Useful recommendations for those who learn English “from scratch” in adulthood. A0 - Zero level of English proficiency

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

English language levels are designed to allow language learners to be divided into groups with approximately similar knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking and speaking. writing, as well as to simplify testing procedures, examinations, for various purposes related to emigration, study abroad and employment. This 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 quite arbitrary, needed not so much by students as by 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.

Essentially they are just two different names for the same thing. 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 completely called the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (abbr. CERF).

English language 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 other people, ask simple personal questions, for example, “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 approximately the Beginner level. From the 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 accent, as in the audio lessons for the 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.

Level Elementary (A2)

At this level you can:

• Understand common expressions on general topics such as family, shopping, work, etc.
• Talk about simple everyday topics using simple phrases.
• Tell simple expressions about yourself, describe simple situations.

If you got a 4 or 5 in English at school, but after that you didn’t use English for some time, then most likely you speak the language at the Elementary level. TV programs in English will not be understandable, except for individual words, but the interlocutor, if he speaks clearly, in simple phrases of 2-3 words, 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, place an order at McDonald's.

The Beginner – Elementary levels can be called a “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 clear speech on common, familiar topics related to everyday life(work, study, etc.)
• Cope with the most typical situations while traveling (at the airport, in a hotel, etc.)
• Compose simple, coherent text on general or personally familiar topics.
• Retell events, describe hopes, dreams, ambitions, be able to briefly talk about plans and explain your point of view.

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

Understanding your interlocutor is much more difficult, 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 understandable well, provided the words and expressions are familiar. You generally understand if the text is not very complex, and with some difficulty you understand the general meaning without subtitles.

Upper Intermediate level (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.
• Make it clear detailed text on different topics, explain a point of view, give arguments for and against various points of view on a topic.

Upper Intermediate is already good, solid, confident ownership tongue. 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 may be confused by words and expressions related to topics that you do not understand well, all sorts of jokes, sarcasm, hints, slang.

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

It is noteworthy that to test listening comprehension, they do not use phrases recorded by the speaker like “London is the capital”, but short excerpts from films (Puzzle English specializes in learning English from films and TV series). In English-language films, the speech of the characters is close to the way people speak in real life, so the test may seem harsh.

Chandler from Friends doesn't have the best pronunciation.

To check a 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 your knowledge of grammar, a completely ordinary test is used, where you need to choose one option from several proposed ones.

But you're probably wondering how the program can test a skill colloquial speech? Of course, an online English test will not test your speech like a human, but the test developers have come up with an original solution. In the task you need to listen to a phrase from the film and choose a line suitable for continuing the dialogue.

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

The ability to speak English consists of two skills: listening to the speech of your interlocutor and expressing your thoughts. This task, although 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 with an assessment of 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” (and not automated, as in tests) assessment of the level of the English language, you need English teacher, which will test you with tasks and an interview in English.

This consultation can be done free of charge. Firstly, there may be a language school in your city that offers free language testing and even a trial lesson. This is now a common practice.

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

My trial lesson on SkyEng. We check your knowledge of grammar.

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 me a letter with a detailed description of the level of language skills (with ratings on a 5-point scale) and methodological recommendations.

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

“I had heard about conversation clubs for a long time, but it seemed like a rather strange activity to me. I didn't understand what I could chat about with strangers, and even in broken English. However, the first session got me involved from the very first minutes. In such conversations, we need a formative center, 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. Thank you very much to Sean, for the pleasure of communication. Thank you to Irina, for another push from your comfort zone into a pleasant floundering in an unfamiliar environment. I study individually with an Australian teacher, but group experience is important and needed along with other types of practice. I'll be happy to continue. Thanks to the organizers"​

Ekaterina from Moscow, 33 years old

Milana Bogdanova

Mikhail Chukanov

Onlinewell: “Learning to read in 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 do so with pleasure) in English ke! This is amazing, because I was afraid to get close to books in English, even looking at small information and English-language sites caused significant difficulties.”

