How to run a TCF Canada speaking simulation at home

The TCF Canada speaking test lasts 12 minutes, facing an examiner who keeps time and records you. The hardest part to reproduce alone is exactly that person across the table, who follows up and interrupts. This page gives you what you need to stage a full mock at home, with a friend or relative playing the examiner, and then to listen back to the recording.

The topics and the script are made up by us, in the format of France Éducation international’s (FEI) sample paper. The script is in French, so the person playing the examiner needs to speak French.

What you need

• Someone to play the examiner. They don’t need to be a teacher. They only have to read the script below in French. Without them, task 2 loses its surprise, but it is still possible with the method further down.
• A phone that records, placed between you, and a timer only the examiner looks at.
• A blank sheet for your task 2 notes. No dictionary, no prepared notes, no phone in front of you.
• Topics you don’t know. Hand this page to the examiner without reading it. If you are on your own, follow the « With no examiner » method further down.

The running order

Task	Length	Preparation
1, guided interview	2 min	None
2, interaction	3 min 30	2 min before
3, point of view	4 min 30	None

The examiner announces each task, starts the timer and stops you when time is up, even mid-sentence. Don’t pause between tasks.

The examiner’s script

Task 1. Start with « Est-ce que vous pouvez vous présenter ? », as in FEI’s sample. Then ask one question at a time and pick the next one from the answer.

• Qu’est-ce que vous faites le week-end, en général ?
• Comment est-ce que vous avez appris le français ?
• Qu’est-ce que vous faisiez le soir quand vous étiez étudiant ?
• Quelle fête est importante dans votre famille, et comment la célébrez-vous ?

If the answer is a single sentence, follow up with « C’est-à-dire ? » or « Vous pouvez me donner un exemple ? ».

Task 2. Read this topic to the candidate, allow 2 minutes of preparation, then play the role.

Je suis responsable d’une chorale de quartier. Vous voulez vous y inscrire. Posez-moi des questions pour savoir comment elle fonctionne (répétitions, niveau, cotisation, etc.).

(The examiner runs a neighbourhood choir and the candidate wants to join.)

The candidate speaks first. Give short answers, so they have to follow up. Here are your answers, made up like the topic, which the candidate must not see.

• La cotisation est de 60 dollars par an, partitions comprises.
• Les répétitions ont lieu le mardi soir, de 19 h à 21 h.
• Il n’y a pas d’audition, mais il faut accepter d’apprendre les chants à la maison.
• Il y a deux concerts par an, en décembre et en juin, et il faut être présent aux deux.

Task 3. Read this question, with no preparation, then start the 4 min 30.

Vaut-il mieux être propriétaire ou locataire de son logement ?

(Is it better to own or to rent your home?)

About halfway through, interrupt once with an objection, for example « Mais un loyer, c’est de l’argent perdu, non ? ». The candidate has to answer it, then pick up their reasoning again.

A second set to run the mock again

Keep this set for the following week, so you don’t land on topics you have already seen.

Task 1. After « Est-ce que vous pouvez vous présenter ? », pick from these questions.

• Où est-ce que vous habitez, et depuis combien de temps ? (Where do you live, and for how long?)
• Racontez-moi votre dernier anniversaire. (Tell me about your last birthday.)
• Qu’est-ce que vous ferez pendant vos prochaines vacances ? (What will you do on your next holiday?)
• Quel plat de votre pays est-ce que vous préparez le plus souvent ? (Which dish from your country do you cook most often?)

Task 2. Same running order, 2 minutes of preparation then 3 min 30.

Je loue un chalet au bord d’un lac. Vous voulez le louer une semaine cet été avec votre famille. Posez-moi des questions pour savoir s’il vous convient (équipement, accès, prix, etc.).

(The examiner rents out a lakeside cottage and the candidate wants it for a week this summer.)

The examiner’s answers, made up like the topic.

• Le chalet a deux chambres et peut accueillir six personnes.
• La semaine coûte 900 dollars, ménage compris.
• Il faut une voiture, l’épicerie la plus proche est à 15 kilomètres.
• Les animaux sont acceptés, mais les feux de camp sont interdits en été.

Task 3.

Les enfants devraient-ils participer aux tâches ménagères dès leur plus jeune âge ?

(Should children help with household chores from a very young age?)

The objection to raise about halfway through, for example « Mais les enfants ont déjà assez de travail avec l’école, non ? ».

With no examiner

On your own, the mock loses the surprise, but it keeps the timer and the recording, and that is already a lot. Prepare the material the day before, then let at least one night pass before you start.

1. Task 1. Write each question of the set on a card, turn the cards face down and shuffle them. Draw one, answer out loud, then draw the next until the 2 minutes are up.
2. Task 2. Write each of the examiner’s answers on a card, face down. Read the topic, prepare your questions in 2 minutes, then ask each question out loud before turning a card over. If the card doesn’t answer your question, say so as you would to a real person (« Pardon, ma question portait sur… ») and rephrase. Better still, record the answers in your own voice the day before and play one after each question.
3. Task 3. Write the objection on a card, face down. Start the 4 min 30 and turn the card over when the timer shows about 2 minutes. Answer the objection out loud before you carry on.
4. Throughout. The phone records from start to finish, and the timer rings or vibrates at the end of each task, so you never have to look at it.

What this method can’t train is an answer you didn’t expect. As soon as you can, redo task 2 with a real person, even on a video call.

Listening back to the recording

Listen back the same day, one task at a time, and tick each line. The three groups follow the criteria FEI’s handbook lists.

Linguistic

• Several tenses are used, at least the passé composé, the imparfait and a future or conditional.
• The same word doesn’t come back in every sentence (« chose », « bien », « vraiment »).
• A listener who doesn’t know you would understand every sentence the first time.

Pragmatic

• In task 1, every answer is at least three sentences.
• In task 2, every item in the brackets was asked about, and at least one question builds on an answer (« Et si je rate une répétition ? »).
• In task 3, you can hear a position, two arguments with an example each, a reply to the objection and a conclusion.
• No task ends before time, and no silence lasts more than a few seconds.

Sociolinguistic

• In task 2, you use « vous » with the manager from start to finish, and you open and close the conversation politely.

Every unticked line is an exercise for the following week. The typical mistakes for each task, with corrections, are on the pages for task 1, task 2 and task 3.

What the simulation can’t tell you

A grid you tick yourself doesn’t give a mark. Speaking is marked by the examiner and then by a second marker who listens to the recording, and a calculation turns their levels into a mark out of 20 (how speaking is marked). A French speaker listening back with you will catch more than you would alone, but they can’t give you an official mark either.

NCLC Prep grades writing, not speaking. If your writing needs work too, you can have one written task graded to see your estimate out of 20.