This Bonus Episode of Thinking in English will look at the concept of the CEFR framework for language levels.
What is your English level? How can you improve your level? What do the different levels mean? And can we improve this international standard?
Listen to the episode to find out more!
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Introduction to CEFR Levels
[00:00:00] Hello, welcome to this bonus episode. Tom has invited me to talk to you guys this week about the CEFR levels.
[00:00:10] I thought I would use this as an opportunity to try out a new recording setup. So you may be watching this as a video or listening to this as audio on the blog.
[00:00:24] If you have used Thinking in English classes, which we started last year, then you’ll notice that we use these levels to organise our classes and courses.
[00:00:36] You’ll have seen the B1 to B2 course, as well as the B2 to C1 course. We also run topical group classes at B1, B2, and C1. Even in our Conversation Club, if you go on the blog, you’ll find sample answers at B1, B2, and C1.
[00:01:00] So this raises the question, what is the CEFR? More importantly, what is the difference between B1, B2, C1?
[00:01:11] But also what are the other levels?
[00:01:15] So there’s A1, A2, and C2, and why do we not use these ones?
[00:01:21] It’s also important to ask what level do you think you are now and how do you think you can improve your level?
[00:01:32] So in today’s bonus episode, we’re going to investigate all these questions.
Understanding Your English Level
[00:01:37] Do you know your English level? You can use our English level placement test to start your English level evaluation.
[00:01:45] It is 100 questions. Which is 50 on grammar and 50 on vocab. The difficulty goes up as you go through the the test.
[00:01:57] But note, do not use any outside help. So no help from the internet and no help from your friends. We use this score to map you to the levels and then we can help find you the best class, course, tuition, and so on to help your English studying needs.
[00:02:18] After the test, we also invite our takers to send us some writing, and then finally to book a call with one of the tutors. So then we can also analyze your speaking. So if you are interested in the full analysis, then you can book with one of our tutors.
What is the CEFR?
[00:02:36] What is the CEFR?
[00:02:40] So CEFR stands for a very long term, which is the ‘common European framework of reference for languages, learning, teaching, and assessment’.
[00:02:54] So with such a long term, it is abbreviated in English, meaning that we shorten it and in fact, we would call this an initialism as we take the first letter from some of the words, and we end up with CEFR.
[00:03:11] Some people say it like an acronym. They would say “seffer”, and we would call that an acronym, because you pronounce it just as the letters appear.
[00:03:22] Another example would be NASA. We don’t say N-A-S-A. But I think the most common pronunciation here is CEFR. I don’t think it’s very catchy or memorable.
[00:03:34] So at the very end of the episode, I’m going to suggest some improvements to have a better acronym that people can remember.
[00:03:44] So the CEFR is best understood as a guide. To measure language skills across languages, the aim is to make learning, teaching, and testing easily understood by wide groups of people.
[00:04:02] For example, governments, schools, and businesses all rely on this standard to easily understand people’s language ability.
[00:04:14] The CEFR originated as part of a project by the Council of Europe. This project was called ‘the Language Learning for European Citizenship Project’.
[00:04:27] EU member states, universities, companies and so on have all been using the CEFR as their standard to recognize language skills.
[00:04:39] Now, I think CEFR is best understood, like a ladder, something you can climb and go up, up, up.
[00:04:48] We have six steps on the ladder, so that’s: A1 at the bottom, A2 B1, B2, C1, and at the top C2.
Detailed Breakdown of CEFR Levels
[00:04:59] So here’s a quick outline of those steps.
[00:05:01] The A levels indicate a basic user of a language. This is really the fundamental and basic needs.
[00:05:10] At level B, we have an independent user of the language. So here’s the idea that people start to have some freedom of expression in using their foreign or second language.
[00:05:24] And finally, we have the C levels, and this stands for the proficient users.
[00:05:32] Next, we’ll look at each CEFR level in more detail, starting from A1 up to C2.
[00:05:39] So A1 we could say is the survival communication English. At this level you can only understand very basic expressions very basic phrases. That’s why we can use the metaphor survival.
[00:05:57] In my opinion, it can be very hard to find true A1 level English learners nowadays. And I think that is because English has become the global lingua franca. In most countries around the world, English has some space in terms of media, education or business.
[00:06:22] Now let’s move up to A2. And now we’re starting to get into routine phrases and tasks. Most of the things at this level are to do with the most frequently used expressions. Things such as personal and family information, shopping, local geography and employment.
[00:06:44] The B levels is where we think things start to get interesting for language learning. B1 is often referred to as intermediate level.
[00:06:55] At B1, you can start to move away from a simple phrase book. And start to be expressive and spontaneous in expressing your thoughts on hobbies, work, travel, current events, and so on.
[00:07:14] I have found in my experience that most learners of English are at the B1 level, at least in one of their skills. So that could be speaking, reading, writing, listening. And in fact, you can be at different levels for different skills in the CEFR.
[00:07:35] B1 is where you can begin to express yourself in writing and speaking on topics that are familiar or of personal interest to yourself.
[00:07:46] You can describe experiences, events, dreams, hopes and ambitions. And you can start to give reasons and explanations for your opinions and your plans.
[00:08:00] Importantly, at B1, we think you can start listening to the Thinking in English podcast, practice your fluent speaking in the Conversation Club and start to take our online group classes.
[00:08:14] Now let’s talk about going from B1 to B2. This is often thought of as the most significant advance on the CEFR language scale.
[00:08:27] B2 is when English starts to get layered nuanced. You don’t just understand the gist of text but you’re also starting to see some implicit and more complex meaning.