Natasha Kalinina

Milana Bogdanova

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

Elya Alieva

Online course “ENGLISH THROUGH SELF-DEVELOPMENT”: “I began to use English more for practical problems. For example, I recently selected an offer for the sale of a guitar on a London classifieds website, corresponded with the sellers myself, and bought a legendary guitar from an English company. musical family in London. We even sat and talked with them “for life.” This is a small victory for me! »

Mikhail Chukanov

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

Olga Pashkevich

Click the button above "Buy paper book» you can buy this book with delivery throughout Russia and similar books throughout best price in paper form on the websites of official online stores Labyrinth, Ozone, Bukvoed, Read-Gorod, Litres, My-shop, Book24, Books.ru.

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The book by the popular author Sergei Matveev includes the following sections: “About English pronunciation” (here are the basic rules English pronunciation, and also presents numerous exceptions to the rules), “Grammar” (provides the information necessary to understand the basic grammatical difficulties and master the skills of oral and written speech), “Dictionaries” (small English-Russian and Russian-English - not bad reading aid and independent studies). The tutorial provides numerous examples from the original American and English literature, as well as from live spoken language. And finally, in the “Appendix” the reader will find the article “Linguistic Astrology: Horoscope of Good Luck”, which talks about how the stars influence the study of a foreign language, and gives advice from an astrologer.
For wide range readers of any age and different levels of training - both for those who are just starting to learn English, and for those who once learned it, but have forgotten it.

THE PAST LASTS.
If the present long time (Present Continuous) is used to denote events that happen HERE AND NOW, then the Past Continuous is used if you need to talk about something that 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 exactly HAPPEN (as in the case of the simple past Past tense Simple), but IT HAPPENED. As they say, it happened and happened, but it never happened.

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

CONTENT
From the publisher
About English pronunciation.
How to speak so that you are understood correctly
About transcription
Letter of the law
English alphabet
Publicity
Consistency
Publicity of consonants
Unpronounceable
Total
Exceptions prove the rules
Pronunciation of the 500 most important words in English
Grammar. Easy and fast
CAT - it’s CAT in Africa too!
Subject - predicate - object - adverbial
I you he she; together - the whole country
You - for me, I - for you
Earth gravity
Selfishness
There's something here and there
One two three four five
Glagolitic
Easier than steamed turnips
From afar for a long time
The path to perfection
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 them
Modus vivendi
Repetition is the mother of learning
Small small less
That's the question
Conversators in formation
Find the most necessary words to say the main thing
Virtual love
Irregular verbs - the most complete table
Dictionaries
Application. Linguistic astrology: horoscope of luck.

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(((Exams What does this mean - speak a foreign language? Each person has their own idea about this: some are content with a level that allows them to travel around Europe without hindrance, while for others it is not enough to read Shakespeare in the original. Subjective criteria in this matter vary greatly - from knowledge necessary phrases to an intuitive sense of language (which sometimes even those who speak it from childhood lack). However, we learn a foreign language for a certain purpose - moving to another country, studying at a foreign university, the need to speak English for work.
Needless to say, “just like that”, the language itself will never be learned. Accordingly, no one can do without external criteria, that is, those parameters by which language knowledge will be tested in practice. Therefore, below we will look at the gradation of proficiency levels in the most common foreign language - English - according to the CEFR scale developed by the Council of Europe, compare it with the results of popular exams (IELTS / TOEFL / Cambridge / PTE) and give some tips for gradually mastering the language from elementary to higher levels.

Comparison table of levels and exam scores

How can you find out your level yourself?

Today, the level of English language proficiency can be determined even without leaving home, thanks to numerous online tests. Below is a selection of several such tests. It should be borne in mind that such tests will not allow an absolutely accurate reflection of the level of language proficiency, since the resources on which they are posted are most often associated with language schools that have paid or offline resources to accurately assess the level. Therefore, even after receiving a result on the CEFR scale, you should take into account the possible errors of online tests. In addition, some tests, due to their content, cannot objectively assess knowledge of the language at an advanced level (C1–C2).
Some of the tests below require registration before testing, but there are many tests on the Internet that allow you to get the result only after registering on the site or contacting the language school, which is very annoying and leads to additional time expenditure, so such tests are included in the tables not taken into account.

Complex tests

Tests of this kind include tasks in various areas of language knowledge: listening (listening), text comprehension (reading), grammar (grammar) and knowledge of the dictionary (vocabulary). Comprehensive online tests do not include only one important parameter - speaking. Such tests can be considered the most objective.

