TCF Canada writing · task 2
Your favourite artist, for a contest: the task 2 topic, and how to handle it
What it really asks, a plan, the vocabulary and the pitfalls, explained in English. No model answer to copy: you write the text yourself.
At a glance
The prompt, as candidates report it (in French, as on the exam)
Vous avez été sélectionné(e) pour un concours où le prix est un séjour de deux semaines dans votre ville favorite. Le thème du concours était “Mon artiste préféré”.
Translation: You have been selected for a contest whose prize is a two-week stay in your favourite city. The theme of the contest was “My favourite artist”.
As candidates report it, the prompt only sets the scene. The archive’s summary gives the expected form: a blog post about your favourite artist, for this contest.
Word counts: France Éducation international, the body that designs the TCF Canada. Reports: a public archive of topics reported by candidates since 2023, explained in the study of 642 topics.
What the prompt really asks
- Introduce the artist: who, in what field (music, painting, film, literature).
- Tell how you discovered their work: one specific memory, in the past tense.
- Talk about one specific work: an album, a painting, a film, a novel.
- Explain why they are your favourite: what their work gives you.
Who you are writing to. You are writing for readers (the jury, the blog’s visitors): no « tu ». Use « vous » or an impersonal tone, no « Salut » or « Bises ».
A plan in five steps
About 140 words, for a range of 120 to 150. The numbers for each step are guides; the word range itself is part of the instructions, and every point asked for must be covered.
- Introduce. Who the artist is and their field, in one or two sentences. about 25 words
- The discovery. When, where, how: a memory, told as a story. about 30 words
- One work. Just one, described precisely. about 35 words
- Why them. What moves you, what it changed for you. about 35 words
- Invite. A sentence that makes readers want to discover them. about 15 words
Vocabulary for this topic
B1 to B2 words and phrases to use in your text, not to pile up.
- un chanteur, une chanteusea singer
- un romancier, une romancièrea novelist
- un ou une peintrea painter
- son œuvretheir body of work
- être connu pourto be known for
- découvrir le travail de quelqu’unto discover someone’s work
- aborder des thèmes commeto deal with themes such as
- s’inspirer deto draw inspiration from
- une voix inimitablean inimitable voice
- ses textes me touchenttheir lyrics move me
- à travers ses chansonsthrough their songs
- marquer une générationto leave a mark on a generation
- je vous invite à écouterI invite you to listen to
Three pitfalls on this topic
An encyclopedia biography
Date of birth, awards, number of albums: the examiner does not grade what you learned by heart. They want your experience and your opinion.
Staying vague
« Il est génial, ses chansons sont belles » shows nothing. Name one work and say precisely what it does to you: an image, a feeling, a memory.
Using « tu » with readers
A jury or blog readers do not get « tu »: « Si vous ne le connaissez pas encore… », rather than « si tu ne le connais pas ».
B2-level sentences to inspire you
Two or three sentences, not a full answer: borrow the idea, not the words, and write the rest yourself.
- J’ai découvert cette chanteuse presque par hasard, il y a dix ans, en écoutant la radio dans un taxi à Montréal.I discovered this singer almost by chance, ten years ago, listening to the radio in a taxi in Montreal.
- Ce qui me touche dans ses chansons, c’est sa façon de raconter des choses simples avec des mots justes.What moves me in her songs is the way she tells simple things with exactly the right words.
- Si vous ne connaissez pas encore son travail, je vous invite à commencer par son deuxième album, le plus personnel.If you don’t know her work yet, I invite you to start with her second album, her most personal one.
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