Check your language level

Why is it important to know your language level?

• To define your aims correctly: Only if you know your foreign language level, your may assess your opportunities properly and also set your short-term and long-term goals. It can help you to choose the curriculum correctly and find a qualified teacher;
• It is necessary to indicate your language level in your CV when applying for a job: today many companies ask applicants to indicate their foreign language level confirmed by a special certificate in their CVs. In order to get a high position in a multinational company, it is necessary to have a good command of a foreign language.
• To study abroad: it is impossible to enter a prestigious college or university without a good command of a foreign language. And what's more, members of college admissions office require an official confirmation — a foreign language certificate.

Foreign languages in practice: what is important?

The first thing you need to remember is that foreign language level can only be checked in practice. To define your real language skills by yourself is almost impossible even with the help of Internet-tests as they only define grammar knowledge and very restricted vocabulary. That is why it is better not to trust these results very much as they may differ in real life situations.

Identifying any foreign language level including English all experts pay attention to the 4 key skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. It is these skills that are checked at various international exams. It is obvious that Internet tests can help to assess only the two first criteria, though in real life it is more important to be able to express yourself in speaking and writing.

It is difficult to assess your foreign language level by yourself not only because self-evaluation is difficult but also because the knowledge of a foreign language cannot remain constant all the time. For example, you can understand very complicated texts written in a foreign language that correspond to the advanced level, but you cannot speak fluently. It means that, on the one hand, such a person knows a foreign language at a professional level, but, on the other hand, his or her communicative skills are not developed. So, how in this case can we define our foreign language level? Professional linguists and experts define foreign language mastery according to several levels which can be applied not only to the English language but also to the majority of languages spoken all over the world.

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Level A2 — Elementary

If a person with a beginner level can live without knowing about it, a person with an elementary level should remember something about some language phenomena. Again, this level is far from spoken language, but in comparison with level A1 you can make a better dialogue at this stage.

If we return to the situation when you find yourself in a foreign English or American city, the situation of communication is better here: with your elementary level of a foreign language you can not only get to the embassy, but also speak with foreigners (for example, tell them about your job or order in a cafe).

There is very little difference between levels A2 and A1 in practice, but the main advantage of the former is higher self-confidence of a speaker and larger vocabulary. Nevertheless, the possibilities for communication remain limited, therefore level A2 can only be used as a foundation for further studying and cannot be applied in practice.

A student has an elementary level of a foreign language if:

• can speak on some everyday topics: can ask for or give directions, tell about him / herself and about things around;
• can understand the other person provided he / she speaks clearly on a familiar topic;
• can read and understand elementary sentences (I have..., You are..., He goes...);
• can make a simple sentence in a written form or fill in a questionnaire in English;

How to move to the next step: continue learning grammar, try to write small texts, learn the forms of irregular verbs, practice oral speech (you may do it via Skype or at speaking clubs), watch films in English with subtitles, learn about 500 new words.

Level B1 — Intermediate level

When the foreign language competence is more than just a confusing speech about museums and restaurants situation and English texts and speech are becoming much clearer these facts indicate that a student now is at the first stage of spoken English. But apart from speaking this level includes good reading skills to deal with adapted texts as well as understanding of core English grammar. According to the statistics, it is this very level that most tourists acquire and it helps them to speak fluently with the other person on some everyday topics. Nowadays high school pupils leave school with foreign language knowledge at minimum B1 and maximum at B2 level. Nevertheless. In order to speak really fluently, you need to work hard.

A student has an intermediate level of a foreign language if:

• can support conversations on any everyday topic pronouncing words correctly, but at the same time may stumble or make some mistakes;
• can understand the other person and also catch main points of more complicated speech (such as lecture) or during conversation between native speakers (in films);
• can read adapted texts for Intermediate level with a dictionary and understand the meaning of simple texts;
• can produce some written texts, e.g. essays about him / herself or about the world around using widespread constructions and vocabulary.

How to move to the next step: become familiar with more advanced vocabulary and grammar, get better training at written English (a private tutor or sites for English self-education, e.g Polyglotclub, can be useful in this way). What is more, it is necessary to speak more with native speakers or advanced learners, follow news in English language information sources (news editions, entertainment articles, sites based on interests), watch films with English subtitles (it can seem to be quite difficult at first, but you’ll definitely see some results a bit later). It is also important to expand your vocabulary and learn no less than 1000 new words.

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Level C2 — Proficient

The highest step in the grading scale of English levels is level C2. It should be mentioned that it is still a step not a final stage. Level C2 corresponds to excellent knowledge of English as a foreign language, its adequate and correct usage in any everyday or professional situation and to the ability to read with ease any work of fiction or professional text in English. Nevertheless, to know English at level C2 doesn’t mean to have perfect knowledge of this language as many people like to say.

Any linguist or scholars of language and literature can confirm that only a few people have perfect command of a foreign language and they become outstanding writers and great communicators. But if we look at the most obvious example — an educated London citizen — it also lies outside the scope of level C2 (usually those people who speak English since their childhood are called native speakers, and this is definitely outside the gradation level scale of English as a foreign language).

You should always remember that there is no limit to perfecting your language skills further, although language knowledge of level C2 is a great result that not everyone can achieve. If you have this level, you can enter any postgraduate programme, publish your works in English, deliver lectures and take part in scientific conferences. i.e. this level is enough for any professional sphere.

A student has a proficient level of a foreign language if:

• has acquired almost authentic pronunciation as native speakers have;
• knows how to translate idioms drop a dime, chew the fat and kick the bucket;
• can read the first act of Romeo and Juliet play, without referring to dictionary;
• can write meaningful text of two pages concerning the topic of unemployment in Cambodia;

How to move to the next step: spend several years in an English-speaking country, for example, studying at university or during internships. And, of course, reading books in their original language is a must do.

What should we know about learning foreign languages?

Study foreign language by yourself is quite possible, but such learning process requires from a student a lot of strength, energy and time as well as such traits of character as being diligent, hard-working and single-minded. At first these lessons seem to be interesting but as time goes by a lack of precise curriculum, correctly set aims, time limits and a teacher who controls the process and motivates a student leads to the next failure and lack of desire to continue learning foreign language.

This is why it is better to start learning a new language together with a teacher during private or group lessons. When the core material is already studied, to improve your communication skills and to expand your vocabulary you can go abroad. Without studying some time in a country where the studied language is the main one it is impossible to achieve a perfect command of it even if you use the most advanced and cutting-edge textbooks.

Contemporary language tends to change and develop every day and no study book can reflect these rapid changes. It mainly refers to slang, borrowed words, a variety of dialects etc that change the language on a regular basis. It is possible to know foreign language at the level of native speakers, but in order to achieve that you should find yourself in a necessary language and cultural environment, where a student will need to become a part of a foreign society, to keep up on news that appears in print media or on the Internet.

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