What Is A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 for French?
A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 are the six levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, usually shortened to CEFR. It was developed by the Council of Europe so that language ability means the same thing, regardless of whether you are in France, UK or Canada.
A is a foundational learner, B is an independent learner, C is a proficient learner. Each letter contains two levels, and the gap between them widens as you move up.
The official descriptions live on the Council of Europe website.
What can I actually say at each French level?
A1, the beginner
You can introduce yourself, say where you live, ask where things are and order in a cafe. You understand slow, clear speech about immediate practical things.
Everything is present tense and short sentences. You are relying heavily on the other person being patient. French, spoken at speed, is still difficult for the learner to understand.
Vocabulary at this level sits somewhere around 500 to 700 words.
A2, the elementary learner
You are able to handle more speaking. Shopping, directions, describing your family, saying what you do for work, talking about the past in simple terms with passé composé.
The change from A1 is that you can now have a short exchange rather than deliver a prepared line. You still need people to slow down, and you can still get lost in the conversation when two French people speak to each other.
Roughly 1,200 to 1,500 words.
B1, where French becomes usable
This is the level most learners should aim for first, and the one where the practice starts paying off.
You can deal with most situations that come up while travelling. You can explain an opinion and give reasons for it. You can mainly follow a conversation between two native speakers, provided they are not in a hurry and not using slang.
B1 is also where a lot of people first say the language clicked. You stop translating every sentence and start thinking in fragments of French.
Roughly 2,500 to 3,000 words.
B2, the independent learner
You can hold a conversation with a native speaker without either of you working hard at it. You follow the news, argue a point, work in French.
B2 matters practically more than any other level. Most universities that teach in French set B2 as their admission bar, most employers asking for French mean B2, and it appears constantly in visa and residency requirements.
It is also the level where most learners stall, because the distance from B1 to B2 is longer than anything before it.
Roughly 4,000 to 5,000 words.
C1, the advanced user
You use French flexibly across social, academic and professional life. You can understand the difference between being serious and humour. You can read a novel without a dictionary beside you.
You are no longer translating in your head. You still make mistakes, and you no longer notice most of them.
Roughly 8,000 words and upward.
C2, mastery
You understand essentially everything you hear and read, and you express yourself precisely, including fine shades of meaning in complex situations.
But C2 is not native speaker level and the framework never claimed it was. It describes a very high level of trained proficiency. Plenty of native speakers would not pass a C2 exam, because it tests skills like summarising an academic argument that have nothing to do with growing up speaking a language.
How long does each French level take?
The most commonly used estimates come from the Alliance Française and are counted in guided learning hours, meaning taught time plus homework. They are cumulative from zero.
- A1: around 60 to 100 hours
- A2: around 160 to 200 hours
- B1: around 360 to 400 hours
- B2: around 560 to 650 hours
- C1: around 810 to 950 hours
- C2: around 1,060 to 1,200 hours
Speakers of other European languages such as Spanish, Italian or Portuguese move faster because the grammar and vocabulary overlap heavily. English speakers get some of this too, since a large share of English vocabulary is similar to French. People living in France will learn faster as well, because they are forced to speak the language and are surrounded by French 24/7.
How LanguaCards helps at every level
LanguaCards covers all levels from A1 to C2. You also if you do not need to know which level you are at to start. If you have a specific need to learn more about work or food then you will not need to choose and filter your level.
Every word sits on a card with native audio and an image. The audio teaches you what the word sounds like, which written French does not, and the image gives you reinforced the vocabulary to help you recall the word from memory quicker.
The cards then return on a spaced repetition schedule. Each pack comes back to you just before you would have forgotten it until you can recall the words easily from memory. Just 10 minutes a day can increase your ability to recall french words more easily.