A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2: What are these language levels?

Verified 15 March 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The European Framework of Reference for Languages (ECRL) is a classification which allows to assess their level of proficiency in a foreign language. We present you with the information you need to know.

A1 corresponds to a user level elementary (level introductory or discovery).

This means that you have the following capabilities:

  • Understand and use familiar and everyday expressions and very simple statements that are intended to meet concrete needs
  • Knowing how to introduce yourself or someone
  • Being able to ask and answer questions about a person
  • Communicate simply if the caller speaks slowly and clearly and is cooperative

A2 corresponds to a user level elementary (level middleman or usual).

This means that you have the following capabilities:

  • Understand single phrases and frequently used expressions in relation to areas of the everyday environment (e.g. simple personal and family information, shopping, work)
  • Ability to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring only a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine subjects
  • Describe with simple means his training, his immediate environment and talk about subjects that correspond to immediate needs

B1 corresponds to a user level self-employed (level threshold).

This means that you have the following capabilities:

  • Understand the essential points of a discussion when clear and standard language is used and if it is familiar things at work, school, leisure, etc.
  • Be autonomous in most situations encountered while traveling in an area where the target language is spoken
  • To be able to produce a simple and coherent discourse on familiar subjects and in its fields of interest
  • The ability to tell a story, an experience or a dream, describe a hope or a goal, and briefly explain the reasons or reasons for a project or idea

B2 corresponds to a user level self-employed (level advanced or self-employed).

This means that you have the following capabilities:

  • Understand the essential content of concrete or abstract subjects in a complex text, including technical discussion in its specialty
  • Communicating spontaneously and easily with a native speaker
  • Express a clear and detailed opinion on a wide range of topics, express an opinion on a topical issue and set out the advantages and disadvantages of different possibilities

C1 corresponds to a user level experienced (level autonomous).

This means that you have the following capabilities:

  • Understand long and demanding texts and grasp implicit meanings
  • Speak spontaneously and fluently without having to search for words
  • Use language effectively and flexibly in social, professional or academic life
  • Express themselves on complex subjects in a clear and well-structured way and demonstrate their control of the linguistic tools of organization, articulation and cohesion of the discourse

C2 corresponds to a user level experienced (level mastery).

This means that you have the following capabilities:

  • Effortlessly understand virtually everything that is read or heard
  • Be able to convey facts and arguments from various written and oral sources in a coherent manner
  • Express yourself spontaneously, very commonly, accurately, and make distinct nuances of meaning in relation to complex subjects

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