Research notes

TCF Canada speaking (expression orale): prompt bank from real-exam reports, 2023 to November 2026

Compiled 2026-11-04 for an English-speaking beginner aiming for NCLC 7 (10–11/20 in TCF Canada speaking) by late December 2026.

How to read this file. A "prompt" is one Task 2 role-play or one Task 3 question. "Months seen" is the number of distinct months in which at least one source listed the prompt. That shows what keeps coming back, but it is not an official frequency. All counts are mine, made from the pages listed in section 3 and Appendix C. Prompts are paraphrased, not quoted. Confidence: high means official documents; medium means several prep-site sources agree; low means one source or my inference.

0. Bottom line

1. Format (high). Speaking is 12 minutes face to face with one examiner, in 3 tasks. T1 is a 2-minute guided interview with no preparation. T2 lasts 5 min 30: 2 minutes of preparation (short notes allowed), then 3 min 30 of dialogue in which you ask the questions. T3 is 4 min 30 of point of view, with no preparation, on a question the examiner picks. Sources: TCF Canada candidate manual and FEI candidate manual, Version H, Feb 2024.
2. The prompt bank is finite and it recycles (medium). I collected 276 unique T3 prompts and 241 unique T2 prompts across 24 distinct months (Feb 2023 to Nov 2026). 172 of the 276 T3 prompts (62%) and 159 of the 241 T2 prompts (66%) were listed both in 2023–2025 and again in March–November 2026. Whole 5-prompt sets come back intact. One T3 set (TV, athletes' pay, screen time, changing habits abroad, finding work in Canada) was listed in 7 different months between June 2023 and September 2026 (section 4).
3. T3: what to learn first (medium). Three topic clusters make up 45.7% of all T3 prompt-month appearances: immigration and living abroad (17.6%), work (14.2%) and technology (13.8%). Adding family (9.5%) and education (8.1%) brings it to 63.3%. The 160 T3 prompts seen in 3 or more months account for 82% of appearances.
4. T2: what to learn first (medium). Four scenario families make up 60.8% of T2 appearances: events and invitations, enrolling in classes or clubs, travel, and newcomer life. 209 of 241 T2 prompts (87%) ask you to find out at least one of four things: price, timing, place, or options. 131 (54%) ask for two or more. One reusable question card covers almost every T2 prompt (section 6.4).
5. T1 (medium). Prep sources agree on 7 recurring themes: introduce yourself, work or studies, free time, family, future plans, where you live, and why Canada or why the TCF (section 5).
6. How speaking is scored (high). Two people rate you independently and blind: the examiner on the day, and an FEI corrector working from the recording. Each gives a CEFR level for each of the 3 tasks, and a rule combines the 6 levels into the /20 score. Criteria are linguistic, pragmatic and sociolinguistic (section 2). A weak task drags down the average, so all three tasks count.

1. Format, verified

Conflicts found.

• SpeakDuo gives T2 as 3 min 30 plus 2 min of preparation, which matches the manuals. tcfca's subject bank says 5 min 30 in its header but 3 min in its FAQ.
• Global Exam's task durations add up to 11.5 min, not 12.
• FEI's demo document is for the TCF IRN (a 10-minute format), not TCF Canada. In the 2024 manual the IRN timings are T1 3 min, T2 3 min 30 with no preparation, and T3 3 min 30. Ignore IRN timings.

The manuals take precedence, and the 2/5.5/4.5 split is confirmed.

2. How speaking is scored, and what examiners reward

Official facts (high), from the FEI manual, Version H, Feb 2024 and the TCF Canada manual:

