The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR or CEF for short) is a standardized guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and beyond. At Expath, we follow these guidelines in all of our German classes.

How Does it Work?

These levels are classified as A1 for beginners, A2 for elementary, B1 for intermediate, B2 for upper intermediate, C1 as advanced, and C2 as mastery.

Expath, like many other language schools, splits these levels in half to accommodate students' time and budget planning (e.g. level A1 is split into A1.1 and A1.2). This framework is one of the best to learn German for beginners.

To start with level A1, you are expected to have no knowledge of German.

What Does it Mean for You?

After completing level B1.1, you'll be able to:

• understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
• deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken.
• produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest and describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

What You'll Learn

In a typical B1.1 curriculum you might learn the following (and more):

Talking about when something happened (wenn, als); Reading and writing emails; Reading and composing biographies; Past tense (flog, ging); Talking about the sequence of past events; Describing accidents; Expressing past ownership and wishes; Expressing fortunate and unfortunate occurrences; “Plusquamperfekt” (Ich war umgefallen); Describing degrees (besonders, ziemlich, etc.); Using “even though” in German; Comparing options; Formulating longer sentences in German (…,der…); Understanding newspaper headlines; Talking about tv shows; Making suggestions; Giving reasons; Agreeing; Declining and disagreeing; Giving alternative options; Reading German fiction; Talking about physical actions; Recommending; Talking about health; Understanding German marketing and ads; Talking about prevention; Using fractions; Evaluating theories and assumptions; Using the Genitive in German; Talking about statistics; Expressing the consequences of hypothetical situations; Clarifying within a conversation; Guessing effectively in German; Expressing reasoning; Talking about foreign languages; Talking about learning types; Talking about shared experiences; Talking about unreal conditions; Expressing one’s opinion; Asking follow-up questions and reacting; Talking about careers; Talking about degrees of ease and convenience; Reading and understanding job ads; Writing application letters; Interviewing effectively; Conducting small talk; Talking about oneself in a job interview; Ending conversations; Evaluating someone or something; Talking professionally to customers; Inquiring about offers; Talking about motivations; Following instuctions and guidelines; Analysing newspaper articles; Finding information; Making sales pitches; Speaking about one’s home country; Talking about statistics; Giving options; Exaggerating; Talking about moving; Expressing regret; Reacting to bad news; Expressing looking forward to something; Talking about rules, regulations and guidelines; Complaining to a neighbor; Criticizing politely; Expressing surprise; Reacting to criticism in a friendly way and apologizing; Expressing anger; Reading newspaper; Expressing sympathy; Reporting.