--- title: "TCF Canada expression orale 2026: 12 min, NCLC 7 at 10/20" description: "Three tasks in twelve minutes, marked out of 20, where 10 to 11 is NCLC 7. What the examiner listens for, and the per-task split FEI never published." canonical: https://francaisprep.com/tcf-canada/expression-orale last-updated: 2026-10-25 --- TCF Canada - expression orale # TCF Canada expression orale: the three tasks, the timing and the marking Twelve minutes, three tasks, one examiner and one mark out of 20. This page walks through what happens in each task, what the examiner is actually listening for, how the mark converts to an NCLC level, and how to practise the one task you cannot rehearse alone. [Book a speaking assessment](/book)[Jump to the three tasks](#tasks) - Three tasks, twelve minutes, one mark out of 20 - Marked by a live examiner, not by software - Written by Adèle, a native French teacher ![Adèle, the native French teacher who runs Français Prep](/_next/image?url=%2Fadele.png&w=3840&q=75) Adèle SasonNative French teacher - every class, every correction By [Adèle Sason](/about), Français Prep · Updated 25 October 2026 In short The TCF Canada expression orale is a single twelve-minute conversation with an examiner, built from three tasks: a short guided interview about you, a role-play in which you have to ask the questions, and a monologue defending a point of view. The whole section produces one mark out of 20, and IRCC converts that mark into an NCLC level for your Express Entry profile. Nothing is read aloud and nothing is written down: only the role-play gives you preparation time, and the other two start cold. ## TCF Canada expression orale at a glance Total length 12 minutes for the whole speaking section. Number of tasks Three, run back to back in a single sitting. Format A live one-to-one exchange with an examiner, not a recording booth. Preparation time 2 minutes in total, taken before tasks 2 and 3. Task 1 starts cold. Score One mark out of 20, which IRCC converts to an NCLC level. What you may bring Nothing you have written in advance. ![Adèle, the native French teacher who runs Français Prep](/_next/image?url=%2Fadele.png&w=3840&q=75) Not sure which of this you actually need? A 15-minute video call works out which of your four abilities is furthest from the level your application needs. It is free, and some candidates leave with a plan and no purchase. Adèle Sason · Native French teacher - every class, every correction [Book the free call](/book) Exam format ## The three speaking tasks The tasks always come in the same order and they get harder. Task 1 asks you to be comfortable, task 2 asks you to take control, and task 3 asks you to think in structured French while speaking it. | Task | What happens | What the examiner is listening for | | --- | --- | --- | | Task 1 - Entretien dirigéAbout 2 minutes. No preparation time. | The examiner opens with everyday questions about you: where you live, what you do, what you studied, why French matters for your plans. You answer in full sentences and keep the exchange moving without waiting to be asked twice. | Whether you can introduce yourself and hold an ordinary social exchange at speed. Ease matters more here than precision, so a small grammar slip said fluently costs less than a correct sentence that took eight seconds to assemble. | | Task 2 - Exercice en interactionAbout 5 minutes 30, including 2 minutes of preparation. | You are given a situation and something to obtain: information, a service, a change to an arrangement. You lead the conversation, asking the examiner questions and reacting to the answers. The examiner plays the other person and will not help you out of a dead end. | Whether you can ask questions rather than only answer them: correct question forms, a register that fits the situation, and the flexibility to react when the reply is not the one you had planned for. | | Task 3 - Expression d’un point de vueAbout 4 minutes 30. No preparation time. | The examiner chooses the question and you answer it cold, speaking largely uninterrupted: state a position, defend it with ordered reasons and examples, and close it. The examiner may put one follow-up question at the end. | Whether you can build an argument out loud. This is the task that separates B1 from B2 and above, because it needs connectors, subordinate clauses, tenses beyond the present, and vocabulary specific to the topic. | [France Éducation International](https://www.france-education-international.fr/test/tcf-canada) publishes the twelve-minute total and the per-task split in its candidate manual, where the two minutes of preparation belong to task 2 alone. Confirm the figures against the current version of the