Resource	Questions	Time	Level	Answers	Grade	Timer	Registration	Listening	Reading
	42	50 min	A2–C2	4-5 var.	9.7	+	+	+	+
	50	20 minutes.	B1–C2	5 var.	7.4	-	+	+	+
	50	20 minutes.	A2–C1	3–4 var.	7.4	-	+	+	+
	140	70 min.	A1–C1	4 var.	7.2	-	-	+	+
	30	20 minutes.	A2–C1	4 var.	7.0	-	-	+	-
	40	15 minutes.	A1–B2	4 var.	7.0	-	+	+	-
	50	20 minutes.	A2–C1	4 var.	6.8	-	-	-	+
	20	15 minutes.	A2–C2	4 var.	6.5	+	-	+	-
	60	30 min.	A2–C1	4 var.	6.5	+	+	-	+
	40	15 minutes.	A1–B2	3–4 var.	6.2	-	-	+	+

Vocabulary and grammar tests

A good option for those who want to quickly determine their approximate level of language proficiency. The level of knowledge of grammar will allow you to quickly navigate your level, because good knowledge in this area constitutes an important “skeleton” on which you can successfully build up other language knowledge.

Resource	Time	Questions	Level	Answers	Grammar	Verbs	Dictionary	Grade
	35 min.	83	A2–C2	6 var.	9	8	7	8.0
	25 min.	40	A1–B2	Writing	7	8	7	7.3
	10 min.	10	B2–C1	4 var.	8	6	6	6.7
	35 min.	68	A2–B2	4 var	7	7	6	6.7
	10 min.	25	A1–B2	4 var.	7	8	5	6.7
	20 minutes.	50	A1–B2	4 var.	7	6	6	6.3
	20 minutes.	50	A1–B2	4 var.	7	6	6	6.3
	20 minutes.	40	A1–B2	4 var.	7	6	6	6.3
	20 minutes.	50	A1–B2	4 var.	6	7	6	6.3
	15 minutes.	40	A1–B2	4 var.	8	5	5	6.0
	15 minutes.	40	A1–B1	3 var.	6	6	5	5.7
	10 min.	25	A1–B1	3 var.	6	3	4	4.3

The assessment is based on ten point scale based on five main criteria:

• Grammar - how deeply knowledge of English grammar is tested, including knowledge of tenses, conditional offers, subordinate clauses, tense agreement, passive voice.
• Verbs - it is separately assessed how thoroughly the test tests knowledge of English verbs: irregular, modal, phrasal. The same parameter includes the presence in the test of tasks on knowledge of the use of prepositions with verbs, infinitives and gerunds.
• Vocabulary - assessment of the diversity of testing vocabulary, as well as the availability of tasks for its use.
• Listening - if the test contains this part, then the level of its complexity, the speed of listening, the presence of different voice tones, artificial interference, accents, etc. are assessed.
• Reading - assessment of tasks for perception and understanding of the text, if any in the test. The complexity of texts is primarily assessed.

The number of tasks in a particular section, the component of language knowledge and the complexity of the tasks play a big role.

Why is it important to know your language level?

• To correctly determine your goals, only knowing your level of foreign language proficiency can you adequately assess your capabilities, as well as determine short-term and long-term goals, which will allow you to choose the right training program and find a competent mentor.
• The need to indicate when applying for a job - many modern companies Applicants are asked to indicate in their resume their level of foreign language proficiency, confirmed by an appropriate certificate. To get a good position in an international company, you need to know the language at a high level.
• To study abroad, it is impossible to enter a prestigious college or university without good knowledge of a foreign language. And again, members of the admissions committee need confirmation - a language certificate.

Foreign language in practice: what is important?

The first thing you need to know: the level of language proficiency is only checked in practice. It is almost impossible to independently determine real language skills, even with the help of Internet tests, since they only determine knowledge of grammar and a very limited vocabulary. Therefore, you should not rely too much on such results, since in reality everything will be completely different.

