Or in the courses, you will definitely come across the concept of “levels in English” or “English language proficiency levels”, as well as with such obscure designations as A1, B2, and more understandable Beginner, Intermediate and so on. In this article, you will learn what these formulations mean and what levels of language proficiency distinguish, as well as how to determine your level of english.

The levels of English are designed so that language learners can be divided into groups with approximately similar knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking and writing, as well as to simplify testing procedures, examinations, for various purposes related to emigration, study abroad and employment. Such a classification helps in recruiting students into a group and preparing teaching aids, methods, and language teaching programs.

Of course, there is no clear boundary between the levels, this division is rather conditional, necessary not so much for students as for teachers. In total, there are 6 levels of language proficiency, there are two types of division:

• Levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2,
• Levels Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Advanced, Proficiency.

Basically it's just two different names for the same. These 6 levels are divided into three groups.

Table: English language proficiency levels

The classification was developed in the late eighties - early nineties of the last century, it is fully called the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (abbr. CERF).

English levels: detailed description

Beginner level (A1)

At this level you can:

• Understand and use familiar everyday expressions and simple phrases aimed at solving specific problems.
• Introduce yourself, introduce others, ask simple questions personal nature, such as “Where do you live?”, “Where are you from?”, be able to answer such questions.
• Maintain a simple conversation if the other person speaks slowly, clearly, and helps you.

Many who studied English at school speak the language at about the Beginner level. From vocabulary only elementary mother, father, help me, my name is, London is the capital. You can understand well-known words and expressions by ear if they speak very clearly and without an accent, as in audio lessons for a textbook. You understand texts like the “Exit” sign, and in a conversation with the help of gestures, using individual words, you can express the simplest thoughts.

Elementary level (A2)

At this level you can:

• Understand common expressions common topics, such as: family, shopping, work, etc.
• Speak in simple everyday topics, to put it simple phrases.
• Tell simple expressions about yourself, describe simple situations.

If at school you had 4 or 5 in English, but after that you didn’t use English for some time, then most likely you speak the language at the Elementary level. TV shows in English will not be understood, except perhaps individual words, but the interlocutor, if he speaks clearly, in simple phrases of 2-3 words, you will generally understand. You can also incoherently and with long pauses for reflection tell the simplest information about yourself, say that the sky is blue and the weather is clear, express a simple wish, make an order at McDonald's.

Beginner - Elementary levels can be called "survival level", Survival English. It is enough to "survive" during a trip to a country where the main language is English.

Intermediate level (B1)

At this level you can:

• Understand the general meaning of distinct speech on general, familiar topics related to everyday life(work, study, etc.)
• deal with the most typical situations on a trip, travel (at the airport, in a hotel, etc.)
• Write simple connected text on topics that are common or familiar to you personally.
• Retell events, describe hopes, dreams, ambitions, be able to briefly talk about plans and explain your point of view.

Vocabulary and knowledge of grammar is enough to write simple essays about yourself, describe cases from life, write a letter to a friend. But in most cases, oral speech lags behind written speech, you confuse tenses, think over a phrase, pause to pick up a preposition (to or for?), but you can more or less communicate, especially if there is no shyness or fear of making a mistake.

It is much more difficult to understand the interlocutor, and if it is a native speaker, and even with fast speech and a bizarre accent, then it is almost impossible. However, simple, clear speech is understood well, provided that the words and expressions are familiar. You generally understand if the text is not very complex, and with some difficulty understand the general meaning without subtitles.

Level Upper Intermediate (B2)

At this level you can:

• Understand the general meaning of complex text on concrete and abstract topics, including technical (specialized) topics in your profile.
• Speak quickly enough so that communication with a native speaker occurs without long pauses.
• Write clear, detailed text different topics explain a point of view, give arguments for and against various points view on the topic.

Upper Intermediate is already a good, sound, confident command of the language. If you are talking on a well-known topic with a person whose pronunciation you understand well, then the conversation will go quickly, easily, naturally. An outside observer will say that you are fluent in English. However, you can be confused by words and expressions related to topics that are poorly understood by you, all sorts of jokes, sarcasm, allusions, slang.

You are asked to answer 36 questions to test listening, writing, speaking and grammar.

It is noteworthy that to test listening comprehension, phrases such as “London is the capital” recorded by the announcer are not used, but short excerpts from films (Puzzle English specializes in learning English from films and TV shows). In English-language films, the speech of the characters is close to how people speak in real life so the test may seem harsh.

Chandler from Friends doesn't have the best pronunciation.

