Research notes

Gap 5: How the TCF Canada speaking examiner behaves (T1, T2, T3, choice of subject)

Researched 2026-11-04. Purpose: decide how Claude should play the TCF Canada examiner in the daily voice-mode speaking practice.

Confidence: [H] an official FEI or CIEP document (CIEP was FEI's former name), including copies hosted by test centres. [M] several non-official sources agree, or one strong but indirect source. [L] a single non-official source, or my own inference.

Copyright note: test material is paraphrased, not quoted. The report contains one short quotation.

0. Answers in brief

What this means for practice [L, inference from the above]:

• T3 is a 4 min 30 monologue drill, not a rebuttal drill. Make sustained, structured speech the core skill. Add robustness to 0–2 short examiner prompts (a precision, an example, the other side). Practising against an examiner who disagrees for 10 minutes belongs to TEF only.
• T2 is a question-card drill. A prepared card built from the cue words in brackets on the prompt carries the task. Follow-up moves are the second layer: about one answer in three has a condition worth reacting to, and you must fill 3 min 30. Be ready for cards where you interview the examiner (2 of the 5 demo cards).
• T1 is a theme drill. Prepare short answers on all 13 official themes, not just the 7 that prep sites repeat.
• No choice of subject means no shortcut. The T3 idea banks cannot be cut down by picking a favourite. The recurring 5-prompt sets in tcf-eo-bank.md section 4 remain the way to prioritise.

1. What I read, and what I could not reach

Limits of this pass.

• The shared web-search budget for this turn was already used up when I started, so I ran no new searches. I worked from known URLs, site navigation (sitemaps, links) and documents that earlier agents had already fetched.
• Reddit is blocked for the fetch tool. YouTube pages return titles only, with no descriptions or transcripts.
• To mine Reddit and YouTube later, send a follow-up message after this reply, or raise CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_WEB_SEARCHES_PER_SESSION.
• The fetch tool cached the PDFs it downloaded on its own. The only file I wrote is this report.

2. The official demo, page by page (paraphrased)

Page 1: opening (the examiner says this aloud) [H]

• Welcome. The test lasts 12 minutes and is an interview in 3 parts. Parts 1 and 3 have no preparation; you get 2 minutes to prepare before part 2.
• The interview is recorded and rated twice, once in the room and once at FEI.
• You may ask the examiner at any time to repeat or rephrase a word or a question.
• Once the recording starts it cannot be stopped.
• Any questions? Then the examiner asks your first name and surname.
• The manual adds that the examiner repeats your name and checks the recording worked at the end (Version J p.38).

Page 2: T1, guided interview, no preparation, 2 min [H]

• The examiner's instruction consists only of a list of 13 communication themes (section 3).
• The sentence said to you: this part lasts 2 minutes; can you introduce yourself?

Page 3: T2, interaction, with preparation, 5 min 30 (2 min prep + 3 min 30 dialogue) [H]

• The examiner's sheet lists 5 subjects. It contains no answers, facts or surprises for the examiner to use.
• The examiner says, in substance:
  • I'll give you a subject. Ask me questions to get information.
  • You have at most 2 minutes to prepare. Notes go on this sheet, not on the subject card.
  • We start after 2 minutes, or sooner if you are ready.
  • You speak first and you lead the conversation. It must last 3 min 30.
  • You may ask for more details or ask me to repeat information.
  • The examiner then reads the subject aloud.

Page 4: T3, point of view, no preparation, 4 min 30 [H]

• The examiner's sheet lists 5 subjects.
• The examiner says, in substance:
  • I'll put a subject to you.
  • Speak on it in an argued way, using examples, justifying your ideas and trying to convince me, for 4 min 30.
  • Here is the subject.
• Nothing on the page tells the examiner to interrupt, ask follow-ups or disagree.

Pages 5–9: one candidate card for each of the 5 T2 subjects [H]

• Each card repeats the rules: 5 min 30 in total; 2 min of preparation with short notes on the draft sheet only; you ask questions; you speak first; you lead; 3 min 30; you may ask for details or repetition.
• There is no candidate card for T3. The question is only spoken.

The demo's T2 subjects (paraphrased):

The demo's T3 subjects (paraphrased):

• what makes a country pleasant to live in;
• which values of your home country are worth keeping;
• if you did humanitarian work, which kind and why;
• whether travel makes us better people (agree or disagree);
• whether we can live without oil.

