All about the TEF Exams - What, Where, How and Cost of TEF Exams?

What does TEF mean?
The full form of TEF is Test d’Evaluation de Français. It is an exam to test one's knowledge of the French language.


Why take the TEF exam?

The TEF is a validation of one's degree of competency in French in any expert, scholastic or portability related setting, and specifically for:

• Studying in France with the TEF Études
• Acquiring French nationality with the TEF Naturalization
• Acquiring a French resident card with the TEF Carte de résident
• Emigrating to Canada and acquiring Canadian citizenship with the TEF Canada
• Emigrating to Quebec with the TEF Québec – TEFAQ

What are the tests?

The TEF comprises of 5 tests:

• Oral Comprehension (CO) 40 min
• Written Comprehension (CE) 60 min
• Oral Expression (EO) 15 min
• Written Expression (EE) 60 min
• Vocabulary and syntax structure (LS) 30 min

Based on your goals and needs and documents you need to provide as a validation of your knowledge of French, one can pick the TEF variant that incorporates the tests you require. For specific types of  TEF, the tests must be completed in one session. The term of the assessments varies for the TEF Carte de résident and TEF Naturalization - so be prepared accordingly.

The tests are assessed on a scale with 7 levels, from level 0 (most essential capabilities) to level 6 (complete familiarity). This scale is similar to the 6 levels (A1 to C2) of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and to the 12 degrees of the Canadian Language Benchmarks. Click here to know more about DELF Exam levels

Which assessments compare to which test?

The methods utilized rely upon the rendition of the TEF chose: 

1. Études - for studies in French

    Mandatory examinations:

• Oral comprehension
• Written comprehension
• Vocabulary and syntax
• Written expression

2. Naturalization - for becoming a French citizen by Naturalization

    Mandatory examinations:

• Oral understanding
• Composed understanding
• Jargon and linguistic structure
• Composed articulation

3. Carte de résident Canada - for becoming a citizen of Canada

    Mandatory examinations:

• Oral understanding
• Oral articulation
• Required assessments
• Oral understanding
• Composed understanding
• Oral articulation
• Composed articulation

4. Carte de résident Québec - to immigrate to the state of Quebec

    Mandatory examinations:

• Oral understanding
• Composed understanding
• Oral articulation
• Composed articulation

Required assessments for a citizenship application

• Oral understanding
• Oral articulation
• Elective assessments
• Oral understanding
• Oral articulation
• Extra assessments
• (essential candidate)
• Composed understanding
• Composed articulation

How do I prepare for these exams?

There are multiple ways to prepare for these exams -

• Self-Study - look around and find the resources to help you learn the language. The hunt for the right resources can be time consuming and one tends to wander around aimlessly
• Online Studies - there are websites and phone apps that help you learn a learn. These are mostly one way communication and becomes challenging for those who have less time in hand
• Enroll at an Institute - this option is appropriate if you do not mind paying fees to learn the language. The faculty will give you direction and guide you to the right resources. Besides, one can get the doubts and queries answered without wasting too much time

Where do I appear for the exams?
Exams are conducted all year round at different offices around the globe. Check in your city where the same is held and about their next dates. Prepare accordingly.

The testing center is liable for publishing the exam dates, the enrollment time frame for applicants, and the costs. The enrollment cutoff time falls in any event multiple weeks before the date of the test date.

If it's not too much trouble register at the right time as soon as conceivable to permit time for the desk work to process.

No previous qualifications or education is required to take the test. The only restriction is that a person taking the test must be atleast 16 years old.

At the point when you register, you will be approached to give the following documents:

• a signed copy of an official Photo-ID card (identification, driver's permit, and so forth… )
• in the event that the testing place can't take your picture upon the arrival for the test, you will be asked to give a printed copy of the photo so please carry a spare copy and
• your signature

You will likewise also fill in your individual personal data when you register. This structured data will be used during your official announcement of results.

Cost of TEF Exams:

The cost of the TEF exams ranges between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 20,000 based on the exams being taken.

How can Palium Skills help us to learn French?

Palium Skills offers French Language classes and courses for beginners and advanced levels. The French language classes are offered in Kolkata and online for those outside the city. 

