TCF | Simulation Expression Orale : Exercice 1 | Speaking Task Simulation: Exercise 1 — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hello, today we are going to look at a
2. 0:03simulation of the oral expression test
3. 0:07of the TCF, the French knowledge test.
4. 0:11The first task is a directed interview
5. 0:15during which the examiner asks you
6. 0:19questions about yourself. We are going
7. 0:24to look at the dos and don'ts. Hello,
8. 0:28we are going to start the first part of
9. 0:31the TCF test. This test lasts 2 minutes
10. 0:35. Can you introduce yourself?
11. 0:38Oh yes, hello, my name is Pedro and I
12. 0:40come from Spain. I am Spanish. I am 25
13. 0:44years old and I have lived here in
14. 0:47France for 200 years. Well, I am a bit
15. 0:52tall, a bit big and a bit tanned too.
16. 0:58For my roots in Spanish and after that,
17. 1:01well, friendly. Uh I talk a lot, a bit
18. 1:05chatty actually, and well I like to
19. 1:08laugh, I like to do everything, uh,
20. 1:10reading. I also like literature a lot
21. 1:14and going out with my buddies. That's
22. 1:17cool. Yeah.
23. 1:17Okay. Here, the candidate introduces
24. 1:21himself in an organized way, which is
25. 1:24very good. He starts by giving general
26. 1:28information, his name, his age, etc.
27. 1:32Then, he describes his physical
28. 1:34appearance, his characteristics, and
29. 1:38finally he says what he likes to do in
30. 1:41his free time, reading, going out, etc.
31. 1:45Regarding the language, a few small
32. 1:48things. We say "I come from Spain" and
33. 1:53not "I come from the Spain." We say "
34. 1:59Due to my Spanish origins," also pay
35. 2:03attention to the agreements. The
36. 2:07candidate is a man, so he should say
37. 2:12tall, big, or chatty and not the
38. 2:15feminine forms. Finally, pay attention
39. 2:21to the level of formality. Do not speak
40. 2:25in too familiar a way. We will not say
41. 2:29"my buddies" or "oh yeah, that's cool."
42. 2:33We will say "I like to go out with my
43. 2:35friends."
44. 2:38Where do you live in France?
45. 2:40Ah, I live in Saint-Maurice in the 94.
46. 2:44It is near the RER.
47. 2:46Okay. Do you live in a house?
48. 2:48Yeah, in a house, not in an apartment.
49. 2:51Okay. Do you live alone?
50. 2:53No, I live with my boyfriend.
51. 2:55Okay. Very good.
52. 2:57Here, the candidate should provide more
53. 3:01detailed answers. Indeed, the examiner
54. 3:06is forced to ask numerous questions
55. 3:09because the candidate's answers are too
56. 3:13short. When you are asked a question,
57. 3:17do not hesitate to provide details. For
58. 3:21example, about where you live, you can
59. 3:25say where you live, what type of
60. 3:28accommodation, with whom, for how long,
61. 3:32etc. This allows you to show your level
62. 3:36of French to the examiner as well as to
63. 3:40prove your oral fluency. Regarding the
64. 3:46language, two small things to correct.
65. 3:50The first one, we say it's accessible
66. 3:55by RER, not with the RER. And once
67. 4:01again, the candidate speaks a bit too
68. 4:05informally. We should say "apartment"
69. 4:10instead of "apt." What is the last
70. 4:14country you visited?
71. 4:16Last country, I think it was Portugal.
72. 4:19I was there with my family on vacation.
73. 4:22Okay. How long did you stay there?
74. 4:24Well, always a week. It's a week of
75. 4:27vacation where you can go there and
76. 4:30enjoy the beach a little.
77. 4:31Okay. And why Portugal? What attracted
78. 4:34you to it?
79. 4:35Oh, because it's not too expensive,
80. 4:37that's a plus. And also because it's
81. 4:40not too far, either.
82. 4:41Okay. Very good.
83. 4:44Here again, the candidate should have
84. 4:48detailed his answer more, giving
85. 4:51reasons for the destination choice, the
86. 4:55duration of his stay, activities done,
87. 5:00conditions of the stay, or his
88. 5:03impression of the trip afterward. This
89. 5:08would have allowed him to use more
90. 5:11varied sentence structures, vocabulary,
91. 5:14and tenses. Indeed, he uses the
92. 5:19imperfect very well to talk about the
93. 5:22past, but he doesn't use the perfect
94. 5:25tense or the pluperfect at all. Varying
95. 5:30these sentence patterns will help show
96. 5:34your fluency in the French language. In
97. 5:38terms of language, there are positive
98. 5:41points and negative points. The
99. 5:45candidate uses the expression "it's a
100. 5:48plus" to say it's an advantage, which
101. 5:51is very idiomatic. Likewise, when he
102. 5:56lists items in the negative form, he
103. 5:59uses "not either" correctly. He says it
104. 6:04is not far either. Which is very good.
105. 6:08On the other hand, avoid starting your
106. 6:12sentences by saying "uh" or "well." Say
107. 6:17"well" or "how should I put it?"
108. 6:19instead.
109. 6:22Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
110. 6:24Oh, that's a good question. I think I
111. 6:28see myself staying in Spain and moving
112. 6:31there and finding something there to be
113. 6:34able to continue working in my
114. 6:37profession, and well, no children in
115. 6:40the future, that's for sure.
116. 6:44Okay. Do you have any professional
117. 6:46plans? Ah, I would really like to
118. 6:49continue my career as a translator and
119. 6:52proofreader and maybe take specific
120. 6:55courses for training.
121. 6:57Okay. Very good. Thank you.
122. 7:00Thank you. Here, the candidate
123. 7:03interacts well with the examiner. When
124. 7:09she asks him about his plans for his
125. 7:12future, he begins his answer by saying,
126. 7:15"Oh, that's a very good question." This
127. 7:20helps make the interaction fluid and
128. 7:23natural, which is very positive. A
129. 7:26small language note: be careful, "faire
130. 7:30les courses" means to go grocery
131. 7:33shopping, whereas "suivre un cours"
132. 7:37means to take a class to learn
133. 7:40something from a teacher. Generally
134. 7:46speaking, the candidate succeeds in
135. 7:49this first part. They demonstrate their
136. 7:52language level by using a variety of
137. 7:54tenses. The imperfect, the conditional.
138. 7:58They are also natural and interact well
139. 8:01with the examiner. They therefore prove
140. 8:05their oral fluency, which is very
141. 8:07important as it is a grading criterion.
142. 8:12Despite some language errors, the
143. 8:15candidate is very understandable and
144. 8:17very fluid. The only problem is that
145. 8:21these answers are sometimes a bit too
146. 8:23short. To avoid this problem, prepare
147. 8:27for the questions. The questions often
148. 8:31focus on the same themes. Studies,
149. 8:35professional life, where you live,
150. 8:37activities you enjoy, or even future
151. 8:40plans. Preparing the questions will
152. 8:45allow you to be more natural, less
153. 8:47stressed, and provide more detailed
154. 8:50answers. If you are taking the TCF soon
155. 8:55, don't hesitate to visit our site via
156. 8:58the links in the description to better
157. 9:01prepare for the exam. You will be able
158. 9:06to prepare for all the sections and all
159. 9:09versions of the test. If you also wish
160. 9:13to develop your language skills, don't
161. 9:17hesitate to visit our YouTube channel
162. 9:21Prep My French or our Instagram page
163. 9:24Prep My French. Thank you and see you
164. 9:27soon.