DALF C1: C’est du gâteau!
I still remember when I first decided to attempt the DALF C1 exam. I was talking it over with my father, as I often do, before taking any important decisions. I thought it was too hard, perhaps impossible for someone with my level of French proficiency. Granted, I had started learning French at the Alliance Française de Bengaluru in 2019, 7 years ago, but I still felt it wasn’t enough. I remember thinking I wasn’t ready yet. Regardless, I decided to give it a shot. I had given the DELF B2 in 2022 and passed with good grades, so maybe all I needed to do was work hard. Even if this exam was significantly harder than the last, I wanted to challenge myself, to push my own limits. 6 months later, I ended up scoring 93 out of 100. How did I do it?
There are many resources I utilized that helped me. The first thing I did was familiarize myself with the different parts of the exam, and what would be expected out of me as the candidate. It sounds rather simple, but I think it’s a step many candidates do not pay adequate attention to. Yes, this is a test of language proficiency, and an individual who is fluent will certainly perform better than someone who hesitates and stumbles over their words. However, this is a targeted exam, assessing particular skills in specific domains. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that one’s understanding of the exam aligns with the vision of the organisation conducting said exam.
Information regarding the exam can be found here.
Next, I wanted to be able to assess myself consistently over an extended period of time – several months at the very least. In order to ensure my efforts were expended in the right direction, I utilised the “DALF 100% Réussite C1/C2” textbook. I highly recommend studying with this, since you can utilize this book independently, with no need for a tutor. Sample answers are provided at the back of the book, as well as entire model letters and opinion pieces for the written production section. I spent about an hour completing exercises from this book everyday, although the amount I covered each day varied.
Apart from this, to fine tune my listening comprehension and reading comprehension skills, I spent about an hour everyday consuming French media – songs, podcasts, interviews, lectures, articles; I left no stone unturned. I made sure to listen for at least half an hour everyday, and this part was usually the one I looked forward to the most. I recommend watching the videos on the France Culture Youtube channel. Every episode, a panel of experts with opposing opinions debate the issue at hand, while a moderator directs the discussion. The podcast Débat du Jour has a similar format, but its length is slightly shorter on average. 8 milliards du voisin is another podcast, with hour-long episodes that deeply examine the issue at hand. Additionally, each episode, the host plays French music from different Francophone countries around the world. I really enjoyed learning all the different accents, and the fusion of various elements of their own culture that the musicians integrated into the songs.
Finally, since 2019, I’ve had the language of my phone set to French. This helped me pick up vocabulary relative to several different domains without consciously being aware of it, such as that related to the weather or technology. I assume those giving the C1 may already have their phone language settings to French, but if that’s not the case, doing so might be a good idea.
Preparing for this exam wasn’t just about learning new vocabulary, or improving pronunciation. Rather, I was able to learn about alternative economic models, the climate crisis and efforts to slow it down, workers’ rights, gender injustice, racial discrimination, and a plethora of other topics. Another strategy that helped me was consuming media related to my interests in French. For instance, if I had just seen an interesting movie, I would look for reviews of it in French. I am passionate about the environment, so I often read articles related to this on the Liberation, Le Monde and Le Figaro apps. They are extremely useful, since they have domain wise sections where one can find articles related to a certain theme, such as finances or politics.
As for the speaking and writing parts, I am currently enrolled in a Masters course in French and Francophone studies, so the coursework along with regular examinations at university were a big help. However, I wanted to practice speaking with native speakers of French. To this end, I joined a discord server and spoke to individuals from several different countries, such as Morocco, Ivory Coast and of course, France. I advise everyone to exercise caution while using this platform, since it is completely anonymous, and there is no way to verify who’s on the other end. For the most part, in my personal experience, everyone is kind and willing to discuss topics with the aim of improving our speaking skills.
That being said, as I mentioned earlier, the DALF is a targeted exam. Simply improving one’s pronunciation without augmenting domain-specific vocabulary would not be enough. Besides, I could not evaluate my own writing and speaking. I reached out to one of my teachers at the Alliance, Professor Madhuri, and she put me in touch with a tutor, Madame Ruma. I do not exaggerate when I say that there is absolutely no way my exam would have gone so well if it was not for her help. With her assistance, I completed 2 full mocks and several section wise mocks. She evaluated me and gave me very detailed and to-the-point feedback, with lucid notes on what I could do to improve my performance. I highly recommend reaching out to her, or to any other teachers who can evaluate one’s performance objectively.
I must clarify – I only took 5 hours of classes with Madame Ruma. This may not seem like a lot, but it was extremely helpful during the final stages of my preparation, which was around a month before the actual exam. The exam is 5 hours long and maintaining one’s concentration over such an extended period of time is not easy, which is why the mocks were especially helpful. It taught me the limits of my abilities, my strengths, and areas I could improve upon.
At the C1 level, one is expected to be able to learn independently, and I would agree that the preparation process must be self-led. Classes may be helpful, but since I prepared mostly on my own, I cannot comment further in this regard. I aimed to study for 300 hours, for around 2 hours per day, and finally managed to study for around 230 hours. Setting a concrete goal and creating a schedule helped me greatly, as did studying at the same time everyday. I did miss a day occasionally, when I was extremely exhausted or otherwise busy. However, I tried my best to make up for it on subsequent days. While it’s perfectly alright to not have a perfect streak, what’s important is maintaining the overall consistency as much as possible.
I do not wish to sugarcoat anything – yes, the preparation was hard, as was managing it alongside the course load from my degree. Somedays, I would have 6 hour long classes, and still come back home and study for an hour. I tried to take it 1 day at a time, and I was happy as long as I was able to achieve my daily goals. Besides, this wasn’t a sacrifice. This was a goal I had set for myself, one that I hoped would improve my future career prospects. It was hard, but I can confidently say in retrospect, that it was a burden I bore with pleasure. My motivation did fluctuate, but the thought of a reward after the exam, (which in my case, was a short trip to the hills), did wonders to keep me going. I did reward myself throughout the process too – a little snack for writing a good letter, or scoring well in a listening mock.
I also want to highlight that it’s important not to deprive oneself of life’s joys simply because one is preparing for a difficult exam. I did go out with my friends, spent time on my hobbies, such as reading, birdwatching, and movies. Cutting off all these other sources of pleasure may make the exam seem like a negative occurrence and a source of constant stress, which I never wanted it to be for me.
My biggest takeaway from the preparation process was that I learnt how to think and express myself differently (better?). For instance, the French way to present an argument is to begin with an introduction, then explain your first line of reasoning and justify it with a concrete example. Then, after some more thoughts in the same vein, you may challenge all you have said, and justify that too. Finally, you terminate the discussion by attempting to find a middle path, a kind of compromise, that successfully encapsulates all that you have said, followed by some future directions.
Such an approach is known as “Thèse, Antithèse, Synthèse”. It forces you to examine an issue from multiple points of view, and try to understand where the other party may be coming from. In an age where algorithms decide what content we consume, and only show us that which aligns with our own views, we feel increasingly cloistered in echo-chambers that eternally validate our points of view and such an exercise can be difficult. Yet, I think it is worth the trouble.
This process helped me greatly improve my French language abilities, but it also taught me to be more open-minded, more empathetic, more willing to examine an issue in detail before passing judgement. I’m grateful to everyone who helped me during this process, and I’m proud of myself for achieving a goal I had set for myself with hard work, passion and dedication. If you’re hesitating to write this exam right now, even if you’re scared or unsure, go for it! As my father often says, we are all capable of far more than we know. There are no secrets – all it takes is hard work, consistency and an open mind. Armed with these, I am certain success is not too far.