End-of-level assessment · A2 · Living in France

Sort out a boiler visit and a delayed train

About 40 minutes. Work it as you would at work: on your own, with the material below, then judge your work against the criteria and compare it with a model answer. Pass mark: 75% with no criterion at 0.

The brief

You are Dara Novak. You rent flat 4B in the Résidence Les Peupliers in the town of Vauclair; your landlady is Mme Hélène Roussel. This week three things collide: building works, the yearly visit of the boiler technician, and your train home from a short trip to Montrevel. You will read the documents, reply to your landlady in writing (Monday 16 November), and then leave her a phone message from the train (Friday 20 November). Work only from the documents; you may not use a dictionary or a translator.

Words you may need: la chaudière = the boiler; la loge = the caretaker's lodge; une coupure d'eau = a water cut.

Document 1. The caretaker's notice (posted in the hall on Monday 16 November 2026)

Résidence Les Peupliers. Avis aux résidents
Chers résidents, voici les travaux de cette semaine.

Jour	Quoi	Heure
Mardi 17 et mercredi 18 novembre	L'ascenseur est en panne (réparation)	toute la journée
Jeudi 19 novembre	Coupure d'eau, froide et chaude (travaux dans la rue)	de 8 h à 12 h

Pendant la coupure d'eau, merci de ne pas utiliser le lave-linge. Pensez à remplir des bouteilles d'eau le mercredi soir. Les colis restent à la loge. Pour toute question, passez me voir à la loge, du lundi au vendredi, de 8 h à 10 h.
M. Bernier, gardien

Document 2. The landlady's email

De : Hélène Roussel · À : Dara Novak · Date : lundi 16 novembre 2026, 18 h 12 · Objet : Visite de la chaudière
Bonjour Dara,
Je vous écris pour la visite annuelle de la chaudière. Je vous avais dit jeudi 19 novembre, mais finalement le technicien viendra vendredi 20 novembre, entre 10 h et 12 h, à cause de la coupure d'eau de jeudi.
Je sais que vous rentrez de Montrevel ce jour-là. Mon fils Léo sera à la gare de Vauclair à l'heure de votre train, pour une autre raison. Il peut vous ramener à l'appartement en voiture, et vous serez chez vous avant le technicien. Il vous attendra sur le quai.
Merci de me répondre avant mercredi 18 novembre : dites-moi si vous êtes d'accord, et à quelle heure et sur quelle voie arrive votre train.
Cordialement, Hélène Roussel

Document 3. Your train reservation (extract)

Train 8452	Départ	Arrivée
Vendredi 20 novembre	Montrevel, 8 h 25	Vauclair, 9 h 40, voie 2

Document 4. The announcement on the train (Friday 20 November, 9 h 05)

« Mesdames et messieurs, bonjour. Le train 8452 à destination de Vauclair a un problème technique. Il arrivera avec 40 minutes de retard, à 10 h 20 et non à 9 h 40. Attention : à Vauclair, le train entrera voie 4 au lieu de la voie 2. Le wagon-bar est ouvert jusqu'à l'arrivée. Nous vous prions de nous excuser pour ce retard. »

Document 5. Mme Roussel's voicemail greeting (when you phone her on Friday at 9 h 10)

« Bonjour, vous êtes bien sur la messagerie d'Hélène Roussel. Je ne suis pas disponible pour le moment. Laissez-moi votre nom et votre message après le bip. Merci. »

(Documents fictifs.)

Your task

Part 1. The reply (write it in the box). It is Monday 16 November. Reply to Mme Roussel's email in 60 to 90 words. Count every word from the greeting to your name; j'accepte counts as one word, and 9 h 40 counts as three. Thank her; give her the information she asked for (from the documents); say you will be at the flat for the technician; and ask her one question of your own, about the visit. She is your landlady: use vous.

Part 2. The phone message (record yourself on your phone). It is Friday 20 November, 9 h 10. You are on the train and you have just heard the announcement. Leave a message on Mme Roussel's voicemail (about one minute; stay between 45 and 75 seconds). Tell her who you are, why you are calling and what has changed, ask her to pass on one request to Léo, and close politely. Prepare three or four notes, not a text; speak from the notes. Play the recording back and judge it. If your voice recorder offers a transcript, keep it for the rubric.

Write your answer here (kept only in this browser):

Reasoning check

Worked numbers and judgement calls, marked as you go.

Quick quiz

Tap an answer to check it.