Two of the five are about countries: what makes one pleasant to live in, and what to keep from your home country.

Counts from the demo [H]:

• 5 of 5 T2 cards carry 3–4 cue words in brackets: 16 cue words in all, and 2 cards end with etc.
• 2 of 5 T2 cards reverse the usual roles. You are the decision-maker who interviews the examiner, so the examiner answers as an applicant, not as a service provider.
• Price or money appears on 3 of 5 cards (funding, price, fares) and time on 1 (frequency and timetables).

3. T1: how many questions, and from what list?

The list [H, demo p.2]. The examiner works from 13 themes, paraphrased:

1. personal details, character, languages spoken
2. family
3. friendships
4. education and studies
5. job or university situation
6. activities and habits (at work, at university, at home, in free time)
7. abilities, tastes and interests
8. a past event or activity
9. living conditions (area, housing, social and cultural setting, amenities, weather)
10. personal belongings
11. plans, wishes and desires
12. getting around, trips, routes
13. public institutions, infrastructure and associations

How many questions.

• No document gives a number. Seven official documents describe T1 and none sets one: the demo and the six manuals listed in section 1 [H]. The six manuals all give the same goal: show you can talk with a person you do not know, the examiner (for example Version J p.20) [H].

• Prep-site model T1 interviews contain:

  • 3 questions: open-exam-prep sample transcript;
  • 3: SpeakDuo sample prompts;
  • 3: tcfcad example set;
  • 4: Global Exam sample questions;
  • 5: tcf-canada.ca sample questions.

  That is a range of 3–5, median 3. open-exam-prep also states 3 to 5 questions, citing no source [L].

• Inference [L]: the opening self-introduction uses part of the 2 minutes. Every further question comes from the 13 themes. The number of questions depends on how long your answers are. Short answers mean more questions.

Follow-ups inside T1. These claims come from 3 prep sites; none is official [L]:

• SpeakDuo EN: the examiner asks follow-up questions.
• tcfcad T1: the examiner may interrupt to ask for a detail or come back to a topic.
• open-exam-prep: silences make the examiner ask extra questions. In its own transcript each question moves to a new theme.

Coverage gap worth fixing [L, my mapping]:

• Prep sites repeat 7 T1 themes: introduce yourself, job or studies, free time, family, future plans, where you live, and why Canada or why the TCF (tcf-eo-bank.md section 5).
• Those 7 cover 8 of the 13 official themes (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11).
• The 5 left out are friendships, a past event, personal belongings, trips and routes, and public services and associations.
• Two of them need tenses beyond the present: a past event needs passé composé and imparfait, and plans need the future and the conditional.

4. T2: does the examiner volunteer information, give partial answers or add complications?

What the official documents say [H]:

• Six manuals: the instructions set the status of both speakers, and the goal is to obtain information in an everyday situation (for example Version J p.20; TCF Canada 2018 p.13).
• The demo: you speak first, you lead, the dialogue must last 3 min 30, and you may ask for more details or a repeat (p.3, and on every card, pp.5–9).
• 0 of 7 official documents mention partial answers, withholding, surprises or complications. The demo's examiner sheet contains only the 5 role prompts, with no answer notes.

Contrast with TEF, where this is written down [H for TEF], from the LFA examiner booklet 2024 pp.8–9:

• The TEF examiner prepares a list of answers from briefing notes.
• They first give partial answers on purpose. Asked a price, for example, they say it depends on the package.
• They relaunch with statements rather than questions, such as a needed insurance, payment options or a current promotion.
• They prepare surprises to test how you react.
• They avoid asking you questions.

None of this appears in TCF's public documents. exam-analysis.md (its TEF speaking format in section 2.4) is right to list partial answers and surprises as TEF features. They should not be carried over to TCF.

What prep-site models show [L]:

• Opal, Oct 2026 corrections: 15 model T2 dialogues with 210 examiner lines, about 14 per 3 min 30.
  • Every examiner line answers a candidate question.
  • 72 of 210 (34%) include a condition, limit, extra fee, deadline or refusal, for example a deposit, a group-size limit, a cancellation fee, or a landlord's refusal. This is a judgement-based count.
  • A few lines volunteer extra facts, such as pointing to travel insurance when asked about breakdown cover.
  • Otherwise the answers read as complete and cooperative, and none states an outright problem such as a fully booked service.
• SpeakDuo: 7 examiner lines, one of them a greeting. The other 6 answer the question asked, 2 of them only in part, and none adds a complication.
• open-exam-prep T2: the examiner answers each question and often adds detail.
• tcfcad T2: the examiner plays a role and answers; you should let them answer.

