DELF A1, DELF A2, and what Canada actually asks for

Compréhension de l'oral (CO)

• A1: 4 exercises; each recording played twice; announcements (station, shop), a voicemail, a short dialogue, matching 5 short situations to pictures. Questions: MCQ, fill a word/number, tick the picture.
• A2: 4 exercises, played twice; longer voicemail or announcement, a radio extract, a dialogue (e.g. a purchase, a doctor), and 4–6 short situations to identify (where / what / who). More inference: "Why does she call?" "What must he do?"

Compréhension des écrits (CE)

• A1: 4 exercises: a short message/email, signs or ads to match to needs, a timetable/programme, a simple instruction text. Very literal questions.
• A2: 4 exercises: a longer personal email, a set of ads (choose the right one for a described person), an informative text (rules, brochure, simple article), instructions. Some questions need you to combine two pieces of information.

Production écrite (PE)

• A1: Task 1 — fill in a form (10 points). Task 2 — a postcard, message or simple description, 40–50 words, on given points (15 points).
• A2: Task 1 — describe an event or experience (a trip, a party, a day, a memory), 60–80 words (13 points). Task 2 — a letter/email: invite, accept, refuse, thank, apologise, ask for information — with three or four points to cover, 60–80 words (12 points).

Production orale (PO)

• A1: (1) Entretien dirigé — the examiner asks about you, 1 min. (2) Échange d'informations — you draw 5–6 word cards (sport ? famille ? ville ?) and ask the examiner questions, 2 min. (3) Dialogue simulé — a shop/café role-play with picture cards of items, 2 min. 10 min preparation for parts 2 and 3.
• A2: (1) Entretien dirigé — you introduce yourself, the examiner asks follow-ups, 1.5 min. (2) Monologue suivi — you draw a topic (your last holiday, your job, your daily routine, your city…) and speak for 2 min, then questions. (3) Exercice en interaction — you draw a situation and organise/negotiate something with the examiner, 3–4 min. 10 min preparation.

Production écrite (A2, per task, out of 12–13)

A1 is the same grid with lighter expectations (present tense, simple sentences). Mistakes are expected at both levels; incomprehensibility is what loses points.

Production orale (A2, out of 25)

Listening

• Read the questions before the first play; underline what you are listening for (a time, a price, a place, a reason). Predict the kind of answer.
• First play: get the situation and answer the easy ones. Second play: the details. Never leave a blank — MCQs cost nothing to guess.
• Numbers, times, dates and prices are the bread and butter; drill them daily (Module 0, A1·4, A1·7).
• Listen for the function words: parce que (a reason is coming), mais (a change), il faut / vous devez (an instruction), désolé (a refusal).

Reading

• Skim the whole text once for the type (email? ad? rules?), then read the questions, then hunt. Answers come in text order.
• In "choose the right ad" tasks, make a mini-table: person's needs vs each ad's features.
• Words you do not know: guess from context, from English cognates (information, nécessaire, important), and from the question. Do not stop.
• Copy answers exactly from the text when asked for a word or number; spelling errors in copied words are penalised.

Writing

• Underline every task in the instruction; number them; tick each in your draft. This alone secures the biggest criterion.
• Plan in 2 minutes: opening formula → point 1 → point 2 → point 3 → closing. Write. Count words (aim for the upper half of the range). Then 5 minutes proofreading for one thing at a time: verb endings, then articles/agreement, then accents.
• Use what you know is correct. A simple correct sentence beats an ambitious wrong one. Recycle the model letters from A2·8.
• Always: a greeting, a sign-off, a signature. Always: two or three connectors. Always: the tense the task implies (past for "racontez", future for "vos projets").

Speaking

• Use the 10 minutes' preparation for parts 2 and 3: key words only, in the order you will use them, plus the opening and closing sentences written out.
• Open every part with a formula: Bonjour madame/monsieur · Alors, je vais vous parler de… · Voilà, c'est tout.
• When stuck: Comment dit-on… ? · Je ne sais pas le mot, mais c'est… · Vous pouvez répéter, s'il vous plaît ? These are scored positively.
• Speak slower than feels natural; your pronunciation will be clearer and you will make fewer errors. Look at the examiner.
• In the interaction, you must keep it going: ask questions back, propose, react. Never just answer and wait.

TEF Canada

• Compréhension écrite — 60 min, 50 MCQ: signs and short texts, a long text with detail questions, a text with gaps to fill logically, a text where you find the incorrect sentence. Levels rise through the paper; A2-level items are the first third.
• Compréhension orale — 40 min, 60 MCQ: match pictures to descriptions, short messages, dialogues, a longer interview, and a final section where you spot the odd sentence. Each played once.
• Expression écrite — 60 min, 2 tasks: (A) continue a news item / fait divers, ~80 words, in the past tenses (this is exactly A2·6's skill); (B) give your opinion on a statement in a letter or article, ~200 words, with arguments (B1–B2 skill).
• Expression orale — 15 min, 2 tasks: (A) from a short ad, ask the examiner questions to get information, ~5 min (A2·8's skill — asking, obtaining information); (B) convince the examiner to do something described in a document, ~10 min, with arguments and counter-arguments (B2 skill).

TCF Canada

• CO 39 MCQ (~35 min) · CE 39 MCQ (60 min), both rising in level.
• EE — 60 min, 3 tasks: (1) describe / narrate, 60–120 words; (2) a letter or article to inform/persuade, 120–150 words; (3) compare two short opinions and give yours, 120–180 words.
• EO — 12 min, 3 tasks: (1) interview about you, 2 min; (2) get information from the examiner on a scenario, ~5 min incl. prep; (3) give and defend an opinion on a question, ~4.5 min.

What to do with this now

• Every A2 narrative you write (A2·6, A2·12) is TEF EE Section A practice. Keep them.
• Every "ask questions from cards" exercise (A1·8, mock A1 part 2) is TEF EO Section A. The A2 version is asking about an ad — practise it with real Kijiji ads.
• From B1 onward, start reading opinion pieces and noting d'une part / d'autre part, cependant, en revanche, c'est pourquoi, à mon sens — the B2 argumentative toolkit.
• Do not book TEF/TCF until a full mock (official sample papers exist on both sites) shows NCLC 7 in all four. A B1 result costs money and gives no points; the certificate lasts two years, so time it for your application.

Official sample papers: TEF — Le français des affaires site, "Exemples d'épreuves"; TCF — France Éducation international, "TCF Canada : entraînement". Both are free.

• The week before: one full mock under time; then only light review — dialogues, verb tables, your model letters. No new grammar.
• Bring: the ID you registered with, the convocation, two black or blue pens, a pencil and eraser for MCQ sheets, water. No phone, no dictionary.
• Listening: questions first. Write during the first play. Never leave blanks.
• Reading: 30 minutes for 4 exercises = 7 minutes each; move on if stuck and come back.
• Writing: plan 2 min, write, count words, proofread 5 min. Legible handwriting; if you cross out, one clean line.
• Speaking: arrive early; use every second of the 10 minutes' preparation; greet the examiner; speak slowly; when in doubt, ask. End with merci, au revoir.
• After: results in 4–8 weeks; the diploma later. Whatever the result, start the next level the following week — momentum is the whole game.

Bonne chance. Vous êtes prêt.