r/French • • Nov 25 '24

Study advice DELF/DALF/TCF/TEF questions masterpost!

106 Upvotes

Hi peeps!

Questions about DELF, DALF and other exams are recurrent in the sub, so we're making this as a “masterpost” to address most of them. If you are wondering about a French language exam, people might have answered your questions here! If you have taken one of said exams, your experience is valuable and we'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Please upvote useful answers! Also keep in mind this is a kind of FAQ, so if you have questions that it does not answer, you're better off making a post about it, rather than commenting here!

If you're unsure what to say, here's what community members have most frequently asked about.

  1. What's the difference between DELF/DALF/TCF/TEF/... and other language certifications? When/why should one choose to take each?
  2. How does the exam go? Please be as precise as you can.
  3. What types of questions are asked, both for writing and speaking parts?
  4. What grammar notions, vocabulary or topics are important to know?
  5. How's the rhythm, the speed, do you have time to think or do you need to hurry?
  6. What's your experience with DELF/DALF/TCF/TEF/..., how do you know if you're ready? Any advice?
  7. How long should one expect to study before being ready for the different DELF/DALF/TCF/TEF/... levels?
  8. Any resources to help prepare for DELF/DALF/TCF/TEF/... specifically (not for learning French in general)?
  9. Can you have accommodations, for instance if you're disabled?
  10. How can I sign up for one of these exams?
  11. Will these certifications help me get into universities, schools, or get a job in a French-speaking country?

Additionally, the website TCF Prépa answers many questions (albeit succinctly) here.


r/French • • Aug 26 '23

Mod Post FAQ – read this first!

282 Upvotes

Hello r/French!

To prevent common reposts, we set up two pages, the FAQ and a Resources page. Look into them and search the subreddit before posting!

The FAQ currently answers the following questions:

The Resources page contains the following categories:

Also make sure to check out our Related Subreddits in the sidebar!


r/French • • 20h ago

Pronunciation What’s your level and how much of this video do you understand?

99 Upvotes

Just curious, is this video easy to follow for non-native speakers? I’m getting like 60% of it I think she speaks really fast


r/French • • 3h ago

Question for Quebecers

2 Upvotes

Québécois, when and why would you use "là là"? I don't trust AI on these things, and i've heard it many times


r/French • • 36m ago

Looking for media Friends series in French 🇫🇷

• Upvotes

Hi! I want to learn French and decided to do it through watching Friends. Does anyone have a link where I can watch it for free?

Also, can anyone recommend any free series I can watch to learn French?

Thanks! 😊


r/French • • 37m ago

Summer Camps for Language Learning that Aren't Language Schools

• Upvotes

We are looking for a summer camp for our two kids (boy and girl) that incorporate language learning but where the primary focus is still being kid and enjoying camp life. Camp Ouareau seems to fit this bill but we have a boy and a girl, so really hoping to find a place they can both attend. They will be 10 and 7 next summer.


r/French • • 1h ago

What is the difference between accroître and augmenter?

• Upvotes

Both of them seem to mean "to increase" but what is the actual difference between these verbs?


r/French • • 4h ago

Possible de prononcer le verbe "bégaie" comme "bégaye", comme dans les mots qui se terminent par -aye / -eille ?

1 Upvotes

J'ai pensé à ça parce qu'il existe "essaie" et "essaye" pour le verbe essayer


r/French • • 15h ago

"Paul est beaucoup plus grand que moi" or "Paul est bien plus grand que moi" — which one is correct?

5 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

While reading my textbook, I started wondering about the difference between beaucoup and bien when used to intensify a comparative.

Take "Paul est beaucoup plus grand que moi" and "Paul est bien plus grand que moi." I believe both are grammatically correct, but is there any difference in meaning or usage between them?


r/French • • 1d ago

How would you translate "go" into English, keeping the same register?

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64 Upvotes

r/French • • 9h ago

Hachette Inspiré 1, A1 has errors on their part

0 Upvotes

I've already seen several errors in Corriges S'entraîner of Hachette Inspiré 1.

It's slowly getting too much and I can't believe they've given that job to someone of mediocre quality.

Some of their errors in Corriges S'entraîner. Colors written wrong, instead of blue coat, they wrote yellow for Leçon 18, 11 p.69.

And Leçon 17, 5 p.68 poissonnerie should've been 6 instead of 5.

I've seen other errors but haven't not them because I thought errors would stop but apparently they continue. Use this book with the help of Google/ChatGPT if you feel confused, your stuck confusion is probably because of an error on their part.


r/French • • 12h ago

How is "Bah si tu veux on en parlera" in this recording? I do not hear it at all.

1 Upvotes

I've been told that that is what is said, but I don't hear it. May sometime please help?

Merci d'avance


r/French • • 23h ago

French Classes online or in person in NYC

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I just visited Montreal and fell in love with the city and I have been thinking to learn French for a while but now I’ve decided I’d like to pull the trigger. Can anyone recommend where to take classes? I don’t know where it would be best to take classes. Merci :)


r/French • • 21h ago

Do you tend to tutoies strangers who you want to be friends with?

