Prepare for the situations, advertisements, news stories and public claims that shape TEF Canada Speaking and Writing.
TEF Canada is different from other French exams. You won’t just be asked to “talk about travel” or “give your opinion on technology.” Instead, you’ll encounter advertisements, news stories, and public claims that you must respond to in specific ways.
A speaking prompt might show you an advertisement for a combined kayaking and climbing activity. You’re not describing the activity—you’re calling to ask about difficulty, equipment, safety and prices. Or you’re persuading a friend to join you.
A writing prompt might give you a newspaper article about a bride stranded on the road, and you must continue the story. Or you must respond to a published claim about whether organised tours are incompatible with discovering a country.
This means topic preparation must remain connected to the section. Knowing general vocabulary about sport won’t help you question an advertiser about climbing equipment or persuade a friend to run a marathon. The communication function matters as much as the topic.
The 50 micro-themes below are organised around recognisable TEF Canada actions—not generic conversation questions.
About the Prompts
These examples are paraphrased from candidate discussions and are not official examination papers and do not predict future sessions. They are provided as illustrative training material to help you understand the types of situations you may encounter.
Each sample prompt is provided in English for understanding, with a French translation to help you recognise the language of the actual task.
How to Read This Guide
| Element | What it means |
|---|---|
| Theme | The broad subject family |
| Micro-theme | The precise issue or situation you’ll need to address |
| TEF section | Where that type of communication appears in the exam |
| Sample prompt | A paraphrased example showing what you must actually do |
The same theme may return multiple times, but the section determines what a successful response must accomplish. A prompt about work in Speaking Section A requires very different language than one about work in Writing Section B.
Understanding the TEF Canada Sections
Before diving into topics, it’s important to understand what each section actually asks you to do.
| Section | What you do | Why it matters for topic preparation |
|---|---|---|
| Speaking Section A | Obtain information from an advertisement | You need question-asking skills, not opinion-giving |
| Speaking Section B | Present an offer and persuade the other person | You need persuasive language and the ability to handle resistance |
| Writing Section A | Continue a short newspaper article | You need a journalistic voice and event development |
| Writing Section B | Respond to a claim published in a newspaper | You need argumentation and public-persuasion language |
The topic provides the content; the section defines the communication.
1. Work and Professional Opportunities
Work-related prompts in TEF Canada often appear as advertisements or public claims. You might need to ask about a specific job, persuade someone to apply for a position, or respond to a claim about automation. These aren’t general “talk about your job” questions—they’re specific professional situations.
The key is preparing for the action the task requires. A job advertisement in Speaking Section A needs questions about duties, hours and pay. A job offer in Speaking Section B needs persuasive language about benefits and opportunities. And a claim about machines replacing workers needs a developed argumentative response.
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Product-testing work | Speaking A | You saw an advertisement recruiting consumer-product testers. Ask about duties, group work, home working, hours and pay. | Vous avez vu une annonce recrutant des testeurs de produits. Renseignez-vous sur les tâches, le travail en groupe, le travail à domicile, les horaires et la rémunération. |
| 2 | Summer youth leader | Speaking B | Present a summer job accompanying a group of children or teenagers and convince a friend who is looking for work to apply. | Présentez un job d’été accompagnant un groupe d’enfants ou d’adolescents et convainquez un ami en recherche d’emploi de postuler. |
| 3 | Mountain rescue position | Speaking B | Tell a friend about a mountain-rescue job and persuade them to apply despite the responsibilities involved. | Parlez à un ami d’un emploi de secours en montagne et persuadez-le de postuler malgré les responsabilités. |
| 4 | Volunteer restaurant experience | Speaking B | Convince a friend seeking additional experience to work in the kitchen or dining room of a charity restaurant. | Convainquez un ami cherchant une expérience complémentaire de travailler en cuisine ou en salle dans un restaurant caritatif. |
| 5 | Machines replacing workers | Writing B | Respond to the claim that replacing humans with machines represents a danger to humanity. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle le remplacement des humains par des machines représente un danger pour l’humanité. |
2. Technology and Digital Society
Technology prompts in TEF Canada often appear as advertisements for tech products or services, or as public claims about screens and social media. You might need to persuade someone to buy a VR headset, ask about computer classes for seniors, or argue about the regulation of adolescent social media use.