When determining the level of proficiency in any foreign language, including English, experts pay attention to 4 basic skills: listening, reading, speech And letter. It is these skills that are usually tested on various international tests. Obviously, online tests will help assess only the first two criteria, although in practice it is much more important to be able to express yourself in speech and writing.
The difficulty of independently determining the level of a foreign language lies not only in the fact that it is difficult to evaluate yourself, but also in the fact that the second language as a whole rarely remains at any particular level. That is, you can be able to understand complex texts in a foreign language that correspond to an advanced level, but with with great difficulty speak on your own. It turns out that, on the one hand, a person knows the language at a professional level, but on the other hand, his communication skills are almost undeveloped. How then can you determine your level of English? Professional linguists and experts define foreign language proficiency according to several levels that apply not only to English, but to most languages ​​of the world.

A0 - Zero level of English proficiency

IELTS	TOEFL	Cambridge	PTE
0	0	-	0

In truth, this level does not exist at all, but it is certainly worth mentioning, since 80% of self-critical beginners confidently attribute complete ignorance of the language to themselves. Attention: if a person knows how the word is translated dog or house, then this is already some level. Whatever the source of knowledge: two years of studying English at school, an English phrasebook once read, or two weeks of classes with a tutor 15 years ago - this knowledge remains in a person’s head forever. This is important because even a minimal base will serve as an excellent basis for subsequent study.
If we talk about zero level, this means complete ignorance English (this will be true if the person knows English as well as Filipino). In this case, you can enroll in English courses in your home country. In about 3 months, the language level will rise to spoken B1. If a person is still visually familiar with the English alphabet and knows what “Hello! How are you?” means, this indicates language proficiency at level A1.
start with lessons for absolute beginners, where you can master the alphabet, reading rules, key words for understanding simple English, learn 300 new words (this will take no more than two weeks).

A1 - initial level of English proficiency - Beginner

IELTS	TOEFL	Cambridge	PTE
2	15	-

This level is also called the "survival level". This means that once in one of the cities of England or America, a person, with the help local residents will be able to at least get to the Russian embassy. This level can in no way be called conversational, since, of course, there will be no coherent conversation. But jokes aside, with this level you can go to language courses abroad.
Even minimal skills already allow you to at least convey some information to your interlocutor, albeit not without the help of gestures. Typically, this level is mastered by those who learned English a long time ago and without much pleasure. Of course, there are absolutely no practical skills, but there is knowledge deposited deep in memory that will serve as a good basis for further language learning.
The student speaks the language at level A1 if:

• answers basic questions: name, age, Mother country, profession;
• understands familiar phrases provided the narrator speaks slowly and clearly;
• understands some individual words in the English text.

How to move to the next level: learn the rules of reading and pronunciation, get acquainted with the rules of English grammar, learn about 300 new words.

A2 - basic level of English proficiency - Elementary

IELTS	TOEFL	Cambridge	PTE
3.5	31	KET pass	30

If you can live with the initial level and not think about it, then the basic level Elementary presupposes some awareness or, at least, memory that “I once taught something similar.” Again, there is still a long way to go to the conversational level, but unlike A1, some kind of dialogue can already happen.
If we return to the hypothetical situation of staying in one of the cities of England, then here the situation is a little rosier: with basic level You can not only get to the embassy, ​​but also chat with a foreigner (for example, talk a little about your profession or place an order in a cafe).
In practice, A2 differs little from A1, and the main advantage of the first is rather greater self-confidence and a slightly richer vocabulary. However, communication capabilities are still limited, so level A2 is only suitable as a basis for study, since there is nowhere to apply it in practice.
The student speaks the language at level A2 if:

• talks about everyday topics: he can give directions or ask for directions, talk about himself and the things around him;
• understands the interlocutor’s speech in a dialogue, provided that he speaks clearly and on a familiar topic;
• can read and understand basic sentences ( I have..., You are..., He goes...);
• write a simple sentence in text form or fill out a form in English.

How to move to the next level: continue to study grammar, practice writing small texts, learn irregular verbs and their tense forms, practice speaking skills (you can do this via Skype or in conversation clubs), watch films and TV series in English with Russian subtitles, learn about 500 new words.

Very often, between the initial and conversational levels, an intermediate level is distinguished, which implies that a person can already use English to solve some vital tasks, but does not yet speak spoken English. If we compare it with the A0-C2 scale, then this level can be characterized as A2+ or B1-.
It can be defined as follows:

• partially falling under the characteristics of level B1, but lack of practice in some aspects (for example, writing) indicates knowledge of the language at level Pre-Intermediate;
• Completely falling under the description of level A2 and partially falling under level B1 (for example, speaking skills are more developed) indicates knowledge of the language at level Upper-Elementary.

