TEF Canada expression orale, section by section
Two sections, one mark, and one of them asks you to do the thing candidates practise least: ask the questions rather than answer them. Here is what each section wants and what the mark converts to.
- Two sections, one mark on the TEF scale
- Marked by examiners, never by software
- Written by Adèle, a native French teacher
In short
The TEF Canada expression orale is a spoken section built from two parts. In Section A you are put in a situation and have to obtain something, which means you ask the questions and react to the answers. In Section B you present and defend a point of view. The section produces a single mark on the TEF speaking scale, and IRCC converts that mark to an NCLC level: 310 to 348 is NCLC 7, the level the French-language routes into Express Entry are built around.
TEF Canada expression orale at a glance
- Sections
- Two, labelled Section A and Section B, taken in one sitting.
- Total length
- About 15 minutes for the speaking section as a whole. (Verify: confirm the current duration and the per-section split in the official candidate guide before planning around it.)
- Format
- A spoken exchange in which you have to produce language, not select an answer. Delivery varies by centre.
- Preparation time
- Short, and set per section. (Verify: check the current preparation allowance with the operator, since it is not the same as the TCF Canada arrangement.)
- Score
- One mark on the TEF speaking scale, which IRCC converts to an NCLC level.
- NCLC 7 needs
- 310 to 348 on the published conversion for expression orale.
Section A and Section B want different things from you
| Section | What you are asked to do | What the examiner is marking |
|---|---|---|
| Section AYou ask. The examiner answers. | You are given a situation and have to obtain information from the other person: a service, a detail, an arrangement. You lead, and the examiner responds only to what you actually ask. | Question forms above all. This section is unusual because most candidates have spent their preparation answering questions, not forming them. Inversion, est-ce que, intonation questions, and knowing which register the situation calls for are what carry the mark. |
| Section BYou argue. The examiner listens. | You are given a position or a document and have to present a point of view, defend it with reasons, and try to convince the other person of it. | Structure and range. A defensible opinion delivered in ordered steps with connectors, subordinate clauses and tenses beyond the present is what separates the middle bands from the top ones. |
Scroll the table sideways to see both columns.
The topics Section A and Section B actually use
Le français des affaires does not publish a bank of topics for expression orale, so no list anywhere, including this one, has an official source behind it. What it does fix is the shape of the document Section A hands you: always one of four kinds, une annonce, une petite publicité, une offre d'emploi, or une affiche d'activité, deliberately short on detail. Section B then turns that same kind of document into something you have to defend to a friend who has been told never to agree with you.
Below are three worked examples per section, taken directly from our own course and mock exams: the actual document, the instruction as written, and the questions or argument that scored well against it. That carries further than a bare list of topic names, because it shows the mechanics you can reuse on whichever document you actually draw.
Section A: obtain the information
Guitar lessons, small group, Wednesday evenings
Consigne: Vous avez lu une annonce pour des cours de guitare et vous êtes intéressé(e). Vous téléphonez pour avoir plus d'informations. Posez une dizaine de questions.
The questions that actually score
- How long one session runs, and whether it opens with music theory
- How many people share a group, and how much one-to-one time that leaves you
- What happens to a session you miss: lost, or made up with another group
Neighbourhood evening cooking workshops
ATELIERS DE CUISINE DU QUARTIER. Cours du soir pour adultes débutants. Douze séances. Places limitées. Inscriptions ouvertes. Renseignements par téléphone.
Consigne: Vous avez lu cette annonce et le projet vous intéresse. Vous téléphonez pour obtenir le maximum d'informations. Posez une dizaine de questions.
A full 10-question run from our own mock exam
- The calendar: which evening, what time, how long a session runs
- The price, what it covers, and whether it can be paid in instalments
- The group size, and what a typical session actually covers
- What happens if you miss one, and the enrolment deadline
A volunteer building project restoring an old mill
Association Pierre Vive. Chantier participatif : restauration du moulin de Coudray. Deux semaines en juillet. Hébergement sous tente. Encadrement assuré par un maçon professionnel. Repas et formation compris. Participation demandée : 90 euros pour la quinzaine.
Consigne: Vous avez lu cette annonce et le projet vous intéresse. Vous téléphonez à l'association. Posez une dizaine de questions et, surtout, relancez.
A full 13-question run from our own mock exam
- Whether one week alone is possible, or both weeks are required
- What the work actually involves, and whether experience is required
- What the 90 euros covers, and what camping gear you need to bring
- Access, insurance, and the registration deadline
Section B: argue and convince
Convince a friend to join a cooking workshop
Consigne: Vous avez lu une annonce pour un atelier de cuisine. Vous en parlez à un(e) ami(e) qui dit ne pas avoir le temps. Essayez de le convaincre de s'inscrire avec vous.