These topics require a mix of practical vocabulary (for ads) and argumentative language (for opinion pieces). The challenge is moving between describing a product and evaluating its impact.
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Buying a virtual-reality headset | Speaking B | Present an advertisement for a VR headset and convince a friend to buy it. | Présentez une publicité pour un casque de réalité virtuelle et convainquez un ami de l’acheter. |
| 7 | Online training | Speaking B | Present an online-course programme and persuade a friend to enrol. | Présentez un programme de formation en ligne et persuadez un ami de s’inscrire. |
| 8 | Computer classes for seniors | Writing B | Respond to a claim about whether computer courses for older adults are useful. | Répondez à une affirmation concernant l’utilité des cours d’informatique pour les seniors. |
| 9 | Regulating adolescent social media | Writing B | Respond to the claim that regulating adolescents’ access to social networks is pointless. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle réguler l’accès des adolescents aux réseaux sociaux est inutile. |
| 10 | Social networks and children | Writing B | Discuss the assertion that social networks represent a permanent danger to children. | Discutez de l’affirmation selon laquelle les réseaux sociaux représentent un danger permanent pour les enfants. |
3. Children, Learning and Education
Education prompts in TEF Canada frequently appear as advertisements for teaching roles or educational services, as well as public claims about schooling and qualifications. You might need to ask about a babysitting job, persuade someone to take language lessons, or argue about whether children should learn Chinese or continue learning handwriting.
These topics test your ability to handle both practical information (about schedules, duties and locations) and more developed arguments (about educational priorities and the value of qualifications).
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Babysitting work | Speaking A | You are interested in a babysitting advertisement. Ask about the children, schedule, duties, location and pay. | Vous êtes intéressé par une annonce de baby-sitting. Renseignez-vous sur les enfants, l’emploi du temps, les tâches, le lieu et la rémunération. |
| 12 | Telephone language lessons | Speaking B | Present a school offering language lessons by telephone and persuade a busy friend to enrol. | Présentez une école proposant des cours de langues par téléphone et convainquez un ami très occupé de s’inscrire. |
| 13 | Teaching Chinese to young children | Writing B | Respond to the claim that children should learn Chinese from an early age. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle les enfants devraient apprendre le chinois dès le plus jeune âge. |
| 14 | Handwriting in school | Writing B | Give your view on whether schools should continue teaching handwriting in a digital age. | Donnez votre avis sur la question de savoir si les écoles devraient continuer à enseigner l’écriture manuscrite à l’ère numérique. |
| 15 | Diplomas and employment | Writing B | Respond to a newspaper claim connecting academic qualifications with access to employment. | Répondez à un article de presse établissant un lien entre les diplômes et l’accès à l’emploi. |
4. Travel and Cultural Discovery
Travel prompts in TEF Canada are diverse. You might need to ask about an unusual flight experience, persuade someone to go on a cycling holiday, or respond to a claim about organised tours. You might also need to continue a newspaper story about a stranded bride.
The challenge is moving between practical information-seeking (about prices, duration and safety) and more reflective commentary about travel’s meaning and accessibility. Writing Section A stories often require creative continuation—what happened next to the bride on the road?
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Multi-day cycling holiday | Speaking B | Present a guided or independent cycling holiday and convince an outdoors-loving friend to choose it. | Présentez un séjour cycliste guidé ou en autonomie et convainquez un ami amateur de plein air de le choisir. |
| 17 | An unusual flight experience | Speaking A | You saw an all-inclusive advertisement for a special flight experience. Ask about the aircraft, duration, safety, price and conditions. | Vous avez vu une publicité tout compris pour une expérience de vol spéciale. Renseignez-vous sur l’appareil, la durée, la sécurité, le prix et les conditions. |
| 18 | Travel accessibility | Writing B | Respond to the claim that travel is no longer reserved for wealthy people. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle les voyages ne sont plus réservés aux personnes aisées. |
| 19 | Organised tours | Writing B | Discuss whether organised tours are incompatible with genuinely discovering a country. | Discutez de la question de savoir si les voyages organisés sont incompatibles avec une véritable découverte d’un pays. |
5. Environment, Transport and Consumption
Environment prompts in TEF Canada often appear as advertisements for sustainable products or services, as public claims about consumption, or as unusual news stories. You might need to ask about electric bike leasing, argue about free public transport, or continue a story about a former taxi driver’s charitable journey.
