[00:01] Hello my dear listeners this is English Canada the podcast about learning languages going through immigration and establishing yourself in a new place

[00:16] Hello my dear listeners and this is a new episode of my podcast English in Canada And for those of you who are listening on

[00:25] Spotify or an Apple podcast or any other platform I just wanted to let you know that starting from today

[00:34] I'm going to be doing also some materials and presentations And there is a video version of this podcast

[00:41] So in that way if you are a visual person and if you like if you would like for some reason to see the presentation is there

[00:51] And however you can continue listening because I think that if you are if you are good with audio so you'll be fine just listening to me as it is

[01:02] And I've been busy with so many projects these days And I just wanted to remind you that if you are preparing for

[01:11] CELPIP this is a Canadian language exam Right now my team and I have our biggest project ready And this is

[01:19] CELPIP preparation platform And you can check it out on my website englishtoyanova ca and Stoyanova is my last name

[01:28] And you could see it in the description section of the podcast S T O I A N O V A Stoyanova Here on the slide you could see here in the corner go check it out

[01:41] More information is there And today we'll talk about my experience of B2 exam French exam French language diploma

[01:49] So it's not just a certificate but it's diploma that stays with you for life And I will try to be brief and talk about the exam section by section just to let you know what was on the exam and what kind of content

[02:07] And if you are learning English that's fine I think it's just useful to know what is tested on this level when you are at this level at the

[02:17] B2 level Okay so let's go And this DELF B2 exam consists of four parts listening reading writing and speaking

[02:26] Listening usually takes about half an hour then reading for an hour and then writing takes an hour and then speaking takes half an hour preparation and then about half an hour of a debate with the jury

[02:41] So it's very interesting because speaking might appear on the same day but it might also be on a different day

[02:49] It depends on your center In my case I was taking my exam on June 18th 2026 at Allianz Francaise Toronto

[02:59] So that's how it was and I just want to briefly talk about each part But I want to emphasize that in my case speaking was the first part and it was very early

[03:10] It was like I had to get up at 6 a m and just to get to the center and it started at 8 20 I think in the morning a m in the morning

[03:22] So yeah it was like that But anyway after that there was a standard what they call collective part where everyone gets into the room and writes the exam

[03:34] The collective part consists of listening reading and writing So listening you have three tasks and the thing is that parts one and two you hear them two times

[03:45] There are interviews They might be slightly harder for some people but in my case I prefer to listen two times

[03:54] It gives me more clarity on the answers that I'm going to choose And part three is actually so you have six questions but you hear it once and those are very short mini interviews mini snippets so to speak

[04:08] So to me personally part three seems to be harder for some reason maybe because I get to only hear it once which makes it harder

[04:18] Yeah and just briefly about each part in my case in part one the topic was the flowers across the city

[04:27] A woman founded an organization in a large French city and she began planting flowers and different kinds of greenery whenever she could find space

[04:38] That was interesting because the way the questions were designed they were testing the understanding of how she financed this project and whether or not local government supported her

[04:51] So something like that and all the content that you're going to hear today or see on my slides all this content is based on all of the recollections of my exam right

[05:03] So I'm just sharing with you what I remember my experience and of course you could get any topic among the topics of

[05:12] B2 like travel work art but most likely you will get something about the environment and that's like for some people this topic might be a little bit far fetched

[05:24] I don't know but for me I guess it was all right because we were mulling over this topic for a long long time with several of my tutors and courses so for me it was all right but again might be challenging for some people

[05:38] So in the second part there's an interesting task because it was about an app called Écoute Léon and this is like a workplace app where colleagues and managers post messages anonymously

[05:54] However it does have a moderation and there was the question why like how do they perform this kind of moderation and for example nothing personal or nothing about someone's appearance was allowed and the idea that this app was built to foster positive atmosphere at work

[06:17] So yeah the question was also about the catch because this app added pressure and people kept checking whether anyone had written about them and it was one of the questions was about that

[06:30] And the third part I totally blank out and that's why here on the slides and I'm telling you right now

[06:35] I do not remember what those three mini snippets were in the last part of my listening because there was only one time when you listen and not much is registered in the memory so to speak

[06:51] However we are moving on to the second part which was reading and these texts are always packed with detail and paraphrase and the challenges to find the specifics fast

[07:03] So my first text was about climate climate change and planting the local forest things like that In the second part there was about a new healthcare organization funded by a female doctor and in the third part there were three opinions of three people and some statements to match with these small texts

[07:25] So in my case in the first part planting a local forest was part of the climate change initiative climate change fight initiative and people could actually plant the forest and there were questions very technical ones actually about what kinds of soil they used to do that or they would choose to do that and how to encourage people to participate in that activity

[07:53] And in the second part we talked sorry not talked but we read about the clinic and this is a medical organization founded by a female doctor as

[08:04] I said and the doctor was frustrated with France's healthcare system so her goal was to serve people efficiently and to have a client centered approach and she wanted also to have this transparent pay among colleagues so she had a cool team and the practice was run as a close knit team rather than rigid hierarchy so pretty cool text

[08:31] I think that this text was my favorite one for sure And the third part was three people Like I said it's always like that

[08:41] Some names right I don't remember the exact ones but just as an example let's say Sophie Barbara and

[08:48] Jean and they share some views on the same topic but their views are very different Like in my case it was about teenagers and social media and there were six statements and

[09:01] I had to match which statement is contained within each text It seems easy but it's not because there were so many pitfalls you know or traps set by the designers of the test so you've got to be able to work with the paraphrase really really well and always find a justification in the text

