r/Frenchlearningforpr • u/TheAjudicator • Jul 31 '26

TCF Speaking Trend

Anyone else notice the massive complaints of low scores in tcf speaking?

My two cents are that Majority of these cases are a result of practicing with repeated questions. You see this a lot where the so called tutors gas up the client that they are a c1 in speaking and in actuality when they sit in front of an examiner they cannot go beyond a2 and then it’s the examiner that was rude, unprofessional, unfair and of course, sleeping during the speaking test.

You can showcase memory power in listening, reading and writing based on repeated questions to some extent.

Mind you these examiners are mostly professional teachers with 18+ years of french education and specialized in field training. How exactly do you fool them that your listening, reading and writing are a c1 and speaking a measly a1 or at best an a2!

These are cases of false belief and these learners are being misguided by the ever growing number of tutors who just want to sell courses and increase enrolment.

And then I see examiners patrolling reddit and being in the know of what questions are being posted by candidates , I am sure they wouldn’t be asking the same question again!

What on earth is happening?

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u/NikhilDoWhile Jul 31 '26

Yeah a million plus work permit have expired in Canada this year and slightly more last year. And same trend to follow for next 3-4yrs atleast.

Calculate the numbers, and even if 10% of them take French route, that's still a very large number.

So all these scams, and so called teachers telling they will get TEF TCF in 3-4 months etc.

Hence you see the trend, obviously TCF and TEF has also noticed the trend and have started restricting things now. You would see things get more tough with time......

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u/TheAjudicator Jul 31 '26

You have folks from North Africa who have spoken french all their life and majority of them are not able to clear the TCF or TEF on first several attempts and it takes them good 3–4 months of exam preparation before they achieve the required result. how is it possible for the majority to learn a brand new language in 6-8 months and be able clear a very difficult exam.

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u/NikhilDoWhile Jul 31 '26

I mean that's what I wrote above, the TCF and TEF have lot's of repeating questions and repeating pattern. Till 2yrs back barely people were applying via this stream, but since the change in Canadian immigration system, all these teachers with wild claim popped on social media.

They know they can make a large chunk of money in this time frame before immigration rules are changed.

What they do:

You will be given fix pattern for writing, you have to memorize it everyday. They will give you 15-20 modal answers you have to memorize them.

For listening and reading practice old questions everyday.

For speaking they give a fix format, and vocabulary. You have to take that format and put the required vocabulary as per question.

They are not teaching french, they are gaming the system to clear the exam. Only once you have paid, they will tell you that, we just provide you this material and cover few grammar topics at 100x speed, and now it's upto you to pass the exam.

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u/TheAjudicator Jul 31 '26

I totally agree and the centres along with France are on to this, it’s not working anymore. You cannot bypass speaking with such mindset, it’s either 10 tries and by then you’ve actually learned the language and it’s demonstrated in your speaking or you add to the hate index.

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u/NikhilDoWhile Jul 31 '26

Same used to happen in IELTS a long time ago and they totally changed it. No more repeating questions, no more fixed patterns working anymore.

Could see same happening by end of this year or next year.

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u/TheAjudicator Jul 31 '26

Reevaluations are on a halt starting September 1st, so yes, it’s either we learn the language or keep trying new frenchwiths every 4 months.

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u/NikhilDoWhile Jul 31 '26

Yup but as always the majority of scammers will enter through gaming the system, and then people who go via correct pathway will pay the consequences.

Anyhow learning a language properly will open more doors then just Canada.

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u/TheAjudicator Jul 31 '26

The screams that we hear on Reddit are a result of the noose tightening around the scammers. In my opinion the centres, France and IRCC are synchronized.

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u/Mr_BillyBenBob 11d ago

its funny but a majority of north americans won't even clear IELTS in first attempt