How to get to the next level: pay attention to those skills that are missing to the next level and work on them, based on the tips for moving to the next level in the paragraph on A2.

B1 - Intermediate level of English proficiency

IELTS	TOEFL	Cambridge	PTE
4	60	PET pass	43

When language competence goes beyond confused speech about the location of museums and restaurants, and English speech and the text becomes more and more understandable, these facts indicate that the student is at the first stage of spoken English. But in addition to conversation, this level also implies good reading skills of adapted texts, as well as an understanding of basic English grammar. Statistically, the majority of tourists know the language at this level, which allows them to easily communicate with their interlocutor on everyday topics. Typically, modern graduates graduate from school with at least a B1 level (with a maximum of B2). However, you still need a lot of work to become fluent in the language.
The student speaks the language at level B1 if:

• confidently carries on a conversation on any everyday topic with good pronunciation, although still with some hesitations and errors;
• understands the interlocutor, and also partially grasps the meaning of a complex speech (lecture) or conversation between English speakers (film);
• reads adapted to average level literature with a dictionary and understands the meaning of simple texts;
• can compose a short essay about himself or the world around him, using common semantic structures and words.

How to move to the next level: master advanced vocabulary and grammar, practice more written English (a tutor or websites for self-learning English will help with this, for example Polyglotclub ), it is necessary to communicate more in English with native speakers or advanced users, regularly monitor English-language sources of information (news publications, entertainment articles, interest sites), watch films and TV series with English subtitles (at first this may seem quite difficult, but with Over time it will bear fruit.) It is equally important to expand your vocabulary, so you should learn at least 1000 new words.

B2 - Higher intermediate level - Upper-Intermediate

IELTS	TOEFL	Cambridge	PTE
6	90	FCE grade C	59

If a student has good conversational skills (above average level), can maintain a detailed conversation with a foreigner, understands speech by ear, watches English-language films and TV series without translation or subtitles, this means that he speaks a foreign language at level B2. It should be noted that people who are completely unfamiliar with the English language are sure that a real foreigner is standing in front of them. However, don't be fooled. Upper-Intermediate- this is truly a great achievement, but even this is sometimes not enough for professional activity. Another disadvantage is the fact that it will be much more difficult to move higher on your own. However, for admission to a foreign university with average requirements for applicants, this level is quite enough, so you don’t have to worry and feel free to sign up for the TOEFL or IELTS exams.
The student speaks the language at level B2 if:

• speaks measuredly on almost any topic, expresses his own attitude or spaciously describes his thoughts (however, at this level some errors in verb conjugation, tenses and the use of complex words are still acceptable);
• understands oral speech on everyday topics and about 80% of complex speech (lectures, films, interviews);
• understands well the meaning of informational texts in English, draws information from English-language resources without significant loss of meaning (it is permissible to use a dictionary to read texts on an unfamiliar topic);
• expresses his thoughts in writing in a reasoned manner, using common constructions (albeit with minor errors).

How to move to the next level: learn advanced English grammar, practice writing texts in various styles (formal, academic, professional), train yourself most draw information from English-language sources (for example, read news only in English for several weeks), learn phrasal verbs, listen to lectures and watch educational films in English, expand your vocabulary (it is advisable to learn 600 new words.

C1 - advanced level of English proficiency - Advanced

IELTS	TOEFL	Cambridge	PTE
7.5	100	CAE grade C	76

Perhaps, the difference between an advanced level and a higher intermediate level can only be understood by a professional or an anglophone and, of course, the speaker himself, but only if he has the so-called “sense of language”: when, when speaking, it becomes clear that the words are used correctly, but the sentence can be constructed slightly differently , choosing more elegant words or suitable terms. This is a sign that the problem of knowledge of the language has slowly spilled over into the problem of its competent use, which, in turn, indicates an extremely high level of knowledge of English as a foreign language. Of course, there is no question of any misunderstanding of the language. A student with level C1 perfectly perceives information by ear and is able to express his thoughts on paper. The only thing that he is not quite capable of yet is Shakespeare and Nabokov’s “Lolita” in the original without a dictionary. This level is recommended for employment in a foreign company; it opens doors to almost all foreign universities (including top ones - Yale University, University College London,).
The student speaks the language at level C1 if:

