How to Overcome Speaking Anxiety in the TEF/TCF Exam

You know the grammar. You’ve memorized the vocabulary. You can read a Le Monde article with near-perfect comprehension.

But the moment the TEF examiner looks at you and says, "Bonjour, vous appelez pour l'annonce ?"... your mind goes blank. Your heart races. Your carefully constructed subjunctive phrases devolve into a stuttering mess of present-tense verbs.

If this sounds familiar, you are not failing because of your French level. You are failing because of speaking anxiety.

In linguistic psychology, this is known as the "Affective Filter." Here is how to dismantle it before your TEF/TCF Canada exam.

1. Understanding the "Affective Filter"