How to prepare for exams DELF and DALF in French and not overwhelm them
Forming / / December 19, 2019
The most important thing about the DELF and DALF
DELF and DALF - exams, which sooner or later will face anyone who is studying French. They will need to enroll in a university or employment in a French-speaking country to confirm language knowledge. There are other tests, but it DELF and DALF - the most popular formats, and received a diploma accepted virtually any organization, as of examinations has been the Ministry of Education France.
If your level - from A1 to B2, then the exam as a diploma that you receive will be called DELF. In that case, if your level of French is high enough (C1 or C2), you have to take the DALF. The rest of the exams are exactly the same, including the structure. Degree of difficulty of tasks and their contents depend on the level at which you are applying.
Unlike many conventional exams IELTS and TOEFL, DELF at the time you need to determine the level of knowledge of the language beforehand: for each of the six levels (A1 to C1) has its own exam, assignments that will fit your knowledge of the language. If you do not take the TOEFL is not possible (in any case you get a result that reflects your current level of English) DELF diploma you can not get if you do not score a minimum number of points (overall result - 50/100 or less than 5/25 of all four sections).
So you should be careful: if you choose too difficult for your level, you risk not to get a degree at all.
At levels A1 to C1 examination consists of four parts:
- reading
- listening,
- speaking,
- written part.
If for the very first level, you only need to carry on a conversation on the basic themes and capture the general sense of the primitive text, but C1 you should show little fluency in the language, the right, for example, surround the essay and synthèse (brief retelling) more texts.
Level C2 exam is slightly different from all others. It consists of two parts: written and oral. First you're done with the discussion with the examination board, listening to specially selected audio and then write a job on the basis of a few to read the text.
The most popular exams - Levels B2 and C1 (these degrees usually require universities and employers), so that our article will be devoted primarily to them. Nevertheless, all recommendations can be applied to any other levels from A1 to C2.
General tips for preparation
As with any exam, your success at the time DELF or DALF depends on two factors:
- your knowledge of the language;
- your familiarity with the test format.
Unfortunately, often the candidates are paying much attention to the first of them, but ignore the second. While getting a high score on the exam is very difficult, if not learn in advance all the pitfalls.
A simple recommendation: 1-2 weeks prior to the exam take a maximum time solving real exam options. Books with collections of tasks are sold in any major bookstore.
A week before the exam, if possible, limit the use of the Russian language in their lives. Try to read only the French press, to listen only to the French radio and go only to the French sites. Surprisingly, even a few days of this practice will increase your confidence, and thus help to improve exam results.
Preparing for the individual sections of the exam
Reading
Reading - the easiest part of the exam. If you have reached at least level B1, the easiest way to improve reading skills - to take up the book in the original. Better to start with those you already know. Especially great if I can find on the French book that you liked as a child.
Perfect example - "Harry Potter." Books written easily enough, but the story is known to almost everyone. Even if you do not understand the meaning of individual words, it will not prevent you enjoy reading. If you can read at least a few books of the series, you will notice progress soon.
As for the specifics of the exam, you should select only one type of insidious questions. The complexity of many causes job where you must choose between the options "yes", "no" and "not stated in the text." Learn how to solve these tasks is possible only through the practice. During the execution of test cases test should concentrate on issues of this type. With experience, you will have an intuitive understanding of what kind of response expected of you to get the task authors.
listening
In most cases, listening does not cause significant problems in handing over. To develop this skill, enough to watch movies and listen to French radio. If you have enough time to test, you can make a useful habit to watch the French news daily (eg, France2 channel puts all the issues in open access). Even if the language level is not too high, you will still realize a significant portion of subjects through video.
See the news is particularly useful: understanding the French context will make it easy to cope with the questions on the exam, which often deal with acute for French society in such environment.
One of the serious problems arising from the passing grades, and associated diversity of French accents. At the level of B1 or B2 you could easily get caught excerpt Canadian or African transmission. To prepare themselves to it, it may sometimes include a background from other radio French-speaking countries - your brain will start to get used to the unfamiliar accent, even if you are not careful listen.
The written part
Written part - one of the toughest. A1 and A2 levels you have to write a small simple texts on the B1 and B2 levels - an essay with its own expression point of view. When the exam on C1 task becomes much more difficult: In addition to the essay, you need to make a paraphrase.
In the process of writing an essay, remember about the structure. The higher the level, the closer the examiners are to how you structure your thoughts. for the preparation of textbooks for DELF and DALF usually offer a few models. As an example, the structure of "thesis - antithesis - synthesis".
It is the written part takes the most practice. If possible, hire a teacher who will be able to check at least a few of your essay. Without assistance from the identify your problem areas will be virtually impossible.
speaking
Upon delivery of the oral part of the exam the key role played by the practice. There are many websites where you can find a buddy-native speaker to practice in exchange for a conversation with him in your own language, for example MyLanguageExchange.com or Easy Language Exchange.
At higher levels (starting at B2, but especially at C1 and above) a major role played by the structure of your speech. Proper presentation of ideas often helps to compensate for the meager vocabulary or absence of complex grammatical structures. You once again, as in the written part, you need to use one of the models for organizing your thoughts. If you are applying for a high score, you should practice it in DALF format.
Often topics that fall for examination, cause great surprise for unprepared candidates. You need to learn how to make meaningful monologue in the allotted time, even if the topic you think is absurd. Here the key role played by the structure of speech, through which you can make the gaps in your knowledge less noticeable.
Total
Exams DELF and DALF is not too difficult. First of all, you need to pull up your French to the required level. Read, listen, talk to native speakers - try to immerse themselves in the francophone environment.
The next step - study exam format. Try to solve as much as possible a real job, to feel what you expect from the authors. You do not even need a teacher's help: instructions are detailed enough textbooks, and partners to practice speaking it is possible to find on the Internet.
The only exception - the written part. it usually causes the most difficulty, so if there is an opportunity to engage with a specialist, then it is time you need to spend it on essay writing and narration (for C1 and above level).