manual. What comes up ## The topics behind all three tasks France Éducation International does not publish a bank of speaking topics, so no list anywhere, including this one, is the official set. What follows is the pattern across our own mock exams and course material: the themes task 1 draws its questions from, the situations task 2 builds its calls around, and the subjects task 3 has actually asked. Practise the shape of each task against these rather than trying to guess the one question you will get. ### Tâche 1: the entretien dirigé themes Two minutes, no preparation. The examiner works through a short list of personal themes and expects three to five sentences per answer, not one. Identité Dites-moi qui vous êtes, en commençant par votre prénom. Présentez-vous en quelques phrases. Lieu de vie Dans quel quartier habitez-vous, et depuis combien de temps ? Parlez-moi de la ville où vous habitez. Travail ou études Que faites-vous comme travail ou comme études en ce moment ? Une journée ordinaire À quoi ressemble une de vos journées ordinaires ? Famille Parlez-moi d'une personne de votre famille dont vous êtes proche. Temps libre Qu'est-ce que vous aimez faire quand vous avez du temps libre ? Y a-t-il un endroit, dans votre ville, où vous emmenez toujours les visiteurs ? Pourquoi le français Pourquoi apprenez-vous le français ? Un changement récent Qu'est-ce qui a changé dans votre vie ces deux dernières années ? ### Tâche 2: the interaction situations A phone call in which you have to obtain information, and the examiner will not volunteer anything you do not ask for. Registration #### Enrol your child in the municipal swim club Consigne: Vous venez de vous installer à Québec avec votre famille. Vous souhaitez inscrire votre fils de neuf ans au club de natation municipal pour la saison. Vous téléphonez au secrétariat du club. The order our mock exam recommends - Âge minimum et niveau requis, puis jours et horaires des séances - Lieu, accès, durée de la saison, tarif et modalités de paiement - Matériel à fournir, présence obligatoire ou non d'un parent - Liste d'attente, cours d'essai possible, démarche exacte pour inscrire Subscription #### Sign up for a weekly vegetable box in a new neighbourhood Consigne: Un point de retrait de paniers de légumes fonctionne chaque jeudi soir près de chez vous, et vous envisagez de vous y abonner pour la saison. What you need to know before you commit - Prix, durée de l'engagement, taille et contenu du panier - Horaires exacts, et la solution si vous manquez un jeudi - Provenance des légumes, et un essai possible avant de payer Apartment rental #### Call an agency about a studio for rent Consigne: Vous téléphonez à une agence au sujet d'un studio que vous ne connaissez pas. Le vouvoiement s'impose du début à la fin. A full 10-question call from our own course - Il est toujours disponible, et quelle est la surface exacte ? - Le loyer comprend-il les charges, et lesquelles restent à ma part ? - Meublé ou vide, et à partir de quand se libère-t-il ? - Quels documents pour le dossier, et le quartier est-il bien desservi le soir ? ### Tâche 3: the point de vue subjects Four minutes thirty, alone, with no preparation. This is the task that separates B1 from B2, and it rewards structure over content: the plan below carries any subject you draw. #### École, éducation et famille - Dans votre pays, la réussite scolaire dépend-elle surtout de l'école ou de la famille ? - Faut-il apprendre à cuisiner à l'école ? - L'apprentissage d'une langue étrangère devrait-il être obligatoire jusqu'à la fin du secondaire ? - Faut-il limiter l'usage du téléphone portable dans les écoles ? #### Ville, mobilité et environnement - Les grandes villes devraient-elles réserver certaines rues aux piétons ? - Faut-il encourager les habitants des grandes villes à s'installer en région ? #### Consommation et société - Vaut-il mieux réparer un objet que le remplacer, même quand la réparation coûte cher ? The five-part shape that carries any subject 1. Situate and announce your position (20 seconds) 2. First argument, developed with one concrete example (1 minute) 3. The objection, stated honestly rather than caricatured (1 minute) 4. Your answer to that objection (1 minute) 5. Conclude by restating your position, differently worded, and stop (30 seconds) This is the structure our own lesson on task 3 walks through in full, including a complete worked answer on smartphone use in schools. Timing ## How the twelve minutes actually run The section is short enough that pacing is a skill in itself. Nobody fails the expression orale for lacking one more idea; people lose points for spending ninety seconds on a two-minute task, for reading out preparation