• The examiner, trained by FEI, runs and records the interview and rates it immediately afterwards. The recording is then rated a second time by an FEI-trained corrector. Neither sees the other's rating.
• Each rater gives each of the 3 tasks a level from "A1 non atteint" to C2. A calculation rule over these 6 levels produces the final /20 score and level. If the two raters differ widely, a third rating is done. The exact rule is not published.
• Criteria for speaking:
  • linguistic: range and control of vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, ease, pronunciation, overall fluency;
  • pragmatic: interaction, structuring of speech, coherence and cohesion, development of the topic;
  • sociolinguistic: fit to the communication situation, including register (tu or vous).
• Abilities assessed (TCF Canada manual):
  • talk about yourself and your family and work environment (T1);
  • ask questions suited to the situation (T2);
  • give your opinion, explain the advantages and drawbacks of a project, and agree or disagree (T3);
  • present a clear, structured argument in a suitable style;
  • present complex topics in a detailed, structured way, develop them and conclude.
• Rules on the day (TCF Canada manual): you may ask the examiner to repeat or clarify a word or question at any time. The examiner may stop you when time runs out. Before the test starts, the examiner explains how it works and answers your questions; only at that moment may you use another language. TCF Canada speaking and writing topics lean towards emigration and expatriation, especially to Canada.
• NCLC 7 = B2 = 10–11/20 in speaking. Source: the NCLC table in the TCF Canada manual, which matches the canada.ca figures already checked.
• Re-marking (medium): text found in search results from FEI's TCF pages says re-marking requests for writing and speaking will not be accepted for about one year from the 1 September 2026 sessions. I could not open the page (bot block), so check it before relying on re-marking.

Prep-site advice on what is rewarded (medium unless marked; not official).

3. Sources used and how far to trust them

Live papers are confidential. Every prompt bank below is a prep site's monthly list of "sujets d'actualité". These lists are understood to be compiled from what candidates remember, but most sites do not say so.

Caveats:

• Copying. Prep sites copy each other and their own archives, so some recurrence across sites may be copying rather than the exam reusing prompts. The pattern is consistent across sources, but the counts are upper bounds.
• Thin sources for 2024-12 and 2025-01. The TCA pages for those months show only one part.
• Unreachable sources. Reddit (blocked to my tools and its mirrors), Facebook groups (not indexed) and YouTube descriptions (cut off) could not be read, so no first-hand posts were used. My web-search budget also ran out before I could look for more 2025 sources.

How many prompts each source-month gave:

T2/T3 prompts listed per month: 2302 25/33 · 2306 22/21 · 2310 43/43 · 2401 41/42 · 2403 44/50 · 2406 38/39 · 2409 56/57 · 2412 5/5 · 2501 5/5 · 2503 15/15 · 2505 24/25 · 2508 11/10 · 2509 25/23 · 2511 37/35 · 2601 35/35 · 2603 54/57 · 2604 55/59 · 2605 132/140 · 2606 43/53 · 2607 33/32 · 2608 30/31 · 2609 29/28 · 2610 75/82 · 2611 11/15. Months 2302–2601 come from TCA; 2603–2611 from TCF; 2610 also includes OPL.

4. How the bank works: fixed 5-prompt sets that come back

Every TCA month is organised as "parties" and Opal's as "combinaisons", each holding 5 T2 prompts and 5 T3 prompts. FEI's speaking demo document (TCF IRN version) says each test version holds 5 subjects for T3, with the same principle for T2, and the examiner keeps one. That makes it likely that each "partie" is one exam version rebuilt from what many candidates remember (medium; FEI's text seen in search results only: FEI demo). Sets that come back intact are the most valuable to learn:

T3 sets seen in 4 or more months

T2 sets seen in 4 or more months

5. Task 1: the standard questions

There is no official T1 question list. The official goal is to talk with a stranger about yourself and your family and work environment. Questions and themes below are ranked by how many of 8 sources name them. The sources are: TCF Canada manual (M), tcfca (TC), tcfcad (TD), open-exam-prep (OE), SpeakDuo (SD), Global Exam (GE), tcfenligne (TE), elon.io (EL).

tcfca also lists 6 T1 items each month (an organising habit, a favourite spot in your neighbourhood, a skill to build, a memorable encounter, a meal you like to cook, plus one activity). The first five are identical in all 9 months, so they are site-generated and are not used as evidence. They are still decent practice.

6. Task 2 (interaction): what comes back

6.1 Scenario clusters

6.2 The 15 most recurrent T2 role-plays

6.3 What T2 prompts ask you to find out

These counts come from keywords in my paraphrases, which keep the "ask about X, Y, Z" items each source lists (241 unique prompts; 888 prompt-month appearances).

Register (low to medium; my heuristic on who you talk to): 155 of 241 prompts (64%) have an informal partner (friend, neighbour, colleague), where "tu" usually fits. 86 (36%) have a staff member, agent or official, where "vous" is required. The card gives both people's roles, and the sociolinguistic criterion rates whether your register fits (2024 manual).

6.4 Reusable question frames (one card covers almost every T2)

Learn these as frames, not scripts. Swap in the noun for the scenario.

