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.
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 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.
Self-paced
The full lesson library plus timed practice tests for all four sections, worked on your own schedule.
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Small-group live
Weekly live classes with Adèle, in groups small enough that everyone speaks, plus marked writing and speaking.
Join a small groupCA$449per 8-week blockCovers all eight weeks, about CA$56 a class.
- Everything in self-paced
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One-to-one tutoring
Private sessions scheduled around your test date, with a study plan built from your diagnostic results.
Book one-to-oneCA$950per 10 sessionsCA$95 a session, booked around your test date.
- Everything in small-group live
- Private sessions scheduled around your test date
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Not sure which tier fits? Book a free 15-minute video call.
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.
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.
A native French teacher marks your work
Adèle reads every writing task and listens to every recording, then tells you which specific 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.
Every result mapped to an NCLC level
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.
Study from anywhere, in your timezone
Lessons run online for candidates in Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, Senegal, France and Canada. If you cannot attend live, the recording and the correction still reach you.
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 Section B explainedThe 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 on format, scoring, difficulty, fees and availability, so you can pick the exam that gets you the most CRS points.
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.