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FRENCH CITIZENSHIP

TEST: Is your level of French good enough for citizenship and residency?

France has tightened up language requirements for citizenship and is proposing introducing a language test for certain types of carte de séjour residency card - so just how good does your French need to be?

TEST: Is your level of French good enough for citizenship and residency?
Photo by Fred TANNEAU / AFP

From total fluency to just being able to order a baguette in your local boulangerie, there’s a world of difference in the levels of French attained by foreigners in France, and of course most people improve the longer they stay here.

But there are certain processes that require formal qualifications, so we’ve put together some sample questions to give you an idea of the level required. This article relates solely to your language ability – if you’re applying for citizenship there are several other requirements, including having to demonstrate knowledge of French culture and history.

READ ALSO Am I eligible for French citizenship?

The current rules in place require French at level B1 on the international DELF scale in order to obtain French citizenship.

Getting a carte de séjour residency permit currently has no formal language requirement, although Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin says he wants to introduce one for certain types of permit.

This bill still needs to be debated in parliament, but the level proposed is A1 – you can find full details of the proposal and take the A1 mock test HERE.

Citizenship

So what does B1 mean? B1 on the DELF scale is defined as “able to handle day-to-day matters that arise in school, work or leisure”. 

A B1 candidate “should be able to get by while travelling in an area where only French is spoken, and should be able to describe events and justify things like opinions, plans, or even ambitions”.

You are not required to be able to speak perfect, error-free French, only to be able to make yourself understood and understand any replies you are given.  

Tests

Four tests are required for citizenship; a written test, reading tests, listening test and an oral test where you have a conversation with an examiner.

  • Oral comprehension – 25 minutes. This test involves listening to a tape and answering questions about the content, usually multiple choice answers
  • Oral discussion – 15 minutes. This is a one-on-one conversation with an examiner (either in person or on the phone) who asks you progressively more difficult questions, towards the end of the chat you are also given the opportunity to ask questions or start a debate with your examiner on the topic
  • Reading test – 45 minutes. Candidates are expected to read a selection of French texts (newspaper articles, memos, adverts etc) and answer questions about their content
  • Writing test – 30 minutes. Candidates must write a piece on a given topic in a specified style (formal letter, email, memo, news report etc)

Bear in mind that instructions for the exam – times allowed, which sections to answer etc – are all in French. 

You need to pass all four sections of the language test in order to apply for citizenship. Although you do not have to take all the tests at the same time, test certificates presented for citizenship cannot be more than two years old. 

Sample questions

We have put together some examples of the type of questions asked, based on past papers for B1 exams.

Oral comprehension – for this section you will have to listen to audio of French people talking. The format varies, sometimes it could be a news report, an interview or a recorded discussion, and it will be played at least twice.

Here are some sample questions from a past B1 paper, after the candidates had listened to a short clip of Paul talking about his holidays – click here to listen to the audio. 

Quel a été le principal inconvénient du voyage de Paul ?

  • La nourriture
  • La chaleur 
  • La longueur du voyage

Combien de pays ont-ils visités ?

  • Cinq
  • Six
  • Seize

Quel sentiment éprouve Paul?

  • Il est déçu de son voyage et content d’être rentré 
  • Il est content de son voyage et regrette d’être rentré 
  • Il est content de son voyage et content aussi d’être rentré

Reading – you have 45 minutes to read two documents provided and then answer questions about them. The questions are usually a mix of multiple choice and longer answers.

Here are some sample questions from a past B1 paper, relating to a report about child soldiers, and the charity groups attempting to help them – you can read the document here.

1. Ce document a pour but de:

  • Dénoncer les horreurs de la guerre
  • Informer sur les actions pour les droits de l’enfant
  • Faire signer un texte pour les droits de l’enfant

2. Citez trois formes du soutien proposées aux enfants soldats par les ONG

3. Combien d’enfants sont membres du SPLA.

Oral discussion – the examiner will ask you questions about the documents that you have read for the reading section, you have an extra 10 minutes before the oral section begins to prepare your response.

You will begin by introducing yourself and talking about your work, family or hobbies – the examiner will then ask you some questions about yourself before moving on to questions about the document.

Written – in this section you have 30 minutes to write an answer to a question. You must respond in 160 to 180 words. Here is a sample of the type of question asked:

A votre avis, quels ont été le ou les changements les plus importants des vingt dernières années dans votre pays?

(In your opinion, what are the most important changes that have taken place in your country in the past 20 years).

You can find the full exam paper with the correct answers (at the bottom) HERE.

Member comments

  1. Does this apply to EU Nationals wishing to reside in France? And, by extension, to their spouse? Or are they exempt because of EU rules?

  2. Your mistakes (not a good idea when you write about French tests)

    La longUeur (the length) du voyage

    Il (he) (non non no It) est déçu (accent is a must é)

    les changements leS (plural here) plus importants

    votre payS your country. Your pay (English)

  3. Your mistakes. La longUeur (the length) du voyage

    Il (he) (non non no It) est déçu

    les changements leS (plural here)

    votre payS your country. Your pay (English)

  4. My French is at best b2 and at times a1. However, towards the end of the conversation with Paul, first vocal exercise, he makes reference to “Quebequoise” when he talks about being out of touch with current events. But the transcript version says “française”. Did I miss something?