Unverified claim to note [L]:

• tcfenligne says the Manuel de l'examinateur TCF expects the candidate to solicit the examiner at least 5 times, counting questions and follow-ups.
• I could not open that manual (FEI blocked it).
• Even if true, it is a minimum. Opal's model dialogues run at about 14 questions each, and SpeakDuo's shorter sample at 6.

Verdict for T2 [M]:

• The TCF examiner is a cooperative role-player who answers what you ask.
• Expect plain answers with realistic conditions attached, not a TEF-style game of hide-and-seek.
• The work is yours: open the exchange, cover every cue word and more, react to answers, and keep going for 3 min 30.

5. T3: monologue or debate, and how often the examiner intervenes

What the official documents say [H]:

• All 6 manuals define T3 the same way: show you can « parler de manière spontanée, continue et convaincante » in answer to a question chosen by the examiner (Version J p.20; H p.20; D p.19; A p.21; TCF Canada 2018 p.13; Québec 2016 p.14).
• The demo tells you to argue on the subject for 4 min 30, with examples and justifications, trying to convince the examiner (p.4). It gives the examiner no instruction to intervene and no counter-arguments.
• The only documented interruption: the CIEP TCF Canada manual (p.25) and Québec manual (p.27) say the examiner may interrupt you if the time is exceeded.
• The abilities list for the whole speaking test includes agreeing and disagreeing (Version J p.20). It is not tied to T3, and it can be shown inside a monologue (some say X; I disagree because…).

Contrast with TEF [H for TEF] (LFA booklet pp.9–10):

• In Section B the TEF examiner announces they will disagree and works from a list of counter-arguments.
• They push you to develop your arguments, but are told not to oppose everything.

What prep sites claim (9 sites read; none cites an official text that I could verify) [L]:

How often.

• No source gives a frequency.
• The only quantified claim is open-exam-prep's examiner-debate phase of about 1 minute. Its sample has one challenge after the monologue. It cites no source, and its shape matches TEF Section B more than anything in TCF's documents [L].
• tcfcad's blocking page cites a Manuel du candidat Version P, April 2026, for its general description, but gives no page for the interruption sentence. I could not obtain Version P. Versions A, D, H and J contain no such sentence [H for those versions; the Version P claim is unverified].

Verdict for T3 [M]:

• The task is designed and documented as 4 min 30 of sustained argued speech.
• Some examiners may ask a short question, most plausibly when you stop early or to get a precision. How often is unknown.
• I found no documentary support for a TCF examiner who argues back as a technique; that is TEF.

6. Is the candidate ever offered a choice of subject?

Official [H]:

• 6 manuals say the T3 question is chosen by the examiner.
• The demo gives the examiner 5 subjects for T2 and 5 for T3. The examiner hands you one T2 subject and puts one T3 subject to you (pp.3–4).
• 0 of 7 official documents mention a candidate choice, a draw or picking between two.
• An earlier search extract of FEI's IRN demo describes the same 5-subjects-per-task, examiner-picks-one design (tcf-format-scoring.md §1.5) [M].

Non-official [L]:

• 5 prep sites mention who picks: SpeakDuo, tcfca.com, tcfcad (subject imposed), French Exam Hub (the examiner asks the question) and open-exam-prep (the examiner reads the prompt).
• All 5 say the examiner sets the subject; 0 report a choice.

Not ruled out: whether some centres let a candidate pick a number or draw a slip. I found no report of it, but I also found no first-hand reports at all (section 8).

Consequence: a choice of subject cannot reduce the number of T3 idea banks. What does reduce the load is that whole 5-prompt sets recur (tcf-eo-bank.md section 4). Learning one set prepares you for any of its 5 questions.

7. How Claude should play the TCF examiner in voice mode

This is my inference from sections 2–6 [L]. The French lines are my own wording, not the official script.

Before starting.

• Explain the format in English if asked. English is allowed only before the interview starts (TCF Canada manual 2018 p.25).
• Then switch to French: Bonjour. L'épreuve dure douze minutes, en trois parties. Vous pouvez me demander de répéter à tout moment. Votre prénom et votre nom, s'il vous plaît ?
• Repeat the name back.

T1 (stop at 2:00 exactly).

