CEFR levels
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), published by the Council of Europe in 2001 and updated with a Companion Volume in 2020, defines six levels of proficiency.
| Level | Name | What you can do (summary) |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Breakthrough | understand and use familiar everyday expressions; introduce yourself; ask simple questions |
| A2 | Waystage | communicate on familiar, routine topics; describe your surroundings in simple terms |
| B1 | Threshold | get by while travelling; recount an event; briefly give your opinion |
| B2 | Vantage | understand the main ideas of complex texts; talk with native speakers with ease; argue a point |
| C1 | Effective operational proficiency | express yourself fluently and in a structured way; understand long, demanding texts |
| C2 | Mastery | understand virtually everything; express yourself with nuance and precision |
Three broad stages
- A: basic user;
- B: independent user;
- C: proficient user.
One level per skill
Your level can differ from skill to skill: for example B2 in reading but A2 in speaking. This is common among people who learned mainly through reading.
Levels and certificates
The DELF (A1 to B2) and DALF (C1, C2) diplomas, as well as the TCF and TEF tests, are aligned with the CEFR. See DELF and DALF and TCF and TEF.
🇫🇷 Research and writing: My French
This guide was researched and written by the team at my-french.com, a platform for learning French as a foreign language and the owner of learnfrench.wiki. Put theory into practice: lessons from A1 to C2, quizzes, games, a verb conjugator and a community of learners at my-french.com.