Hi, Everyone
I have been studying French on my own for a while now with a sole goal to pass the TEF Canada exam with enough points to support my immigration project. I believe I achieved my objective and I would like to share some of the insights that I gained during my studies and preparations. This time I would like to show how to score a minimum C1 result in the writing section of the exam (l’expression ecrite).
Here are my exam sessions and the results I received for writing:
31.MAY.2019 - score 328/450, niveau B2
27.SEP.2019 - score 399/450, niveau C1
28.JAN.2020 - score 365/450, niveau C1
20.JAN.2021 - score 388/450, niveau C1
As you can see , there is a little fluctuation in the results but overall the score is decent. Comprehensive ranking system gives much more points if your score for writing is 371 and more, so my goal was always to score a minimum 371. During my preparations I threw all my resources on Section B of the writing exam which is the letter where we have to react on a given subject by stating and supporting at least three arguments. So below is my strategy that I created and used on all my four exams.
I learned from the experience and from different sources of information that it is more important to be consistent in your argumentation, to be cohesive with your writing and to employ sophisticated grammar than to write without errors. What I mean by that is that even if you make errors in typing words (like missing -”e” in the end of feminine adjectives or missing grave accents above the letters), as long as your overall writing makes sense in terms of structure, you will be able to reach the C1 level.
Also, it is very important to be able to write a letter within 40 minutes of time because we have to leave some time for Section A. A total of 200 words seem too many at first, but you will see in a couple of minutes that it is very easy and write more than 400 words in less than 20 minutes as long as you have a structure ready in advance.
The examiner pays attention to the structure of the argumentation letter. I used the following structure:
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 1: Argument 1
Paragraph 1: Argument 2
Paragraph 1: Argument 3
Paragraph 1: Conclusion
If your letter simply follows this structure, your score will be already beyond B1.
The trick to quickly come up with and write an argumentative letter is to have a complete letter already prepared in advance in your head before you even know the subject I had a lot of help at
https://ca.edubirdie.com/capstone-project-writing-service when I was preparing for this test. Some of the work I took examples from them..
Introduction
I always use the same introduction in all my argumentative letters. It is easy and convenient to have one introduction for whatever subject the exam is throwing at you. I tend to use the sophisticated grammar only in those parts that I prepared in advance, which saves me time and efforts on the exam. All my introductions look like this:
Cher Monsieur,
Je viens de lire un article dans votre journal qui m’a beaucoup intéressé. Étant un lecteur assidu de votre journal, je voudrais exprimer mon point de vue à ce sujet. L’auteur de l’article constate que … here I paraphrase the subject given to us to discuss. It is important not to use the same words but paraphrase with synonyms.
Pour ma part, je ne suis pas d’accord avec lui et je voudrais expliquer pourquoi.
This is the introduction that I use. It goes well with any subject, it uses complicated grammar (several phrases in one sentence) and you literally have everything prepared in advance - you have in your head the part in bold and you have the subject to paraphrase right in front of you. And the sweet part is that this introduction already contains more than 50 letters!
Argument 1
From my experience I figured out that the argumentation itself does not have to be based on real events or researched. It does not even have to make sense! The important part is again the structure. It is crucial to show the examinator that you understand the task (to write an argumentative letter) and that you know how to use the language to state and support the argument. The TEF exam does not ask you to come up with the most brilliant ideas. Your arguments could be the most dull and unrealistic or even silly, but as long as you use the right structure, you are able to score good scores.
I usr the following structure in all my argumentative paragraphs:
Sentence 1: Stating the argument shortly
Sentence 2: Elaborating on the argument a little more
Sentence 3: Example
It is very important to give an example to support your argument. It is crucial you must never forget to include an example. My first argumentative paragraphs always looks like this:
La première remarque importante que je veux faire est que … here I state my first argument that I came up with and noted in my plan (I will explain the planning further in the article). Then I elaborate on the argument: I try to paraphrase it or explain the same thing in a different manner as though I am explaining it to a child what I mean using simple words.
Il suffit de prendre pour exemple le sondage mené au Canada en 2019 qui montre que 30% de gens … here I include the example that is completely made up. Again, it is important to give an example but it does not matter if it is a real example or the example that makes a lot of sense. As long as you have it to support your argument, you are safe.
This is the first argumentative paragraph that I use. The beginning and the example section are always prepared in my head which saves me time and effort during the exam session.
Argument 2
I use the same structure for all my arguments. Yet I change the wording a little, of course. I write:
Il faut maintenant s’interroger sur l’argument que … or
A cet avantage s'ajoute le fait que … and I state my other argument. I use “A cet avantage...” phrase if my second argument is very close to my first argument. Again, after stating the argument I try to elaborate and explain the same thing by different and more simple words. Then the example, of course.
Prenons pour exemple l’article publié dans le Monde en France en 2001 ou ... I use a different phrase to introduce the example and I make up an article instead of a research. Again, all is totally made up by me with the sole reason to support my made up argument. Having the structure in the key.
Argument 3
Ma dernière remarque est que … here I try to use shorter phrases because by now I already have way more than 200 words.
Les recherches de l'université de Toronto montrent que… at this point I sometimes use simply “par exemple” because I showed enough to examinator.
