Think Real Life, Think TEF Canada

TEF Canada always tests French through everyday life situations.


1. Daily Life (la vie quotidienne)

Very, very common.

  • Renting an apartment
  • Neighbors, noise complaints
  • Household problems
  • Shopping, supermarkets
  • Schedules, appointments
  • Transport (bus, train, metro, delays)

2. Work & Professional Life (le travail)

One of the biggest themes.

  • Job interviews
  • CV, experience
  • Office problems
  • Colleagues
  • Meetings
  • Customer complaints
  • Professional emails

3. Health (la santé)

  • Doctor appointments
  • Pharmacy
  • Symptoms
  • Medical advice
  • Healthy lifestyle

4. Services & Administration (les services)

  • Bank
  • Post office
  • Insurance
  • Bills and payments
  • Internet / phone problems
  • Government services

5. Education (l’éducation)

  • School, courses
  • Training programs
  • Registration
  • Exams
  • Student problems

6. Social Relations (les relations sociales)

  • Friends
  • Family
  • Invitations
  • Conflicts
  • Plans and outings
  • Persuading someone (very important for speaking)

7. Environment & Society (la société)

Appears especially in Writing Task B and Reading.

  • Pollution
  • Recycling
  • Public transport
  • Technology in society
  • Social media
  • Community life

8. Travel & Leisure (les loisirs)

  • Hotel booking
  • Flight problems
  • Tourism
  • Cultural activities
  • Events

9. Consumer Situations (la consommation)

Very frequent in Listening & Reading.

  • Returning a product
  • Complaints
  • Guarantees
  • Wrong order
  • Online purchase problems

10. Media & Information

  • Radio reports
  • Interviews
  • Announcements
  • Advertisements
  • News extracts

The BIG SECRET of TEF

Same themes appear in:

Section Same themes?
Listening Yes
Reading Yes
Writing Yes
Speaking Yes

Only the format changes.
The themes do not change.


Why many candidates struggle

They study:

Grammar chapters
Random vocabulary lists

Instead of:

Vocabulary by theme
Situations by theme


If you master vocabulary for these 10 themes

You are prepared for 80% of the TEF exam.