A2 exam strategies
At A2, the reading sections of the TEF and TCF give you short everyday texts: emails from a friend, a notice at work, a small ad, a message about an appointment. You will not understand every word, and you do not need to. The skill that wins points is scanning: looking for the one piece of information the question asks about, instead of reading slowly from start to finish.
Associez chaque mot interrogatif à ce qu'il demande.
Match each question word to what it asks for.
Que faut-il lire d'abord pour bien balayer ?
What should you read first to scan well?
Lisez : « On se voit jeudi, mais pas le matin. » Quand êtes-vous libre ?
Read: "On se voit jeudi, mais pas le matin." When are you free?
Before you read the text, read the question. It tells you what to look for. If the question asks quand (when), your eyes hunt for a day, a time or a date. If it asks où (where), you look for a place. This way you read with a purpose and you stop as soon as you find the answer.
| balayer (un texte) | to scan (a text) |
| un indice | a clue |
| un mot-clé | a keyword |
| quand ? | when? |
| où ? | where? |
| pourquoi ? | why? |
| combien ? | how much / how many? |
| à quelle heure ? | at what time? |
| un rendez-vous | an appointment |
| annuler | to cancel |
| reporter | to postpone |
| confirmer | to confirm |
| deviner (le sens) | to guess (the meaning) |
| le contexte | the context |
Lisez : « Le rendez-vous est reporté à lundi. » Que s'est-il passé ?
Read: "Le rendez-vous est reporté à lundi." What happened?
Complétez : chercher vite une seule information, c'est ___ le texte.
Complete: to look quickly for one piece of information is to ___ the text.
Pour gagner du temps, il faut ____ le texte.
Complétez avec le mot interrogatif pour un lieu.
Complete with the question word for a place.
La question demande ____ a lieu la réunion : cherchez une salle ou une adresse.
Questions and texts often share the same words. Spot the keywords in the question and find them, or a close synonym, in the text. If the email says the meeting is reporté (postponed) and the question asks if it is cancelled, the words differ, so read carefully: postponed is not cancelled. Small words like ne... pas, mais and sauf can flip the meaning, so never trust a single keyword alone.
Écoutez et tapez la phrase que vous entendez.
Listen and type the sentence you hear.
Remettez les mots dans l'ordre.
Put the words in order.
Remettez les mots dans l'ordre.
Put the words in order.
Traduisez en français.
Translate into French.
Don't leave any blank answers.
Traduisez en anglais.
Translate into English.
Servez-vous du contexte pour deviner le mot.
Une mauvaise réponse reprend un mot-clé du texte. Que faire ?
A wrong answer repeats one keyword from the text. What should you do?
When a word is new, do not panic and do not stop. Use the context: the words around it and the topic of the text usually let you guess. You can also skip an unknown word entirely if it is not in the question. Time is limited, so spend it on the questions, not on every word.
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