Written by Gabriela Estrada

In Canada, when an immigrant has to prove that he or she speaks everyday, social or street French, it is because he or she is going to apply for citizenship, and to do so must take the recognized TEF (Test d'evaluation de français) exam, which will allow him or her to evaluate his or her comprehension and oral expression in French. 

In this article of Planeta Immiland, our language school with an immigration focus, we tell you about the particular aspects of this test through the story of Juan Carlos, a Mexican living in New Brunswick who decided to share his experience about how hard it was for him to pass the TEF and what he did to pass the test and become a citizen.

Let's go with your story!

Hello, my name is Juan Carlos, I am from Mexico, and I want to share my story with the TEF so that other French-speaking Hispanics like me do not have to waste time and money when the time comes to apply for Canadian citizenship. 

I have lived in Moncton, New Brunswick for over five years. I am a computer scientist and work remotely from home. I have always gotten along well with French within my environment, I use the same phrases as my colleagues, the typical technical vocabulary of computer scientists, the formal greeting for my bosses, some jokes with my friends, in short, I have been attached to the French language from my academic and work comfort zone. I can read and write in French and understand the text perfectly well, but I never thought I would be so deficient in speaking and listening, perhaps because I do not get along so well on a social level with my neighbors or in the street. 

I recently sought to apply for citizenship and, in addition to other requirements, I thought I met French at an optimal conversational level, until I went to take the famous TEF. I spent several months trying to pass the test, but I failed twice; I did not understand what the interviewers were telling me in the oral part and I got tongue-tied when looking up common everyday words or phrases. I felt like I was up against something bigger than myself, and I realized that I was not prepared for the TEF. In fact, I lacked the oral and listening skills to decipher the more complex everyday conversations with my own neighbors, I lacked more knowledge of the local turns of phrase that are often interwoven into dialogues, and I began to worry about my citizenship.

I spent several months postponing the test, but the desire to change my immigration status got the better of me and I literally started preparing for the exam, I looked for textbooks and study guides focused on specific materials for the TEF including practice exercises and mock exams. However, I still felt a bit overwhelmed because I needed someone to tell me I was on the right track, I thought: third time's the charm, and I didn't want to fail, so I didn't hesitate any longer and enrolled in an intensive online TEF preparation course, but this time I put emphasis on the required language skills.

For the application for Canadian citizenship the format of the exam is as follows:

• Listening comprehension: 40 min - 40 questions.
• Oral expression: 15 min - 2 topics to be covered.

And the test must be completed on the same day for the Canadian authorities to recognize the certificate. These sections of the test assess the ability to understand spoken French in different situations and the ability to express oneself clearly and coherently, which was crucial to achieving my desire to fully integrate into society and obtain citizenship, and was just the part I was most concerned about.

As for listening comprehension, the best thing I decided to do was to actively listen to news, lectures and debates in French, and I paid special attention to pronunciation and intonation. Also, I listened to audiobooks in French while following the transcripts to associate sounds with written words.

For speaking, I participated in conversations and looked for opportunities to speak French, whether it was with friends, in study groups or even with native speakers through language exchanges in a store, on the subway, in parks, etc. I started attending virtual classes and clubs focused on improving pronunciation and fluency.

These strategies really helped me become familiar with spoken French in a different way than I had ever imagined, and with channeled coaching from my language teachers and participation in the conversation club I felt quite apt to take the TEF, and this time with mastery of the timing for each section. Finally, the day came to surpass myself, I had already done several mock TEF tests and I knew very well the everyday phrases and colloquial expressions that I could be asked during the test. 

Of course I passed! and soon after I became a citizen, but the road was one of constant and focused effort and dedication to pass the test.

Now, I can only thank all those who supported me during my learning, friends, neighbors, teachers of the course and fellow members of the conversation club. Alone and locked up in my house I would not have learned so many new expressions of the French of the street, the one that makes you part of the country as a citizen whose French sounds natural and favors an effective communication.

The best I could do was to prepare myself to pass the TEF, now I am a Canadian citizen, I feel fully integrated into the society and culture of this, my adopted country. Finally, I have the right to vote and, if I wanted to, I could hold a public office, but I will continue in my computer world from home, always emphasizing that before taking the TEF or any other similar exam, seek the advice of a specialist language teacher for immigration purposes, you will save a lot of time and money from the beginning.

I hope that my story will serve as an experience for those who need to pass the Test d'evaluation de français and hopefully they can also share the achievement of becoming a Canadian citizen.

Thank you for reading

Juan Carlos

Planeta Immiland is pleased to present this testimonial that further strengthens our commitment to teaching French for a different future free of language barriers in Canada. See our complete courses and services, here.

With love,

Planet Immiland