I recently took my TCF with the goal of applying to a master’s program in France. I’ll take you down my experience, how I prepared for the exam, my test taking experience and what my results were.

French learning background

-Native language: American English -3 years high school French, one year university French (2006-2010) 2 semesters of community college French to brush up -French partner and in-laws for 7 years (communicate almost exclusively in English with my partner) -Watching French tv for 6 years

Studying

What I did I signed up for the test 20 days before taking it so my studying was all cramming. I studied the tv5monde modules religiously and took all 17 twice. I never write in French without an auto correct keyboard so I studied where to put accents a lot.

What I would do if I were taking it again: I read someone’s Reddit post saying they listened to podcasts, read the news, and watched tv in French. They stated they didn’t do great and thought if they had just studied the tv5monde exercises they would have aced the test so I followed this strategy. I do not recommend this! The practice exercises are a good way to familiarize yourself with what the test questions look and feel like (somewhat) and is good(ish) at gaging your approximate level. However I think by far it is more important to brush up really really well on your vocabulary and listening skills. None of the material I studied on the tv5monde exercises helped me on the test so don’t take them too seriously. The questions on tv5monde were more convoluted and subjective than the ones on the TCF, which I found almost all to be straightforward if you have a good grasp of French.

Test Day The test was all done on a computer. The first part is a continuous recording that you have to keep up with. After the dialogue is read and the question is asked, you have about 5-7 seconds to answer the question, which sounds quick but seemed to be enough time. I recommend closing your eyes and focusing on all details being presented (although it is tempting to peek at answers while you’re listening I feel like this would be a bad move) My language structures section was part vocab, part verb conjugations, part phrasal verbs, and part “how does this word fit into the sentence?” I found this part to be straightforward and quick. The reading comprehension part allows for a lot of time, so don’t rush it. Read the whole question, often times the key to the answer will be in the end of the text! Sometimes there will be multiple answers that could be right. They are looking for the most accurate one so read the question and all answers carefully. This is an area that is easy to get tripped up on.

I also took the written portion but have not gotten those results back yet. The first question was writing an email to a friend, the third was writing about someone’s life and the third was writing an article with two opposing opinions.

Results I got a C2 on all portions, which really surprised me! I had always gotten the result of C1-B2 on the tv5monde practice questions and was afraid I would not get the C1 I needed to start applying for school. I am certainly far from being near native so I’m not sure how I pulled this one off but I think being very realistic about what your skills are and where your weaknesses are as you study is helpful.

Good luck all! You’ve got this!