Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) French Proficiency

Learn about the CEFR levels of language proficiency used by L’ecole de francais to assess French fluency.

For most European languages, including French, the Council of Europe develops the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) sets standards that are used to measure the proficiency of individuals, and the French language is one among them. CEFR splits language learners into three main types – A, B, and C and then divides each category into categories like A1, A2, and B1, B2 and subcategories such as A1.1 and A1.2. All language manuals follow this division, and at L’école de français, we use methods that also prepare for the new DELF / DALF exams.

If you are curious, you can have a look at the self-assessment grid about the CEFR in English here. or test your level here

Let’s see how we use this at L’école de français. 

A1

A1 is considered a beginner or false beginner. Level A1 means you can understand some basic words and phrases. When you have completed the A1 level, you will be able to: 

• Understand and use everyday expressions and phrases to fulfil concrete purposes. 
• Introduce yourself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details about home, family and surroundings. 
• Communicate in a basic way when the other person speaks slowly and clearly and is willing to repeat or reformulate to aid the communication. 

At L’école de français, we divide the A1 level into two sub-levels. Level A1.1 (total beginners) and level A1.2 (false beginners). We work with French as a foreign language method: l’Atelier A1+.

Level A1.1 will complete the first 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives.

unité 1: C’est qui ?

Unit 1: Who is this? introduce yourself and someone else

say your nationality / ask for information (age/nationality/language spoken / contact details)

 unité 2 : On fait quoi ce week-end ?

Unit 2: What are we doing this weekend? identify objects

talk about your likes and dislikes, go out

 Unité 3 : On va où cet été ?

Unit 3: Where are we going this summer? talk about the weather, find out about a town or city, ask and give directions.

Unité 4 : On mange quoi cette semaine ?

Unit 4: What’s for dinner this week? talk about eating preferences. Shopping, making plans.

Level A1.2 will complete the last 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 5 : C’est arrivé quand ?

Unit 5:  When did it happen? dress … fashionably. Describing an atmosphere, recounting an event.

Unité 6 : Alors, ton nouveau travail ?

Unit 6: How is your new job? Introducing yourself for a job. Talking about habits. Describing colleagues.

Unité 7 : pourquoi déménager ?

Unit 7: Why move? Talk about your family. Giving your opinion. Expressing agreement and disagreement.

Unité 8: Il y a un problème ?

Unit 8: Is there a problem? Talking about your health, give your opinion and express agreement and disagreement

A2 or Elementary level

At this level, the sentences become slightly more complicated as we introduce new tenses to help the learners speak in the near future and the past. A person with this level of proficiency:

• Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate personal relevance (e.g. basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). 
• Can communicate and perform routine tasks involving a direct exchange of information. 
• Can describe their surroundings and communicate immediate needs using simple words straightforwardly. 

At L’école de français, we divide the A2 level into two sub-levels. Level A2.1  and level A2.2 We work with the French as a foreign language method: l’Atelier A2+.

Level A2.1 will complete the first 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 1: J’ai une idée.  

Unit 1: I have an idea: celebrating an event – planning a menu – organising a party.

Unité 2: Vous avez deux minutes ? 

Unit 2: Do you have two minutes? talking about a meeting – telling a story – portraying

Unité 3: Ça fait le Buzz !

Unit 3: It’s a buzz! compare media – networking – asking questions

Unité 4: On change tout !

 Unit 4: Let’s change everything! tell your story – discover your qualities – express an obligation

Level A2.2 will complete the last 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 5 : Ensemble c’est mieux !

Unit 5: Together, it’s better! decide to leave – justify a choice – express a difficulty

Unité 6 : C’est trop beau !

Unit 6: It’s too good! Describe a feeling, give an appreciation, identify an emotion

Unité 7 : comme disait mon grand-père … 

Unit 7: As my grandfather used to say … talk about a change, find one’ s family, and tell one’ s story.

Unité 8 : Si vous voulez bien …

Unit 8: If you don’t mind … Doing a favour, upgrading an accommodation, expressing a wish.

