[Male
voice] This is the IWTYAL language podcast, episode 66.
[Female
voice] Welcome to the I Will Teach You A Language podcast. Weekly motivation
and language learning tips to help you become fluent in any language. Now, it's
your host, Olly Richards.
[Olly
Richards] Everyone, welcome back to the show, thank you ... for listening. I've
... sound quality is a bit different today, I'm actually not in London, I'm staying with
a friend ... recording is here, this kitchen is a little bit echo-ey. So
apologies for that.
We've
had a fantastic weekend of language learning in London, and then last week we had the first
ever polyglot pub event on Friday at a fantastic pub nearby Waterloo Station.
Twenty-five, thirty language learners come down, people come from all over the
world especially for that event. We had people from lots of different
countries. Fantastic thing going on.
We
also had the polyglot workshops on Saturday and Sunday, where we took about a
hundred and fifty people each day to get them through this fantastic programme
of language learning stuff that we put together.
[1:03]
On the
topic of virtual immersion, like how to learn a language from home when you're
living in your home country and not abroad. But anyway let's get onto the topic
of today's show. Before we do that I'd like to thank the sponsors of this show,
iTalki where I get my language lessons every single week. If you'd like to get
a free lesson, you can go to iwillteachyoualanguage.com forward slash,
whatizzit... forward slash free lesson. Yeah I've got it right eventually. So,
let's dive into today's question from second-time questioner Andy.
[Andy]
Hi
Olly, Andy here again from the centre of England. Thanks for answering my
question about extensive listening back in Episode 57. One of the things you've
mentioned is your level in a language, and not maybe ... to think about when
you're starting out, it's very difficult to know what the next level should
look like, and what you should be able to achieve.
For
instance when you start anew, you achieve that A1 level, what would you be able
to do there? Then with A2, is it really a big achievement in terms of talking
to native speakers, B1 B2, C1 C2, and onwards ...
[2:14]
What
is your experience having gone through this process many times? I wonder if you
could give us an idea about what each of these different steps along the way
look like to you. Thanks a lot, Olly. Bye.
[Olly]
Okay
Andy. Thank you very much for a great question. I really like this one,
"What does it actually feel like at different stages of the process of
learning a language?" And yes, it's something that, I guess when you're
doing it, you're learning a language for the first time, you don't really know,
right? I mean, what should it feel like? How do I know that I'm there or when
I'm not?
And
yea, I've got a, I've got a really good ... of this and, erm, what it does feel
like. So I'll talk through my experience about that. Now Andy mentioned a few
different numbers there, A1 A2, B1 B2. To someone who's not familiar with that,
it's something called the Common European Framework of Reference.
[3:01]
And
this is a framework, it's a very good framework that describes different levels
of language proficiency. I'll put a link to this in the show notes. Andy wants
to check it out, which will be at iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash
Episode 66.
And
it's very well-documented actually, you know, the CEFR levels and what they
mean. So I think what I'll do instead, instead of just reading off in those
different many descriptors, I'll just tell you what it's like for me and how I
identify the different levels.
First
thing that I'll say is that, you know, I never mention my progress according to
these CEFR levels. They, I mean, it's useful in the sense of, kinda you know,
being able to describe your level and being able to analyze different levels of
proficiency. But personally, you know, I've never really judged myself on these
terms, because I generally have one goal when learning a language, which is to
learn how to speak.
[4:02]
And I
see it as one very long organic process. And it is outlined and described in
the CEFR so you can have a look at that. Interesting. But instead for me, I
like to think of the different levels of proficiency in a language in terms of
what you're capable of doing. Right.
So
starting from the very beginning, you know, you have a zero, and I don't think
you can have, ... this isn't an official level ... A0 is essentially when
you're a complete beginner. Maybe you've learnt a couple of phrases you can say
"Hello," "Goodbye," like that. Essentially you're not able
to use the language at all.
After
that, around the A1 level, this way you've studied for a bit, maybe a short
course, or half a textbook or something like that. And you're able to kind of
give very basic self-introductions. But you can't really use the language yet
at this point. You know, when you first start learning a language, you're like
in the honeymoon period at the beginning when you first learn how to say
"Hello, my name is ..." and to ask basic questions. And you feel
pretty pleased with yourself, right?
[5:10]
And
there comes a point fairly quickly, when you realize, that "I don't know
anything, I can't actually interact ... There's so much I don't know."
That to me is the A1 level. You really can't do much. You can say some things.
Just trying to get an idea of what the language is.
Now
moving on from that to A2, this is for me the most frustrating stage of a
language. This is where a lot of people get stuck. And this is where you have
studied through a fair bit, you've, you can't really speak yet. You can't hold
a conversation because there's too much you don't know. Communication is
difficult. You might be able to express yourself to say a few things, but you probably
can't, there's a lot that you can't understand so that makes a conversation
difficult.
The
problem with this stage, the reason that this stage is so tricky is because
you've got this greater, heightened awareness. You realize how much you don't know.
[6:06]
And so
it can be very, very frustrating. It can be you lack vocabulary for this and
that, the grammar is just not up to speed. And that's the stage that I dislike
the most. And it's also the hardest to break through because the next step is gonna
be one level, and this is where you're gonna be able to hold a conversation.
