Why Your English Level is WRONG (A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2)

Watch my free masterclass and speak English with confidence today: canguroenglish.com/8s4j
Almost everyone who has tried to learn a language has heard of the CEFR, and in particular the six CEFR levels, which go from A1 to C2. The CEFR is used all over the world to teach, learn, and assess languages.
But how much do you really know about it?
In this video I’m going to show you why everything you know about the CEFR is probably wrong, and how this is damaging your language learning. By the end of this video you will have a new perspective that will give you confidence, and help you to get the level of English you want.

[@Canguroenglish]

Watch my free masterclass and speak English with confidence today: canguroenglish.com/3r9x

[@DeutschMobil]

I didn can watch your free masterclass. Can you send me a link?

[@yolandapatino87]

"Learning a language is one of the most difficult things that you will ever try to do as an adult.It's the equivalent of conquering a mountain.But it's not a mountain that you're supposed to CARRY it's a mountain that you're supposed to CLIMB." This reasoning is perfect an true! Thank you Christian.

[@santibarricada1609]

I would think of language learning as the tools and stamina you get from training/climbing and not as the mountain to climb...

[@susandarber9942]

Me, a deaf person who speaks French, English, Spanish, Latin, a bit of danish and greek. And at 25yo I'm learning Italian now...

[@ivanscholtz7314]

You're not only an English teacher, but first and foremost a very wisdom person. As usual I enjoyed your speech.

[@omarnug]

Wise*

[@BushcraftEurope]

No wonder, looking at your grammar

[@EnglishwithJoe]

He is not even an English teacher

[@rudolfwouters7729]

I'm in the run up to my DELE B2 exam Spanish and to be honest i feel so frustrated. Moved to Spain last year and i'm planning to become a tourist guide. At least B2 level is required for obtaining the official tour guide card. My focus is on the speaking part. I should be able to tell interesting stories and entertain my clients. Does it make sense that they ask me to write a report about a new diet and recommend it to other people. I'm not a scientist. So it is my believe that exams should be designed to your personal goals. I fully agree with your statement that language learners do not need equal abilities in every part of the language.

[@jorgeenrique362]

I hope you can get the scores you need to get your dream job. I'm from Peru and Spanish can be very challenging but with effort and passion you can definitely get it. In my case, I want to learn English and to become fluent in the future to use it as a tool to get a new job in a different area where I'm currently working in. My best wishes to you and I hope you love Spanish, it's a beautiful language.

[@luciazoccante9647]

Diet?🤢

[@crvitamin]

Hi, I'm from Chile, but if you need some help practicing spanish answer this comment and I send you my WhatsApp

[@EnglishwithJoe]

so they should design a specific Spanish test for tour guides? Scientists do not recommend diets

[@innocento.1552]

@englishwithjoe your logic is very flawed. The request was not to make a test for every single profession but for specific areas: e.g medicine, engineering, construction, tourism etc.

[@lexxryazanov]

Exactly! That's why I never tried to pass any language exams. All I wanted is to read news, watch TV series and KZbin videos, play games and make short conversations. And I don't care about how good (or bad) I am in terms of A1-C2 levels. I understood every single word you just said and nothing else matters.

[@NinaO29]

This means you simply don’t need a document to go to university, get a work permit, or escape from war. Nobody kicks you out of the country because you didn't pass the exam. You're just lucky. Not everyone is so lucky.

[@psicologiajoseh]

I still feel bad bc I was one point below a C1 certification. It had to be 180 and my score was 179. But this video helps me remember that this standards are not the most important thing in my language learning journey. Superb as usual!

[@BrunoNeureiter]

I found a grammar error in your message. 🤓🤓👍🏻

[@psicologiajoseh]

@@BrunoNeureiter Go ahead and share it here 😅🫰🏽

[@CalcioEUnico]

I do not know if you will believe me or not, but the same happened to me. And to one more friend of mine. But, I think it's more a question of concentration than language prowess itself.

[@nonono3732]

​@@BrunoNeureiter Wow, you're so clever! Well-done!

[@psicologiajoseh]

@@CalcioEUnico for real? This is crazy... I don't want to get paranoic but that's so suspicious. Could it be that they do it on purpose so you have to retake the test?

[@holdkds9823]

The most inspiring language blogger I've seen so far in about 5 years. Thank you so much.

[@8sharpie]

You are so interesting to listen to, Christian! Wish you all the best, keep going! I got my C1 CAE diploma more than 15 years ago and yes, that involved a LOT of traditional studying. But now I have a pleasure to forget all that stuff I was taught and just enjoy watching movies, communicating to people, and even making mistakes, which is not a problem anymore))

[@07Kotenok]

Absolutely agree, we were discussing this idea at the class with my students recently. I've been in teaching for more than 40 years. Trying many ways of teaching I worked out my own methodology which gives better results compared to the standard ways of teaching. Thank you a million for this video. I really like your ideas and share them.

