Level B2 according to the European Language Portfolio Check honestly what you can do in English and what your areas of improvement are. If you feel that you can tick 80% of the points, you have probably reached Level B2. If you feel that you canīt tick 80% of the points, you should contact your Practical English teacher as soon as possible and negotiate your action plan. Listening -I can understand in detail what is said to me in standard spoken language even in a noisy environment. -I can follow a lecture or talk within my own field, provided the subject matter is familiar and the presentation straightforward and clearly structured. -I can understand most radio documentaries delivered in standard language and can identify the speakerīs mood, tone, etc. -I can understand TV documentaries, live interviews, talk shows, plays and the majority of films in standard dialect. -I can understand the main ideas of complex speech on both concrete and abstract topics delivered in a standard dialect, including technical discussions in my field of specialization. -I can use a variety of strategies to achieve comprehension, including listening for main points and checking comprehension by using contextual clues. Reading -I can rapidly grasp the content and the significance of news, articles and reports on topics connected with my interests or my job, and decide if a closer reading is worthwhile. -I can read and understand articles and reports on current problems in which the writers express specific attitudes and points of view. -I can understand in detail texts within my field of interest or the area of my academic or professional speciality. -I can understand specialized articles outside my own field if can occasionally check the dictionary. -I can read reviews dealing with the content and criticism of cultural topics (film, theatre, books, concerts) and summarise the main points. -I can read letters on topics within my areas of academic or professional speciality or interest and grasp the most important points. -I can quickly look through a manual (for example for a computer program) and find and understand the relevant explanations and help for a specific problem. -I can understand in a narrative or play the motives for the charactersī actions and their consequences for the development of the plot. Spoken Interaction -I can initiate, maintain and end discourse naturally with effective turn-taking. -I can exchange considerable quantities of detailed factual information on matters within my fields of interest. -I can convey degrees of emotion and highlight the personal significance of events and experience. -I can engage in extended conversation in a clearly participatory fashion on most general topics. -I can account for and sustain my opinions in discussion by providing relevant explanations, arguments and comments. -I can help a discussion along on familiar ground, confirming comprehension, inviting others in, etc. -I can carry out a prepared interview, checking and confirming information, and following up interesting replies. Spoken Production -I can give clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to my fields of interest. -I can understand and orally summarise short extracts from news items, interviews or documentaries containing opinions, argument and discussion. -I can understand and orally summarise the plot and sequence of events in an extract from a film or play. -I can construct a chain of reasoned argument, linking my ideas logically. -I can explain a viewpoint on a topical issue, giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options. -I can speculate about causes, consequences, and hypothetical situations. Strategies -I can use standard phrases like "Thatīs a difficult question to answer" to gain time and keep the turn while formulating what to say. -I can make a note of "common mistakes" and consciously monitor my speech for them. -I can generally correct slips and errors if I become aware of them or if they have led to misunderstandings. Language Quality -I can produce stretches of language with a fairly even tempo; when I search for the right expression, the pauses are not noticeably long. -I can pass on detailed information reliably. -I have sufficient vocabulary to express myself on matters connected to my field and on most general topics. -I can communicate with reasonable accuracy and I can correct mistakes if they have led to misunderstandings. Writing -I can write clear and detailed texts (compositions, reports or texts of presentations) on various topics related to my field of interest. -I can write summaries of articles on topics of general interest. -I can summarise information from different sources and media. -I can discuss a topic in a composition or "letter to the editor", giving reasons for or against a specific point of view. -I can develop an argument systematically in a composition or report, emphasizing decisive points and including supporting details. -I can write about events and real or fictional experiences in a detailed and easily readable way. -I can write a short review of a film or a book. -In a personal letter I can express different feelings and attitudes and can report the news of the day, making clear what- in my opinion-the important aspects of an event are. European Language Portfolio LEVEL C1 The following tables should enable you to recognize what you have learnt and acquired in English and what you would like to be able to do soon. Listening I can follow extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly. I can understand a wide range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms, appreciating shifts in style and register. I can extract specific information from even poor quality, audibly distorted public announcements, e.g. at a station, sports stadium, etc. I can understand complex technical information, such as operaing instructions, and specifications for familiar products and services. I can understand lectures, talks and reports in my field of professional or academic interest even when they are propositionally and linguistically complex. Without too much effort I can understand films which contain a considerable degree of slang and idiomatic usage. Reading I can understand fairly long, demanding texts and summarise them orally. I can read complex reports, analyses and commentaries where opinions, viewpoints and connections are discussed. I can extract information, ideas and opinions from highly specialised texts in my own field, for example research reports. I can understand long complex instructions, for example for the use of a new piece of equipment, even if these are not related to my job or field of interest, provided I have enough time to reread them. I can read any correspondence with occasional use of a dictionary. I can read contemporary literary texts with ease. I can go beyond the concrete plot of a narrative and grasp implicit meanings, ideas and connections. I can recognize the social, political or historical background of a literary work. Spoken Interaction I can keep up with an animated conversation between native speakers. I can use the language fluently, accurately and effectively on a wide range of general, professional or academic topics. I can use the language flexibly and effectively for social purposes, including emotional, allusive and joking usage. I can express my ideas and opinions clearly and precisely, and can present and respond to complex lines of reasoning convincingly. Spoken Production I can give clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects. I can orally summarise long, demanding texts. I can give an extended description or account of something, integrating themes, developing particular points and concluding appropriately. I can give a clearly developed presentation on a subject in my fields of personal of professional interest, departing when necessary from the prepared text and following up spontaneously points raised by members of the audience. Strategies I can fluently use a variety of appropriate expressions to preface my remarks in order to get the floor,or to gain time and keep the floor while thinking. I can relate my own contribution skilfully to those of other speakers. I can substitute an equivalent term for a word I can't recall without distracting the listener. Language Quality I can express myself fluently and spontaneously, almost effortlessly. Only a conceptually difficult subject can hinder a natural smooth flow of language. I can produce clear, smoothly-flowing, well-structured speech, showing control over ways of developing what I want to say in order to link both my ideas and my expression of them into coherent text. I have a good command of a broad vocabulary allowing gaps to be readily overcome with circumlocutions; I rarely have to search obviously for expressions or compromise on saying exactly what I want to. I can consistently maintain a high degree of grammatical accuracy; errors are rare and difficult to spot. Writing I can express myself in writing on a wide range of general or professional topics in a clear and `user-friendly` manner. I can present a complex topic in a clear and well-structured way, highlighting the most important points, for example in a composition or a report. I can present points of view in a comment on a topic or an event, emphasizing the main ideas and supporting my reasoning with detailed examples. I can put together information from different sources and relate it in a coherent summary. I can give a detailed description of experience, feelings and events in a personal lettter. I can write formally correct letters, for example to complain or to take a stand in favour of or against something. I can write texts which show a high degree of grammatical correctness and vary my vocabulary and style according to the addressee, the kind of text and the topic. I can select a style appropriate to the reader in mind. If you have over 80% of the points ticked, you have probably reached Level C1.