As you already know or maybe not yet, I have a French conversation group called Ohlala French Coffee. The goal of this group is for you to develop more confidence in French and to be more effective in oral communication in French always.
To do this, we deal with a specific topic per week. I will give you oral and/or written comprehension on this subject, we will see vocabulary and expressions to talk about it and you will have the opportunity to see this subject in depth. You have the opportunity to talk about this subject for 6 sessions.
Many of my students have commented that Ohlala French Coffee is also a very good preparation for the DELF, especially for oral production. This was not the original purpose of this group, but I'm very happy that it can be useful for that too.
As a reminder, the DELF oral production is divided into three parts: the directed interview, the interaction exercise and the expression of a point of view. We will focus on this last part. For this part, you will have to draw two topics and you will deal with the one you prefer. You will have to express your point of view on the subject in a structured way for three minutes. The examiner may ask you questions following your oral production.
Let's get started! Let's look at the topic!
Source : Le DELF 100% RĂ©ussite
Step 1: Presentation of the document: title, sources (if any), short summary of the document and outline:
 |
I have chosen to address paper four entitled "Internet at the Office". This document talks about the use of the Internet for personal reasons at work. A study shows that more than half of French people use the Internet for personal reasons at work.
In this presentation, I will express my point of view on this document while answering the question: should the use of the Internet for personal reasons at the office be prohibited?
To answer this question, I will first present the arguments in favor of banning the use of the Internet for personal purposes in the office, and then I will present the arguments against and the limits of this issue.
Idea Development:
 |
First, I was very surprised to learn that the French spend an average of 63 minutes on the Internet for personal reasons at the office.
From this number, I conclude that using the Internet for personal reasons at the office is counterproductive. On a 7/8 hour work day, being constantly cut off because we are thinking about personal things we have to do on the Internet wastes time and especially deteriorates our ability to concentrate. We are then less concentrated on our task and less efficient.
For my part, I admit that I am often disturbed by notifications on my phone that are not related to my work and this cuts me off from the task I was accomplishing. Sometimes I think about personal things I have to do on the Internet and I stop my work in progress to do it for fear of forgetting later. For example, if I receive a personal email that I feel is important, I will respond directly and not wait until I'm on break or done with my work day.
I think I would be much more productive if I turned off my notifications and didn't use the Internet for personal reasons while I was working. I would be more focused and my work would definitely be of higher quality.
 |
Secondly, I think that banning the Internet for personal reasons at the office would save us a lot of time. In fact, according to the study, we would already save 63 minutes more. I think that we would save even more time, because without interruption our concentration would not be disturbed and we would finish our tasks faster.
For example, I already noticed that I finished my tasks much faster if I cut off my notifications and forced myself not to do anything else that was not related to my task. I get scattered if I use the Internet for personal reasons at the same time as I am working and therefore lose time.
 |
On the other hand, I think that banning the Internet from the office for personal reasons has its limits. Indeed, I think it is an extreme measure that harms freedom. As the document states, there is no legal framework on this point.
I think it is normal to have the freedom to use the Internet for personal reasons at work. Work is a formal place, but it should not be a place of prohibition and deprivation of freedom.
I, for one, would feel very uncomfortable if my employer forbade me to use the Internet for personal reasons. If my work is done and corresponds to his expectations, I don't find it justified to impose this measure.
 |
Also, if we have a job with inflexible hours, it is annoying not to be able to do personal things on the Internet that fall at specific times.
For example, a few years ago, I wanted to attend a concert of an artist who was performing exceptionally in my city. The box office opened during my working hours and I knew that the tickets were going to go fast. So I took 5/10 minutes to buy the tickets online on my work computer. If I hadn't been able to do this, I would never have attended the concert and would have been very disappointed. I was very grateful to have had this opportunity
 |
In conclusion, it is true that banning the Internet for personal use in the office would allow us to be more productive in our work, but also to save time and progress in our tasks. However, banning it would be an extreme decision and would harm our freedom. Moreover, it allows us to do personal things that we can't do at any other time. I really think that everyone should be reasonable about their use of the Internet for personal reasons at work. There has to be a certain balance in order to remain productive while having that freedom.
On the other hand, I think that productivity might be lower if we totally banned the use of the Internet at work. Not having this freedom would certainly have an impact on employee motivation. One might then ask if totally banning the use of the Internet for personal use would not also affect productivity and motivation.
I hope that this example of oral production for the DELF B1 will be useful to you. In any case, it's not the easiest exercise. I really advise you to practice this exercise, you can find lots of subjects on the Internet. You can find plenty of topics on the Internet. Also, please follow the suggested methodology.
Internet and social networking vocabulary in french
I'll see you soon for new adventures, in French of course! 🇫🇷