Document 2. When does the technician come to look at the boiler?
Show answer
Friday 20 November, between 10 h and 12 h. finalement introduces the new date: vendredi 20 novembre, entre 10 h et 12 h.
Document 2. Why did the date change?
Show answer
Because the water will be cut off on Thursday.. à cause de la coupure d'eau de jeudi.
Document 1. On Thursday 19 November at 9 h, what can you not do?
Show answer
Wash up with running water or use the washing machine.. Thursday 8 h to 12 h there is no water, cold or hot, and you must not use the washing machine.
Document 4. Which sentence is true?
Show answer
The train arrives at 10 h 20 on platform 4.. 40 minutes of delay on 9 h 40 gives 10 h 20; the new platform is 4, instead of 2.

Spot the error

One line is wrong. Tap it.

Which sentence is wrong in a reply to your landlady?
Show answer
Salut Hélène, ça marche, à vendredi !. Register: a landlady is Madame Roussel and vous.

Spot the error

One line is wrong. Tap it.

Which sentence is wrong in your phone message on Friday?
Show answer
Il entrera voie 2.. Document 4: voie 4 au lieu de la voie 2.

Quick quiz

Tap an answer to check it.

In your phone message, which fact does Mme Roussel not need?
Show answer
That the lift was out of order on Tuesday and Wednesday. By Friday the lift is no longer the point. Take only what the listener must act on.

Score your work

For each criterion, pick the description that matches what you wrote, not what you meant. Be strict: the model answer comes next.

Reply: the four jobs 0 Two or fewer of the four jobs are done (thanks, the train time and platform, a statement that you will be at the flat on Friday, one question about the visit), or the question is not about the visit 1 Three of the four jobs are done, or the question is unclear (for example two questions, or one with no question mark and no question form) 2 All four jobs: a thanks for the message or for Léo's offer, the train time and platform, a statement that you will be at the flat on Friday, and one clear question about the visit

Reply: shape, length and register 0 Under 50 or over 100 words, or tu, or a greeting and a closing both missing 1 50 to 59 or 91 to 100 words, or one of the greeting and the closing is missing, or one slip into tu 2 60 to 90 words, a greeting (Bonjour Madame Roussel), vous throughout, a polite closing (Cordialement) and a signature

Reply: accuracy at A2 0 7 or more mistakes (count each wrong verb form, agreement, preposition or missing accent once) 1 3 to 6 mistakes 2 At most 2 mistakes, and the verbs are right in the present, the futur proche or the futur simple (il arrive, je vais être, je serai, je vous remercie) and the question is correctly formed

Phone message: what it does 0 Fewer than three of the five jobs are done (who you are with your flat, why you call, what has changed, one request to pass on to Léo, a polite closing) 1 Three or four of the five jobs are done 2 All five jobs are done, in an order a listener can follow, with one question or request about Léo or the technician

Phone message: how it sounds 0 You read it word for word, or it is under 30 seconds or over 90, or you tutoie her, or a French speaker would need to ask again several times 1 30 to 44 or 76 to 90 seconds, or one or two sentences would need a repeat, or only a part is spoken from notes 2 45 to 75 seconds, vous throughout, spoken from your notes, with at least one linking word (donc, mais, de plus, et non), and every sentence clear the first time you hear it back

The right facts at the right time 0 The reply or the message gives the wrong day, time or platform in two or more places, or an invented fact 1 One wrong or old value (for example 9 h 40 or voie 2 in the phone message, or Thursday in the reply) 2 The reply says Friday 20 November, 9 h 40 and voie 2, and the phone message says 10 h 20, voie 4 and a delay of 40 minutes, and neither mentions the lift or the water cut

Model answer

Part 1. The reply (68 words)

Bonjour Madame Roussel,
Je vous remercie pour votre message et pour la proposition de Léo : c'est très gentil, j'accepte avec plaisir. Je serai chez moi vendredi 20 novembre pour la visite du technicien, entre 10 h et 12 h. Mon train part de Montrevel à 8 h 25 et arrive à Vauclair à 9 h 40, voie 2. Est-ce que la visite dure longtemps ?
Cordialement, Dara Novak

Part 2. The phone message (about one minute; model script)

Bonjour Madame Roussel, c'est Dara Novak, de l'appartement 4B. Je vous appelle de mon train, parce qu'il y a un changement. Le train a quarante minutes de retard. Il arrivera à Vauclair à 10 h 20, et non à 9 h 40. De plus, il entrera voie 4 au lieu de la voie 2. Léo peut m'attendre voie 4, s'il vous plaît ? Je serai donc à l'appartement pendant la visite du technicien. Je vous remercie beaucoup pour votre aide. Je vous rappelle dès que j'arrive. Au revoir !