These topics ask you to connect personal decisions (how we travel, what we buy) with larger issues (climate change, sustainability). The challenge is making arguments that feel grounded in practical concerns.
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Long-term electric-bike rental | Speaking A | Ask about leasing an electric bicycle, including the deposit, monthly payment, service fees and maintenance. | Renseignez-vous sur la location d’un vélo électrique, incluant la caution, le paiement mensuel, les frais de service et l’entretien. |
| 22 | Responsible consumption | Writing B | Respond to the assertion that people must consume differently to protect the planet’s future. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle les gens doivent consommer différemment pour protéger l’avenir de la planète. |
| 23 | Free public transport | Writing B | Give your opinion on a government policy making public transport free. | Donnez votre avis sur une politique gouvernementale rendant les transports publics gratuits. |
| 24 | Ecological journey for charity | Writing A | Continue the story of a former taxi driver who leaves on a long journey on foot for a good cause. | Continuez l’histoire d’un ancien chauffeur de taxi qui part pour un long voyage à pied pour une bonne cause. |
| 25 | A valuable garden discovery | Writing A | Continue the report about a resident who uncovers something valuable while digging to plant a tree. | Continuez le reportage sur un résident qui découvre quelque chose de précieux en creusant pour planter un arbre. |
6. Sport, Outdoor Activities and Challenge
Sport prompts in TEF Canada often appear as advertisements for specific activities—golf, kayaking, climbing, treetop adventure parks. You might need to ask about equipment, difficulty levels and safety, or persuade a friend to register for a marathon.
These topics test your ability to handle specific vocabulary (equipment names, technical terms) alongside the more general language of persuasion and information exchange.
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Golf course and family facilities | Speaking A | Ask about an 18-hole golf course, equipment, booking, prices, children’s facilities and access. | Renseignez-vous sur un parcours de golf 18 trous, l’équipement, la réservation, les prix, les installations pour enfants et l’accès. |
| 27 | Kayaking and climbing package | Speaking A | Question the provider about a combined kayak-and-climbing activity, difficulty, equipment, duration and safety. | Interrogez le prestataire sur une activité combinée kayak-et-escalade, la difficulté, l’équipement, la durée et la sécurité. |
| 28 | Treetop adventure park | Speaking A | Ask about forest courses, difficulty levels, group offers, age requirements and supervision. | Renseignez-vous sur les parcours forestiers, les niveaux de difficulté, les offres de groupe, les conditions d’âge et l’encadrement. |
| 29 | City marathon | Speaking B | Present a 22-kilometre autumn race and convince a physically active friend to register. | Présentez une course de 22 kilomètres en automne et convainquez un ami sportif de s’inscrire. |
| 30 | Health after an overseas trip | Writing A | Continue a news story involving an alarming medical discovery linked to travel and explain the outcome. | Continuez une actualité impliquant une découverte médicale alarmante liée aux voyages et expliquez le dénouement. |
7. Leisure, Food and Entertainment
Leisure prompts in TEF Canada often combine advertisements for entertainment activities with opinion pieces about culture. You might need to ask about cooking classes, persuade someone to try an escape game, or argue about whether films and series will replace books.
Writing Section A also features unusual leisure-related stories—like mice interrupting an opera—that require imaginative continuation.
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | International cooking classes | Speaking A | Ask about world-cuisine, cocktail or wine-tasting classes, language of instruction, schedules and prices. | Renseignez-vous sur des cours de cuisine du monde, de cocktails ou de dégustation de vin, la langue d’enseignement, les horaires et les prix. |
| 32 | Escape game | Speaking B | Present an escape-game centre and persuade a friend to form a team and participate. | Présentez un centre d’escape game et convainquez un ami de former une équipe et de participer. |
| 33 | Renting a party venue | Speaking A | Ask about a venue for a friend’s birthday, including capacity, music equipment, bar, terrace, parking and price. | Renseignez-vous sur une salle pour l’anniversaire d’un ami, incluant la capacité, l’équipement musical, le bar, la terrasse, le parking et le prix. |
| 34 | Films and series replacing books | Writing B | Respond to the claim that films and television series will replace books. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle les films et les séries télévisées remplaceront les livres. |
| 35 | Mice interrupting an opera | Writing A | Continue the report after mice invade an opera and force the performers to leave the stage. | Continuez le reportage après que des souris ont envahi un opéra et forcé les artistes à quitter la scène. |
8. Animals and Social Responsibility
Animal-related prompts often pair practical information-seeking (adopting a cat) with larger social arguments (volunteering, NGOs, solidarity). You might need to ask about a shelter animal’s health and history, persuade someone to become a volunteer firefighter, or argue about competition versus solidarity.
