Comprehension l'oral B2

‹ Back 9 September 2020
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🖤

Hello! Today we will talk about how to prepare for the comprehension l’oral part of the DELF B2 exam. Unfortunately, there are not so many tips available, so I had to research this topic and put together practical tips for myself that (I really hope) will lead to a result.

I would like to combine this post with a study of how the level of my listening comprehension increases in a short time (2 months) while I will use these exercises.

☀️ Morning (20 - 60 minutes)

Listening comprehension of complex topics with many participants

My morning starts with listening to Debat du jour. The podcasts there are quite large and they are 30 minutes long, and excerpts from them are often used in the DELF or DALF exam examples. Of course, listening for half an hour can be difficult, so there are some tips on how to diversify listening:

  • Try to define in the first minutes what the topic of the program is about and write it down.
  • Determine from the first listening the number of expert participants, their first and last names, as well as their profession.

Very often DELF and DALF assignments are asked to write names or professions of speakers. If you have enough patience, then listen to the whole topic, and if not, then 10-15 minutes will be enough.

Dictation

This kind of practice is practically not covered anywhere, but it is very useful because it helps you practice your listening comprehension. Use the Journal en français facile: it contains small podcasts 10 minutes long. Each podcast has a transcription. Choose one minute from the podcast and write it down, then open the transcription and check which words you wrote correctly and which ones did not. You will be pleasantly surprised, but your listening comprehension is even better than you thought.

This exercise is not about writing speed, but about listening comprehension of separate words. Try to isolate separate words from the text and write them down, rather than just listening to a long stream of speech.

Tutorial Exercises

I finish the morning with exercises from the DELF B2 and DALF C1/C2 textbooks. You can download them here. I only do 2 exercises in the morning. They are pretty short and shouldn’t take more than five minutes. Why am I preparing with the DALF C1/C2 textbook if I pass B2? It’s that simple! Teachers advise taking assignments to a higher level and trying to complete them so that your current level becomes easier for you.

In total, routine in the morning takes from 20 minutes to an hour (depending on Debat du jour).

☕️ Day (15 minutes)

Shadowing

I already wrote how to use Shadowing exercises in my previous article about DELF, but a more detailed description can be found here. I will only add that I do Shadowing for 10 minutes using transcription from any program Journal en français facile.

Remember: DELF records use parts of RFI broadcasts very often.

Coffee and video

After that I watch a short video from youtube channel Le Monde. I choose relevant topics: environmental, economic or political. In general, such that I would be interested to see, but whose vocabulary can be used in the preparation of a monologue or you will hear it in the audio on the exam.

📺 Evening (10 - 60 minutes)

TV Shows

Welcome to a task that could have been very interesting if it weren’t so hard: watching TV shows.

I found several TV shows that I try to watch, but if I am in the mood and not every day:

  • Les Revenants. Horror, thriller, drama. Children who died a few years ago suddenly returned from nowhere, absolutely not knowing that they died and 5 years have passed already since these events.

  • Le ​​Bureau des Légendes. A drama about French intelligence agents. Reemonds me about Homeland.

Exercises

In the evening I also do exercises from the DELF B2 and DALF C1/C2 textbooks. One or two.

🛌 Night (5 minutes)

Before bed, I watch a short video (with subtitles) from Cyprien.

Tips. Assessment of progress.

  • I am a normal person, I have a life and interests besides DELF, so I consider it important to say that these exercises are variable. You can do one or more a day or a week. Just keep in mind that your progress is directly proportional to the time spent.

  • Use the DELF B2 exam examples to measure progress. Let’s say you have 5 sample exams and five weeks before the exam. Do examples every weekend to watch your score change.

🌿 My progress:

  • 02 Septembre - 11.5 / 25.
  • 09 Septembre - 15.5 / 25.
  • 16 Septembre - 18 / 25.
  • 27 Septembre - 19 / 25.