Pro Tips

Here are a list of pro tips that can help you excel on the oral, grammar, and reading exam:

1.  Read orally for 30 minutes per day.  This will help you self correct pronunciation and help you recognize patterns.  Pattern recognition is key to learning a language.
2. Listen to French radio or, even better, podcasts on the way to work.  Using podcasts, you can slow the speed down to a comfortable level.  Using the daily commute to listen to French is a good use of time.
3. Do all the grammar exercises on this site before attempting the practice or real exams.  Repeat the exercises until you obtain 80-90% correct, then move to the practice exams.  Do the practice exams until you achieve a 90% grade.
4. Seek out other sources of learning to see alternate teaching methods.  We have lists elsewhere on this site.  This includes practice exams often available for free online from the Government of Canada, language schools, or the Public Service.
5. Watch the news.  Newscasts use professional (as opposed to slang) language which will help you with pronunciation, topics that may appear on exams, and increase your vocabulary.
6. Learn the vocabulary we provide.  A list is available elsewhere on this site.  These words often appear in correspondence and on the exams.  A number of them are not used often in conversational French.
7. Buy a verb book.  We recommend 101 or 501 French Verbs by Christopher Kendris.  We find the explanations easier to understand and there is a better display of irregular verbs than the commonly used Bescherelle book.

Here are some helpful videos:

Être or Avoir in the Passé Composé in French… French PAST TENSE explained

DR AND MRS VANDERTRAMP

Here is a list of the VANDERTRAMP verbs with their common endings:

Vandertramp chart