DELF exam preparation

Try it. Write to your friend Lou. Give the day and time you arrive in Nantes, suggest a meeting place and ask if it works for her.

Example opening

Salut Lou, j’arrive à Nantes samedi à dix heures. On se retrouve devant la gare ?

This opening gives Lou a time and a place. To build it into a 40-word message, add what you plan to do together and ask whether she is free.

Try it aloud. You are speaking to a shop assistant. Use vous, ask the price of a notebook and say whether you want to buy it.

Example exchange

Bonjour, combien coûte ce cahier, s’il vous plaît ?
Trois euros.
D’accord, je le prends. Merci !

In the last line, le stands for ce cahier. With a feminine noun such as cette trousse, you would say je la prends.

Try it. A friend asks about your weekend. Tell them where you went, how the weather changed your plans and what you enjoyed.

Example opening

Samedi, nous avons pris le train jusqu’à Rouen. Il pleuvait, alors nous avons visité un musée.

Il pleuvait describes the weather in the background. Nous avons visité tells your friend what you did. Add one detail from the museum and say why you liked it.

Try it aloud. Compare two ways of getting to work. Which do you prefer, and when do you use the other one?

Example excerpt

Je préfère le vélo parce que j’habite près du bureau. Quand il pleut, je prends le bus.

Parce que gives the reason for your preference. Quand tells the listener what makes you change your routine. Swap in your own route and reason.

Try it. Your local sports centre has started closing earlier. Write to the manager, explain how the change affects you and suggest a practical solution.

Example excerpt

Depuis que le gymnase ferme à dix-huit heures, je ne peux plus y aller après le travail. Serait-il possible de le laisser ouvert le jeudi soir ?

Depuis que introduces a change that still affects you. The conditional serait-il possible makes a request to the manager. Develop your proposal by explaining who else could use the gym on Thursday evenings.

Try it aloud. At a tourist office, an employee tells you that your guided walk has been cancelled. Address the employee as vous. Ask for another time and explain when you need to leave.

Example response

Je comprends. Avez-vous une autre visite demain matin ? Je dois prendre le train à midi.

Now have your partner offer 11:30. Keep the exchange going by asking how long the visit lasts before you decide whether to accept.

Try it. Your town is deciding whether to keep its library open in the evening. Write to the council. Take a position, acknowledge a cost and propose a way to test the idea.

Example excerpt

Certes, ouvrir tous les soirs coûterait cher. On pourrait toutefois commencer par le jeudi et compter les visiteurs pendant deux mois avant de décider.

Certes acknowledges the cost. Toutefois introduces an answer to that objection. The two-month trial gives the council something concrete to accept or reject.

Read this original practice brief. Pour alléger les cartables, un collège envisage de remplacer les manuels par des tablettes. Les familles devraient acheter les appareils.

Try it aloud. Explain who benefits, who pays and what you would change. Then answer a partner who asks whether the school can afford your proposal.

Example excerpt

Alléger les cartables me semble utile. Mais si chaque famille doit acheter une tablette, certains élèves risquent de se retrouver sans matériel. Le collège pourrait prêter les appareils, d’abord à une seule classe.

After si, doit states the condition. Pourrait offers an alternative. For the follow-up, explain how the smaller trial would affect the budget.