Levels

Measuring a person's ability to speak a language is not an exact science. There are too many factors at play. But if exams and tests are to mean anything, an attempt must be made to define levels of competence. Historically there have been many different ways of measuring somebody's language ability and many different scales to indicate level. No world-wide system of measurement or rating exists, though CEF is a Europe-wide system that measures ability in many languages including English. In general, all systems move from absolute beginner (no knowledge of the language) to advanced(equivalent to native-speaker), but the number of levels varies from system to system: some have 5 levels, some have 7 levels, some have 10 levels, and so on.

These pages show what is probably the closest thing to an international standard that we have (the CEF), as well as the ALTE "descriptors" that describe what a person "can do" at a given level, and a table showing alignment between various exams and the CEF. Finally, you are welcome to try the simple test to get an idea of your current level (Written Comprehension only).

• Common European Framework (CEF) 
• ALTE Levels and "Can Do" Statements
• CEF Alignment
• Test Your Level

• Test your level

  Written Comprehension

  This test evaluates your level in English Written Comprehension (how well you understand English that you read). You have 15 minutes to do this test. You must stop after 15 minutes and press the "YOUR SCORE IS" button. There are 20 questions.
  For each question, choose the answer that is closest in meaning to the original sentence.
  Example
  The following question is an example only. When you are sure that you understand what you have to do, press the "Start Test" button.
  
  0. Linda has a white cat and a black cat.
  She has one cat.
  Linda's cat is black and white.
  She has two cats.
  Linda likes brown cats.