FSW
I doubt you can do it in 3months. Most tutors dont understand the structure of the TEF exam. It requires that you actually know French. 3months of French learning is not enough for TEF unless you have studied French before and attained some level.

I learnt french intensively for 6months and wrote TEF the 7th month. I got 45 extra points from Tef.

Achieving it in 3months is impossible. 6months of intensive study both within and outside classroom can get you to Level B2 which can make you get very decent scores
Hi Dayocanny,

I've been following your French journey for a while. I finally started learning intensively and I'm acing CO and CE (thanks to the Facebook group)
However my EE and EO are still mediocre.

How exactly did you overcome EE and successfully score C1 please? Right now I'm practicing fait divers but my writing reads very weak.

I noticed my vocabulary, grammar, synonyms, logical connectors, tenses (imparfait, plus que parfait and subjunctif) etc are still not up to par.

If you could kindly advise in detail how you successfully managed to navigate EE (your writing format, what tenses you used, what kind of verbs you used, and general advice or reference to practice questions).

Any help at all would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance :)

(Side note: I started French in Oct 2019 and officially entered B2 level 2 weeks ago, but sometimes I'm unsure if I'm learning fast enough).
 

dayocanny

Hero Member
Nov 17, 2019
220
251
Hi Dayocanny,

I've been following your French journey for a while. I finally started learning intensively and I'm acing CO and CE (thanks to the Facebook group)
However my EE and EO are still mediocre.

How exactly did you overcome EE and successfully score C1 please? Right now I'm practicing fait divers but my writing reads very weak.

I noticed my vocabulary, grammar, synonyms, logical connectors, tenses (imparfait, plus que parfait and subjunctif) etc are still not up to par.

If you could kindly advise in detail how you successfully managed to navigate EE (your writing format, what tenses you used, what kind of verbs you used, and general advice or reference to practice questions).

Any help at all would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance :)

(Side note: I started French in Oct 2019 and officially entered B2 level 2 weeks ago, but sometimes I'm unsure if I'm learning fast enough).
Kudos tout youpi. I'm glad you are learning fast. Welldone! For EE, i already had my lettre préparéd
My teacher drafted an all purpose letter with addresses, salutations, introductory paragraph, necessary linkers for thé succeeding paragraphs, expressions that would make the ideas flow in a local séquence, expressions leasing to thé usé of one or two subjonctif to spice it all up, a conclusion and politesse paragraph including a signature line). So basically, i had my letter in by head. I only needed to fit thé exam question into this form. That really helped as i didnt need to think too much. You need to have something like this as time flies very quickly during the exam. It's just an hour for both letter and fait divers.

For fait divers, i practised about 40 questions before the exam. I had an all purpose opening line which answers thé questions when and where. I just fitted this into the scénario given in the exam. I learnt from other's writings on the Facebook group. Members post their write-ups and others comment on them. I studied those write- ups especially the ones with positive comments. I memorised expressions used in them and adapted thèse to past questions. Then i practised spontaneous writing that is writing with little or nous preparation. I attempted questions posted by members who had just finished exams from different centres around the world. Watch out for this.

I could send you the fait divers story i wrote in the exam. I have kept it for future référence. Take note of its simplicity and use of tenses. You can Pm me with your email.

All the best.
 
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bbarters

Member
Mar 21, 2020
13
16
Hello All,

I had a CRS score of 430 despite having a C2 level in IELTS and over 7 years of work experience (outside Canada). Since there was no other feasible way for me to increase my score, I decided to start French studies and crack TEF.

Here is my timeline:

Oct-2018: Joined a local institute in India for A1 course on weekends (At this time, French was just plan-C)
May-2019: Finished A2 course from the same institute. (French was still on the back burner, I was trying other options such as Masters, etc)
June-2019: Exhausted all other options to increase my CRS score and started preparing for TEF
August-2019: Joined Alliance Francaise (B1) course ( This proved completely useless due to bad teacher and batchmates who never spoke French)
Oct-2019: Gave the 1st attempt of TEF, scored CLB level 6, B2+ in Reading and B2 in Listening, Speaking and Writing - Only got 6 CRS points
Jan-2020:
Gave 2nd Attempt of TEF, scored C1 in Reading and Listening, B2+ in Writing and Speaking - Got 42 extra CRS points
Feb-05-2020:
Got ITA
Feb17-2020: Submitted Application for PR.

