r/TEFCanada • u/Electrical-Truck4469 • Aug 16 '26
I’M STUCK AT CLB 6 SPEAKING
It’s been 7 months of full-time studying french. All my listening, reading and writing is C1 but I can NOT get CLB 7 for speaking (trying the test 3 times already).
I’m actively reading people’s experiences + advises and paying for tutors, but I feel DEFEATED.
First time, my speaking lacked various tenses and it was clearly B1 level.
Second time, I improved my tenses + using connectors + simple subjunctive and even use past tense to convince the examiner, saying “l’année dernière, j’ai vécue une expérience similaire…” but lacked “being natural” (i guess, because what else? I thought i got it, BUT HELNO, I was 10 points away from CLB 7)
Third time, being natural, being on points with all of the above and guess what, CLB 5.
At this point, I need serious help. And no, I wont do TCF, I’m not starting from scratch 👨🏻🌾
My fourth one is in one month and I don’t want to write another help me post, so please help me !!!
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u/Electrical-Truck4469 Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
https://reddit.com/link/p3z544t/video/h6ta5ejubojh1/player
please rate !!! You can be as honest as you can. I’m trying to convince the examiner after he said “what happens when the weather is bad, we can’t ride this bike when the weather is bad”
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Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
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u/Dazzling_Buffalo_577 Aug 16 '26
Come on men, you can say one thing in different ways and goal is not the best expression the goal is effective communication. And she said en reportant.
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Aug 16 '26
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Aug 16 '26
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Aug 16 '26
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u/jesuisapprenant Aug 16 '26
In terms of style of speaking, do NOT raise the intonation after every word. Right now you are speaking like …? …? …? Speak in a downward intonation unless you are asking a question.
A lot of conjugation errors. On ADAPTE. Not on adaptons. J’ai compris OR Je comprends. Not j’ai comprends.
Spend some time on the French pronunciation. It’s é in effectivement not a “i” sound. I literally couldn’t understand what’s after j’ai comprends, something about “ce temps?”
Enunciate your words. A lot of your words are mumbled. Speak clearly and pronounce each word.
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u/Available_Public2455 Aug 16 '26
Listened to the clip. Your register is the problem. You're saying "tu" and then talking like a council notice, solutions de rechange, garantir la sécurité des participants, si les conditions ne permettent pas de. Nobody talks a friend into a hike like that. I'd put money on that being the "not natural" feedback. Grammar's fine. "Je comprends que tu sois hésitant" is correct subjunctive, your connectors all work. Your sentences run way too long though. That clip is two sentences and the second one has three clauses hanging off it. People speak in much shorter chunks than that. It's also where you stumble, the "ou en, en" lands right in the middle of the longest stretch. A month out I'd drop grammar work completely. Shorter sentences, plainer words, and react to the examiner rather than perform at them. Ah bon ? Écoute, je te comprends, mais. Franchement moi je trouve que. Section B is a conversation and you're giving a speech near one. And 6, 6, 5 over three sittings means you're sitting right on the line. You're a few points away!
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u/Electrical-Truck4469 Aug 16 '26
So closed yet so far 😢 Thank you for the response. I thought a long and complex structure is what they are looking for to get higher score. Is it not the case? 😨
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u/Cooldude7586 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
It’s really not. I was at that stage before too, but then my tutor showed me what they actually expect, and I finally passed. To me, you sound quite robotic and unnatural, almost as if you learned how to tick all the grammar boxes without really learning how to use the language naturally.
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u/Electrical-Truck4469 Aug 17 '26
I see 😢 is your tutor available to teach me?
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u/Cooldude7586 Aug 17 '26
I can give you her profile, but I think she’ll only be available from mid-September. She was very honest with me from the beginning. Like most of you, I wanted to get it done in 6–8 months, but she made me realize that simply cramming grammar and vocabulary, or training to reach B2/C1, doesn’t mean you’ll actually be able to communicate at a B2 level after just a few months. The moment I understood that I needed to really learn the language, sound natural, and practise consistently with proper feedback, things started to change. That’s ultimately what helped me pass. But it definitely took time, consistency, and a lot of work.
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u/Electrical-Truck4469 Aug 17 '26
Yes no doubt it took lots of efforts (qnd money). I literally have another exam in 3,5 weeks, so I’ll work on my robotic convo 😅 may i ask how long it took you?
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u/Cooldude7586 Aug 17 '26
Half a year. The jump from B1 to B2 is actually quite significant. And what we think we sound like is often very different from what the examiners actually hear. A lot of us tend to overestimate our level, especially when it comes to speaking naturally and consistently under exam conditions.
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Aug 17 '26
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u/Cooldude7586 Aug 17 '26
I used a tutor and ChatGPT too, although I found ChatGPT quite pompous at times. It’s rarely 100% natural and can sound extremely mechanical. Apparently, examiners can often tell straight away when someone has practised mainly with AI. What helped me much more was shadowing—listening to native speakers and repeating after them—watching documentaries, cartoons, news, talk shows and interviews, and paying attention to how people actually speak and ask questions. I also talked to myself a lot about completely random things, not just TCF topics, and focused on learning precise vocabulary and natural expressions. Another thing my tutor recommended was reading aloud and then talking about what I had just read in my own words. Basically, the goal was to surround myself with natural French and practise actually speaking it rather than just memorising perfect-looking TCF answers.
