French speaking practice: ways to practise alone and with others

French speaking practice means saying French out loud, often, on your own and with other people. This page covers ways to do both, what one study found about shadowing, the classes official pages describe in Canada, how the TEF Canada speaking section is set up, the speaking scores IRCC reads for TEF Canada and TCF Canada, and a list of prompts in English for you to answer in French. For each exam section in detail, read TEF Canada speaking and TCF Canada speaking. For who can take which class, see Learn French in Canada.

What does French speaking practice involve?

French speaking practice is any time you produce spoken French rather than read or hear it. The Council of Europe’s global scale describes each level partly by what a user can say [6]. At A1, a user can introduce themselves and others and ask and answer questions about personal details [6]. At B1, a user can describe experiences and events and briefly give reasons for opinions and plans [6]. At B2, a user can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party [6].

Pick the level you are working toward and practise the tasks it names.

How do you practice speaking French on your own?

You can practice speaking French on your own with four habits: shadowing, recording yourself, speaking aloud against a clock, and describing your own life.

Shadowing. You play a short recording and repeat it right behind the speaker, copying the rhythm and sounds. A 2017 study in the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation had 16 participants shadow short dialogues on iPods for eight weeks, at least four times a week for at least 10 minutes each time [5]. They recorded themselves while shadowing [5]. Twenty-two speakers of English rated their speech, and the abstract reports that participants improved significantly on all speaking measures apart from accentedness [5]. The abstract does not mention French, and the result is for those 16 people, not a promise for you.

Recording yourself. The same participants recorded themselves as part of the practice [5]. Play your recording back and note the words you hesitated on. Those become tomorrow’s list.

Speaking aloud, timed. The TEF exam body’s preparation article tells candidates to practise out loud at home by imagining the exchange with the examiner, and to time themselves to find the right rhythm [3]. It also suggests listening to the radio, films and series [3].

Describing your day. Talk through your morning, your street or your work, aloud. That matches the A2 description of describing in simple terms your background and immediate environment [6]. When that feels easy, tell what happened yesterday and why, which is closer to the B1 description [6].

If you are a beginner, the Government of Québec lists a free online service for beginners at francais-enligne.quebec, which asks you to create an account with an email address and a password [10]. The page says it includes exercises to practise pronunciation, with feedback [10].

Where do you find French conversation practice?

Two routes to French conversation practice are a conversation exchange and a class. Practising alone builds habits, but answering a real person is a different skill.

Conversation exchange. You meet someone who speaks French and wants to practise English, and you split the time between the two languages.

Classes in Canada. Official pages describe these routes, plus one free self-study tool:

IRCC’s classes page says you must get a formal language assessment before you start, and that classes follow the Canadian Language Benchmarks and their French counterpart, the NCLC [7]. It says a certificate for CLB level 4 or higher in speaking and listening can be used as proof for the citizenship language requirement [7].

The Government of Québec says it offers free French courses to people 16 and older who live in Québec, are not subject to mandatory school attendance and want French learning services, and to people planning to settle in Québec [9].

How do you plan French language speaking practice for TEF Canada or TCF Canada?

Plan French language speaking practice for an exam around the exam’s own format. Both exams have a speaking section, and IRCC converts the speaking score to its own NCLC level [4].

TEF Canada. The oral expression section lasts 15 minutes in two parts: section A, 5 minutes, obtaining information, and section B, 10 minutes, expressing an argument to convince [1]. It takes place face to face with an examiner and is recorded so it can be marked twice [2]. The exam body says no drafts, scrap paper or notes are allowed during the speaking section [2]. Speaking is compulsory for both immigration and citizenship applications [1].

The exam body’s article describes each section as a role play about an ad, a newspaper ad or a job offer [3]. In section A you ask about ten questions or rephrase the examiner’s answers to get more information [3]. In section B you present an activity and try to persuade the examiner, who plays your friend and, the article warns, will never agree [3]. The preparation page links sample papers, workshop replays and training tutorials for oral expression [11].

TCF Canada. The exam body’s TCF Canada page could not be opened for this update, so this page does not describe its tasks. TCF Canada speaking covers them from that page. IRCC’s table shows how it reads the speaking score [4]:

IRCC’s column is headed “Speaking (expression orale)” [4]. For the Federal Skilled Worker Program, IRCC sets NCLC 7 as the minimum for all 4 abilities in the first official language [4], so strong reading cannot cover weak speaking.

What French speaking prompts can you answer today?

Answer each one aloud in French. Record it, then play it back.

1. A1. Introduce yourself: your name, where you live, and the people you live with.
2. A1. Ask a new neighbour three questions about where they live and what they do.
3. A2. Describe your street and the shops near your home.
4. A2. Walk through your morning from waking up to leaving the house.
5. B1. Tell the story of a trip you took, and what went wrong.
6. B1. Explain your plans for next year and give two reasons for them.
7. B2. Give your view on working from home, with advantages and disadvantages.
8. B2. Say whether your city should build more bike lanes, and answer one objection.
9. Role play, call. You saw an ad for a used bike. Call the seller and ask ten questions.
10. Role play, convince. A friend has free Saturdays. Convince them to join a community soccer team with you.

Prompts 9 and 10 follow the shape the TEF article describes for sections A and B [3].

Common mistakes

• Only practising alone. Section A of TEF Canada is an exchange with a live examiner [2][3].
• Writing out answers first. The exam body says no notes are allowed during TEF Canada speaking [2].
• Ignoring the clock. The TEF article tells candidates to time themselves [3].
• Reading a study as a promise. The shadowing study reports results for its own 16 participants and does not mention French [5].
• Treating our prompts as exam topics. They are ours, not official exam material.
• Trusting a guide for exam facts, including this one. The exam body and IRCC update their pages. Compare their content with the date at the top of this page.

See also: French question words and common French phrases.

See also: finding a French tutor.

See also: business French.

See also: language exchange apps.

Sources