So basically I went from zero knowledge of French to almost C1 level in TEF in roughly 14 months. All this time, I had a full-time job as a programmer.

If you are serious about this option, I would love to help. Please drop me an email: kguionista@gmail.com for more info. ( Please provide a little background about yourself in the email)
 

vvik33

Star Member
Aug 8, 2019
147
66
Category........
FSW
Kudos tout youpi. I'm glad you are learning fast. Welldone! For EE, i already had my lettre préparéd
My teacher drafted an all purpose letter with addresses, salutations, introductory paragraph, necessary linkers for thé succeeding paragraphs, expressions that would make the ideas flow in a local séquence, expressions leasing to thé usé of one or two subjonctif to spice it all up, a conclusion and politesse paragraph including a signature line). So basically, i had my letter in by head. I only needed to fit thé exam question into this form. That really helped as i didnt need to think too much. You need to have something like this as time flies very quickly during the exam. It's just an hour for both letter and fait divers.

For fait divers, i practised about 40 questions before the exam. I had an all purpose opening line which answers thé questions when and where. I just fitted this into the scénario given in the exam. I learnt from other's writings on the Facebook group. Members post their write-ups and others comment on them. I studied those write- ups especially the ones with positive comments. I memorised expressions used in them and adapted thèse to past questions. Then i practised spontaneous writing that is writing with little or nous preparation. I attempted questions posted by members who had just finished exams from different centres around the world. Watch out for this.

I could send you the fait divers story i wrote in the exam. I have kept it for future référence. Take note of its simplicity and use of tenses. You can Pm me with your email.

All the best.
Hello,

Thanks so much for offering to help. This mean a lot. I have sent you a PM.
 

Ramor02

Hero Member
May 3, 2019
247
28
Dear All


Can anyone suggest good online tutors or classes for the TEF preparation ?as I cannot join any regular classes. Has anyone cleared this exam with self study alone? If so, please suggest the resources which you have used. I do not have much knowledge of French at the moment.
Lawless French , helped me A LOT
 

bbarters

Member
Mar 21, 2020
13
16
Hello Again Everyone,

I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy and progressing well with their French studies.

A short bio: From India, so not a native speaker, started from scratch and cleared TEF Canada with C1 score with 7-8 months of rigorous studies.

A teacher/programmer by profession, can be of help to anyone who is preparing for TEF Canada to get the ITA. Please write to me at kguionista@gmail.com

Also, recently, I have started a lecture series on YouTube for TEF Canada preparation. I request you to visit my YouTube channel BBarters and see if it's helpful to you.

Bonne chance!
 

Mama mia

Star Member
Apr 3, 2019
61
18
Kudos tout youpi. I'm glad you are learning fast. Welldone! For EE, i already had my lettre préparéd
My teacher drafted an all purpose letter with addresses, salutations, introductory paragraph, necessary linkers for thé succeeding paragraphs, expressions that would make the ideas flow in a local séquence, expressions leasing to thé usé of one or two subjonctif to spice it all up, a conclusion and politesse paragraph including a signature line). So basically, i had my letter in by head. I only needed to fit thé exam question into this form. That really helped as i didnt need to think too much. You need to have something like this as time flies very quickly during the exam. It's just an hour for both letter and fait divers.

For fait divers, i practised about 40 questions before the exam. I had an all purpose opening line which answers thé questions when and where. I just fitted this into the scénario given in the exam. I learnt from other's writings on the Facebook group. Members post their write-ups and others comment on them. I studied those write- ups especially the ones with positive comments. I memorised expressions used in them and adapted thèse to past questions. Then i practised spontaneous writing that is writing with little or nous preparation. I attempted questions posted by members who had just finished exams from different centres around the world. Watch out for this.

I could send you the fait divers story i wrote in the exam. I have kept it for future référence. Take note of its simplicity and use of tenses. You can Pm me with your email.

All the best.
Please can you also send me a copy of the draft for fait divers and letter writing. Thank you. My email is vieve.henri@gmail.com. Thanks again
 
Oct 16, 2019
14
9
Hi,
For writing part do the question include letter writing, because I can't find anywhere in the formats for TEF Canada.
Can anyone who has recently given the exam can share the types of questions received in writing part.