What’s my English Level?
Bilingual, 95% English or Advanced are terms which are often thrown around when discussing how well an individual can speak a language. This terminology gives people an idea of where their abilities lie relative to others; however, are any of these terms actually correct, or even accurate? Let’s take a look and see.
Generally speaking – except for an extremely small number of cases – people who are bilingual tend to have been raised in a bilingual environment. This may be because they have parents from different countries or because they moved abroad when they were very young. Achieving a high level of fluency – being able to understand and be understood well – is something almost everyone can do but it is not the same as being bilingual. Conversing in two languages with all the subtle nuances a native speaker picks up naturally, that is something special and achieved by very few who come to a second language later in life.
Percentages, on the other hand, are useful to help us understand what proportion of something we have, did or how many questions we answered correctly in a test. In order to make this a useful system for assessing anything, we need to understand what 100% would look like and be able to accurately measure that. Language is anything but easy to measure, especially when compared to mathematics, where percentages make perfect sense. This system seems to only be used in call centres, and only in Latin America. The exams these companies use to gain a candidate’s level of English appear to test general English, as well as something specific for each call centre. They do NOT match any internationally recognised standards, nor is there any clear consensus between even the people involved in this testing as to what exactly they show. For the language teaching community, these figures have no actual meaning. Also, what is 100% English? Does it mean you need to know 100% of the vocabulary? Not even natives know this. Does it mean you never make a mistake? Again, can this be said of natives as well? No one can say, as nobody really knows.
Finally, we start to reach some terminology that is recognised globally, from tiny boutique schools to the largest international franchises. The terms Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced are well understood and corollate to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – click on the links at the end of this blog to find out more), which is the accepted global standard. The CEFR separates English – as well as all other languages – into six main levels, from A1 to C2, with A1 notating a beginner and C2 someone whose language is at a proficiency level. These levels are each related to specific skills and how well they are undertaken, and can be measured repeatedly with a high level of accuracy. From personal experience, we’ve seen that most call centre employees have a level of English from upper-intermediate (B2) to advanced (C1), with very few anywhere near to proficiency (C2).
This brings us to the best ways to find out your level and also how you can have this officially certified. As a general rule, anyone starting a new language course should have their level tested before they begin so they can be placed in the correct class. This is important because being in a class that is too easy for you can lead to boredom and see students disrupt classes. On the other hand, if the level of your class is too high for you, you can feel lost and lose motivation. This can also result in weaker students taking all of the teachers focus and prevent the correctly placed ones from progressing at the pace they should. Language learning is accumulative, so without a solid base you cannot master more complex ideas.
Anyway, a good language school should be able to give you a reasonably accurate idea of your English level but this won’t get you a recognised certificate. The other way is to take an internationally recognised exam, such as IELTS or one of Cambridge’s ESOL exams. These tend to be the most concise language tests you can do and relate directly to the CEFR. There are equivalent tests for other languages and additional bodies that provide other exams for English as well.
Note: Internationally accredited exams can only be certified by the body that created them, not the schools giving these exams, they are just testing centres. As such, be careful of schools that claim their in-course exams are internationally recognised as this usually means they will oblige you to do one of the tests mentioned before, which may be just what you want; however, they are expensive and require a significant amount of preparation to do well in.
So, if you want to know your level of English accurately and in a way, that is globally understood, get tested at a school that follows the CEFR (such as Advance in San Jose) or take an internationally recognised exam. Cambridge FCE and CAE are a couple of good options if you have a high level of English, or IELTS is excellent as it is a placement test, accepted around the world.
