Understanding Your English Level
CEFR Language Proficiency Grouping
A popular grouping of proficiency levels in English is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). According to the CEFR standard for proficiency evaluation, there are six levels:
- A1: Beginner
- A2: Pre-intermediate or elementary
- B1: Intermediate
- B2: Upper-intermediate
- C1: Advanced
- C2: Mastery
However, for the purpose of this course, we will be concentrating only on English speakers on levels A1 and A2. The grammar course in English will equip users with basic English or A-level knowledge of grammar and its rules to better understand English.
Discover your current English level by taking our free online English test.
If you are unsure which level of proficiency you fall under in your English, either A1 or A2, this explanation should suffice.
A beginner is an English user who has recently started his or her learning journey. Nevertheless, they have basic proficiency in the language and can use it for simple interactions. This includes greetings, a simple introduction, and the use of basic everyday expressions and phrases, which are distinguished by careful articulation, slow speech, and long pauses. At this level, you have very basic knowledge of the language and your vocabulary contains about 700 words, which is paltry.
The next level after A1, which is nonetheless basic proficiency, is A2. It is also known as the pre-intermediate or elementary level. At this stage, users can engage in everyday small talk on familiar topics and express opinions in simple ways. They can describe in simple terms their background, personal information, immediate environment, and topics in areas of their immediate need, such as shopping or employment. In addition, they have basic literacy in English, as evidenced by their ability to write in simple terms about matters relating to their immediate needs and read simple texts containing familiar words and expressions. Users at this level have a better understanding of grammar than A1 speakers and also have a larger vocabulary of about 1500 words.
If you or your students fall into the aforementioned basic categories, then this course is for you. It is an elementary course developed for beginners to teach grammar and build on existing foundational grammar knowledge to improve English proficiency.