2 Upvotes

Tutoyer a stranger can be risky, because it may be taken as disrespect.

I'm curious, do people often risk that by tutoyer a stranger to indicate "I want to be close with you"?


r/French • • 18h ago

How is this "Je sais pas"?

0 Upvotes

I've been told that this is je ne sais pas in the beginning, but I do not hear it at all. May someone please explain?


r/French • • 1d ago

Vocabulary / word usage Old dictionary — potentially offensive but still interesting

5 Upvotes

Recently, I was given an English/French dictionary as a gift. It was printed in the 1950s. Some of the vocabulary is rather dated, but it's fun anyway. I am asking if the current entries are still in use.

Le Petit Juif (humerus)

Un margot (a prostitute)

Une marie-salope (a prostitute, literally a mud-dredger)

Un brise-tout (someone who is clumsy)

Le marivaudage (canoodling with one's partner)

My wife has graciously ordered a more modern English/French dictionary for me.


r/French • • 1d ago

Is it outdated to say zic?

4 Upvotes

r/French • • 1d ago

Study advice Are listening and reading questions in TCF canada still being repeated?

1 Upvotes

Last time I gave, listening and reading questions were 100 percent repeated in exam. I practiced mock tests available on sites which uses same questions. I scored c2 in both listening and reading but failed in speaking. Anyone who recently gave tcf canada in india, can please tell if it's still the same? or have they started adding new question sets?


r/French • • 1d ago

Question sur l’utilisation de « chez qui » et de « où »

1 Upvotes

Bonjour à tous ! J’ai une question concernant l’utilisation de « chez qui » et de « où », comme dans les exemples ci-dessous. Pourriez-vous m’aider à comprendre la différence ? Merci d’avance !

1) Selon une enquête que j’ai lue sur le site « TV Globo », 78 % des personnes interrogées pensent que les gestes écologiques sont peu efficaces, en particulier celles qui vivent dans les grandes villes, où ce chiffre atteint 90 %.

2) Selon une enquête que j’ai lue sur le site « TV Globo », 78 % des personnes interrogées pensent que les gestes écologiques sont peu efficaces, en particulier celles qui vivent dans les grandes villes, chez qui ce chiffre atteint 90 %.

Dans cet exemple, j’hésite entre « où » et « chez qui ». Est-ce que je dois utiliser « où » parce que je fais référence aux grandes villes et que je parle du pourcentage dans ces endroits ? Ou est-ce que « chez qui » serait plus approprié, puisque je parle des personnes qui vivent dans ces villes

Merci pour votre aide !


r/French • • 1d ago

"C'est quand on subit sa vie qu'il y a du stress."

5 Upvotes

I'm having a hard time understanding this.

"It is when one endures one's life that there is stress."

Doesn't make sense to mean.


r/French • • 1d ago

Vocabulary / word usage Does anyone else’s family use this word?

15 Upvotes

Hey so long story short some family friends are French French and they call one of the grandparents “mononcle” (pronounced like mon uncle) and I’ve been trying to figure out if this is just a family thing or not because I have searched the internet and haven’t found anything about it


r/French • • 1d ago

Vocabulary / word usage Does anyone else’s family use this word?

9 Upvotes

Hey so long story short some family friends are French French and they call one of the grandparents “mononcle” (pronounced like mon uncle) and I’ve been trying to figure out if this is just a family thing or not because I have searched the internet and haven’t found anything about it


r/French • • 1d ago

Study advice I have a talking test soon, some advice?

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1 Upvotes

So i have a talking test soon and we need to prepare before, but im not sure if what i prepared is correct. We need to react to a blog, and state our opinion on it. our opinion needs to consist of an intro, the opinion, and a conclusion.

This is what i have right now(and the translation), but im 100% sure the grammar and word usuage are not correct.

Im not sure what niveau this would be on, but i think its 11/12th grade, but this is my final year so around that niveau.


r/French • • 1d ago

Study advice Salut j'ai besoin de "tips" et media

2 Upvotes

Je suis aprender français, et les choses que je cherche à m'améliorer sont le compression Lectoure et le compression Orale le français n'est mon langage maternel je parle le anglais et le espagnol, mon feed dans les algorithmes c'est dans le anglais et espagnol, que videos ou groupes vous pouvez recommander? Pour améliorer mon français, Qu'est-ce qui vous aide ? Je suis aussi un cours le samedi, parce que mon travail ne me le permet pas en semaine.

Merci :)


r/French • • 1d ago

CW: discussing possibly offensive language "Dominique" par La Soeur Sourire

3 Upvotes

Je suis en train de re-regarder American Horror Story: Asylum, et j'ai noté que la chanson qui passe souvent (le titre de cette poste) inclu les paroles "Dominique, nique, nique". Je suppose qu'il ne s'agit que les syllables du nom, mais je me demande si quand le mot niquer est née, beaucoup de jeunes blaguaient de ces paroles. Est-ce que c'était le cas chez les Francophones? (Moi je suis américaine)

Je vous remercie en avance!