Common mistakes in TCF Canada writing

Recently in my telegram channel I published links to a video where the organizers of TEF discuss in detail the criteria by which this exam is assessed. Moreover, many things there are also relevant for TCF. ⠀

And today I want to talk about the written part of TCF.

While checking students’ texts, I identified 5 main mistakes: ⠀

1️⃣ Many people don’t see the difference between tasks 1 and 2. At first glance, they are similar - in both cases, you need to convey some kind of information message to the addressee. But there are nuances. I will not dwell on them in detail - we will thoroughly analyze this during the consultation. I will only draw your attention to the fact that you need to delve into the essence of the task carefully. ⠀

2️⃣ They don’t notice repetitions of the same root words and phrases of the same type. Just as in Russian-language texts, repetitions demonstrate not only your inattention, but also your poor knowledge of vocabulary and inability to find other, more interesting words. Even worse is the repetition of the assignment text in the first paragraph. If there is such a temptation, reformulate the phrases, select synonyms. ⠀

3️⃣Primitive grammar. The exam has certain requirements for each level - they are stated, for example, in the textbook ABC TCF. You should use a variety of grammatical structures in your answer that meet the criteria for your level. The present time alone will not work. ⠀

4️⃣Weak or illogical arguments in the third task (reasoned essay). You need to stay focused on what you have to prove. And select arguments only in accordance with this thesis, and not write everything you know on this topic. ⠀

5️⃣The lack of conclusion in the third task logically follows from the problem with argumentation. A person goes into long, lengthy thoughts, writes a lot, and in the end there is not enough space to come to a conclusion, and it is difficult to do so due to scattered theses. But you can’t end the argument - there must be some kind of general result. ⠀

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