The argument shape that carries this section
- Present the document first: your friend has not read it
- Concede the objection in half a sentence, then pivot: "that's exactly why this format suits you"
- Close with one small, easy proposal rather than a summary of your case
Talk a friend into a 30-day car-free challenge
DÉFI SANS VOITURE, 30 JOURS. Transport en commun gratuit pour les participants, prêt d'un vélo d'hiver, rencontre de clôture. Inscription en ligne avant le 15 novembre.
Consigne: Vous en parlez à un ami qui prend sa voiture tous les jours pour aller travailler, qui trouve l'idée sympathique mais irréaliste. Tentez de le convaincre de s'inscrire avec vous.
The three objections our mock exam prepares you for
- Commute time: propose comparing a real week instead of an estimate
- Winter weather: point back to the free bike loan and the bus
- Saturday errands: the challenge runs 30 days, not forever, and nothing bans one rental
Persuade a friend to try a neighbourhood choir
Chorale du quartier Saint-Roch. Aucune expérience demandée, aucune audition. Répétitions le jeudi de 19h à 20h30. Deux concerts par an. Première séance d'essai gratuite.
Consigne: Vous en parlez à un ami qui affirme chanter faux et n'avoir aucun temps libre. Essayez de le convaincre de venir avec vous à la séance d'essai.
Two concession lines worth memorising
- "Admettons que tu chantes faux. Tu es exactement la personne que cette chorale recrute, puisqu'elle ne fait pas passer d'audition."
- "Tu n'as rien à perdre : la première séance est gratuite. Tu décideras après, pas avant."
What actually moves the mark
The single most useful thing to understand about this section is that Section A is a question-asking exercise. Candidates arrive having rehearsed answers about their job, their studies and their reasons for moving to Canada, and then discover that the task requires them to run the conversation instead. Preparation that never practises forming questions leaves half the section untrained.
The second is that fluency and accuracy are marked together, not traded off. A correct sentence assembled over eight seconds and a fluent sentence with a small slip do not score the same, and the fluent one usually wins. That is uncomfortable for candidates who learned French as a written subject.
Doing the task in front of you
Section A wants questions and Section B wants an argument. Answering Section A as if it were an interview about yourself, or narrating in Section B instead of taking a position, costs more than any individual grammar error.
Question forms, specifically
Because Section A is built on them, and because they are the structure candidates practise least. A speaker who can only manage rising intonation will be capped, however fluent the rest sounds.
Range and control of grammar
Short correct sentences hold you at a middle band. Subordinate clauses, the conditional, past and future tenses and clean negation are what move a performance up, provided they are controlled rather than attempted.
Fluency and pronunciation
You are marked on being understood without effort, not on sounding Parisian. Audible word endings, steady rhythm and pauses short enough that the exchange keeps moving are what matter.
What the speaking mark converts to
The expression orale and expression écrite sections use the same band boundaries on the TEF scale. Express Entry reads the NCLC level, not the raw mark.
| NCLC / CLB | TEF Canada | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listening | Reading | Speaking | Writing | |
| NCLC 10 | - | - | 393-450 | 393-450 |
| NCLC 9 | - | - | 371-392 | 371-392 |
| NCLC 8 | - | - | 349-370 | 349-370 |
| NCLC 7 Level highlighted on this page | - | - | 310-348 | 310-348 |
| NCLC 6 | - | - | 271-309 | 271-309 |
| NCLC 5 | - | - | 226-270 | 226-270 |
| NCLC 4 | - | - | 181-225 | 181-225 |
Scroll the table sideways to see all four abilities.
TEF Canada expression orale, answered
How many parts does the TEF Canada expression orale have?
What topics come up in TEF Canada expression orale?
What score do I need for NCLC 7 in speaking?
How is the TEF speaking section different from the TCF one?
Is it a live conversation or a recording?
Can I prepare answers in advance?
Why is speaking the section people underestimate?
Can I re-sit only the speaking section?
Speaking is the section you cannot practise alone
Both live tiers include marked speaking every week, because a recording nobody listens to is not practice.
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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.
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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.
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Practice results are converted to NCLC levels using the published conversion tables, so you always know how far you are from the level your profile needs.
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The rest of the TEF Canada, in the same detail
- TEF Canada: format, scoring and NCLC levelsHow the TEF Canada is structured, what each section tests, how results map to NCLC levels for Canadian immigration, and what registration costs.
- TEF Canada expression écrite: Section A and B, with sample answersThe two TEF Canada writing sections, what the marker is looking for in each, how the mark becomes an NCLC level, and the structural mistakes that cap a score.
- TEF Canada score chart: results to NCLC levelsThe full TEF Canada score-to-NCLC conversion table for reading, writing, listening and speaking, with the CRS points each level is worth.
- TEF vs TCF Canada: which exam should you take?TEF Canada and TCF Canada compared side by side on format, scoring, timing and fit, with a straight recommendation, since neither exam is worth more CRS points than the other.
Find out where your French actually stands
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