B1 is
the point where you can actually functionally start to use the language for
good, reliable communication. So at B1 you can hold a conversation and it's
kind of cool. But the problem is that you can't, your range of expression is
really restricted. There's, you've still got a big hole in your vocabulary.
There's lots you can't do and really, the things that you can talk about,
they're very limited to concrete things.
[7:00]
You
can't really handle any kind of abstract thought, abstract concepts. It's all
stuff, very functional. So you can have a conversation and it only serves as
the basis of ... good communication. And if you've got into that stage you know
really well that a lot of people don't actually make it that far.
Now
moving on from there we get to B2. And this is where, B2 is where you can kind
of hold conversations on a variety of topics. And, and, that includes things
like more abstract topics, things that are more difficult to explain, and also
less common things ... things that you don't encounter that often.
Now
how long to get to the B2 level, erm, it's kind of difficult to say how long
it'll take. It really depends on the language. But for me B2 is where you can
really, it's where you really have ownership of ... You're not speaking
perfectly, making a bunch of mistakes.
[8:00]
But
your vocabulary and knowledge of grammar is about that, you know, you can
communicate without too much difficulty. Now there's a kind of nice rule of
thumb that I have for B2, which is this.
If you
can go to the pub with someone and enjoy time in the pub with someone, they're
at B2 level. Okay, that's my, that's the bar that I put at ... If you could go
to the pub with someone, they've probably got a B2 level. At anything less than
a B2, and you just can't, you can't really interact enough to have an enjoyable
conversation.
Now
after that comes C1. And C1 for me is where really for all intents and purposes
you fit in naturally in any or all social situations. You can express yourself
perfectly well, you can understand most things, you won't make ... You will
still make mistakes but not that many. And conversation is just generally easy.
[9:01]
This
can only really come from spending, you know, a lot of time in the company of
native speakers. It's a fantastic stage to reach because you've just, you can
just really have fun with the language, enjoy every bit of it. You no longer
get those headaches that are associated with trying to hold longer
conversations.
And
that's for me if I can get to C1 in a language, I'm happy. I don't generally
need to go beyond that. The next level of course is C2 which is where you've
got a strong command of the language. You've got almost all situations. That
includes academia as well.
One of
the things that really separates a C1 from a C2 is your ability to function in
academic topics. Things like literature, academia, you know, stuff that you
kind of specialize in knowledge, in order to really be fluent in that kind of,
those kind of topics. This is only something that really comes at C2 level.
[10:01]
And
it's important to know that there are really plenty of native speakers who
don't necessarily have a C2 level. You know, if you're someone who never really
studied much in school, maybe you've dropped out of school or you've never
really read at all, then you probably won't pass a C2 exam. Because there's
just too much academic language you didn't learn.
So for
me, I wouldn't, it's really difficult to say whether a language level is a C1
or C2. It kind of fluctuates as well. I'd certainly be at B2 level. But it's
... I think for me I probably wouldn't confidently say that I have a C2 in
languages at the moment simply because most of the way that I use my language
is just conversational. With friends in social situations. I've never used a
language in a university, in an academic context, you know.
[10:58]
So the
lines do begin to blur, and it's important to note that because all of these
different spectrums. And the lines are very, very blurry, you know. You could
look at what I've just said. What you need to be C1. To be fluent, whatever
that means.
But
then you know, I've known people to be very low level, A1 A2, still being able
to make lots of friends and have a really good time. So it's very kind of
blurry. My main benchmark is that of B2, going to the pub, you know. A B2 is
also really the level that you have to be at in order to get into a university.
So I
hope that kind of gives you an idea of the command of what you need to be able
to prove in that language. I also hope that gives you an idea of what to expect
and what's to come for you in your languages if you haven't already got there
yet.
If
you'd like to ask me a question, please do. I love to get voicemail questions.
You can go to iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward slash asktodothat … I've also really appreciate a star rating
and review on i2 because that helps other people like you to find the podcast.
[12:08]
And if
you'd like to do that, then you can go to iwillteachyoualanguage dot com
forward slash review.
Now
I'd like to thank once more the sponsors of the show. iTalki where without
iTalki I wouldn't be able to get these high levels in a language because they
just make conversation practice so easy. iwillteachyoualanguage dot com forward
slash start speaking is the place to go for a free lesson.
And at
the end of every episode I'd like to leave you with a resource of some kind on
the topic of the show. And what I thought I'd do this time is leave you with an
interview that I did in Portuguese with Jimmy Mello who's a guy who runs
mypolyglot, which is another great language podcast.
And
the reason I'm linking you to this is because we have this very long conversation
in Brazilian Portuguese. It's pretty long, you won't have to listen to all of
it. But this topic came up, you know, "What Level Are You in a
Language?" And I would say to him, you know, I don't consider myself to be
a C2 in Portuguese because I've never really used that academically.
[13:15]
And he
kind of responded with "No, I agree with you, but you definitely have a C1
level in Portuguese." So if you'd like to check that out, have a listen to
that. That gives you an idea of what a C1 level would be in a language.
Obviously you'd have to speak Portuguese to ... But then again it's just
another way to give you a guideline, an idea what a C1 level might sound like.
I'll put the link to this in the show notes.
iwillteachyoualanguage
dot com forward slash episode 66
And
thank you so much for listening. I'll see you in the next episode of the
podcast.
[13:50]
ENDS