[@savascool3416]

Another weird thing about language exams is that usually it requires from you a number of skills that you don't really use. For example, the listening part where they test your skills in the so-called active listening where you need to search for specific information that you were previously told to find. The only time I personally use it in my native language is when I try to understand what station is being announced through broken speakers whenever I have to use a train. A friend of mine tried to pass her Chinese exam, she had a task where she needed to repeat out loud everything that she heard (this is not a language skill that everyone uses on a daily basis either). Idk all those exams just seem really absurd to me.

[@marcelopires1773]

Incredible, although my poor compreension in English language, I am able to understand almost words and phrases that this guy said. Thank you a lot to provide me confidence to follow my studies.

[@user-dc7im3ez9s]

Wow! I completely agree with you! I will immediately share this video with all my students who are struggling with achieving their desired level. It doesn't mean that you don't need to study but it means that you should realise what you are studying for. Thank you so much!

[@emaldonadog]

I agree with you, that exam does not shows your authentic language level. But... this titulation is that you need for applying for some jobs or public oppositions. Like an universitary titulation. Some times (like in my case) we want and need only learn a language. Some times we need only a paper with the exam result. And, we can accept, someone who achive C1 knows a little bit more Languages that someone only can achive B2. The language they need? Well, probably not.

[@riclou1910]

As always, well done! Thanks very much indeed, Christian! Keep up the good job and have a great day!

[@RoseNani-gq4sh]

You are the most encouraging teacher that I've ever seen in my life. God be with you.😊❤

[@inesalvarez6590]

Thanks a lot for this amazing reflection! Thanks for casting light on such widespread misconceptions. Many other teachers should learn from your honesty and commitment.

[@florianabacki1621]

Yeah, well said! Christian said about one of the reason of issue: people and companies which want to get money from the learners. But there are more hidden issues, I think. First, it is the tendency for superficial view on everything (look deeper into EC documents? What for?). And second, it is, so to say, "hunger" of standardization for everything (even if it is not necessary). "We need a standard, well CEFR made such thing, great!" Because without standardization, we don't know how to make the exams (they say the idea is not for exams, but who cares).

[@kitiamuriel]

Well said: hunger for standardisation and nearly nothing about the literature, poetry, songs, theatre, cinema, folk tales and dialects or regional languages of a country...

[@user-vx3zl7di1f]

Thank you very much. I even haven't heard that such document exists. You are absolutely right in every word you said.

[@bjl06e]

Adult ESL teacher here... This was inspiring and thought provoking - thanks. Subscribed!

[@man-zc7ee]

Cristian, you are always inspiring me to be like you - "The Great Researcher"! Thank You!

[@blindbrazilianjustice]

Thanks for the classes, professor. I am from Brazil, and my English improved a lot after watching these fabulous videos you have made.

[@user-ry8xg3zx1i]

Always enjoy videos on this channel. Thanks, Teacher!

[@josefalcao2403]

Absolutely!! You brought so good thoughts wisely. Thank you again! Our goal is communication! Test doesn't mean the truly about me.

[@alfonsotamayo9841]

Hats off to you sir. I love your videos. This one in particular is solid gold in my book. Kudos and thanks. 🙏🙌

[@beckhighways]

I really, really love your vídeos because of the reflexions you make on various interesting sides of learning English.

[@wschroder1]

As usual so sobering and with a wise, flawless train of thoughts. Thanks Chrsitian.

[@haedo6]

I loved the video. I really enjoy learning and I particularly enjoy learning languages. I like to be able to understand and comunicate with other people and I find that It could be frustrating eather to study something that barely relates to you or to get stocked with stuff that's not relevant toy you, your live or your surroundings. Thank you for the content

[@MikeLlerena]

Great explanation dear colleague..! That’s very straightforward to the main point

[@user-pb9vm2ow8z]

I always miss such content as you are unique with your perspective about learning journey as a whole.. I believe many teachers were drawn to the wrong direction of teaching which unfortunately leads to not much of progress. This is general to all learning experiences we are going through in life or academic setting. Bless you

[@gunadi0447]

Thank you so much christian This is great encouragement for me

[@mirumir117]

So glad to see you again😊

[@DG-xz5no]

Thank you for your great videos, Christian!

[@paulo_esl]

Great vídeo and information! Thank you very much indeed.

[@elejota4115]

Thank you so much for your class.

[@andremunizti]

I'm very proud because I can understand you very well, maybe my grammar isn't good, but learning a new language like English is very rewarding for me. Thank you for sharing your ideas 💡

[@sajjadmohamed21]

Firstly, thank you for your valuable information.

[@simonettagori439]

Always interesting! Thanks!

[@HumbertoJovel-ig9cm]

Congratulations! You are the best canguro english.

[@andresbaruchvazquez8173]

Woow thanks professor! This is a big change ! Is a new point of view about the learning! Is a new philosopy meaning. Excellent video ! Thanks for share! I send a hug from México.

[@ocristianoalmeida]

Awsome explanation. Thanks.

