French B1 Exam...Done!
I completed my French B1 DELF exam about two hours ago (of posting this), and I think that it actually went really well... I'm starting preparation for the B2 exam in one year's time, right away!
23 Comments
Congratulations! Well done. What tools have you used to bring your French to the B1 level?
Whatever resources I was able to get over the years (Duolingo, Schaum's, babadum, memrise, radio.garden, and various other books and internet sources). But my university instructors were probably the biggest help in preparation for the DELF.
What resources did you utilize, what is your native language, what other languages do you speak, and how long have you been studying french?
The standard, mostly-known resources, but to a large extent watching dubbed French media has provided me with invaluable: practical vocabulary, phrases, expressions, and great grammar pointers.
Afrikaans is my native language. I am South African.
I speak Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, French, Dutch, Spanish, German, and a few others to varying degrees.
I have been studying French since 2007 officially, but it was an on-and-off situation for a couple of years in between.
How did you make a balance between your 31 languages and your job ( or study) life?
I am only actively studying French and Xhosa at the moment (final university exams are coming up). It is virtually impossible to study all these languages concurrently.
957
Hi,
was DuoLingo mainly enough to reach it?
Or have you been studying locally with language tools, (grammar) books, 3rd party flashcard software like Memrise, AnkiSRS, etc.?
How did you train the listening and comprehension part (e.g answering questions to the text) like I know it from English TOEIC?
Duolingo is not nearly enough to reach B1 level on all the mediums of communication. You need a professional teacher/instructor, someone that can also actively train you for the DELF format.
Watching original French and/or dubbed films and/or series (WITHOUT any subtitles) was my most effective method to train myself in listening comprehension.
The university perpared us for the DELF format.
- 957
Thanks for your reply.
Funny question:
If you turn OFF sub titles how do you test the "comprehension" when you can not be 90-100% sure that you fully understood what you heared (e.g most words, some phrases, faster spoken nested sentences)?
If you watch films you are NOT asked any questions AFTER listening to the story (full paragraph) in contrast to English TOEIC or DuoLingo stories.
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I am just asking because "listening comprehension" (with text) should be my (after) next Portuguese steps (besides reverse tree), and hearing something without having the text next to me already quite badly failed with my www.50languages.com 100 days MP3 PT course, where they even provide the English-Portuguese/German-Portuguese translations on (native recorded) MP3 when I used this course while walking around.
The Portuguese (longer) sentence was spoken that fast, that I hardly could follow without reading the text in parallel. I was too lazy to print all scripts for 100 days ;)
Same did apply to www.bliubliu.com trying to read longer texts, recorded by native speakers (I was not on the right Portuguese level early this year). They speak SOOO fast. Quite a difference to DuoLingo TTS!
I agree with the author's opinion of www.language101.com that it is not a very good concept to "learn" a language with an only audio course like Pimsleur (I did not test).
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However, of course I agree with you that listening (without sub titles) is a great hearing - after next -practice, if you have mastered all the individual above single learning steps (with text in parallel) before.
Well, it will be a LONG way for me to go...
I might try PortuguesePod101 / Semantica (videos + text) next :-)
Well, I am different and I am quite experienced with learning new languages, as well as improving current languages.
One doesn't need to understand every single word, and my brain has a way of sorting through what I recognise when I hear it and to make sense of what is being said.
I only switch subtitles on when I am vocabulary-building and I hear a word that I dont't recognise, or when I fail to understand the entirety of what was said in a particular sentence.
I learn the way I learn, and it works for me. I am well aware of what works for me and what really doesn't, and subtitles really don't work for me in most situations.
Can you send me documents or book names or any thing that can help me in french? i'm trying to reach level B2 next year. but i'm studying alone. thank you
i live in france, i will do whatever it takes. i can study for 2 hours daily, but i need books or documents to depend on. or i should use a strategy.
Nice! I am taking the B1 in a month, so I'm trying to brush up. I need to do some practice exams though, as I have no what level I have at the moment. Which part of the exam did you find the most challenging?
First of all, congratulations! I am going to give my DELF B1 exam next month and I am extremely nervous. Is there a huge gap between A2 and B1? Also, can you please give me some tips for the exam? I scored pretty well in my A1 and A2 exams. Thanks in advance! (P.S I've actually practised really hard for this. I've studied from a variety of resources and I am also taking extra classes in my school)