Incase you are interested to take our French learning classes starting from beginners level then do Contact Us

Importance of Bull fighting in Spain and Spanish culture

Bull fighting has come to be known as synonymous to Spain and Spanish although the culture has lot more to offer in terms of food, literature, architecture and painting!

Bullfighting is a ritual carried out in carefully prearranged steps, as called for by the tradition of the corrida, each stage with its own name which the aficionados in the crowd will know by heart. The lead roles are played by the bull and the matador in the arena. It is a ritual that requires a sacrifice - sacrifice to the death.

The matador, representing mankind and dressed for his date with death in the fantastical if impractical traje de luz, suit of lights, goads, mocks and sentences the bull to death with the estocada, the death blow, from his sword. The most spectacular estocada is the estocada recibido ('received', when the matador stands his ground and lets the enraged bull charge him) but it isn't seen that often. When the ritual is done, the bull is dead & matador triumphant. Man has defeated death - he is immortal!

Common bull-fighting terms used in Spanish  -

• Toro -Bull
• Plaza de toros - Bullring
• Corrida - Bullfight
• Matador - Star Bullfighter
• Torero - Bullfighter 
• Picador - Lancer (on horseback)
• Banderillero - Bullfighter (on foot) who inserts barbed wooden decorated sticks into the bull´s neck muscle
• Traje de luces - Suit of lights (colourful sequinned suit worn by bullfighters)
• Veronica - A type of pass whereby the cape is drawn over the bull´s head while the man holds a posture.
• Novillos - A novice bullfighter is called a novillero and fights not in a corrida, but in a novillada with young bulls (novillos)
• 
  
• Bull fighting has come to be known as synonymous to Spain and Spanish although the culture has lot more to offer in terms of food, literature, architecture and painting!

Palium Skills offers Spanish Language classes in Kolkata. Such classes are available during the weekday and weekends. Classes are held regularly and the faculty team is excellent!

What to know before visiting a foreign country?

Which country do you want to visit? The country that you have always wanted to visit. A country of
your dreams, a land that has been beckoning you since your childhood. But before you go there one
needs to prepare for the trip.  Preparation does not mean only shopping and luggage. It means reading
up on local customs and traditions, learning about the people, their food habits, their culture,
literature and language.

Language is particularly important as in some of the countries no foreign languages are understood.
Countries in Europe, South America, parts of Africa require knowledge of German, Spanish and
French. Infact in some of these countries it is very important to know the survival basics. One needs to know the custom, traditions and culture so one can better identify with the people else very often visitors end up making fools of themselves due to their ignorance or lack of efforts to learn about these vital aspects of any country.

Learn the language of the country...it will help you to understand the country and its people in a better
way... You may have a different reason for going to a new country- for employment, for business, for higher studies or just as a tourist ...  whatever be the reason, make sure you know the local language.

It is not only important for survival but also for understanding the local culture and traditions

Price of Quality

Quality cannot be cheap. Most people seek best quality products at cheap prices. Nothing can be 

further from the truth. Quality has a price - we need to pay the right price to get the appropriate 

quality. Remember it is a competitive world and if someone gives low quality at higher price then 

they will not survive in the market place. 

The best example is that of Apple products. Yes they are costly when compared to other Android 

phones but what we don't consider is that cheaper Android phones don't last as long as the Apple one

do. Often we end up spending more in the long run than what the Apple products cost! 

Similarly in education, quality of education matters which is dependent on quality of faculty, number 

of students in class, coverage of course etc. A class with 20 students can be done at fraction of the 

cost of delivering the same course with 5 students. 

Some of the stories heard by us are as follows -

Case No.1: A father described their ordeal when he got his daughter admitted in a institute by 

paying  half the fees. After 3 months, the class is yet to start and they do not have a date yet on when 

it will start. With so much money invested, they are unable to step back!

Case No. 2: A candidate took admission in a computer center to learn Advance Excel. He got an 

attractive offer which was almost one third of the charges at other popular institutes. He was excited 

but realised the truth when he went for his first class and found 19 other candidates in the class.  The 

instructor would demonstrate and expect all the participants to follow on their own. He managed to 

resolve/ answer queries of three to four candidates in every class as he did not have the time to attend 

to individual queries!