• Open: « Bonjour, je vous appelle au sujet de… J'aurais quelques questions, si vous avez un moment. » / informal: « Salut ! Dis, je peux te poser quelques questions sur… ? »
• Options and content (≈50% of prompts): « Qu'est-ce que vous proposez comme… ? » · « Il y a quels types de… ? » · « Lequel / laquelle vous me conseillez pour un débutant ? »
• Price (≈50%): « Combien ça coûte ? » · « Quels sont vos tarifs ? » · « Il y a des réductions pour les étudiants / les familles ? » · « Le prix comprend quoi exactement ? » · « On peut payer comment ? »
• Time (≈38%): « Quels sont les horaires ? » · « C'est ouvert le week-end ? » · « Ça dure combien de temps ? » · « Ça commence quand ? »
• Place and access (≈28% + 11%): « C'est où exactement ? » · « Comment on y va en transport en commun ? » · « Il y a un parking ? »
• People and level (≈24%): « Il y a combien de personnes par groupe ? » · « C'est pour quel niveau / quel âge ? » · « Qui sont les autres colocataires / participants ? »
• Conditions (≈16%): « Il faut s'inscrire / réserver à l'avance ? » · « Quels documents est-ce que je dois apporter ? » · « Il y a une garantie / une assurance ? »
• Things to bring and dress (≈9%): « Je dois apporter quelque chose ? » · « Il faut un équipement particulier ? » · « Comment faut-il s'habiller ? »
• Friend's experience (informal prompts): « Alors, c'était comment ? » · « Qu'est-ce qui t'a le plus plu ? » · « Tu me le conseilles ? » · « Il y a des inconvénients ? »
• Sitting and care add-on (pet-sitting is the #2 single T2 prompt, seen in 11 months): « Il mange quoi, et à quelle heure ? » · « Il a des habitudes particulières ? » · « Qu'est-ce que je fais en cas de problème ? » · « Je peux te joindre comment ? »
• Follow-ups (pragmatic criterion: interaction): « Ah bon ? Et si… ? » · « Vous pourriez préciser ? » · « Si j'ai bien compris, … c'est ça ? » · « Et à part ça ? »
• Close: « Merci beaucoup, c'est très clair. Je vais réfléchir et je vous rappelle. » / « Super, merci ! Je pense que je vais m'inscrire. »

Shape of the 3 min 30 (prep-site consensus, section 2):

1. Greet and say why you are there (15 s).
2. Ask 8–12 questions grouped by theme, reacting to each answer with a short comment or follow-up.
3. Sum up and close (15 s).

In the 2 minutes of preparation, write keywords only, not sentences.

7. Task 3 (point of view): what comes back

7.1 Topic clusters

7.2 The 20 most recurrent T3 questions

7.3 Question forms

This uses a simple rule on the first words of each paraphrase (276 unique prompts; 935 appearances).

7.4 Reusable argument structures

Structure A, nuanced yes or no (fits the yes/no and should/must forms, 80.5% of appearances):

1. Restate the question and give your position: « On me demande si… Personnellement, je pense que oui, mais pas dans tous les cas. »
2. Argument 1 with an example: « D'abord, … Par exemple, dans mon pays / quand je suis arrivé(e)… »
3. Argument 2 with an example: « Ensuite / De plus, … Prenons l'exemple de… »
4. Concession: « Certes, … Cependant, … » / « Il est vrai que…, mais… »
5. Conclusion and recommendation: « Pour conclure, … À mon avis, la meilleure solution serait de… »

If the examiner pushes back: « C'est un bon point, mais je maintiens que… » / « Je comprends, cela dit… »

Structure B, causes and effects (fits pourquoi and open questions such as "what does living abroad bring?", 12.4%): « Il y a plusieurs raisons. D'abord, sur le plan personnel… Ensuite, sur le plan économique ou social… Enfin, sur le plan culturel… » Give one example per level, then a one-line verdict.

