English levels classification or what you can do if you have Intermediate level

10.06.2016

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English levels classification or what you can do if you have Intermediate level

Some people tend to under- or overestimate themselves. There are many students who say: «I studied English at school, but it was 10 years ago, so I can hardly remember anything now». If you believe this modest guy, it is very likely that he will attend a group that is way lower on English-knowledge scale than him. It will result in him wasting his time and money.
However, a quite opposite situation is also possible: someone tells you that he/she speaks 5 languages fluently (and you know he doesn’t). Don’t argue, it’s no use. You won’t be able to prove your point since you probably have very different definitions of «fluency».
What does it mean «to speak a language fluently»?
It’s extremely hard to answer this question because as we said before everyone understands this term differently.
Some people think that being able to say a few simple sentences, understand the answer, and «survive» using the language is fluency. Anyone can learn a certain number of necessary words in a very short time. It is possible to learn a whole bunch of languages this way, but the use of such attitude is quite doubtful.
Other people by fluency mean being able to speak the language perfectly, use idioms and slang with pronunciation like a native’s without any grammar mistakes. And even in this case this person avoids the word fluent as he understands it clearly that there is always room for improvement: there will always be words he doesn’t know and natives speakers that «feel» the language better that him. This fact doesn’t discourage this person, he sees it as normal.
Surely, you are free to choose any attitude you like or even come up with your own: any opinion can exist.
How to systemize this mess?
In order to aggregate all opinions and attitudes, people came up with a classification of levels. We took the most popular of them, described every level and explained what you can do on each of them. (We want to note this again: no matter how hard you try to systemize it, it’s almost impossible. No one will ever be able to say that it you learn another 4 words, your level will upgrade.)
English levels classification and description
1. Beginner. This is the level people start with. Usually those who studied a different language at school have this level. People either know nothing at all, or only the very basic stuff like the alphabet and numerals from 1 to 10.
2. Elementary. Most of those who had bad grades at school are on this level. They can:

give some simple information about themselves and others (I am a doctor, I am from Russia, my girlfriend is 25 years old);
speak with a very strong accent;
understand only the key information;
read short and simple texts.

3. Pre–Intermediate. Students are capable of:

speaking slowly but keeping the conversation going;
using very basic grammar. They don’t understand the logic of the language yet and get confused;
using comparative adjectives;
asking questions correctly;
understanding difference between such modal verbs as have to/must/can/may.

4. Intermediate. You can:

use all forms of future expression (I am going to go/I’m meeting/ I will meet);
use direct and reported speech without difficulties;
use phrasal verbs;
understand whether you are speaking to a native speaker or not;
see the difference between British and American English.

5. Upper–Intermediate. This level is recommended if you can:

use the structure I wish I…;
understand the meaning of such sentences: She must have been too tired, He couldn’t have done this;
use gerund correctly (I started dancing instead of I started to dance);
speak without pauses;
make a monologue on any topic;
understand unabridged literature without a dictionary;
watch and understand movies and tv-series without subtitles;
use idioms.

6. Advanced. Congratulations if you got this far. This means that you can:

use all tenses;
understand when you can omit words (You wanna do it? instead of Do you want to do it?);
use collocations;
speak in long sentences without pauses;
watch movies and understand 90% of the language.

7. Proficiency. This level means that a student has lived a few years in the country and his English is almost like a native’s. Or he might be a doctor who knows the professional terms he needs for the job.
Now you know which part of this long path you are in, and how much there is still left to learn. Experienced teachers of English by Skype can help you make you next steps down this path!

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