My TCF-CANADA Experience
Hello everyone,
This is my first time posting on reddit but i just wanted to share with you my tcf-canada experience. For context, i live in france so i am more exposed to the language than other people. I studied french in school but i forgot most of it (and i wasn't the biggest fan so my level wasn't the best), then i got my bachelor's and master's in english so i haven't practiced the language in a long time. I suffer a looottt when discussions are about something other than work or other topic I'm familiar with so i wouldn't consider my level all that good. Now for my experience with the exam itself:
Compréhension orale:
I haven't practiced for it that much. I used to listen to some podcasts like "InnerFrench" which is slow and good for practice but wasn't that challenging. I only did one or two mockup tests on réussir-tcf before the exam. I think for this section you need to try and get the most out of the easier questions before they get crazy. I was barely understanding anything from the last set of questions that are around C1/C2 level but i think i got most of the earlier questions correct which boosted my grade. So my advice would be to familiarise yourself with the language through podcasts or other ways but don't get frustrated if you can't get the harder questions because i got C1 on my exam and i did not understand anything for some of the questions 😄 I just tried catching some words to understand wtf we're talking about
Compréhension écrite:
I would say that this is the easiest section because the time is more than enough. However, same as for the previous section, the latest articles are far way complex for me to understand. I found myself completing i would say 75 percent of the questions quickly and had a lot of time remaining for the latest ones which i read like 5 times each to get a clue of what wtf they are talking about. Same as before, try to focus on earlier texts and you can skip a question and get back to it if needed. I did multiple mock-up tests on fuck-tcf for this one and they helped me understand how to get a general conclusion for the latest questions because they are more about extracting the purpose of the article rather than some basic answer like the earlier questions. also, do some research about which websites provide the best template exams for this section as well as for the compréhension orale because a lot of people who did the exam with me were saying after we were done that they saw a lot of the questions already during their practice.
Expression écrite:
I practiced a lot on fuck-tcf where i rewrote the answers and tried to note the vocabulary. Tbh i don't know what the best way to practice is but the sample answers on the fuck-tcf were very helpful in improving my vocabulary and giving me ideas. I had a good base because of my french background in school i'm not gonna lie but my sentences were very basic and short before i started studying for the exam. Task 1 for me was literally one of the examples on the fuck-tcf website so it helped a lot with ideas and i even remembered whole sentences which i wrote as is. Task 2 also was similar to things I've seen on the website so that helped me as well. The ideas just started flowing from different examples that I practiced which helped a lot. For task 3, i would suggest having a template. I had 1 template that gemini prepared for me where it literally had like 70-80 words already filled. I just filled the remaining and i was done with task 3 quicker than tasks 1 and 2 😄 I think for the expression écrite try to use as many connectors as possible, this is what i did and also try to make ur sentences longer rather than just very short ones (as chatgpt suggested to me). After a sentence try to add a reason, a consequence, etc. For example you can say: the teachers were competent, then add *which made the courses far more interesting* instead of just stopping after "competent". When i was practicing on my own, chatgpt was always telling me that my writing level was B1 which demotivated me a lot. Don't repeat my mistake, just practice your examples over and over again and you will make it. Don't let anything demotivate you.
Expression orale:
This is where i messed up a bit. Task 1 was about introducing myself which i had prepared. However, i did not expect the interviewer to interrupt me to ask questions, which caught me off guard. I don't even remember what i said i just blacked out. But i tried to speak even if my sentences were not the most accurate. For task 2, i was asked to call my neighbour and ask about a zoo he visited. I started with vous then switched quickly to tu which wasn't grear, pay attention to this. You get time to prepare the questions, try to mix between different question structures like "est ce que", "as-tu", etc. Try to ask follow-up questions not just ask questions like a robot, make it sound like a conversation. When he asked me to start asking, i wasted like 5 seconds to reread the scenario because i was too focused on writing down questions, which made me look confused and wasn't optimal. Task 3 was not the best as well, i had a template which i started with then got interrupted mid second argument. It caught me off guard again and i got a bit mad. The topic was about the importance of vegan food so the interviewer interrupted me to ask if i had tried going vegan before to which i replied yes. He then asked me some more basic questions and stopped the time. My answers were short and basic at the end (not like the nice template that i started with 😄) so i was like shit i messed up. I don't think we spoke for 4.5 mins and even task 1 and 2 were shorter than expected. I felt like shit after the exam because of the interruptions and my basic answers and i was sure that i would not get B2. I would suggest you for this section to prepare templates and try to keep the conversation going even with basic vocabulary.
In conclusion, in my honest opinion, i think the grading is more lenient than i expected. Just practice templates and try to be smart in the exam. Don't focus on fancy vocabulary because i surely don't have it. Just focus on your connectors, memorize during your studies verbs like bénéficier, impacter, influencer, permettre, etc. that are common but increase the depths of your sentences. I can assure you when i started speaking on my own to practice for the task 3 i was stopping every 2 seconds and i couldn't speak on my own for 1 minute, i practiced a lot with chatgpt and asked it to give me templates for various topics like technology, environment, etc. which i could use for various questions. Good luck and don't stress about the exam, you got this! I hope this gives some people hope and motivation! You don't need to be perfect to pass !