• Open with Première partie, deux minutes : parlez-moi un peu de vous.
• Then ask one question at a time, drawn from the 13 themes. Link to what was just said when natural.
• Keep asking until 2:00: about 3–5 questions with full answers, more with short ones.
• Over each week, rotate through all 13 themes, weighting the 5 under-practised ones: friendships, a past event, personal belongings, trips and routes, public services and associations.
• Stop mid-sentence at 2:00 and move on.

T2 (2:00 preparation, then stop at 3:30 exactly).

• Read the card aloud and show its text. It should state both roles, with 3–4 cue words in brackets.
• Start the timer. The candidate may start early.
• The candidate speaks first and leads. Claude only answers, in role, in 1–2 sentences, with concrete facts (prices, times, places).
• About 1 answer in 3 should carry a natural condition (deposit, limit, extra fee, deadline, exception) that invites a follow-up.
• Do not deliberately hold back, do not plant surprises, and do not take over the conversation. The TEF techniques stay out.
• About 2 cards in 5 should be role-reversed: Claude is the applicant or helper being interviewed (volunteer, sitter, flatmate) and answers about their own experience, motivation and availability.
• If the candidate runs dry, wait about 5 seconds, then say one neutral line, e.g. Vous avez d'autres questions ?. Whether the real examiner does this is undocumented.

T3 (stop at 4:30 exactly).

• Say Dernière partie, quatre minutes trente. Voici la question. Then read one question aloud, with no written card, and repeat it if asked.
• Stay silent while the candidate speaks.
• If the candidate stops before about 4:00, give one neutral prompt: ask for an example, the other side, or a precision on one argument.
• At most 2 prompts per T3, short, and never a sustained counter-argument.
• In about 1 session in 5, use a robustness variant: 2 brief prompts, one of them a mild challenge such as Vous ne pensez pas que… ?. This covers the 2 prep sites that report challenges.
• At 4:30, say Merci, c'est terminé.

Afterwards.

• Rate each task separately against the official criteria: linguistic, pragmatic (including interaction, structure and development), and sociolinguistic (fit to the situation, tu or vous) (Version J p.22).
• That matches how the real examiner and second rater each give a level per task.

If TEF is chosen instead, switch the examiner profile to the LFA booklet, since every behaviour there is written down:

• Section A: partial answers first, relaunches as statements, planned surprises.
• Section B: announced disagreement, counter-arguments, pushing for more arguments, but not opposing every point.

8. Conflicts, gaps and what to check next

1. Interventions in T3.
   • Version 1, the official documents (7 of 7): sustained speech, and an interruption only at time-up.
   • Version 2, 5 of 9 prep sites: the examiner may cut in to relaunch, ask for a precision or challenge.
   • Both may be true: an occasional question inside a monologue task. Frequency is unknown. Check first-hand reports when the search budget allows (Reddit r/expressentry, r/ImmigrationCanada, r/French; YouTube accounts of the TCF Canada oral).
2. tcfcad contradicts itself: its T3 page says nobody relaunches you, and its blocking page says the examiner is authorised to interrupt. It cites a manual Version P (Apr 2026) that I could not obtain. To do: find a copy of Version P and read its speaking pages.
3. The TCF examiner manual and training material may contain conduct rules for T2 and T3 (for example the claimed minimum of 5 solicitations), but FEI blocks automated reading. The demo is the only examiner-facing TCF document I could read.
4. The demo is dated February 2022.
   • The 2024 manuals (Versions H and J) give the same timings and task goals [H].
   • A 2026 prep page still describes the same 2 min / 5 min 30 / 4 min 30 split, citing the current manual (tcfcad exam day) [L].
   • Real exam sheets may hold different subjects, but their structure (5 per task, examiner picks) should be the same [M].
5. No first-hand candidate reports or examiner-run mock recordings could be reached in this pass: Reddit is blocked, YouTube gives titles only, and no search budget was left.
6. Corrections to earlier files in this folder:
   • exam-analysis.md section 2.4 and tcf-format-scoring.md §4.4 say a B2 T3 includes defending your view when the examiner challenges. That is CEFR-style guidance, not documented TCF examiner behaviour. Keep it as a minor robustness skill.
   • tcf-format-scoring.md open questions 5 (choice of subjects) and 9 (the official EO demo could not be opened) are now answered by sections 2 and 6.

