--- title: "TEF Canada expression orale 2026: 2 sections in 15 minutes" description: "Two speaking sections in fifteen minutes, Section A being the first five. What each asks, how the mark becomes an NCLC level, and where points go." canonical: https://francaisprep.com/tef-canada/expression-orale last-updated: 2026-10-25 --- TEF Canada # 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. [Book a placement call](/book)[See the score chart](/tef-canada/score-chart) - Two sections, one mark on the TEF scale - Marked by examiners, never 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 TEF Canada expression orale is a spoken section built from two parts. In Section A you ask the questions to obtain something; 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. In Section A that means you are put in a situation, ask the questions and react to the answers. NCLC 7 is the level the French-language routes into Express Entry are built around. ![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) ## 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. 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. 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. The two sections ## 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. | What comes up ## 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 Activity ad #### 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 Course ad #### 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 Association ad #### 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 Course ad #### 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](/blog/tef-canada-speaking-section-b) 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 City initiative #### 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 Community group #### 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." Marking ## 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. Conversion ## 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 | These bands come from the same published conversion table as our TEF Canada score chart, and a test in this repository fails if the two disagree. Confirm them against the current official chart before planning a test date around a band boundary. 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. Questions ## TEF Canada expression orale, answered ### What is the TEF Canada expression orale? It is the speaking section of the TEF Canada: two parts with an examiner in about fifteen minutes. In Section A you ask the questions to obtain something; 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, where 310 to 348 is NCLC 7. ### How many parts does the TEF Canada expression orale have? Two, called Section A and Section B. Section A puts you in a situation where you have to obtain information, so you ask the questions. Section B asks you to present and defend a point of view. They are taken in one sitting and produce a single mark. ### What topics come up in TEF Canada expression orale? Le français des affaires does not publish a bank of topics, so no list anywhere, including this one, is the official set. What it does fix is the shape of the document Section A hands you: an annonce, a petite publicité, an offre d'emploi, or an affiche d'activité, always something with gaps you have to question your way around. Section B then turns that same kind of document into something you have to defend to a friend who will not agree with you. The worked examples further down this page, a set of cooking classes, a volunteer building project and a neighbourhood choir among them, come straight from our own course and mock exams. ### What score do I need for NCLC 7 in speaking? On the published conversion, 310 to 348 on the TEF speaking scale corresponds to NCLC 7, and 349 to 370 to NCLC 8. Express Entry reads the NCLC level rather than the raw mark, and it reads all four abilities separately, so a strong speaking result cannot lift a weak writing one. ### How is the TEF speaking section different from the TCF one? Structurally, the clearest difference is that the TEF splits into two sections while the TCF Canada runs three tasks, and the TEF puts more weight on you asking questions. The abilities being measured are the same, which is why candidates who prepare properly for one are rarely far off the other. Our comparison page covers the choice in full. ### Is it a live conversation or a recording? It is a spoken exchange rather than a written test, but delivery arrangements vary by centre and have changed over time. ### Can I prepare answers in advance? Not usefully. Section A depends entirely on what the other person says back to you, so a memorised script collapses at the first unexpected reply. What does transfer is prepared machinery: question forms you can produce without thinking, connectors, and two or three ways to buy yourself half a second. ### Why is speaking the section people underestimate? Because it is the one you cannot practise alone. Listening and reading improve with input you can get free. Speaking under time pressure, to a person who will not help you, needs a person on the other side, and that is the gap most self-study plans never close. ### Can I re-sit only the speaking section? An immigration application needs results for all four abilities from one attestation. Section B is where unmarked practice fails, because nobody pushes back on your argument. The [TEF Canada preparation course](/tef-canada-course) includes marked speaking every week in both live tiers; to fit it around your exam date, [book a placement call with Adèle](/book). Preparation ## 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. - ### 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. Keep reading ## The rest of the TEF Canada, in the same detail - [TEF Canada 2026: 4 tests for PR, 2 for citizenshipPermanent residence needs four TEF Canada tests, citizenship only two. Reading 40 questions in 60 min, listening 40 in 40, writing and speaking 2 each.](/tef-canada) - [TEF Canada expression écrite 2026: 80 and 200 words, no maxTwo writing sections in sixty minutes: Section A from 80 words, Section B from 200, with no published ceiling. How each becomes an NCLC level.](/tef-canada/expression-ecrite) - [TEF Canada score chart 2026: NCLC 7 = 207 CE, 249 CONCLC 7 is 207 reading, 249 listening, 310 writing and 310 speaking on the Équivalence ancien score column Express Entry reads. Full table, all levels.](/tef-canada/score-chart) - [TEF vs TCF Canada: which is easier, and how they differNeither is officially easier: both convert to the same NCLC levels and IRCC treats them as equal. What differs is format, timing and section counts.](/tef-vs-tcf) NEXT STEP ## Find out where your French actually stands Book a short assessment with Adèle: one writing task, one speaking task, and an honest plan for the weeks you have left before the exam. [Book an assessment](/book)[See the course tiers](#tiers) Where these facts come from Le français des affaires publishes the section structure and timing for the TEF Canada expression orale. What an examiner rewards inside that structure is our reading of the published criteria, not a quoted rubric. - [Le français des affaires: TEF Canada](https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/candidat/test-evaluation-francais/tef-canada/presentation/) - [Le français des affaires: TEF Canada preparation material](https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/candidat/test-evaluation-francais/tef-canada/preparation/) - [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).