Case No. 3: A young professional enrolled at a institute to learn SQL. He took a total of 5 classes 

there before he stopped going. The reason being that in every class he had a new instructor who 

would start from the first chapter each class. Repeated complaints failed to resolve his issues leading 

to him dropping off from the class!

Such examples abound and we hear more and more of such cases everyday.

As one can see, paying the right price for the appropriate quality is very very important. So even if 

one pays a little more directly and gets better value, that is better than paying less and getting inferior 

quality deliverables. As one will agree, the quality of learning is much more in the latter case! So be 

careful about what you choose ....

Why is Python Programming so Popular?

Why is Python Programming so popular? Among all the programming languages like C, Java etc, 

python is seeing rapid increase in use and popularity.

There are many reasons for Python’s popularity. The main  reason is it’s use of non-cryptic 

programming syntax. It uses a pseudo programming language which is almost like writing English 

phrases. So it is easy for non-technical people also to learn this programming language.

Another reason for its popularity, it that it is being used extensively in all aspects of programming. It 

is  commonly used in tasks like Scripting, Web Development, Automation, Testing, Data Analysis, 

Web Scraping etc. 

Gradually it is becoming the most preferred language for developers. It is used extensively in 

companies like Google, Pinterest, Dropbox and others. So opportunities for Python Developers is 

opening up and we expect to see more demand for the skill in the future.

It is used within Frameworks like Django, Flask, Jupyter and others. 

As is evident it is a very powerful and versatile language that can be easily learnt and adopted by one 

and all.

Top 10 Skills in Demand in 2017

This is a very trying time for IT Companies and as well as for the workforce. A large number of workforce is gradually growing old and finding that their skills are no longer relevant.

Seeing the writing on the wall, some people have quickly moved onto emerging skills that are short of manpower and hence there is growing demand in those skills.

A word of caution is warranted. One needs to understand that these are not based on any methodology and do not have solid numbers to back them up. That is the reason, you will find multiple such lists floating around in the internet. One needs to read them carefully and understand their implications and take an informed decision based on one's own situation and career ambitions.

Below is a reproduction based on 'Economic Times' article. There is another list published by Linkedin which can be found on this site as well.

Skills that will help you stay relevant in the job market

It’s a fact that no one is indispensable. Enterprises and individuals will always find a way to survive and thrive if your services are no longer available. Here's a list of top 10 skills that can help you stay relevant in job market.

1. User Interface (UI) design

JOBS AVAILABLE: User experience designer, user interface designer, user interface designer (computer software applications), creative director
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE: Rs 5-10 Lakh

2. Mobile development

JOBS AVAILABLE: Android and iOS developers, technical architect, lead software engineer, project manager (IT).
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 4.5-9 Lakh

3. Web architecture & development framework

JOBS AVAILABLE: Web developer, software engineer, programmer, project manager.
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 3-10 Lakh

4. Automation Testing using tools like Selenium, Appium, JMeter etc.

Testing is a critical function in any application development methodology. Companies are cutting down on costs and one way is to reduce headcount and work using open source tools. But Testing is an area where companies cannot afford to cut back costs. Hence they are adopting Open Source Automation tools like Selenium which have become very popular and are considered hot skills in the market.

JOBS AVAILABLE: Tester, Senior Testing, Testing Architect
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 4-8 Lakh

5. Cloud Computing

JOBS AVAILABLE: IT architect, cloud software engineer, software architect, technical consultant.
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 5-20 Lakh. 

6. Storage systems and management

JOBS AVAILABLE: IT consultant, principal software engineer, test engineer, system engineer, system administrator.
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 4.5-10 Lakh.

7. Network and information security

JOBS AVAILABLE BASED: Network security engineer, network security analyst, information security analyst, information security officer
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 4-10 Lakh.

8. Algorithm design /coding

JOBS AVAILABLE: Software development engineer, lead software engineer, software developer.
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 6-10 Lakh.

9. Statistical analysis & data mining

JOBS AVAILABLE: Data scientist, senior business analyst, data analyst, statistician data scientist.
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 3-7 Lakh.

10. Digital, SEO/SEM marketing

JOBS AVAILABLE: Digital marketing manager, online marketing manager, SEO marketing strategist, SEO manager, SEO analyst
MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY RANGE Rs 3-6 Lakh.