[09:21] Do not just choose randomly When I teach English exams I always say that and will always practice that as a skill

[09:29] Now I want to talk about writing and one hour and this is a formal text that you've got to write at least 250 words minimum and in my case it was a formal letter to a company's boss who plans to close the offices and move everyone online obligatory it was obligatory to do so in order to cut the rising costs of the offices right

[09:58] The task was one of the requirements was to acknowledge that I understand this economic reasoning that they are presenting but then

[10:07] I had to build my arguments against This was specifically explicitly openly stated in the task and that's exactly what

[10:17] I did in my writing So basically just in a nutshell right I'm not going to explain to you all the formal phrases

[10:28] I've been cramming but it's not easy This part for me based on my experience with DELV B1 is always the hardest because you also have to write on a piece of paper right

[10:40] So on paper the actual handwriting for some people that are young I think that might present a challenge for sure or people who do not practice writing on paper

[10:51] The final part is speaking but in my case like I said before it was the first part so that's how my exam started at 8 20 a m with two lovely men and we had a debate

[11:03] But first you prepare your talk on the two documents that they give you You choose one and in my case

[11:11] I chose one of the topics and I will show you just right now I will talk about it and the proctor helps you and supervises you basically so that you don't cheat but you sit for 30 minutes and trust me when

[11:27] I was at home doing that I thought oh wow so much time But then when you are in the actual exam room time flies so fast gosh it's just like

[11:37] I just got in and I'm already I was on the way out to present my topic So the way you have to present it is you talk about the theme the problem and your view and then you defend your position with the jury and the jury so your examiners ask questions

[11:54] In my case there were two topics One was constant surveillance by the devices but I honestly did not like the text because for me it seemed complicated so

[12:05] I chose the other one which was kind of like something I could really relate to because I had this at my job when

[12:13] I was younger Work only phone and your boss has an access to it so my question my problematique right so like the debate question was is it a good idea to have a phone just for work

[12:29] And that's what I debated The way I built my talk I introduced the theme the problem and I announced the plan and then

[12:37] I laid out the arguments that were in favor and the arguments that were against In my case my stance was that a work phone is great as long as

[12:51] I keep a separate personal phone That was my stance So that's why I started actually with the arguments that were against having the phone because then

[13:04] I would present the arguments for and then that would flow into a debate naturally That was one of the approaches that

[13:12] I was taught to have to do this task I shared my experience and my opinion at the very end before the debate started

[13:22] So in my case the arguments against for example yeah I said that some managers some bosses are really pushy

[13:29] They would expect you to be available outside work hours and hence eroding professional boundaries And then the one more argument was that a worker might use the phone for personal things that it happened to me before and

[13:44] I got in trouble for it And that was one of the arguments against it And then the argument for was actually that the professional phone a separate professional phone helps you organize tasks and helps you focus better

[14:00] So the phone only carries work messages work duties right And also the second one was that it's paid by the company so no worry about costs and yeah

[14:13] The thing is that SMS fees this was something like no need to worry about the SMS fees SMS was actually mentioned in the prompt of the not the prompt but

[14:26] I guess the better word is that initial text that you read that serves as a prompt as a basis for your presentation and debate

[14:34] So in the actual text in the original text they use this SMS So costs for SMS would be covered by company

[14:42] And you had to lift it up from the text Sometimes you might find some arguments in the text that they give you

[14:49] So it's not that you have to build them from scratch You're just lifting up what's already there in the text

[14:55] But not all of these arguments were lifted from the text Most of these in fact were written by me during my 30 minute presentation

[15:05] And so then the debate with the jury defending the position starts And in my case I kind of ended my presentation my expose that we have to have a separate personal phone

[15:20] Right So technically I was saying that yeah professional phone is great as long as you have the personal one

[15:27] And that's it So I think that went well Soon I'll learn about the results But I hope I passed If not

[15:36] I can always take it again because it's not an easy test For sure it's not It's a very difficult test

[15:43] It's very formal As far as I know this test is required for French citizenship Well that's not happening for me

[15:50] In my case it's just for my career goals and professional development just hoping you know always striving for the best in life

[16:01] I want to finish off with the following idea that exam is not about testing my French It's also about giving me this push to work harder to make it better

[16:13] Because probably by the time I am uploading this podcast I'm already in Quebec City And my goal was to study at a university and do the immersion program and to improve and to actually see where

[16:26] I stand before the program Because I'd already had a very good level and I've been taking French classes for some time now for a while now

[16:36] And I consider myself quite fluent And I just want to say that of course whenever you prepare for any exam be it

[16:45] English or French just be prepared that you've got to you know invest a lot of money In my case just only for the

[16:55] DELV B2 preparation considering all the tutors and courses and the books I think I spent roughly about 2 000

[17:03] Canadian dollars or something like that So that's a lot of money and a lot of time a lot of energy So be prepared

[17:10] If you want good results that's what it takes Not just your effort but of course time and money in most cases

[17:17] And I want to just finish off and welcome you to my website englishstoyanova ca where you can find many cool articles about

[17:25] English French especially different kinds of exams Because I love exams I think they really push people to work harder and to strive for the better when it comes to their language learning

[17:40] Check out my CELPIP preparation platform also if you are preparing to get your PR Permanent Residence in

[17:47] Canada for example So yeah and I hope you enjoyed this new episode and I'm going to see you in the next one

[17:55] Please check out the video versions of this podcast because from now on I'm planning on doing the mini presentations just to guide myself and to guide you guys

[18:05] Thank you so much and see you next time Bye bye