DALF preparation: the complete guide

The Diplôme approfondi de langue française continues the DELF at the two highest CEFR levels. C1 certifies fluent, structured French for study and professional life; C2 certifies mastery close to an educated native speaker’s. Both are diplomas for life, issued by the French Ministry of National Education and managed by France Éducation international.

A DALF exempts you from the language tests French universities otherwise require, and it is the level some graduate programmes and regulated professions ask for. It is not accepted for Canadian immigration, where TCF Canada or TEF Canada are required, though C1 corresponds to NCLC 9.

Practice for the DALF is not open on French in Pocket yet; this guide is online while the material is being built.

C1 keeps the four-section structure: listening, reading, writing and speaking, each marked out of 25. Writing is a synthesis of several documents followed by an argued essay, together about two and a half hours; speaking is a presentation on a set of documents followed by a discussion with the jury, after an hour of preparation.

C2 merges the skills into two papers: an oral paper (listening then speaking, marked out of 50) and a written paper (reading then writing, marked out of 50), each built around a long document set and a personal, argued response.

The diploma is obtained with 50 out of 100 overall, provided no section is below 5 out of 25 at C1 and no paper below 10 out of 50 at C2. The candidate chooses a field (letters and humanities, or sciences) for some C1 and C2 tasks.

Approved centres worldwide hold sessions several times a year; fees are set per country and are higher than for the DELF. Register with the centre directly and check that it offers the level you want at that session.

The DALF is decided by the synthesis and the essay: both require reading fast, extracting the arguments of several texts without quoting them, and writing a structured text in the time. Practise the method on the official sample papers, and get the written work corrected, since the marks for structure and register are where advanced candidates lose points.

What fails otherwise strong candidates:

You may sit the same level again at any later session, without limit on attempts.

Bring the identity document used at registration and your convocation. Written papers are long; the speaking interview is scheduled separately. Ask the centre for the timetable.