TCF speaking tasks: Explained

Source: France Éducation international, TCF Canada (“Verbal skills”).

How the speaking test works

• One examiner, face to face. The test is recorded and assessed twice: by the examiner on the day, and again at France Éducation international.
• You can ask the examiner to repeat or rephrase a word or a question at any time. On my second attempt, the examiner said the timer wouldn’t start until I’d understood the question: it’s a speaking test, not a listening test.
• The examiner stops you at the time limit, in every task, even mid-sentence.
• In Tâche 3 the examiner normally doesn’t ask questions. You speak alone for the full 4.5 minutes. A few candidates report being interrupted with questions; if it happens, answer and carry on.

Sources: France Éducation international, TCF Canada (“Verbal skills”) and its sample speaking test.

Tâche 1: structured interview

The examiner asks about you: family, work or studies, daily life, interests, plans, where you live, travel and more (see the full list of themes). The aim is to show you can “converse with a person you do not know”.

• Prepare answers for the frequent topics, but don’t recite them. It’s worth memorising answers on the topics that come up in almost every interview: introducing yourself, family, work or studies, hobbies, plans. In the exam, use them as material, not a script. Examiners can tell when an answer is recited, and often move to less usual questions when they suspect it.
• Speak naturally, at a moderate pace. Rushing through a prepared answer sounds recited, and it makes mistakes more likely.
• Expect follow-up questions on what you just said, or on something unexpected. One examiner asked me what I thought of Canada’s climate. It’s a conversation, not a test of your prepared answers.
• Give real answers: a few connected sentences, not one word, and past or future tenses when the question invites them.

Tâche 2: getting information

The examiner plays a role in an everyday situation, and you ask questions to get the information you need. You speak first and lead the conversation.

• Use the 2 minutes for short notes on the scrap paper you’re given: a question word and a keyword each (combien – prix, quand – horaires). The areas in brackets on the task sheet are a ready-made starting list.
• You ask, the examiner answers. Talking about your own plans instead of asking misses the task.
• Respond to the answers. The easy way is to pick up the examiner’s words, and vary your question forms (est-ce que…, pourriez-vous…, je voudrais savoir…):

— Tu connais un bon restaurant pour la Saint-Valentin ?
— Oui, il y en a un avec une étoile Michelin.
— Une étoile Michelin ? C’est cher, alors ? Il faut réserver longtemps à l’avance ?

Tâche 3: defending a point of view

No preparation: you hear the question and start. The examiner asks you to argue “using examples, justifying your ideas, trying to convince me”.

Present the other side. It’s the change that made the biggest difference on my third attempt. One or two sentences giving the opposing view and a reason for it is enough (three at most if you have time); you don’t need a full rebuttal. FEI’s B2 descriptor asks for exactly this: “giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.”

A structure for the 4.5 minutes:

1. Introduction: the topic and your position.
2. First argument, with a reason or example.
3. Second argument, with a reason or example.
4. The opposing view, with a reason for it.
5. Conclusion: restate your position and recap. Keep it short so you reach it before time is up.

For open questions (what makes a country a good place to live?), your answer is your position and the other side is a different answer someone might give.

Prepare the common topics. Questions keep coming back to the same themes: technology, health, work, education, immigration, the environment and transport. Prepare a few arguments for each that work for most questions. See common TCF speaking topics and example questions.

“Speaking was the wall: 9, then 9 again, then 12. My French hadn’t really changed. What changed was knowing what each task was actually asking for.”

— the founder of TCF Coach

What the examiner assesses

France Éducation international lists what the speaking test assesses. You need to:

• talk about yourself, your family and your work life;
• ask questions suited to the situation;
• give your opinion, explain the advantages and disadvantages of a plan, and agree or disagree;
• present a clear, structured argument in a style that fits the context;
• present complex subjects in detail, develop them and give a conclusion.

Unlike writing, there’s no list of conditions that get the whole speaking paper marked “A1 not achieved”.

For how those judgements become a level and a score, see how TCF Canada writing and speaking are scored.

Mistakes that keep answers below B2

• Tâche 1: reciting memorised answers, or giving one-line answers.
• Tâche 2: reading out a list of questions without responding to the answers, or talking about yourself instead of asking.
• Tâche 3: giving only your own side, or running out of things to say long before the 4.5 minutes are up.
• Every task: building up to a conclusion and getting cut off before you reach it.