B1 Level

The B1 level is the first stage of the ‘independent user‘ category. It means you no longer depend on the second person to facilitate communication. The learners know enough to be able to build more complex sentences to communicate. However, learners are not entirely fluent. A person with B1 level proficiency

• Can understand the key points of a standard speech on familiar subjects at work, school, leisure activities, etc. 
• Can handle travel situations in regions where the language is spoken without straining either themselves or the native speakers. 
• Can create a clear and detailed text on a range of subjects and provide their opinion 
• Can narrate an event, an experience or a dream; describe a desire or goal, and outline reasons or explanations behind a project or idea.

At L’école de français we divide the B1 level into two sub-levels. Level B1.1 and level B1.2  We work with the French as a foreign language method: l’Atelier B1

Level B1.1 will complete the first 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 1 : Écoute

Unit 1: Listen – Giving opinions and advice – explaining an application and a trend – talking about a relationship and friendship

Unité 2: Travail

2: Work – Presenting a company and one’ s work – describing a photo and one’ s work environment – talking about clichés and one’ s job.

Unité 3: Vie

Unit 3: Life – choose to slow down and laugh – organize an action plan and to-do list – explain a quality and a consequence.

Unité 4: Recyclage

Unit 4: Recycling – Explain a problem and an initiative – describe a recycling site and a work of art – tell about one’ s connection with nature and an experience.

Level B1.2 will complete the last 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 4 : Recyclage

Unit 4: Recycling – Explain a problem and an initiative – describe a recycling site and a work of art – tell about one’ s connection with nature and an experience.

Unité 5 : Curiosité 

Unité 5: Curiosity:  introduce uncertain and scientific facts. To ask questions and challenges. Highlighting an event and a discovery.

Unité 6: Actualité 

Unité 6: News: inform in writing and orally. Telling a news item and a story. Expressing criticism and interest.

Unité 7 : Innovation

Unit7: Innovation:  Imagining the future and the impossible. To present a flying object and a crazy idea. Characterize a pattern and a trend.

A B2-level learner can communicate more fluidly and spontaneously by using more idioms and complicated sentence connectors and tenses. They:

• Can understand the fundamental ideas of a complete text, including a technical piece related to their area of expertise. 
• Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity with a native speaker comfortably for everyone involved. 
• Can speak in a clear and detailed manner on a variety of subjects
• Can express an opinion on trivial matters, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages.

At L’école de français we divide the B1 level into three sub-levels. Level B2.1 and level B2.2  We work with the French as a foreign language method: l’Atelier B2

Level B2.1 will complete the first 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 1 : Bienveillant(e)

Unit 1: Compassionate: Describe your home village. Respecting privacy. Protecting people. Watching over the land.

Unité 2 : Inattendu(e) 

Unit 2: Unexpected: Travelling without guilt. Going to unknown territories. Explore differently. Admire the places.

Unité 3 : Ambitieux(euse)

Unit 3: Ambitious: Moving into the craft industry. Work hard. Transforming the Human, être bien dans sa vie.

Unité 4 : Astucieux (euse)

Unit 4: Cunning: Going green. Listening to the living. Clearing the mind. Repairing the human body.

Level B2.2 will complete units 5 to 8. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 5 : Passionnante

Unit 5: fascinating: to generate interest. To induce an emotion. To appeal to the greatest number of people. To give something of oneself.

Unité 6: Physique

Unit 6: Physical : Push your limits. Build team spirit. Establish a scientific fact. Reconnect with maths.

Unité 7: Accessible

Unit 7: Accessible: Dreaming of the school of tomorrow. Regretting the unattainable. Succeeding differently. Diving into History.

Unité 8 : Engagé(e)

Unit 8: Involved : Building up the solidarity. Putting everyone on an equal footing. Supporting a cause. Repairing injustices.

Level B2/C1 will complete le last 4 units. Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives

Unité 9 : Flexible

Unit 9: Flexible : Designing space. Rethinking the city. Transforming the interior. Building a video game.

Unité 10 : Appétissant(e)

Unit 10: Appealing : Feeding yourself in 2049. Devouring with one’ s eyes. Taste the luxury. To attract an audience.

Unité 11 : Rassurant(e)

Unit 11: Reassuring. Regenerate. Living in an ecosystem. Meet the living. Living together.