[00:08:43] You can start to speak with a fluency that makes regular conversations with native speakers pretty easy.
[00:08:52] We actually found from our level placement test that most of our Patreon members are at the B2 level.
[00:09:01] We think the reason is because you are choosing to actively practice and engage your English with the Thinking in English podcast and community. So how do you bridge the gap between B1 and B2?
Strategies for Advancing Your English Level
[00:09:16] It’s all about immersing yourself in the language. Surround yourself with English in all of its forms.
[00:09:23] Read books, watch movies, listen to podcasts, engage in conversations. Challenge yourself with more complex materials, and don’t shy away from topics that are outside of your familiar comfort zone.
[00:09:37] Another key to advancing is to focus on feedback and correction. At this stage, fine-tuning your grammar, expanding your vocabulary and polishing your pronunciation can make a huge difference.
[00:09:52] Consider language exchange partners, tutors, or advanced courses that provide you with structured challenges and feedback.
[00:10:01] Each step up the CEFR ladder builds on the last, the skills you develop at A1 and A2 give you foundation for success at B1 and B2.
The Journey to C1 and C2
[00:10:15] C1, the advanced level is a significant milestone. I can say that at the end of studying German at university for six years. I was comfortably a C1 level German speaker.
[00:10:33] Here you can understand a range of demanding and longer texts and spot implicit meaning of the writer. You can express your ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for those expressions.
[00:10:52] This means you are not pausing and hesitating to get across your idea. The last level to speak about is C2. But I will tell you now that I have a lot of skepticism and doubts about the efficacy of this level.
[00:11:11] Achieving C2 level is like reaching the peak of Mount Everest in the world of language learning.
[00:11:20] I don’t think I need to or want to achieve C2 level German. Having spent so much of my life getting to C1 level, I am very happy to be at the C1 level.
[00:11:35] At C2 ,in my brain, I think of doctors, university professors and language enthusiasts who have lived for many years in the country where they are learning their second or more languages.
[00:11:51] So don’t worry about trying to get to the C2 level. Using a language does not mean being perfect.
[00:11:59] In fact, you’ll find on the podcast, and I’ll link to these things as well, that trying to be perfect is not something to want.
[00:12:10] In fact, having mistakes and being comfortable is the best way to continue learning a language. If you’re at B2 and are thinking, how do you get to C1?
[00:12:22] Well, it’s about immersion and specialisation. It’s about being very general and also being very specific at the same time. You have to be versatile and ready to adapt.
[00:12:37] In any case, things we can think of B2 to C1 would be: reading complex literature, doing academic research, communicating professionally and writing creatively.
[00:12:55] C1 is about engaging with content that challenges you, pushes your boundaries, and expands your understanding, not just of the language, but of the culture that it conveys.
[00:13:06] Achieving C1 often involves a significant amount of personal and professional or academic reflection. You’ll find yourself analyzing not just your communication, but the style, the subtleties, the nuances, the layers.
[00:13:24] You’ll be able to play around with the language, understand humor, experiment with it, create new words if you want, and really make the language your language.
[00:13:36] Again for anyone, at any level, remember that learning a language is a marathon, not a sprint. Surround yourself with the language as much as you can.
[00:13:47] Every day you should try to maybe have 15 minutes of interaction with the language. That is a good goal to have. Never stop being curious about the depth and breadth of vocabulary and be excited about the opportunities that learning a foreign language such as English can offer you.
Final Thought
[00:14:10] So here are the final thoughts.
[00:14:13] As we finish this exploration of the CEFR levels. Remember that each level is important from A1, and even if you get to C2. Reflect on how much you have progressed.
[00:14:27] Always keep your eyes on the next language goal to achieve. So you want to be looking back and looking forward. Every learner’s journey is unique. And every step forward, no matter how small, is a victory.
[00:14:42] What matters most is your commitment to keep going, your determination to keep learning, practicing and pushing the boundaries, seeing where English or other languages can take you in the future. Think about what steps can you take to move closer to your language goals.
[00:15:04] What level do you think you are now and what level do you think you want to achieve?
[00:15:09] What kind of timeline would you give yourself and what goals would you have for each skill? Reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
[00:15:19] How much time do you want to dedicate to improving grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary?
[00:15:27] And finally, here are my suggestions for a better name for this language standard.
[00:15:36] So number one, ‘SCALE framework’: the standardized communication assessment for language education.
[00:15:44] Number two, the ‘FLUENT framework’: the framework for language understanding, educational needs and testing.
[00:15:53] And number three, the ‘CLIMB framework’: the communicative language, international measurement benchmarks.
[00:16:02] But which alternative name do you think could be better than the CEFR?
[00:16:09] Let us know by leaving a comment on the blog. thank you for listening and speak to you soon.
What do you think?
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I would choose CLIMB framework – Communicative Language, International Measurement Benchmarks. I think it is the most appropriate alternative that can be used instead of CEFR scale ‘ common European Framework of Reference for languages, learning, teaching and assessment’ in terms of its catchy and compact meaning.
It is catchy because it provides a reasonable meaning which implies progress and rise. These are our familiar common actions while climbing the tough slopes of the language :))
Similary, it reflects a compact meaning. Such like with the use of ‘measurement benchmarks’ . It conveys the meaning of Framework of Reference clearly and concisely. Because, measurement benchmarks are used as references to estimate measurements of things, levels and to frame and categorize easily. Therefore, it solidly implies ‘framework of reference’ compared to other name alternatives.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on an alternative acronym 😀 – reading your comment made me think of one more option: SLOPE – ‘the Structured Language Objectives of Progressive Education’