notes instead of talking, and for finishing task 3 after ninety seconds with nothing left to say. ### Task 1 starts cold There is no preparation before the directed interview, which is deliberate: it tests whether you can operate in French without a run-up. The fix is not preparation, it is warm-up. Speak French out loud for ten minutes before you leave for the centre, even to yourself, so the first sentence of the exam is not the first French sentence of your day. ### The preparation minutes are for structure, not script Two minutes is not enough to write anything you could usefully read out, and reading out a written answer is audible and self-defeating. Use the time to fix three things: your position, two reasons in the order you will give them, and the example you will use for the second reason. Everything else can be improvised if the skeleton holds. ### Leave yourself a closing sentence Both prepared tasks are easier to mark well if they end rather than stop. Decide your final sentence before you start speaking, keep it simple, and use it when you feel the time going. A clean close reads as control; trailing off reads as running out. How it is marked ## The four things the examiner is scoring Each task is judged on the same criteria, and they compound: a fluent answer to the wrong question still loses the first one. France Éducation International does not publish a per-criterion weighting, so nothing below should be presented to a candidate as a points breakdown. - ### Doing the task you were actually given Each task has a job: introduce yourself, obtain something, defend a position. Answering a nearby question instead, or running out of things to say halfway through, costs more than any single grammar mistake. - ### Range and control of vocabulary The examiner listens for words that belong to the topic and are used correctly. Reaching for the precise word and landing it is worth more than repeating a safe one, but a wrong word used confidently still reads as a gap. - ### Range and control of grammar Short simple sentences that are all correct will cap your level. Subordinate clauses, past and future tenses, the conditional and clean question forms are what move a performance up a band. - ### Pronunciation, rhythm and fluency You are not marked on sounding Parisian. You are marked on being understood without effort: audible word endings, stable rhythm, and pauses short enough that the examiner never has to rescue the conversation. Scoring ## What your speaking mark is worth in NCLC levels The expression orale gives you one mark out of 20. Express Entry never uses that mark directly: IRCC converts each of the four TCF Canada results into an NCLC level, and it is the level that earns CRS points. Because the conversion is banded, one extra point can be worth a whole level, or nothing at all. | NCLC level | TCF Canada | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Listening | Reading | Speaking | Writing | | | NCLC 10 | 549-699 | 549-699 | 16-20 | 16-20 | | NCLC 9 | 523-548 | 524-548 | 14-15 | 14-15 | | NCLC 8 | 503-522 | 499-523 | 12-13 | 12-13 | | NCLC 7 Level highlighted on this pageThe level most Express Entry profiles are built around. | 458-502 | 453-498 | 10-11 | 10-11 | | NCLC 6 | 398-457 | 406-452 | 7-9 | 7-9 | | NCLC 5 | 369-397 | 375-405 | 6 | 6 | | NCLC 4 | 331-368 | 342-374 | 4-5 | 4-5 | Listening and reading are marked on a 331 to 699 scale; speaking and writing are each marked out of 20. The full four-ability table lives on the [TCF Canada score chart](/tcf-canada/score-chart). These bands matched IRCC's equivalency chart for the TCF Canada when we last compared them on 30 September 2026. If the official chart ever differs, the official chart is right. Registration and test centres ## Where the oral happens, and what it costs You register for the TCF Canada with an approved test centre, not with France Éducation International directly and not with us. The centre owns everything practical about your oral: the date, the room, whether it is held in person or by videoconference, and which identity document you must present. Confirm those details with the centre in writing when you book. - The oral is often scheduled on the same day as the written tests, but plenty of centres run it in a separate slot or on another day. The scheduling rule is set per centre, so no single answer belongs on this page. - Fees are set by each centre and differ by country, which is why no figure is printed here. Ask your centre for the current fee in local currency, and check what a re-sit costs before you book the first attempt. - Your attestation is issued after the session by France Éducation International. Confirm the current turnaround with your