Writing Section A also features unusual animal-related stories—like a dog found in a baby’s stroller—that test your creative continuation skills.
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Adopting a cat from a shelter | Speaking A | You want to adopt a cat shown in a shelter advertisement. Ask about its health, behaviour, history, adoption process and fees. | Vous souhaitez adopter un chat présenté dans une annonce de refuge. Renseignez-vous sur sa santé, son comportement, son histoire, la procédure d’adoption et les frais. |
| 37 | Volunteer firefighting | Speaking B | Present a volunteer-firefighter recruitment advertisement and convince a friend with the right qualities to apply. | Présentez une annonce de recrutement de pompiers volontaires et convainquez un ami ayant les qualités requises de postuler. |
| 38 | NGOs and poverty | Writing B | Respond to the claim that NGOs are best placed to combat poverty around the world. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle les ONG sont les mieux placées pour lutter contre la pauvreté dans le monde. |
| 39 | Competition and solidarity | Writing B | Discuss the assertion that competition has made people selfish and less supportive. | Discutez de l’affirmation selon laquelle la concurrence a rendu les gens égoïstes et moins solidaires. |
| 40 | A dog found in a baby’s stroller | Writing A | Continue the story of a mother who discovers a small dog under the blanket where her baby should be. | Continuez l’histoire d’une mère qui découvre un petit chien sous la couverture où devrait se trouver son bébé. |
9. Family, Generations and Everyday Society
Family prompts in TEF Canada often appear as public claims about generational differences or as unusual news stories. You might need to argue about whether young adults stay with parents mainly for comfort, or continue a story about a forgotten child or an unexpected family reunion.
These topics ask you to balance personal perspectives (about family life) with broader social commentary (about generational change).
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Young adults living with parents | Writing B | Respond to the claim that people aged 25–30 remain with their parents mainly for comfort and convenience. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle les personnes de 25-30 ans restent chez leurs parents principalement par confort et commodité. |
| 42 | Generational differences | Writing B | Give your opinion on whether today’s young people differ significantly from the previous generation. | Donnez votre avis sur la question de savoir si les jeunes d’aujourd’hui diffèrent significativement de la génération précédente. |
| 43 | A forgotten child after a holiday | Writing A | Continue the report about parents who drive away after a holiday and realise their 13-year-old is missing. | Continuez le reportage sur des parents qui repartent après des vacances et réalisent que leur fils de 13 ans a disparu. |
| 44 | A missing son returns | Writing A | Continue the story of a family celebration interrupted by the return of a son who disappeared ten years earlier. | Continuez l’histoire d’une célébration familiale interrompue par le retour d’un fils disparu dix ans plus tôt. |
| 45 | An unexpected birthday car | Writing A | Continue the report about a man buying his wife a car and becoming suspicious when the salesperson calls a supervisor. | Continuez le reportage sur un homme qui achète une voiture à sa femme et devient méfiant lorsque le vendeur appelle un supérieur. |
10. Crime, Safety and Unusual News
Crime and safety prompts frequently appear in Writing Section A as unusual news stories. You might need to continue a report about an 80-year-old woman confronting car thieves, or a story about anonymous money left in a letterbox. Writing Section B also features claims about surveillance cameras and crime.