Why it works. The reply does exactly the four things the email asked for, in that order, and no more: thanks, acceptance, the train time and platform from the reservation (not from the announcement, which comes four days later), and one question that has a reason. It is written in vous with the two ends of a polite email. The phone message is built from the change: it says what is different (quarante minutes de retard, 10 h 20 et non 9 h 40, voie 4 au lieu de la voie 2) and gives the listener one thing to do, which is the only reason she needs the call. The lift and the water cut belong to other days and are left out. The linking words (parce que, de plus, donc) let a listener follow it without seeing it.

What a reviewer would flag in a weaker answer:

Jeudi instead of vendredi in the reply: it follows the old plan and ignores finalement.
9 h 40 and voie 2 in the phone message: the old values, said as if still true. Or no new time at all, only « Je suis en retard ».
Two or three questions in the reply, or a question that has nothing to do with the visit (the lift, a parcel).
Salut or tu to the landlady; or a message that ends with no thanks and no closing.
A phone message read aloud from a script with no pauses, or one that wanders for two minutes and never says what Léo should do.
Mixing the platform and the time (10 h 20 voie 2), the commonest slip when you don't listen for both changes.

A second opinion

Studyfern has no AI of its own. For feedback on your answer, copy this into an AI assistant you trust, with your answer pasted at the end.

You are a strict French examiner at A2 level (around the DELF A2). I have just done an end-of-level test. Mark my answer against the rubric below, one criterion at a time, giving each a score of 0, 1 or 2 and a one-sentence reason. Quote my own words for every point you make. Do not rewrite my whole answer. At the end, give at most three priority corrections, the most important first, and name the habit I should practise (getting what I need from a document, or listening for the change).

THE TASK. I was Dara Novak, a tenant in flat 4B, writing to my landlady Mme Hélène Roussel (vous).
Documents: (1) a caretaker's notice: lift out of order Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 November; water cut on Thursday 19 November from 8 h to 12 h; (2) Mme Roussel's email, dated Monday 16 November: the boiler technician comes on Friday 20 November between 10 h and 12 h (not Thursday, because of the water cut); her son Léo can drive me home from the station and will wait on the platform; she asks me to reply before Wednesday 18 and to say whether I agree and at what time and on what platform my train arrives; (3) my reservation: train 8452, Montrevel 8 h 25, Vauclair 9 h 40, voie 2; (4) a train announcement on Friday: 40 minutes late, arrives at 10 h 20 and not at 9 h 40, platform 4 instead of platform 2.
Part 1: a written reply of 60 to 90 words on Monday 16 November: thank her, give the train time and platform, say I will be at the flat on Friday, and ask one question about the visit.
Part 2: a one-minute phone message left on her voicemail on Friday 20 November, 9 h 10: who I am, why I call, what has changed, one request to pass on to Léo, a polite closing. Below I give you the transcript of what I said; you can't hear me, so judge only the content and the grammar, and tell me which sentences I should say aloud again.

THE RUBRIC (0, 1 or 2 each):
1. Reply, the four jobs (thanks, the train time and platform, a statement that I will be at the flat on Friday, one question about the visit): 2 = all four; 1 = three, or the question is unclear or there are two; 0 = two or fewer, or the question is not about the visit.
2. Reply, shape, length and register: 2 = 60 to 90 words, a greeting, vous throughout, a polite closing and a signature; 1 = 50 to 59 or 91 to 100 words, or one of greeting and closing is missing, or one slip into tu; 0 = under 50 or over 100 words, no greeting and no closing, or tu.
3. Reply, accuracy at A2: 2 = at most 2 mistakes (each wrong verb form, agreement, preposition or missing accent counts once), with verbs right in the present, futur proche or futur simple, and a correctly formed question; 1 = 3 to 6; 0 = 7 or more.
4. Phone message, what it does: 2 = all five jobs (who I am with my flat, why I call, what has changed, one request to pass on to Léo, a polite closing) in a clear order; 1 = three or four; 0 = fewer than three.
5. Phone message, how it sounds: judge from the transcript whether it reads like speech, with vous and at least one linking word (donc, mais, de plus, et non) and not a read-out text; 2 = yes, and about 80 to 130 words; 1 = one or two weak points (too short or too long, no linking word, a slip into tu); 0 = tu, or a list of single words, or a text clearly read from a page.
6. The right facts at the right time: 2 = the reply says Friday 20 November, 9 h 40 and voie 2, and the phone message says 10 h 20, voie 4 and 40 minutes late, and neither mentions the lift or the water cut; 1 = one wrong or old value; 0 = two or more wrong, or an invented fact.

If unsure between two scores, give the lower one. Count the words of my written reply yourself and tell me the number. Then give the total out of 12 (the pass mark is 9, with no criterion at 0).

MY ANSWER:
[paste Part 1 and the Part 2 transcript here]