centre rather than relying on a number quoted online. - Bring the same identity document you registered with. A mismatch between your registration and your ID is one of the few things that can end a session before it starts. One planning point matters more than any of the above: IRCC needs a recent result, so work backwards from the date you expect to submit your profile rather than forwards from the date you feel ready. Practice strategy ## Four weeks of practice that changes the mark Speaking is the ability that improves least from reading about it. The plan below assumes four weeks and about forty minutes a day, and it is deliberately ordered so the hardest task gets the most rehearsal. ### Week 1 - record yourself and count the damage Answer ten task 1 questions on your phone, two minutes each. Then listen back and count three things: filler sounds, sentences you abandoned halfway, and verbs in a tense other than the present. That count is your baseline, and it is usually more useful than any score. ### Week 2 - drill question forms until they are automatic Task 2 fails on questions, not answers. Practise inversion, est-ce que, and indirect questions until you can produce them without thinking, then run role-plays where your only goal is to obtain a specific piece of information in under ten exchanges. ### Week 3 - build argument skeletons for task 3 Take ten broad subjects, of the kind that appear in the exam, and for each one write only a position, two reasons and one example. Then speak for three minutes from that skeleton. You are training the shape of an argument, not the content of ten essays. ### Week 4 - full simulations, with a real partner Run the complete twelve minutes end to end every other day, in order, with the clock visible. This is the point where practising alone stops working: the interaction task needs someone who answers unhelpfully, and self-assessment cannot tell you which of the four criteria is holding your level down. ![A laptop with a headset resting on it, ready for a recorded practice session](/_next/image?url=%2Fphotos%2Flaptop-headset.jpg&w=3840&q=75) Record every attempt, then listen back before anyone else does. How the practice works ## Recorded, replayed, then corrected Speaking is the hardest paper to rehearse alone, because there is no way to assess your own performance while you are giving it. The fix is unglamorous: record every practice attempt, then listen back to it before anyone else does. Hearing your own hesitations is what makes them fixable. Much of what costs marks here is not vocabulary but structure and time management, and both show up immediately on a recording while being almost invisible in your memory of it. Section A asks you to ask, not to answer. The drill names the question form behind each one and what you left out. No account, nothing stored. [Drill the questions](/tools/question-drill) Free, and no account. FAQ ## Expression orale: the questions candidates actually ask Answers marked with a verification note are pending a check against the official candidate guide, because a wrong number here would cost a candidate real money. ### How long is the TCF Canada expression orale? Twelve minutes in total, covering all three tasks in one sitting. Only task 2 carries preparation time, and it is 2 minutes. Task 1 is 2 minutes with no preparation, task 2 is 2 minutes of preparation then 3 minutes 30 of dialogue, and task 3 is 4 minutes 30 spoken straight through with no preparation at all. That is the reading to hold on to, because the widely quoted 5 minutes 30 for task 2 is the total including preparation, not your speaking time. The candidate manual gives this per-task split; confirm it against the current version before you plan around it. ### What topics come up in the TCF Canada speaking test? France Éducation International does not publish a bank of speaking topics, so no list anywhere, including this one, is the official set. Task 1 draws its questions from a small group of personal themes: who you are, where you live, your work or studies, your family, your free time, and why you are learning French. Task 2 puts you on the phone obtaining information for something concrete: a registration, a subscription, a rental. Task 3 hands you an unseen point-de-vue question, most often about education, city life, or everyday choices as a society. The worked examples further down this page come from our own mock exams and course material. ### Is the speaking test face to face with a real examiner? Yes. Unlike exams that record you answering a microphone, the TCF expression orale is a live exchange: the examiner asks the questions in task 1, plays the other person in task 2, and can put a