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EUROPEAN UNION

INTERVIEW: ‘We must make it easier for non-EU citizens to move around Europe’

The European Union needs to urgently allow non-EU citizens to be able to move more freely to another EU country, the MEP leading the talks on changes to residency laws says. He tells Claudia Delpero why current rules mean Europe is losing out to the US.

INTERVIEW: 'We must make it easier for non-EU citizens to move around Europe'

“Even under Donald Trump, the US was more attractive for international talent than the EU is,” says Damian Boeselager, a German Member of the European Parliament (MEP).

Boeselager, a member of the Greens/European Free Alliance group is leading the campaign at the European parliament to bring about a rule change that would effectively make it easier for non-EU citizens to move to another EU country.

“The EU has a huge benefit of a large labour market having freedom of movement for EU citizens,” he says.

“But the truth is that Europe needs labour migration in all areas and all skill levels and therefore, if we want to be more attractive, we should make it easier (for non-EU citizens) to move from one member state to the next.

“If you are fired in New York, you can move to San Francisco and Miami. So… if third-country nationals choose to relocate to Europe, they should have a similar freedom, they should see a single market and not 27 ones,” he said.

The European Parliament recently voted to simplify rules for non-EU nationals to allow them to acquire EU long-term residence status and make it easier to move to other EU countries.

Under a little known EU-law third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term residence if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years. 

They also must not have been away for more than 6 consecutive months and 10 months over the entire period (the rules are different for Brits covered by Withdrawal agreement). In addition, they have to prove to have “stable and regular economic resources”, health insurance and can be required to meet “integration conditions”, such as passing a test on the national language or culture.

The status, which was created to “facilitate the integration” of non-EU citizens who have been living in the EU for a long time, ensures equal treatment in the country that grants it and, on paper, some free movement rights.

However in practice, this law has not worked as planned

Specific rules on residency are applied in each EU country. Most countries require employers to prove they could not find candidates in the local market before granting a permit to a non-EU citizen, regardless of their status. And as well as that most applicants are simply unaware the EU status exists and the rights that come with it.

Free movement for third country nationals is just “an illusion,” says Boeselager.

READ ALSO: What is the EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non-EU nationals?

“The EU does not give out a status. It is always the national governments which have the competence to give out visas or grant asylum, and even the EU long-term residence status is not an EU status, it is a national status regulated under EU law,” Boeselager says.

The MEP says that the European parliament will not change this, but that it will seek to get closer to freedom of movement by adjusting the criteria for applications “so that can you have the long-term residence status in the second member state immediately if you already have it in the first.”

“So, if you get the German card of EU long-term residence, which is basically a German visa, you could go to France and say ‘I have already fulfilled the requirements under the EU long-term residence in Germany, please give me the status in France immediately’… I call it portability of status,” he says.

A change to the rules would benefit UK citizens who lost free movement rights in the EU due to Brexit.

“The fact that the British could potentially benefit from this makes me super happy, but in the end the law is nationality-blind and all third country nationals will benefit and I am super convinced this is the right thing to do,” Boeselager said.

Resistance from EU governments

The European Parliament also want to bring about another change that would make it easier for third-country nationals to move to another EU country.

MEPs recently decided the period of legal residence to obtain EU long-term residence should be cut from five to three years and that it should be possible to combine periods of legal residence in different EU member states, instead of resetting the clock at each move.

Time spent for studying or vocational training, seasonal work, temporary protection (the scheme that applies to Ukrainian refugees), which currently does not count, should be included in the calculation too.

All these rules will have to be agreed by the EU Council, which brings together representatives of EU governments.

And getting all EU member states to agree to the changes being put forward by Boeselager and fellow MEPs may prove difficult.

According to a recent questionnaire circulated by Sweden, the current holder of the EU Presidency, several of the EU parliament’s proposals, including the possibility to cumulate periods of residence in different member states, are viewed negatively by certain member states due to difficulties to check continuous stays and absences.

“The issue with member states is that they don’t trust each other, at least when it comes to the processing of documents,” Boeselager says.

“The second point is that on the Council side we negotiate with the ministries of home affairs, the interior ministries. But this is not necessarily an interior ministry decision but rather an economics decision… and we might be losing out because of this focus on control and fraud that ministries of interior have, whereas we should focus on how the EU attracts talent,” he says.

Boeselager warns that “nine out of 10 companies across Europe tell us they lack labour and over the next 30 years we will lose 60 million people from our workforce.”

EU ministers will have to come up with their common position, possibly by the end of June. Then there will be talks with the parliament. Boeselager hopes interior ministers “would not block too much” and the new law will be adopted before the European parliament elections of June 2024

If that doesn’t happen negotiations and discussions will have to continue into the next legislative period and therefor face a long delay.

“What’s important is that we start having a normal discussion about migration. Migration is such a toxic topic for so many, but the reality is that we do not have endless time to figure out how to become a more competitive and attractive Union and it’s important we get there, so we just need to make a better offer,” Boeselager said.

This article was produced in collaboration with Europe Street news.

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