Speaking
What is tested
Speaking usually combines a simulated conversation, where you respond to recorded prompts with only seconds to answer, and a presentational task, where you speak at length on a cultural topic, often comparing francophone and American communities.
Concepts to master
- Turn management: begin answering immediately; silence costs more than an imperfect sentence.
- The answer–support–advance pattern: respond to the prompt, add a reason or detail, then move the exchange forward with a question or a new point.
- Circumlocution: when a word is missing, describe it - « l'appareil qui sert à… », « une personne qui… » - rather than switching to English or stopping.
- Register: vous in service and formal contexts, tu with peers; correct greetings and leave-taking formulas.
- Pronunciation features that carry meaning: liaison (les‿amis), enchaînement, nasal vowels (on/an/in), u vs ou.
- Presentation structure: an opening thesis, two or three developed points with concrete examples, and a closing synthesis, signposted with connectors.
Traps
Reciting a memorized speech that does not fit the prompt; answering only the first half of a two-part question; drifting into English or into a long pause; and offering a presentation with no real cultural content - naming stereotypes rather than describing a practice and the perspective behind it.
Worked example
Prompt: « Qu'est-ce que vous avez fait ce week-end ? » Weak: a single word or a rehearsed autobiography. Strong: « J'ai visité une exposition au musée, parce que j'étudie l'art du dix-neuvième siècle. Et vous, qu'est-ce que vous avez fait ? » - a complete answer in the right tense, a reason, and a return question.
Rule of thumb: in the conversation, aim for two clauses per turn; in the presentation, follow a structure you can hear yourself keeping.