Spoken examination of French inside is a trying experience (6)
I believe the answer is:
ordeal
'a trying experience' is the definition.
(an ordeal is a difficult or trying experience)
'spoken examination of french inside' is the wordplay.
'spoken examination' becomes 'oral' (I've seen this before).
'of french' becomes 'de' ('of' in French).
'inside' is an insertion indicator.
'oral' enclosing 'de' is 'ORDEAL'.
'is' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ordeal that I've seen before include "Difficult or arduous experience" , "Disturbing experience" , "Horrific experience" , "Tribulation" , "Prolonged distressing experience" .)