These topics test your ability to write engaging, logical continuations of news stories while maintaining a journalistic tone.
| # | Micro-theme | Section | Sample Prompt (EN) | Exemple de sujet (FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Surveillance cameras and crime | Writing B | Respond to the assertion that installing cameras everywhere does not reduce crime. | Répondez à l’affirmation selon laquelle installer des caméras partout ne réduit pas la criminalité. |
| 47 | An older woman confronts car thieves | Writing A | Continue the report about an 80-year-old woman who surprises two men stealing her car and decides to teach them a lesson. | Continuez le reportage sur une femme de 80 ans qui surprend deux hommes en train de voler sa voiture et décide de leur donner une leçon. |
| 48 | A commercial dispute escalates | Writing A | Continue the story of a dissatisfied customer who returns to confront a food seller after an earlier argument. | Continuez l’histoire d’un client mécontent qui revient confronter un vendeur de nourriture après une dispute précédente. |
| 49 | Anonymous money in a letterbox | Writing A | Continue the report about an unemployed man who finds thousands of euros and a good-luck note in his letterbox. | Continuez le reportage sur un chômeur qui trouve des milliers d’euros et un mot porte-bonheur dans sa boîte aux lettres. |
| 50 | A tourist rescues a child | Writing A | Continue the report about a Quebec tourist who sees a young girl fall into a river while reaching for a ball. | Continuez le reportage sur un touriste québécois qui voit une jeune fille tomber dans une rivière en essayant d’attraper un ballon. |
The 10 TEF Canada Themes at a Glance
| Theme | Micro-themes covered | Typical sections |
|---|---|---|
| Work | Product testing, youth leadership, mountain rescue, restaurant experience, automation | Speaking A, Speaking B, Writing B |
| Technology | Virtual reality, online courses, senior digital skills, social-media regulation | Speaking B, Writing B |
| Education | Babysitting, language lessons, early Chinese, handwriting, diplomas | Speaking A, Speaking B, Writing B |
| Travel | Cycling holidays, flight experiences, affordability, tours, stranded bride | Speaking A, Speaking B, Writing A, Writing B |
| Environment | Electric bikes, consumption, public transport, ecological journey, garden discovery | Speaking A, Writing A, Writing B |
| Sport | Golf, kayaking/climbing, treetop courses, marathon, travel health story | Speaking A, Speaking B, Writing A |
| Leisure | Cooking, escape games, party venues, films/books, opera incident | Speaking A, Speaking B, Writing A, Writing B |
| Social responsibility | Adoption, firefighting, NGOs, solidarity, dog-and-baby story | Speaking A, Speaking B, Writing A, Writing B |
| Family | Adult children at home, generations, forgotten child, family reunion | Writing A, Writing B |
| Safety and news | Cameras, car thieves, dispute, anonymous money, river rescue | Writing A, Writing B |
How to Use This List Effectively
1. Understand what each section requires.
The section determines how you should practise each topic:
| Section | What to practise |
|---|---|
| Speaking Section A | Asking natural questions based on an advertisement |
| Speaking Section B | Presenting an offer and handling the other person’s resistance |
| Writing Section A | Continuing a news story with a journalistic voice |
| Writing Section B | Addressing an exact claim and developing a position |
2. Don’t turn an advertisement into a general debate.
If the prompt is Speaking Section A, you need specific questions—not opinions about the broader theme. If the prompt is Writing Section B, you need a developed argument—not a description of your personal experience.
3. Practise the specific task type for each micro-theme.
The same theme can appear in different sections, requiring completely different language. A prompt about travel in Speaking Section A needs questions about prices and duration. A prompt about travel in Writing Section B needs arguments about accessibility and authenticity. A prompt about travel in Writing Section A needs creative continuation of a news story.
4. Test yourself with random prompts.
Set a timer and practice responding to a randomly selected prompt from this list. This builds the flexibility you’ll need on exam day.
What This List Does and Doesn’t Do
This list helps you:
Recognise how broad themes become specific section-based prompts
Practice the right task type for each micro-theme
Build vocabulary across recurring situations and communication functions
Develop flexibility by practising different angles on similar themes
This list does NOT:
Predict which topics will appear in your specific exam session
Replace official preparation materials or practice with authentic exam tasks
Guarantee familiarity with every prompt you may encounter
Always consult the official TEF Canada guidelines and practice with authentic materials as the primary source of preparation.
Next Steps
Choose one theme and practice three different micro-themes from it.
For each micro-theme, practice the specific section (Speaking A, Speaking B, Writing A, Writing B).
Time yourself—use the official time limits for each section.
Record yourself or write your responses, then review for task fulfilment and structural clarity.
Randomly select prompts from different themes and practice responding without preparation.
Do not try to prepare a script for every possible prompt. Train yourself to perform the communication task that each section requires.
