TEF Section A: 50 Power Questions to Master Information Gathering

In the TEF Canada Speaking exam (Expression Orale), Section A is often dismissed as the "easy" part. You are given an advertisement (job offer, apartment rental, volunteer opportunity), and you must call the person in charge to gather more information. You have 5 minutes to ask roughly 10-12 questions.

However, Section A is where you establish your "linguistic floor." It is your chance to show the examiner that you can transition from simple to complex questions effortlessly. If you repeat the same question structure (Combien ça coûte?, Où c'est?), you lock yourself into an NCLC 5 or 6 before you even start the more difficult Section B.

To hit NCLC 7 or higher, you need syntactic variety. Below are 50 power questions categorized by theme to help you dominate your next role-play.