To check the letter, you need to translate several phrases from English into Russian and from Russian into English. The program provides several translation options for each phrase. To test knowledge of grammar, a completely ordinary test is used, where you need to choose one option from several proposed ones.

But you are probably wondering how the program can test the skill of speaking? Of course, an online English proficiency test will not test your speech as a person, but the test developers came up with original solution. In the task, you need to listen to a phrase from the movie and choose a cue that is suitable for continuing the dialogue.

Talking is not enough, you also need to understand the interlocutor!

The ability to speak English consists of two skills: to understand the speech of the interlocutor by ear and to express one's thoughts. This task, albeit in a simplified form, tests how you cope with both tasks.

At the end of the test you will be shown full list questions with correct answers, you will find out where you made mistakes. And of course, you will see a chart showing your level on a scale from Beginner to Upper Intermediate.

2. Test to determine the level of English with a teacher

To get a professional, “live” (not automated, as in tests) assessment of the level of English, you need English teacher who will test you with assignments and an interview in English.

This consultation is free of charge. First, your city may have Language school, which offers free testing for knowledge of the language and even a trial lesson. Now this is a common practice.

In short, I signed up for a trial test lesson, got in touch on Skype at the appointed time, and the teacher Alexandra and I held a lesson, during which she “tortured” me in every possible way different tasks. All communication was in English.

My trial lesson on SkyEng. Checking grammar knowledge.

At the end of the lesson, the teacher explained to me in detail in which direction I should develop my English, what problems I have, and a little later she sent a letter with detailed description level of language skills (with marks on a 5-point scale) and methodological recommendations.

This method took some time: three days passed from the application to the lesson, and the lesson itself lasted about 40 minutes. But it is much more interesting than any online test.

Decided to learn English "from scratch" in adulthood? Great idea! Doubt about own forces Oh? In vain. We will tell you what features of training to pay attention to and save you from psychological restrictions. Believe in yourself, English is up to you!

Believe in yourself, otherwise others will not have a reason to believe in you. English is becoming more and more a part of our lives. If earlier it was used only by travelers and translators, now the situation has changed. Without knowledge of the language, it is difficult not only to get a highly paid position, but also to learn how to work on a computer, read the instructions for household appliances, etc.

Pupils and students, as a rule, are forced to study English in courses or in educational institution. But those who have reached the age of 25 and have not mastered English are difficult to convince to take up their studies. We find a million excuses, remembering how stupidly we spent 10 years at school learning English! Are you in a hurry to enroll yourself in the "non-humanities"? Of course, giving up is the easiest thing to do. But we offer an effective approach to solving this problem.

First we need to bust the myths and get rid of the imaginary barriers that prevent us from starting to learn English. You can read about some of them in the article "". Change destructive thoughts to constructive ones! Let's find out what attitudes prevent us from learning English as adults.

Negative attitudes that prevent an adult from learning English

1. Languages ​​are easier to learn as children.

A common misconception that early age hitting us in the head. Some English teachers intimidate schoolchildren: “If you don’t learn the language at school, you will never learn it at all. Try as long as you can understand something. You don't want to be a janitor, do you?" Agree, not at all inspiring motivation. But, nevertheless, it sticks in my head: you need to study while you are young, nothing will work out in adulthood.

Actually: Everything will work out! And at 20, and at 30, and at 80. Forget what you heard at school. People around the world are proving that it's never too late to learn. We would like to give an example from our practice: about 80% of students are adults aged 25 to 50 years. And the oldest student is 86 (!) years old, he wanted to improve his English in order to communicate with his grandchildren living in the USA. The children did not know Russian, so grandfather had to hastily learn English. And he achieved his goal! Of course, our student did not pass the exams, did not master the language perfectly, but learned to talk on general topics without much difficulty.

Adults do a great job of learning English, communicate freely with native speakers and pass international exams perfectly well. What is their secret? They are ordinary people, simply it is easier for an adult to concentrate on the lesson, to understand complicated rules . Modern techniques learning takes into account all the features of our memory and allows you to master the English language at any age. As long as there is a desire, there is a possibility.

2. What will others say about me?

People who think something is impossible should not get in the way of people who make it possible. (Chinese proverb) Unfortunately, friends and loved ones do not always support our pursuit of knowledge. Some begin to talk about wasted time, others - about a waste of money, the most harmful - that we will not succeed. Someone else's opinion sometimes plays for us decisive role, we give up our desires for the sake of someone's whims.