follow-up question after task 3. Some centres run it by videoconference rather than in the room. ### What speaking score do I need for NCLC 7? On the published conversion, a speaking mark of 10 or 11 out of 20 corresponds to NCLC 7, and 12 to 13 corresponds to NCLC 8. Express Entry looks at the NCLC level rather than the raw mark, and it looks at all four abilities separately, so one strong speaking result does not lift a weak listening result. ### Should I learn answers by heart before the test? No. A memorised speech is easy to hear, it collapses the moment the examiner asks something adjacent, and it stops you demonstrating the interaction the marking actually rewards. Prepare reusable structures instead: ways to open, to give an example, to concede a point, to ask for a repetition, and to close. ### What do I do if I did not understand the examiner? Ask, in French. Requesting a repetition or a rephrasing is normal conversational behaviour and part of what interaction competence means, so it is not the same as failing to answer. What does cost you is guessing, answering a question that was not asked, or going silent. ### Can I sit the speaking test on its own? TCF Canada is registered and taken as a complete session covering all four abilities, and an immigration application needs results for all four from one attestation. ### How long are my results valid for a Canadian application? IRCC requires the language test result you submit to be recent, and the standard rule is that it must be less than two years old on the day the application is made. Plan the exam date around when you expect to apply, not around when you feel ready. Your speaking mark out of 20 converts to NCLC on the [TCF Canada score chart](/tcf-canada/score-chart), and [how to pass the TCF Canada](/how-to-pass-tcf-canada) places speaking inside the full four-section plan. Speaking cannot be marked by the person doing it: the [TCF Canada preparation course](/tcf-canada-course) includes marked speaking in both live tiers, and you can [book a placement call with Adèle](/book) to hear where you stand. Preparation tiers ## Prepare the expression orale with Adèle Every tier covers all four abilities, and every tier includes marked speaking recordings. The difference is how much live conversation you get, which is the part of the oral that self-study cannot supply. - ### Weekly plan The whole practice platform: every TCF and TEF Canada series, unlimited AI corrections, timed mock tests and the course lessons. CA$9.99per week Canadian dollars (CAD) Billed weekly, cancel any time. Access runs to the end of the week you paid for. [Start the weekly plan](/dashboard/premium) - Every practice series in all four exam sections - Unlimited AI writing and speaking corrections - Timed mock tests in the real exam format - Course lessons and a weekly study plan - ### Small-group live Weekly live classes with Adèle, in groups small enough that everyone speaks, plus marked writing and speaking. CA$449per 8-week block Canadian dollars (CAD) Eight weekly classes of 60 minutes: 8 hours of live teaching, CA$56 an hour, with your writing and speaking marked every week. [Join a small group](https://buy.stripe.com/fZu4gyfXZ9uK5Aj1P46Vq01) Full refund within 14 days of purchase if you have not taken a session. - Everything in the weekly plan - One 60-minute live class with Adèle every week - Marked writing submissions every week - Marked speaking recordings every week - Most popular ### One-to-one tutoring Private sessions scheduled around your test date, with a study plan built from your diagnostic results. CA$800per 10 sessions Canadian dollars (CAD) CA$80 an hour, booked around your test date: ten 60-minute sessions. [Book one-to-one](https://buy.stripe.com/dRm8wOfXZdL07IralA6Vq0a) Full refund within 14 days of purchase if you have not taken a session. - Everything in small-group live - Private 60-minute sessions scheduled around your test date - Study plan built from your diagnostic test - Unlimited marked writing and speaking during your block Not ready to commit to a block? Try a trial class. One 40-minute class with Adèle, one to one. The CA$30 comes off any block you book within 30 days. [Try one class for CA$30](https://buy.stripe.com/6oU4gy3bd9uK4wf0L06Vq0c) Not sure which tier fits? [Book a free 15-minute video call.](/book) Prices are in Canadian dollars and include any tax that applies. Exam registration fees are paid directly to your test centre and are not included in any tier. WHY PREPARE HERE ## Preparation built around the exam you are actually sitting Four things every tier includes, whether you study on your own or work with Adèle every week. - ### Marked against the real criteria Every writing