What’s really in Elementary? The Ugly Truth!
From time to time it’s my job to tell someone who has been studying English for an extended period of time, and who believes that they are at a high level, that they need to join an elementary class. It’s not something I enjoy doing as lots of students don’t want to hear this. Usually they have been told by their university, or previous school, that they are considerably better than they really are. This happens for various reasons; lots of teachers are afraid to be honest with students if they are doing badly or fail them, or the institute doesn’t follow the recognized levels for language learners. But is being in elementary really so bad?
Elementary is arguably the most important level that any student will study, because almost everything that follows it builds upon it. If you struggle with the past simple – and you know you do – how do you expect the fully understand other past tenses? Wouldn’t you prefer to speak well rather than have a certificate that says you can? Potential employees or international universities will test applicants, plus it’s cool being able to speak a second language well.
Anyway, to help you, here are five important questions you should ask about elementary and why it isn’t a bad thing to be there.
What will I be able to do?
According to the CEFR*, a student that has successfully passed an Elementary language course will also have completed level A2 on their scale (See What’s my English Level? blog.), or to put that into perspective, they will have done two of the six CEFR* levels. On the internationally recognised IELTS exam (operated by Cambridge University, the British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia) passing elementary equates to a score of 3 out of a possible 9, where a 9 basically means you are native. That’s a lot relatively speaking, especially considering there are a lot of levels above elementary, and that reinforces how important this level is.
Don’t get too excited though, this doesn’t mean you know a third of the vocabulary or grammar that exists in English. Language assessment doesn’t work that way.
Why do I need to study elementary when I can communicate? Surely I’m advanced, aren’t I?
This is a common misconception and refers back to our answer for the previous question, there’s just a lot in elementary and you can do a lot when you’ve mastered it. People who pass elementary well can communicate well, full stop. Also, when thinking about your overall level, it has to be remembered that languages consist of the four skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing – and being able to do one well doesn’t necessarily mean you do them all well, so speaking strongly doesn’t mean you have a high overall level. It’s better to be clear about this and not confuse the two things.
What’s in it?
Well, a lot more than most people believe. Elementary is NOT just the numbers, alphabet, colours, “my name is”, the verb ‘be’ and the present simple. Some – yes, this is just a few – of the main grammatical topics seen include the present, an introduction to continuous verbs, the past, the future, comparatives and superlatives, modal verbs, those important question structures that are used through to an advanced level, and of course everyone’s favourite … the present perfect.
As for actual usage, you’ll be able to speak about routines, describe people, places, things, events and yourself in detail. You should have no problems if you want to arrange trips, go on holiday or give directions, and this is just the tip of the iceberg! In reality there’s a lot more in elementary than most people who consider themselves to have a high level of English can actually do well, and this is a problem that has been caused by misunderstandings and misleading marketing from certain school and universities.
Is it easy?
This is a very subjective question. As with everything in life, some people pick languages up easily while others struggle. Generally speaking, mastering the material in elementary is not easy. There is a lot of vocabulary to learn, enough grammatical structures to confuse most learners, not to mention it’s the first time a lot of learners study English pronunciation, spelling and listen to a variety of accents.
Like most things, it’s only easy if you know it, so don’t panic if you don’t understand something you see. Just ask questions, practice and don’t be embarrassed.
How long will it take me?
This varies because different institutions arrange their courses differently, and as mentioned some courses don’t follow the definitions laid down by the CEFR*, so they may say you are intermediate when you are still finishing elementary. As a good rule of thumb, a standard course (classes twice a week) should see you complete elementary in around 8 months, whereas a semi-intensive (three times a week) could finish in 6 months. Due to the amount of information needed to be taken in, even these courses can feel like they are not long enough for a lot of students. There are always intensive options, but true intensive courses (approx. 15 hours per week class time, plus 15 hours at home) can overwhelm students and see them fail to assimilate the information well, as learning a language is not like studying for history or maths, where you can “cram” at the last minute. Only the most dedicated and hard-working should even think about this route, or those already living in an English-speaking country where they are immersed and can practice at will.
The only thing we can say for sure about the time to learn a language is that claims of going from zero to advanced in 8 months or a year are total bulls@%t. Zero to a strong intermediate in a few cases is possible but not advanced, not unless you truly have a beautiful mind.
So, to sum up, elementary is a tough course that requires dedication and focus. But don’t worry, with a little help and a lot of hard work, plus a willingness to ask when you’re stuck, you’ll progress just fine.
* Common European Framework of Reference