Actually A: In order for you and an adult to make your own decision. It is not always worth listening to loved ones and going with the flow. Explain to family that knowledge of English will allow you to earn more, will make you feel like a different person. Anything is possible as long as you want it!

3. I will be the oldest/oldest in the course

It sounds ridiculous, but this is how people aged 25-30 think. Such thoughts often arise among those who have to start learning English from the first stage. They think that they will come to the class, and their classmates will be 8-9-year-old schoolchildren, young and active.

Actually: Pupils are recruited into groups according to age and level of knowledge. Believe me beginners are full of your peers. If you experience some embarrassment from comparison with other students, we recommend learning English with a personal teacher. Studying alone with the teacher is comfortable and effective.

4. I have no aptitude for languages

We never tire of reminding: there are no people unable to learn English, there are those who do not want to do it for some reason. For some reason, some believe that a person needs to have a special mindset, have linguistic abilities, be a philologist by education in order to know the language well.

Actually: Both "techies" and humanists do an excellent job of learning English. Moreover, among polyglots there are many people with a mathematical mindset, they are able to analyze information, they are able to absorb large amounts of material. You need to choose the right approach, use interesting methods learning.

5. I work, I don't have time to study

This is one of the most popular setups. We are used to living in a hurry, being late for something, scolding the fast flowing time. Yes, work takes a lot of energy from us, but there are also days off. You can allocate some time for training on Saturday and Sunday. Of course, we want to relax on the weekend, but we do not think that, having reached the required level of knowledge of the language, we will get the opportunity to take a more promising position, change the field of activity, and improve working conditions.

Actually: Each person can devote 3-4 hours a week to English. We advise you to do time management, you can find many articles and books on this topic on the Internet. To get started, read interesting article on our blog "Time Management, or Trying to find time for ... time", she will briefly tell you about the basics of time management. You can try a simple method: during the week, write down everything in your diary. After seven days, see where the precious minutes are flowing. You may be unproductive free time and your schedule needs tweaking? We think that everyone has their own “time absorbers” that can be got rid of. Replace useless activities with learning English.

6. Learning is boring

At the word “study”, many people remember how they fell asleep at lectures at the university. We cannot even admit the thought that studying can be not only useful and necessary, but also exciting. Our stereotypes are often completely unfounded, you can see for yourself.

Actually: Indeed, cramming a dictionary and sitting for hours on grammar is very boring. Uninteresting textbooks, dry formulations, learning dialogues and texts cut off from reality - all this is left in the distant past. Modern approach teaching involves the use of a variety of materials. In English classes, students speak on topics of interest to them, watch videos, listen to songs, study fascinating texts. Motto modern teacher English: learning is a joy, not a burden.

7. I don't know where to start, all of a sudden it doesn't work out

Let go of your prejudices and be open to new knowledge. Success awaits you! Neophobia (fear of everything new) lives in every person. We are afraid to learn a language, to travel, to change jobs. Think about it, how much will you lose if you try? And if you do not translate your thought into action, you risk losing the ability to dream and believe in a dream.

Actually: There is nothing difficult in learning English. Millions of people around the world are teaching and will continue to teach it. Don't know what to do first? For you, we have compiled detailed step-by-step instructions "" and wrote an article "". And if you want a competent teacher to help you achieve your goal faster, we offer it at our school. Don't be afraid to turn your dreams into reality.

The Undeniable Benefits of Learning English for Adults

1. Good motivation

An adult understands what and why he wants. You do not need to be persuaded to do homework (read the articles "" and "" about why this is so important), explain why you should learn English, how it will help you in life, you already know everything. Unlikely Bad mood or rain outside the window will make you not come to class. You will not give up classes “just like that”, because you perfectly understand why you went down this road and why it is worth going to the end.

Motivated students ALWAYS succeed in learning English.

2. Self-discipline

In youth, it is difficult to seat a person at a desk and make him listen, because of this, gaps in knowledge arise. Nobody distracts an adult, in the lesson you are engaged in English, and not extraneous matters. You can easily concentrate on your studies, know how to plan your time, understand the need for independent work.

3. Ability to learn

The opinion that the language is easily given before the age of 13-15 is erroneous. Scientists have found that with age, a person begins to form neurons responsible for linguistic abilities top level. That is, it is easier for you to generalize information, to establish semantic links understand grammar. In addition, adults in the learning process work long-term memory, and in children short-term. Your knowledge is well acquired and fixed for a long time.

