A few years ago, when I was giving
courses at the French Institute in Warsaw I realized that people were
struggling to assess their level They were conversation lessons so there was no
placement test before starting So, I often found myself
with intermediate students in advanced groups and advanced students in intermediate groups to be more specific, I had B2 students
in C1 groups and vice versa If you don't understand anything
to these stories of B1, C2, etc. Do not worry,
I will explain all this to you And above all, you will see that finally know your level, maybe it's
not the most important Man has always loved to measure things but with the Industrial Revolution,
it became a real passion As the factory owners wanted to know exactly how many pins their workers could make
in one day they started measuring productivity And now productivity,
it's something we find In all areas both in school and in sport
or household chores To be successful in life, you have to be pro-du-ctive both at work and at home And if something is not measurable or measured then it is useless So obviously, languages are no exception to the rule What's the point of taking French lessons if you can't measure
precisely his progress and level? Well, nothing! That's why in Europe, since 2001 we have the Common European Framework of Reference
for languages It is composed of 6 levels A1-A2 which are beginners levels B1-B2 for intermediaries and C1-C2 advanced And the good thing is that you are told
what you should be able to do at the end of each level in other words what new skills
you must have We start at level A1 There, it's really to learn
the basics It’s about 60 hours
French lessons Ah yes, I give you an estimate
the number of hours but don't take it by the foot
of the letter (in other words, don't take it in the 1st degree,
without trying to understand) This estimate is mainly to help language schools to fix the number
courses So after level A1 you should be able for example politeness formulas etc. and ask questions of the
style: "where do you come from ?" “What do you do for a living?” Basically, with this level, you can buy a croissant in a bakery and ask for direction
of the Louvre Museum but are not sure yet
to be able to understand the answer At level A2, we deepen all that Except that it's longer approximately
180 hours of learning Once you have completed level A2 you are able to So after level A2, you can have
mini conversations of a few sentences on subjects of daily life if your contact is friendly and patient Then we go to the intermediate level
begining with... B1 Again, that represents around 180 hours of lessons By finishing level B1,
you get these super powers like work, school, hobbies, etc. Anyway, there you can talk about your weekend or the last movie you saw but not yet global warming Besides, if you want to get
French nationality for example if you marry a French
or a French we ask you to have
oral level B1 (therefore oral comprehension and expression) There is a special test called TCF French knowledge test After that we have the level ... B2, well done! It’s the same, it takes about 180 hours And at level B2, you are considered as “advanced intermediary” It means that you are able to without it requiring an effort of adaptation that's good because in general, the French make no effort to adapt their way of speaking Anyway, B2, we often consider
that this is the level that you are able to speak fluently Course you still make mistakes and you can't understand the items
of the whole world without dictionary but you are autonomous and you are rather
comfortable when you speak french There, you may believe that you have
does the hardest but no We arrive at the levels
of improvement total control C1 and C2 I will not go into details but in theory you need 240 hours
to complete the C1 and 250 hours for C2 After that, not only do you speak better French
that the French you understand the programs of France culture
on existentialism but you are also able to write
a thesis in quantum physics The advantage of this system is that it
is recognized in most European countries So if you need to justify your
level of French for a university exchange or a position in a company you can take an exam
in a French Institute or a French Alliance and you get
official proof It's an exam called DELF There you will be tested on 4 skills listening comprehension written comprehension oral and written expression But imagine that you succeed
DELF B2 does that necessarily mean that
do you speak french fluently? In general, no Already, to pass DELF, you must
not only have a good level of French but also be well prepared
the specifics of the different events Each exercise has very specific instructions and format with a number of words not to be exceeded
for tests for example So if you don't train
to do this kind of exercises chances are that
you miss the exam Then you may fall
on somewhat bizarre themes For example, in a DELF B2 exam there was this topic
for written expression Okay, just write 250 words but personally, it's not a subject
that would inspire me a lot And then a test, it only measures
your level at a time T I know people who lose all their means they are so stressed
the day of an exam Ah yes, “losing your means” means
that we lose our abilities in certain contexts for example if you are very stressed And even without going into this genre
extreme cases it is enough that you slept badly the day before
or you are a little sick and there too, it will influence your result In short, except if you need
an official proof of your level or it motivates you to
prepare you for an exam i don't think it's really worth it
to assess his level like that So in the end, how do you know
what level do we have? I think we need to change our perspective In high school and during my studies, I was
pretty good in languages Finally, what I mean is that I had good grades
English and Spanish exams I was writing essays using words like “First and foremost” or “Nevertheless” But the day I tried to have my first
conversation with a native I remember it very well,
it was in a youth hostel in Glasgow with an Australian well it was a real disaster I was unable to say
the most basic things like asking him since when he was
there, what plans he had Really very simple things but at the time, I felt
to be a real beginner I was completely blocked My ego took a hit but a little later,
thinking back I understood something very important I understood that at school, we only assess
a certain type of skill And be able to write essays on the commercial exchanges
between Europe and China it's not very useful when you just want to have
a nice conversation in a pub After that, I started to travel more often
and to meet more and more foreigners This is how I really learned
to speak english Paradoxically, today, I may be
more able to write the kind of essays that I did before However, I can spend whole evenings
to speak English with foreigners and have fun without having
the slightest blockage What I'm trying to tell you with this
anecdote instead of wondering if we are at level B2 or C1 it is better to think in terms of objectives
and skills If you learn French to speak
with French speakers start now Take conversation lessons,
even if it scares you even if you feel
to be still a beginner If you learn French to read novels,
it's the same Start with specially written novels
for learners Don't wait to do it
otherwise you will waste time and opportunities to train Really, don't be afraid start today at
practice the skills that are important for you not the ones that were chosen
by language schools to pass an exam And one last thing before I finish it's okay to have days with
and days without There are days when we are in good shape,
where we have self-confidence where everything seems easy We say this is it, we speak fluently And then the next day, on the contrary,
we can't express our ideas we make a lot of mistakes one has the impression of having fallen
at the beginner level I know that,
I went there too And it still happens to me regularly
with my polish But it's part of learning and you have to accept it The more you advance,
the less there will be “without” days And even when you have
“no” days you will be able to get across
your ideas because over time you will have acquired
sufficiently solid foundations Here, if you liked this video,
do not hesitate to like it It helps me to publicize
chain And then tell me in the comments
what objective do you have regarding your french Thank you and see you soon !