• speaks without problems on any topic, expresses shades of emotions and relationships in language;
• understands any spoken language;
• fluently reads texts in English, both informational (articles, newspapers, interviews) and scientific (articles in scientific journals, textbooks, works of philosophers, journalists, critics), occasionally encountering unfamiliar words;
• knows how to write appeals to employers, motivation letters, clearly understands the difference between a formal writing style and an informal one.

How to move to the next level: continue working with complex texts in English, read works of art American and British authors in the original, listen to professional lectures on the topic of English literature, familiarize yourself with idioms and figures of speech in English, communicate as much as possible with native speakers.

C2 - professional level of proficiency - Proficient

IELTS	TOEFL	Cambridge	PTE
8.5	118	CPE grade C	85

The highest level in the gradation of English language levels is level C2. It should be noted that this is still a step, not a final stop. In essence, level C2 corresponds to excellent knowledge of English as a foreign language, its competent use for any professional and everyday situation, and the ability to read fiction and professional literature in English fluently (or almost fluently). However, knowing English at C2 level does not mean knowing it, as they like to say, in excellence.
Any linguist or philologist will confirm that mastering a language perfectly is the lot of very few, and these few usually become brilliant writers or wordsmiths. But if we take the most obvious example, say, an educated Londoner, then this also goes beyond the C2 level (usually those who speak English from childhood are called native speakers, and, of course, this is not included in the gradation of knowledge of English as a foreign language).
You should always remember that there is no limit to perfection, although language proficiency at the C2 level is an excellent result that few achieve. With a similar level, you can enroll in any postgraduate program, publish works in English, conduct conferences and lectures, i.e. for almost any professional activity this level will be more than enough.
The student speaks the language at level C2 if:
How to improve your English: Spend several years in an English-speaking country, for example at university or on an internship. And, of course, read.

What should you know about learning foreign languages?

Independent study of a foreign language is quite possible, but this undertaking requires a lot of effort, time, and such qualities as perseverance, diligence and dedication from the student. At first, classes seem interesting, but the lack of a clear program, correctly set goals, time frames and a teacher who controls the learning process and motivates the student leads to another breakdown and a lack of desire to continue learning the language.
That is why it is advisable to learn a new language together with a teacher in individual or group lessons. When the basic material has been completed, you can go abroad to improve your communication skills and increase your vocabulary. Without studying in a country where the language being studied is the main one, it is impossible to master it perfectly, even if you study using the most advanced textbooks.
The point is that he's alive modern language changes daily, and special educational publications simply do not have time to track these metamorphoses. It's about about modern slang, foreign borrowings, diversity of dialects, etc., which change the language every day. It is possible to know English at the native level, but for this it is necessary to be in an appropriate language environment, where the student will have to join a foreign-language society and keep abreast of news that is covered in the press or on the Internet.

How long will it take to learn a foreign language?

The answer to this question depends on several factors: the student’s goals, his perseverance and diligence, as well as his ability to pay. It is quite logical that you can learn a foreign language faster only with the help of a qualified teacher (perhaps even a native speaker). This is a real investment in the future, which will definitely pay off, but will also require quite a lot of capital investment.
The faster a student wants to learn a foreign language, the more he will have to pay. Theoretically, it can take about 2.5 - 3 years to complete all levels (without living abroad), for this you will have to attend special courses several times a week. If you study on your own, it will take much longer to learn the language. When studying abroad, a student gains the same amount of knowledge much faster.

There are no miracles!

Beginners in learning a foreign language should clearly understand that the learning process requires a lot of time from the student, as well as some effort on oneself, since there will always be a reason to reschedule a lesson or postpone homework until later. Training is a colossal work! Therefore, it is impossible to learn a language in a month using a new “unique author’s technique” or the 25th frame. There are no miracles! Only working on mistakes and consistent analysis of new material will help you reach the desired level.

Time spent on leveling up

The table shows the number of weeks of intensive English to improve language level in Kaplan International schools