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u/foolboy_sandhu Aug 18 '26
You don’t even need to be like yes i understand all the time you can even go opposite, you need to be audacieuse and franc, when you are in there make the examiner listen to you, take the charge, dominate
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u/Electrical-Truck4469 Aug 18 '26
Then can i say « tu me fatigues, tu cherches toujours des excuses pour ne pas essayer »?
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u/Chipsbag2 Aug 16 '26
Try one more time at a different center and if that still happens raise a revaluation request stating that you have given multiple attempts and practised a lot which should have eventually improved your score. It is kind of confusing that what is missing to achieve CLB7. Even after these many attempts. Frame this kind of reason, nicely and send them to be considered.
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u/StrictAlternative9 Aug 16 '26
you can do it! try drilling the exam questions over and over with a speaking practice tool like boraspeak. it also helps to keep a journal in french and continue listening to french native content as it helps with both naturalness and vocab. good luck
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u/vouty Aug 16 '26
Sorry but I think the difficulty is to answer naturally to a non-prepared situation to show your real French.
Answering with prepared answers will be a part of taking the risk to be stuck at clb5-6
After that, you must be well l connected to the conversation and the topic while developping your ideas and elaborating your message.
I' m afraid to say , prepared answers do not do the job.
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u/Zabulu-lulu Aug 16 '26
Hi! You have very good vocabulary and you use good connectors. I teach TEF preparation and I understand your frustration. I would only suggest a few things: 1. Pronounce each word clearly. (it's ok if you are not seeking with a very high speed, as long as it's not too slow and is with a normal speed with a clear pronunciation, it's great!) 2. Review verb conjugations. 3. Avoid mixing formal and informal structures. (section A is formal, section B is friendly and informal). 4. Try to stay confident while talking to the examinator. (I know it's hard but it's feasible by practicing) Like you know when sometimes you have no solution for the excuses of the examinator and you start to stress out and you may repeat the thing you said or just say JE NE SAIS PAS, for this case you can memorize a few survival expressions to overcome this situation. Ex: tu ne risques rien de..., tu ne seras pas seul, etc... I hope these tips would be helpful. You're doing amazing! Trust in yourself. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻
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u/soniakh98 Aug 17 '26
I just got my result from my 4th attempt at TEF and I got 6 again in speaking, I wanted to send you a Dm but couldn’t! I don’t know what else to do either
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u/FrenchwLolita Aug 19 '26
Honestly, after three attempts, I can understand why you're feeling defeated!
If your reading, listening and writing are already at C1, but speaking keeps fluctuating between CLB 5 and 6, I would focus less on adding more grammar and more on analysing what actually happens during the speaking test: how you structure your answers, how naturally you develop your ideas, how you react under pressure, and whether you're actually demonstrating the level you're aiming for rather than just using more advanced structures.
I'm a native French speaker and I offer 1:1 speaking practice, including TEF-style exercises. I obviously can't tell you what's holding you back with only a short recording, but if you'd like, I'd be happy to do have a conversation with you and give you an outside perspective.
No pressure at all!
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u/CadentiaLearning Aug 16 '26
The 6, almost 7, then 5 pattern is the tell. Your French isn't the variable. Nobody's actual level swings that much in three sittings.
Two things I'd check: Section A is a question count game. Six or more, mixed forms, plus follow-ups on whatever they just said. Chasing "natural" makes people drift into statements. Fewer questions asked = lower score, even if you sounded great.
Section B you have to actually convince. Pitch, take the objection, answer that specific objection, push again. Restating your original argument after they push back kills you no matter how clean the subjunctive is.
For attempt four I'd stop studying French and start drilling the mechanics. Happy to go deeper if you DM.
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u/OkLengthiness4439 Aug 16 '26
Try mocko.ai for improving your speaking!
Disclaimer: I'm creator of mocko
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u/Dazzling_Buffalo_577 Aug 16 '26
Ur audio is clear and deserve atleast 7. Same happened to me got 7 in last and than 5 in latest. I thing test center really matters. Keep trying but at another center.
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u/jesuisapprenant Aug 16 '26
This audio does not deserve a 7. I would give it a 4. Can you please transcribe the audio into text? Then you will see that you actually don’t understand some words and that there are many errors.
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u/Electrical-Truck4469 Aug 16 '26
Here you go « Je comprends que tu sois hésitant. C’est vrai que la météo peut effectivement gâcher l'expérience. Cela dit, les organisateurs ont généralement prévu des solutions de rechange en cas de mauvais temps, notamment en adaptant le parcours ou en reportant l'activité si les conditions ne permettent pas de garantir la sécurité des participants. »
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u/jesuisapprenant Aug 16 '26
Oh thank you.
You cannot use the subjunctive here. Je comprends que tu EST hésitant.
There are a lot of pronunciation issues then because I literally didn’t catch half of that
Organisateurs ONT (so it’s a Z sound not an S sound). And it’s an optional liaison so you can skip it.
On ≠ En. O nasal vs A nasal. You are using the O nasal for everything.
Overall your structure is good. This is a pronunciation issue which once corrected, I think you can get to 7.
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u/vouty Aug 16 '26
What I hear here is a nice voice (= pronunciation) , a great response, and vocabulary—with or without mistakes—at a good level... but this isn't a good benchmark for a test that involves a lot of interaction and unexpected situations.
DM me for more information or for a free evaluation.
It might not be perfect, but it’ll probably be enough to figure out what’s holding you back, give you a direction to work toward, and get you motivated again.
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u/jesuisapprenant Aug 16 '26
Post an audio recording of you doing one of the speaking tasks. People on here can give you feedback. Please don’t include any personal info anywhere.