A1 is the first of the six CEFR levels, and it is far more specific than “beginner”. Here is exactly what it covers, what it does not, and how to tell when you have reached it.
A1 is the entry level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. At A1 you can handle familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases: introduce yourself, say where you live and who you know, ask and answer simple personal questions, and interact in a simple way provided the other person speaks slowly and clearly and is willing to help. That last clause is the whole level in a nutshell.
The CEFR splits language ability into six levels grouped into three bands. It was designed by the Council of Europe so that a qualification earned in one country means something in another, and it is now the standard used by almost every course, exam and textbook in Europe and well beyond.
| Band | Levels | In plain terms |
|---|---|---|
| A — Basic user | A1, A2 | You can handle predictable, concrete situations with support. |
| B — Independent user | B1, B2 | You can manage without support in most situations, including unfamiliar ones. |
| C — Proficient user | C1, C2 | You can operate flexibly and precisely, including on abstract and specialist topics. |
A1 is sometimes called Breakthrough level. It is not a warm-up before the real levels start. It is a genuine milestone, and it is the point at which a language stops being a wall of noise and becomes something you can get a foothold in.
Introduce yourself and others, say where you are from and what you do, ask and answer questions about personal details, and manage short exchanges — shopping, ordering, asking directions — if the other person is patient.
Recognise familiar words and very basic phrases about yourself, your family and your immediate surroundings, when people speak slowly and clearly.
Understand familiar names, words and very simple sentences: signs, notices, posters, menus, timetables, short simple messages.
Fill in forms with personal details, and write a short simple message such as a postcard, a note or a basic self-introduction.
This is where most self-assessments go wrong, in both directions. People who have studied for six months often assume they must be past A1 because they know some grammar; people who can already hold a halting conversation often assume they are still below it because it feels difficult.
The CEFR itself deliberately does not specify a word count — it describes what you can do, not what you have memorised. But the estimates in wide circulation cluster in a narrow range, and they are a useful sanity check.
Treat the hours figure with suspicion, because it assumes a class, a textbook and homework, and it varies enormously with how close the language is to one you already speak. An English speaker will reach A1 Spanish considerably faster than A1 Polish, and no framework can price that in for you.
Forget the hours. Run through this list honestly — not “could I with a dictionary”, but “could I, now, out loud, to a stranger who is being kind about it”.
Five out of five and you are comfortably A1. Three or four and you are close enough that the honest answer is “nearly A1” rather than “beginner”.
A2 is where the training wheels start coming off. You move from describing yourself to describing situations: routine tasks, immediate needs, simple exchanges about familiar matters, and crucially the past — being able to say what happened yesterday is the practical dividing line most learners feel.
Three things move you across it, in order of how much they matter:
Expect A1 to A2 to take about as long as zero to A1 did, or a little longer. Each subsequent level takes substantially more work than the one before it, which is worth knowing in advance so that the slowdown does not read as failure.
The descriptors are, deliberately — that is the point of a common framework. The work needed to reach them is not. A1 describes what you can do, so a language with harder sounds, a different script or more inflection simply takes longer to reach the same A1 description.
No. The CEFR is a description, not a licence, and self-assessment against the can-do statements is a legitimate use of it. You only need a certificate when somebody else — a university, an employer, an immigration authority — is asking for proof.
Commonly quoted estimates are 60 to 100 hours of guided study for a language close to your own. Working alone at twenty minutes a day, a realistic range is three to six months. Related languages sit at the fast end; unrelated ones can take two or three times as long.
Often, partly. School study usually leaves people with fragments of A1 and A2 mixed together, strong on reading and weak on speaking. The fastest thing you can do is test yourself against the A1 checklist above and only go back for the items you fail.
Nothing — C2 is the top of the scale. It is worth saying that C2 does not mean “native”. It means you can operate with precision and ease on effectively any subject, which many native speakers would not meet in a second language and some would struggle with in their first.
The rest of the beginner questions, answered the same way.