9. Sources

Official (FEI or CIEP), read

• FEI speaking demo, 12-minute format (scanned copy, OCR'd): https://lepole-formation.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/tcf-tp-qc-ca-exemple-epreuve-eo.pdf (FEI original, blocked: https://www.france-education-international.fr/document/tcf-tp-qc-ca-exemple-epreuve-eo)
• FEI Manuel du candidat, Version J, Sept 2024: https://medellin.alianzafrancesa.edu.co/manuel_du_candidat_tcf
• FEI Manuel du candidat, Version H, Feb 2024: https://www.afmadrid.es/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Manuel_du_candidat_TCF.pdf
• FEI Manuel du candidat, Version D, Sept 2022: https://www.unicaen.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Manuel_du_candidat_TCF-1.pdf
• FEI Manuel du candidat, Version A, Mar 2021: https://www.afdetroit.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Manuel_du_candidat_TCF.pdf
• CIEP Manuel du candidat TCF Canada, ©2018: https://www.afsf.com/exams/tcf/Manuel_du_candidat_TCF_Canada.pdf
• CIEP Manuel du candidat TCF pour le Québec, Sept 2016 edition: https://elf.uqac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/manuel-candidat-tcf-quebec1.pdf

Official (FEI), blocked to automated reading

• Examiner manual: https://www.france-education-international.fr/document/manuel-examinateur-tcf
• Examiner training: https://www.france-education-international.fr/es/node/485
• IRN speaking demo: https://france-education-international.fr/es/document/tcf-exemple-epreuve-eo

TEF contrast (official, LFA / CCI Paris)

• Examiner booklet, speaking, 2024: https://lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-livret-de-examinateur-tef-eo.pdf

Centre pages (no examiner-conduct detail found)

• https://www.alliance-francaise.ca/en/exams/tests/informations-about-tcf-canada
• https://af.ca/ottawa/tests_et_examens/tcf-2/
• https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/en/language/exams/tef-tcf/
• https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/en/community/blog/difference-between-tef-and-tcf/
• https://www.afsf.com/exams/tcf/
• https://afdelhi.org/tcf-exams/
• https://www.afmadrid.es/examenes-de-frances/test-tcf/
• https://www.concordia.ca/cce/language-testing/tcf-test.html

Prep sites (non-official)

• SpeakDuo: https://www.speakduo.com/fr/tcf-canada-expression-orale ; https://www.speakduo.com/tcf-canada-speaking-practice
• tcfenligne: https://www.tcfenligne.com/expression-orale-tcf-canada/ ; https://www.tcfenligne.com/tcf-canada-ou-tef-canada/
• tcfcad:
  • https://tcfcad.com/blog/preparer-tache-1-expression-orale-tcf.html
  • https://tcfcad.com/blog/preparer-tache-2-expression-orale-tcf.html
  • https://tcfcad.com/blog/preparer-tache-3-expression-orale-tcf.html
  • https://tcfcad.com/blog/blocage-expression-orale-tcf.html
  • https://tcfcad.com/expression-orale.html
  • https://tcfcad.com/blog/tcf-canada-reddit.html
  • https://tcfcad.com/blog/jour-examen-tcf-canada.html
  • https://tcfcad.com/en/blog/tcf-canada-exam-day.html
• open-exam-prep:
  • https://open-exam-prep.com/study-guides/tcf-canada/oral-production/eo-task-1-guided-interview
  • https://open-exam-prep.com/study-guides/tcf-canada/oral-production/eo-task-2-interactive-roleplay
  • https://open-exam-prep.com/study-guides/tcf-canada/oral-production/eo-task-3-argumentative-monologue
• French Exam Hub: https://www.french-exam.com/how-to-prepare-for-the-tcf-canada-speaking-test-a-step-by-step-tutor-guide/ ; https://www.french-exam.com/25-tcf-canada-expression-orale-task-3-topics-2025-2026/
• Opal: https://tcfcanada.opal-ca.com/expression-orale-octobre-2026-correction ; https://tcfcanada.opal-ca.com/methodologie-expression-orale-2026-by-opal/
• Global Exam: https://global-exam.com/blog/fr/expression-orale-tcf-exemples-de-test-et-consignes/
• tcf-canada.ca: https://tcf-canada.ca/expression-orale/
• tcfca.com: https://www.tcfca.com/se-preparer/tcf-canada-expression-orale/ ; https://www.tcfca.com/banque-des-sujets-du-tcf-canada-expression-orale/

Internal cross-references

• research/tcf-eo-bank.md
• research/tcf-format-scoring.md
• exam-analysis.md