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A1-B1 and C1 | ||
Tags: CEFR Language Levels | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| audrey Triglot Pro Member ItalyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4862 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: French, Italian, English* Studies: German, Spanish, Esperanto Personal Language Map | Message 1 of 7 15 August 2012 at 2:12pm | IP Logged |
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Perhaps this has been discussed at length in a section which I have not come across: I see all of you are talking
about B1-B2 or C1's etc. now what does this stand for? I am learning two languages with Pimsleur (level 3) but do not know how to situate these A's and B's in your learning evaluation. Thanks, Audrey Many thanks to all of you for giving such quick answers! Edited by audrey on 16 August 2012 at 8:47pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5262 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 7 15 August 2012 at 2:47pm | IP Logged |
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Those letters correspond to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A1 is "Beginner"; A2= "elementary"; B1= "intermediate"; B2= "upper intermediate"; C1= "advanced"; C2= "mastery/proficiency". Here is a link to the Wikipedia article that explains in detail what each stage means in terms of what someone can do with a language at each level: CEFR Levels. The CEFR is not perfect but it does, as its name suggests, provide a framework for reference for foreign language skills.
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 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5532 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 7 15 August 2012 at 4:42pm | IP Logged |
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Most European countries have an official exam for each CEFRL level. For example, France
has the DELF A1, A2, B1 and B2, and the DALF C1 and C2 exams. If you want to evaluate your own level, I recommend using the following self-assessment checklist from the Council of Europe. It's a little on the conservative side, but it's much more reliable than just reading the Wikipedia definitions: Self-assessment checklist (PDF) Here's a short summary of the levels: A2: You can handle survival situations: Shopping, ordering food, explaining who you are and where you're from. B1: You can carry on conversations about familiar, concrete subjects, and you could function well as a tourist without resorting to your native language. B2: You can discuss more abstract subjects without causing excessive stress for you or the people you're talking to. You can defend an idea or an opinion. C1: You're capable of taking college classes or working in an office job. C2: You understand virtually everything you read or hear, and you can use the language with considerable nuance and precision, even when dealing with complex academic topics. Note that these are all based around what you can do, not how native you sound. Edited by emk on 15 August 2012 at 4:42pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5565 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 4 of 7 15 August 2012 at 5:02pm | IP Logged |
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CEFR is also based on the four 'competences' of reading, listening, writing and reading.
Pimsleur I-III takes you to about halfway towards A2 in speaking and listening, but, without obtaining a transcript, it does not take you that far in reading and writing. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4828 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 5 of 7 15 August 2012 at 5:06pm | IP Logged |
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May also be of interest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIALANG 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Michel1020 Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5017 days ago 365 posts - 559 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish, Dutch | Message 6 of 7 15 August 2012 at 5:32pm | IP Logged |
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This classification is quite ridiculous.
Its only purpose is to allow people who do not speak a language to evaluate your skill in that language. The ability to put nuance and precision in complex academic topics is not a language matter. Shakespear, Goethe, Cervantes, Hugo, none of them would have put nuance and precision in forensic evidence description (maybe because CSI was not broadcasted in their time-frame). On the other side people learning forensic could be able to put precision and nuance in forensic file in foreign languages but not be able to have any conversation in that language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5009 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 7 of 7 15 August 2012 at 7:55pm | IP Logged |
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Sure, CEFR levels have some serious limits, but it is still much better than all the
other, previously common, ways to name the level. Level 4 in one language school was 6 or 3 in another, intermediate or conversational etc could mean quite anything, you had a lot of things like false beginner, advanced beginner, lower intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced, very advanced and each of them could mean different things, depending on who were you speaking to. Even now, some language schools call their C1 courses Advanced, while others use the term for B1 etc. 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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