4. Work on the bugs

Children are not particularly upset by strong accents or grammatical errors and rarely work on correcting them. Adults treat this responsibly, with enviable zeal. strive to write and speak correctly. But do not go to extremes: everyone makes mistakes, there is nothing wrong with that, the main thing is to correct all the shortcomings in time.

5. Good analytical skills, life experience

Are you good at analyzing information? know your weaknesses and strengths . Life experience allows you to clearly articulate the requirements for the teacher and the learning process.

6. Learning right from the start

Fortunately, over the past 20 years, English teaching methods have undergone significant changes in better side. Therefore, today you can study with experienced teachers (including native speakers) in a way that suits you. You yourself choose the time of the lessons, the teacher selects interesting materials, good tutorial. You improve your speaking, listening, reading and writing skills at the same time.

7. Financial opportunities

You can practice on the best language courses or with a personal English teacher. You are not limited school curriculum, old textbooks or the financial capabilities of parents. Every year, English is becoming more accessible both in terms of teaching methods and price.

You can afford to immerse yourself in the language environment. Take a trip abroad pleasant experience and using English in practice will inspire you. You can go study english abroad according to a special program, it is quite expensive, but effective.

8. Understanding your own strengths and capabilities

In adulthood, you already know everything about yourself, you understand what workload suits you, you can accurately explain to the teacher what you want to get as a result of training. You no fear of the teacher's personality. You are not afraid that he will call you incapable, tear your notebook, will scold you for mistakes (as happens at school), so you can study calmly and fruitfully.

Useful tips for those who are learning English from scratch in adulthood

• Try to manage your time, then you will have free hours not only for language classes, but also for recreation, sports, and self-improvement.
• Independent study of English "from scratch" is undesirable. Find a mentor, he will help you create a training program according to your inclinations, preferences and rhythm of life.
• Use different teaching methods: study with a teacher, listen to music, read authentic literature, watch movies and videos with English subtitles.
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Even the natives of America and Great Britain do not always speak and write correctly. Don't be put off by minor oversights, they are easy to fix and you gain valuable experience.
• The main secret of success is to love what you do. Learn to enjoy learning English.

Summing up, we can confidently say that learning English as an adult effectively. This is a chance to feel like an energetic student again, train your memory and get vivid impressions. English will open the door for you new world, where interesting acquaintances and travels, self-improvement and self-realization are waiting for you. Take the first step!

“I heard about conversation clubs for a long time, but it seemed to me a rather strange activity. I didn't know what to talk about strangers Yes, even in broken English. Nevertheless, the first session involved me from the very first minutes. In such conversations, a forming center is needed, bright and perky. Sean, a native speaker, turned out to be just that. In a matter of seconds, he involved all the participants in a single game. Thanks a lot to Sean for the pleasure of communication. Thanks to Irina for another push from my comfort zone into a pleasant floundering in an unfamiliar environment. I study individually with an Australian teacher, but group experience is important and necessary on a par with other types of practice. I will gladly continue. Thanks to the organizers"

Ekaterina from Moscow, 33 years old

Milana Bogdanova

Mikhail Chukanov

Onlinewell: "Learning to read English with pleasure": « Thanks to all the creators of the course for this opportunity!!! What happened is a very significant event for me - I really started reading (and continue to enjoy it) in English ke! This is amazing, because I was afraid to get close not only to books in English, even viewing small information, English-language sites caused me significant difficulties.

Natasha Kalinina

Milana Bogdanova

“I have always had the belief that reading books in a foreign language is an impossible task for me, but thanks to experienced teachers and my wonderful support group (participants of the training with whom I was in the group), I discovered a unique the opportunity to read and still get great pleasure from reading.»

Elya Aliyeva

Online course "ENGLISH THROUGH SELF DEVELOPMENT": "I began to use English more for practical tasks. For example, recently he himself chose an offer to sell a guitar on a London classifieds site, he himself corresponded with sellers and bought a legendary guitar from an English musical family in London. We even sat and talked with them for life. For me, this is a small victory! »

Mikhail Chukanov

Online course "Learning to read in English with pleasure":“Seriously, if someone told me a couple of months ago that I would devote every evening to reading in English, I would be very surprised. Before, for me it was more torture than pleasure, more a necessity than a choice.

Olga Pashkevich

Button above "Buy paper book» you can buy this book with delivery throughout Russia and similar books at the best price in paper form on the websites of the official online stores Labyrinth, Ozon, Bukvoed, Chitai-gorod, Litres, My-shop, Book24, Books.ru.