and speaking task comes with a model answer and the marking grid, so you can see exactly what an examiner rewards. On the live tiers, Adèle marks your own work by hand and tells you which mistakes are costing you the most points. - ### Timed practice in the real exam format You practise each section under the clock, in the order and the length you will meet on test day, so the paper itself is never the surprise. - ### The NCLC threshold always in view Every section is worked against the NCLC thresholds IRCC publishes. A practice result is not an NCLC level; only your attestation gives one. Practice shows you where you lose marks. - ### Study from anywhere, in your timezone Everything is online, for candidates in Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, India, France and Canada. The free plan and the weekly plan run entirely on your own clock. On the live tiers, if you miss a class the recording and the correction still reach you. OUR COMMITMENT ## What we promise, and what we will never claim ![](/lander/seal-badge.svg) Your result is decided by official examiners we have no contact with, so no honest preparation service can promise you a score. What we can commit to is the work: the corrections, the practice papers and the teaching hours you paid for. ### What we do not claim - We do not guarantee a TCF Canada or TEF Canada score, an NCLC level, or a number of CRS points. - We do not register you for the exam, and we have no influence over marking, exam dates or seat availability. - We are an independent preparation service, not an examiner and not an official test centre. ### Our commitment, in writing - On the live tiers, every writing and speaking task you submit is marked by Adèle herself, never by software. The weekly plan gives unlimited AI corrections instead, and the free plan includes three. - Prices are in Canadian dollars and include any tax that applies. Exam registration is never included: that fee goes to your test centre. - We will never invent a testimonial, a statistic or a pass rate. NEXT STEP ## The interaction task is the one you cannot practise alone Book a one-to-one session and spend all of it on the oral: a full twelve-minute simulation, then the specific corrections that move your mark rather than general advice about confidence. [Book a speaking session](/book)[See the three tiers](#tiers) Prices are in Canadian dollars and include any tax that applies. Exam registration is paid to your test centre and is never included. Keep reading ## The rest of the TCF Canada, in the same detail - [TCF Canada 2026: NCLC 7 needs 453 reading, 458 listeningFour tests in 2 h 47: listening 39 questions in 35 min, reading 39 in 60, writing 3 tasks in 60, speaking 3 in 12. Scored to 699 and out of 20.](/tcf-canada) - [TCF Canada expression écrite 2026: 3 tasks, 60 minutesThree tasks in 60 minutes: 60 to 120 words, then 120 to 150, then 120 to 180. What each asks for, how it is marked out of 20, and where marks are lost.](/tcf-canada/expression-ecrite) - [TCF Canada score chart 2026: NCLC 7 = 453 CE, 458 CONCLC 7 is 453 to 498 reading, 458 to 502 listening and 10 to 11 out of 20 in writing and speaking. Full conversion table from NCLC 4 to NCLC 10.](/tcf-canada/score-chart) - [How to pass the TCF Canada in 2026: there is no pass markNo pass mark exists. You need your programme's NCLC level in every section, usually NCLC 7: 453 reading, 458 listening, 10 out of 20 in production.](/how-to-pass-tcf-canada) Where these facts come from France Éducation International publishes the task structure and the criteria orders for the TCF Canada expression orale, not a weighted grid. Timings and task counts below follow the board's own description; the interpretation of what earns marks is ours and is labelled as such. - [France Éducation International: TCF Canada](https://www.france-education-international.fr/test/tcf-canada) - [France Éducation International: TCF reference site](https://www.france-education-international.fr/sites-ressources/tcf) - [IRCC: Express Entry language test results and NCLC equivalencies](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/documents/language-test.html) Exam boards reissue formats, fees and conversion tables without announcing it. Where a number here matters to a decision that costs money, check it against the source above rather than trusting any preparation site, including this one. --- For agents: site index https://francaisprep.com/llms.txt, developer access https://francaisprep.com/developers, and TCF or TEF to NCLC conversion over a plain GET at https://api.francaisprep.com/v1/score/convert?exam=tcf_canada&listening=512&reading=470&writing=12&speaking=11 (exam is tcf_canada or tef_canada).