Structure C, comparison (fits X-or-Y questions, 7.1%): « Tout dépend de… Si…, alors… ; mais si…, je préfère… Pour ma part, je choisirais… parce que… »

Idea banks per cluster (one bank answers many prompts):

• IMM, 17.6%: la barrière de la langue · trouver du travail (reconnaissance des diplômes, expérience canadienne) · se faire des amis / la solitude · le choc culturel, garder ses traditions · les enfants et la double culture · l'âge (s'adapter plus facilement quand on est jeune).
• WORK, 14.2%: le salaire ou l'épanouissement · l'équilibre vie professionnelle / vie personnelle · le télétravail · l'égalité hommes-femmes · l'âge de la retraite · la formation continue.
• TECH, 13.8%: le temps d'écran · la santé (sommeil, vue) · le lien social ou l'isolement · l'information ou la désinformation · le contrôle parental et l'âge · apprendre grâce au numérique.
• FAM and EDU, 17.6% combined: l'autorité ou le dialogue · l'autonomie des jeunes · les valeurs · l'école des savoirs ou l'école de la vie · le coût et la durée des études.
• MEDIA, ENV, HEALTH, SOC, TRAV: reuse the same two-sided frame. For example, free museums and free transit share the same arguments (access for all, cost to taxpayers).

8. Work-to-reward order for speaking practice (driven by the prompts)

1. T2 question card (section 6.4) plus the top 15 role-plays (6.2). Low effort, very high reuse: 87% of T2 prompts use the price, timing, place and options frames, and the top 15 role-plays make up 16% of all T2 appearances. Learn "tu" vs "vous" early.
2. T3 Structure A plus the IMM, WORK and TECH idea banks. These cover 45.7% of T3 appearances. Then add FAM and EDU (63.3%).
3. The recurring T3 sets A–M and T2 sets a–k (section 4). 13 T3 sets and 11 T2 sets, each seen in 4–7 months. Rehearse each set once per week by voice.
4. T1: prepare keyword answers (not scripts) for the 7 core themes in section 5. T1 is the easiest task to rate B2 on, and each task's level counts in the final score.
5. Remaining long tail: 104 T3 prompts and 99 T2 prompts were seen in 4+ months (64–65% of appearances). Prompts seen only once (45 T3, 25 T2) are low priority.

9. Open questions and limitations

• The rule that turns the 6 per-task levels into /20 is not published.
• I could not confirm that the 5-prompt "parties" are real TCF Canada exam versions. FEI's 5-subject statement is for TCF IRN.
• Copying between prep sites may inflate the cross-source counts. Opal's Oct 2026 sets match tcf-canada.ca's Oct 2023 and Nov 2025 parts almost word for word.
• The tcfca month labels are inferred from page order. Its Jan–Feb 2026 blocks were cut off. The tcf-canada.ca Dec 2025 page is protected, so only its structure was used.
• No first-hand candidate posts (Reddit, Facebook, YouTube) could be read, and the web-search budget ran out. A follow-up search could add 2025 sources (reussir-tcfcanada, YouTube "sujets du mois" descriptions).
• I could not confirm the official sanction for memorised speaking answers, or the September 2026 re-marking suspension, from an openable FEI page.
• Retake rules and TCF vs TEF choice are outside this file; see tcf-format-scoring.md and tef-format-scoring.md in this folder.

Appendix A. Every T3 prompt collected (276)

Legend. Months are written YYMM (2306 = June 2023). The months column gives the first and last month a prompt was seen and, in brackets, the number of distinct months; sets with exact months are in section 4. Sources: TCA = tcf-canada.ca monthly pages; TCF = tcfca.com 2026 page (month inferred); OPL = Opal Oct 2026; FEH = French Exam Hub list (2025–26, undated); RTC = reussir-tcfcanada.com (search snippet); OFF = FEI manual or FEI-derived sample. Near-identical wordings are merged into one row (for example "never watch TV" and "live without TV"). Rows are sorted by cluster, then by months seen.

Appendix B. Every T2 prompt collected (241)

Same legend as Appendix A. Near-identical scenarios with the same partner and purpose are merged. The list of things to ask is cut to the first three items.

Appendix C. Source URLs by month

TCA monthly pages (index): 2302 · 2306 · 2310 · 2401 · 2403 · 2406 · 2409 · 2412 · 2501 · 2503 · 2505 · 2508, also linked as Jul 2025 · 2509 · 2511 · 2512, structure only · 2601.

Other prompt banks:

• TCF, Mar–Nov 2026: tcfca.com Sujets d'actualité
• OPL, Oct 2026: Opal corrections
• FEH: French Exam Hub, 25 T3 topics

Official:

• TCF Canada candidate manual
• FEI manual, Version H, Feb 2024
• FEI TCF Canada page
• FEI speaking demo

Method and T1 sources are linked where they are cited in sections 1, 2 and 5.