Unité 12 : Éclairant(e)

Unit 12: Enlightening: Learning with your fingertips. Talking philosophy with the series. Understanding the world with series. Disconnect.

A C1 learner can follow a conversation very fluently. However, there may still be some expressions or words out of the grasp. A C1 learner:

• Can understand a wide variety of long, demanding and complex texts and recognise any implicit meanings. 
• Can express themself freely and fluidly without any apparent fumbling and searching for words. 
• Can use the language effectively and fluently in a social, professional or academic environment. 
• Can speak in a clear, organised way about complex subjects by developing a well-structured argument using connectors and cohesive devices in the language. 

It is the Advanced level of proficiency. The learners falling in this stage are close to achieving native speaker proficiency. That is the reason why at L’école de français, we do not divide the C1 level into sub-levels. We will use Edito C1, articles from the news, and authentic documents (press articles, podcasts, books, etc.) to suit the class’s needs. It is necessary to do several sessions of the c1 course.

Here is the breakdown of the manual by unit as well as the communicative and skills objectives.

Unité 1: Série Mania

Unit 1: Mania Series: identify typical profiles. Appreciate a series review.

Unité 2: SOS sens critique.

Unit 2: SOS critical thinking: Understand what is at stake in media education. Assessing the spread of false information.

Unité 3: Ah la vache!

Unit 3: Holy cow! Identify a paradox in a literary text. To dialogue about the slaughter of cattle.

Unité 4: La mémoire dans la peau

Unit 4: The memory in the skin: Deepen your scientific knowledge on memory. Describe memory techniques.

Unité 5: Vertiges d’amour

Unit 5: Vertigo of love: Interpreting a literary text. Identify the implicit in the discourse.

Unité 6: La famille dans tous les états.

Unit 6: The family in all its states. Learn about the social revolution of the family. Debate the evolution of the family.

Unité 7: l’art de résister

Unit 7: The art of resistance: Defining an artist’s commitment. Defend the place of art in society

Unité 8 : La fureur de lire

Unit 8: The Fury of Reading. Identify the powers of the novel. Link an autobiographical story to its author.

Unité 9 : Homo Futurus

Unit 9: Homo Futurus. Understanding artificial intelligence and the future of man. Confronting trans humanism and ethics.

Unité 10 : Le sens dans tous les sens

Unit 10: Sense in all directions. Analyse a poetic structure. Soak up the world of the senses.

Unité 11 : Guerres des mondes

Unit 11: Wars of the Worlds. Identify the characteristics of modern warfare. To measure the stakes of cyber attacks.

Unité 12 : Sous toutes les coutures

Unit 12: From Every Angle. perceive the impact of fashion on society. Debate the freedom to dress

Unité 13 : la faim de la consommation.

Unit 13: The hunger for consumption. Discern the link between consumption and happiness. Denounce consumer strategies

Unité 14 : À la folie

Unit 14: To the point of madness. problematise the treatment of madness. Considering solutions to accompany people on the edge of society.

Unité 15: L’imagination au pouvoir

Unit 15: Imagination in power. study a manifesto. Interpreting one’ s dreams.

Unité 16 : Travail, mode d’emploi

Unit 16: Work, instructions for use. Consider universal income. Consider the uberisation of the world of work.

Unité 17 : La fabrique du mâle.

Unit 17: The Male Factory. thinking about public space. Assessing gender representations.

Unité 18 : À la vie, à la mort.

Unit 18: To life and death. Understand the medicalisation of birth and death. Grasping the revolution of the artificial womb.

C2 is the final stage of CEFR proficiency. At this level, the learners can understand pretty much everything and speak like a native. A C2 learner:

• Can effortlessly understand virtually everything they read or hear. 
• Can summarise information from various spoken and written sources and simultaneously can reconstruct arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation.
• They can express themself precisely in a spontaneous, fluent fashion and easily differentiate the latent shades of meaning even in very complex situations. 

We do not use a method for this level but only authentic documents, literature, scientific articles, and radio or television broadcasts. Do not hesitate to contact us for advice on the course that would suit you.

We run French courses at all CEFR levels throughout the year. Please contact us to discuss your French language learning needs.