How to practise speaking French alone, in 20 minutes a day
No conversation partner? You can still improve your spoken French with a 20-minute daily routine built on shadowing, recall and recording.
French speaking practice for the DELF exam: how to prepare the B1 and B2 oral
The DELF oral is the one part of the exam you cannot cram from a page. This guide explains how the B1 and B2 oral exams are built, how they count towards the pass mark, and how to practise each part on your own. If you are still choosing an exam, start with our guide to the French levels France asks for.
How the oral counts towards the diploma
The DELF has four skills, each marked out of 25. To get the diploma you need at least 50 points out of 100, and a mark below 5 out of 25 in any one skill is eliminatory.[1] That second rule is the one candidates forget. A strong written exam does not rescue an oral that collapses, so treat speaking as a full quarter of the diploma from your first week of preparation.
The B1 oral, part by part
At B1 the oral is an individual exam of about 15 minutes with three exercises. You only get preparation time for the third one.[1][4]
| Part | Time | Preparation | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Entretien dirigé (guided interview) | 2 to 3 minutes | None | You answer the examiner’s questions about yourself and your life. |
| 2. Exercice en interaction (role play) | 3 to 4 minutes | None | You play the role you are given and deal with a situation with the examiner.[2] |
| 3. Expression d’un point de vue | 5 to 7 minutes | 10 minutes | You draw two subjects, choose one, and present your point of view from a document.[2] |
The B2 oral
At B2 the oral has two parts, a sustained monologue and an interaction exercise. It lasts 20 minutes, and you get 30 minutes of preparation.[3] The longer preparation tells you what the exam expects: a structured, argued talk rather than a series of short answers.
How to practise each part on your own
Part 1: build stock answers. Write six topics on cards: yourself, your studies or work, your family, your free time, your city and your plans. Say a 30-second answer to each, out loud, then repeat without the cards. The goal is fluency in familiar territory so that your nerves are spent on the harder parts.
Part 2: practise reacting. There is no preparation, so rehearse the language of problems and solutions instead of fixed answers. Say the phrases below aloud in made-up situations, such as a cancelled booking or a noisy neighbour.
| Purpose | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ask politely | Pourriez-vous m’expliquer… ? | Could you explain… to me? |
| Propose | Je vous propose de… | I suggest that we… |
| Disagree politely | Je comprends, mais… | I understand, but… |
| Give an opinion | À mon avis… / Selon moi… | In my opinion… |
| Structure | D’une part… d’autre part… Pour conclure… | On the one hand… on the other… To conclude… |
Part 3 and the B2 monologue: plan, then speak from keywords. Use the preparation time for a skeleton, not a script: what the document says, your opinion, two arguments with an example each, and a conclusion. Write keywords only, because ten minutes is too short to write out a talk of five to seven minutes. Then practise speaking from the keywords with a timer. Retrieving ideas from memory, instead of rereading them, is what helps them stick, although the study behind that finding used prose passages rather than languages.[5]
Every week: one full mock oral. Record yourself doing all the parts back to back, listen once, and choose one thing to fix. Our guide on practising French alone has a 20-minute daily routine that fits around this.
Where Fluency AI fits
We sell short exam guides and are building a speaking coach, so weigh this section accordingly. Our 20-minute Exam Blueprints include guides for DELF B1 and DELF B2, and you can compare them with the others on the Exam Blueprints page and the pricing page. To practise speaking out loud with a private partner, join the Fluency AI waitlist. None of this replaces a teacher or guarantees a result. Start from the Fluency AI homepage to see all the languages we cover.
Questions people ask
What score do I need in the oral to pass the DELF?
There is no separate pass mark for the oral, but there is a floor: a mark below 5 out of 25 in any one skill is eliminatory, and you also need 50 out of 100 overall.[1] In practice, aim well above 5 so that the oral supports your total instead of putting the diploma at risk.
Is the oral the same in the tout public, scolaire and junior versions?
Not necessarily. The official B1 manual covers three versions, tout public, scolaire and junior, so make sure you read the one that matches your registration.[1] This guide describes the tout public version.
Can I use DELF B1 as proof of my French level for a residence card?
A State prefecture page lists a DELF at A2 or B1 among the accepted proofs for the residence cards, depending on the level required. We explain the details, including validity, in our guide to the French levels required in France in 2026.
Sources
- France Éducation international. Manuel du candidat DELF B1, versions tout public, scolaire, junior (Département Évaluation et certifications), as hosted by DELF DALF Japan. https://delfdalf.jp/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/manuel-candidat-delf-b1.pdf
- France Éducation international. DELF B1 tout public: candidate sample sheet for the oral production. https://france-education-international.fr/document/delf-b1-tp-candidat-ind0
- France Éducation international. DELF tout public, niveau B2 (exam presentation page). https://www.france-education-international.fr/diplome/delf-tout-public/niveau-b2?langue=es
- DELF B1 Tous Publics: format table with the duration of each oral exercise. http://www.delfdalf.fr/delf-b1-tous-publics.html
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x