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The book of the popular author Sergey Matveev includes following sections: "About English pronunciation" (here are the basic rules English pronunciation, as well as numerous exceptions to the rules), “Grammar” (given the information necessary to understand the basic grammatical complexities and master the skills of oral and written speech), “Dictionaries” (small English-Russian and Russian-English - not bad reading aid and self-study). The tutorial provides numerous examples from the original American English Literature, as well as from live colloquial speech. And finally, in the "Appendix" the reader will find the article "Linguistic astrology: a horoscope of luck", which tells how the stars affect the study of a foreign language, and gives advice from an astrologer.
For a wide range of readers of all ages and different levels preparation - both for those who are just starting to learn English, and for those who once learned it, but forgot it.

THE PAST LASTS.
If the present long time (Present Continuous) is used to denote events that happen HERE AND NOW, then the PAST LONG TIME ( Past continuous) is used if you need to talk about what happened once and lasted for some time. For example, from 5 to 6 o'clock yesterday. Or the day before yesterday. Or last week. But it didn’t HAPPEN (as in the case of the simple past time Past Simple), but HAPPENED. As they say, it happened, it happened, but it never happened.

To form it, we simply replace the forms of the verb to be, which were used for Present Continuous, with corresponding forms past tense. That is, a sentence like “I am reading” (I am reading) turns into “I was reading” (I was reading). And that's it! No hidden fees or commissions for cashing out!

CONTENT
From the publisher
About English pronunciation.
How to say so that you are understood correctly
About transcription
Letter of the law
English alphabet
Publicity
concordance
Glasnost consonants
unpronounceable
Total
Exceptions prove the rules
Pronunciation 500 important words in English
Grammar. Easy and fast
CAT is also CAT in Africa!
Subject - predicate - object - circumstance
I you he she; together - whole country
You - to me, I - to you
Gravity
selfishness
Somewhere there's something
One, two, three, four, five
Glagolitic
Easier than a steamed turnip
From afar for a long time
The path to excellence
There is no limit to perfection
An order is an order
Verbs with postpositions and idioms
Uncle Hera
Verbs that require an infinitive after themselves
Verbs that require a gerund after themselves
modus vivendi
Repetition is the mother of learning
Small small less
That's the question
Speakers in line
Pick up the most the right words to say the main thing
Virtual love
Irregular Verbs- the most complete table
Dictionaries
Appendix. Linguistic astrology: luck horoscope.

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English levels

The English World English Language Center offers a variety of programs to meet the needs of students of all ages and levels of knowledge. It is very important for us that you feel comfortable and easy to study according to the chosen program in our courses! In this regard, when determining your level of language proficiency, we focus on the system language competencies European Council"Common European Framework of Reference" (CEFR). The corresponding directive was developed by the Council of Europe as the main part of the "Language Learning for European Citizenship" project between 1989 and 1996. the main objective CEFR systems - to provide an assessment and learning method applicable to all European languages. In November 2001, an EU Council resolution recommended the use of CEFR to create national systems assessment of language competence.

All English courses at our school are based on CEFR levels. Additionally, the methodologists of the center singled out the level “Beginner 0”, which corresponds to the zero level of language proficiency (A0).

Multilevel system of teaching English

"English World" - progressive and modern The educational center. In this regard, training in the programs of our center takes place in accordance with the latest methodological developments leading philologists, linguists and teachers of foreign study centers foreign languages.

The General English program includes next levels:

• - A0. Zero level. Without communication skills in English, knowledge of grammar and vocabulary is at the very initial level.
• - A1. Starting level. Basic communication skills in English, grammar, phonetics and vocabulary are at the initial level.
• - A2. A basic level of. Knowledge of English in the field of phonetics, grammar and vocabulary is limited to basic, pre-threshold skills.
• — A2/B1. threshold level. Proficiency in English at a good, intermediate level. Progressive communication skill.
• - IN 1. Middle level. The most important step in learning English is Intermediate. The level implies a threshold state, turning into a confident knowledge of a foreign language. Knowledge of grammar and vocabulary is noticeably progressing, communication skills are honed and as detailed as possible.
• - IN 2. English is above average. The Upper Intermediate stage allows students to completely get rid of the language barrier and communicate fluently in English in almost all household, business and everyday situations.
• - C1. Advanced level. On the given level learning becomes more in the nature of honing skills in the field of phonetics, grammar, communication and vocabulary. Listeners begin to think in English and completely get rid of reliance on their native language.
• - C2. Professional English. This level can be reached by students of philological and linguistic faculties, teachers of foreign languages, translators, etc.