What level you are
Levels A1 to C2 explained by what you can actually do, not by the list of tenses you covered in class.
The official levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) come from the Common European Framework of Reference, and they are the same for any language: a B2 in English is a B2 in Spanish. Yet almost nobody explains them by what matters, which is what you can do with the language. Neither the years you have been studying nor the tenses you covered in class decide your level.
Find yourself in this list. If you hesitate between two, it is almost always the lower one.
A1 — You survive on set phrases
You introduce yourself, order in a café and understand very simple questions if people speak slowly. You depend on memorised phrases: the moment the conversation leaves the script, it ends.
Sign you are here: you catch the individual words but not the whole sentence.
A2 — You cope with everyday life
You talk about the past in simple terms, arrange to meet someone, explain what is wrong at the doctor’s. You speak in short sentences and with pauses, but you get by in predictable situations.
Sign: you can handle a whole trip on your own, even if it leaves you exhausted.
B1 — You manage, with effort
You hold a conversation about familiar topics: your job, your plans, what you did at the weekend. You follow the gist of a series with subtitles. You still translate in your head before speaking and run out of words mid-sentence.
Sign: people always understand you, but you finish tired from hunting for how to say things.
This is the level where most people get stuck for years, because you already cope and stop studying.
B2 — You hold your own
You discuss, argue and add nuance. You follow a work meeting or a film without subtitles, even if some details escape you. You make mistakes, but they do not get in the way.
Sign: you hardly ever translate in your head any more.
This is the level most universities, public exams and jobs ask for. When someone asks for a «high level», this is usually it.
C1 — You say exactly what you mean
You speak fluently about complex topics, catch irony and switch register depending on who you are talking to. You write well-structured texts.
Sign: it is not that people understand you, it is that you said precisely what you meant.
C2 — Mastery
You understand practically everything, including accents, slang and double meanings. You express yourself naturally and precisely, even in delicate situations.
Sign: the language has stopped being the problem.
Watch out for these three mix-ups
«I have been studying English for ten years, so I must be a B2.» Time does not give you a level: it gives you familiarity. Plenty of people with years of classes sit at a solid B1 because they have never really spoken.
«I understand everything on Netflix, so I am a C1.» Understanding is easier than producing. What sets your real level is what you can say and write, not what you recognise when listening.
«I got a B1 eight years ago.» A language you do not use goes rusty. The certificate does not expire, but your level does drop.
How to find out your real level
Multiple-choice tests measure grammar, which is only one part. Your real level shows when you speak: when someone disagrees with you, changes the subject or interrupts.
That is why our level check is a real class, with a teacher and a group, and it is free. In one session you know what level you are at and which course — or which exam — you can take with confidence.