[@luisfaggioni9384]

Wow, I've always thought that way, and you translated really well and I learned about who created the language placement scale. Congrats!

[@TheLigiatube]

Thanks! Very interesting and I will take it to my life

[@mttasadi4034]

I have been telling my DELTA tutors about it. Unfortunately, some people think they know everything. Right now, I am working on a new way to represent English levels. Amazing video. Thank you. Just one thing I need to add. The more we are learning about L2 language acquisition, the more we understand that Dogme Teaching (Teaching Unplugged) was probably the best why we can teach our students.

[@vividua]

In my opinion is impossible acquire A1 to B2 in three months.

[@M.F.J.C]

Well, in English, I reached this A1 to B2 in these exactly three months though, one of the reasons why I do not think this measure is 100% accurate. Nowadays (5 months after starting) I am already fluent, so I can see it, I am learning Italian nowadays, in the B2 level (2 months of learning), and reached the C1 of Spanish in just 1 month, in Spanish case is because my mother language is Portuguese so was extremely easy reach a high level on the language

[@Diamond-ji2gv]

@@M.F.J.C I dont wan't to discredit you. Spoilers: B2 level is not hard but the biggest problem is when you reach to higher levels where ur english has to be more accurate, which means, you have to learn new words (both formal and informal), new phrases with different meanings and of course, how to use use each word correctly. It is practically hard for someone like you to get a c2 grade even if you studied for 1 year. Now, c1 is where things get interesting tbh. New words, more developed texts, speaking feels amazing and listenings are great.

[@BrunoNeureiter]

​@@M.F.J.CI want to test your Italian. I'm sure it's not believable

[@salman3922]

Excellent content as always...deep and very thoughtful ❤

[@GladysHunnam]

Very enlightening video, thanks Christian!

[@santiagocaballero9373]

This is simply one of the best videos I've ever watched in my whole life.

[@JanaSofiaSefar22]

Hi, thanks for explain. You are the best ❤

[@rafaelcorrea5330]

That’s all deeply philosophically true! I know many people that are afraid to engage a simple conversation or comment due the labels that companies, schools, teachers, etc would put in them for the mistakes that may will occurs. So, the core idea of the language is corrupted , and communication will not occurs. I don’t need to know all the things about a specific language to start a conversation, I just need two persons that are inclined to have a conversation .

[@julianabrandao8850]

Wow! Everyone are putting yourself in some box. It's sad, but it's really. You're a Master, thanks a lot ❤

[@ArtemHahauz-nm7bk]

Thank you for the metaphorical end of your fun and interesting video.

[@david41945]

The American Accent here! Great contenta. Miss u all buddies. See ya soonnnn. Long life to Cangaroo Ecosystem

[@pompom6675]

Is he an Australian?

[@UBrittesEnglish]

Great. Thanks

[@laurac4128]

I love you and enjoy listening to you Chris❤

[@silcar2300]

Why didn't I discover this site before! Awsome! I love your English and you!

[@nyssa-sbloccailtuoinglese]

Amazing video as usual!!💪❤

[@MaralMehdiyeva-vs7tn]

Thank you teacher

[@slkv5972]

The excellent motivation video , probably the best one !

[@mehfilezareen]

Hello ! Love to see you again 😊

[@evgeniy1872]

Thank you so much 🧘😊

[@mohamedaminegwada8986]

As usual, it is a useful video for us like bigginers, and the most thing I have liked it is to be an independent learners who can speak and communicate with others and foreigners whose have different traditions and cultures.

[@ventsislav1796]

Totally agree with you.

[@petersonjeanbaptiste7112]

You'r a very good teacher.

[@GilbertoGuarino]

Excellent video. Although it is true one should always endeavor to reach a high proficiency in a language, it is basically true a language is, up of all, THE key to inter social communication. So, I believe one should do one’s best to improve his/her language skills, but without allowing to be intimidated by dubious standards that can act like an insurmountable barrier to spontaneity. We should all do our best to communicate, despite the pressure of understated levels of language apprenticeship. Thank you so much for sharing your video.

[@Interesting_Poland]

Great explanation! It was interesting, as always.

[@JorgOrrego]

Thanks so much Christian.

[@lorenzinv9635]

Thanks canguro! The outsider in learn English!

[@kimaabidi4918]

very kind man. thanks a lot.

[@yurirodriguez5456]

Beautifully expressed

[@chemsokasmi6693]

Thank you so much teacher

[@bernardmansire8642]

THANKS GOOD TEACHER

[@Kkubey]

At some point I understood that all those times in my teens when English native speakers told me my English was better than theirs what they really told me was that my English sounded unnatural and too stiff. And I did not even get a proper school education before conversing on the internet (I remember painfully well that all I had when I was about 12 were the simple present and simple past in terms of tenses and it really bothered me how I couldn't talk about the future). When I resumed learning at school, the way the language was presented and taught felt unnatural to me, as the interpretation was more linguistic as practiced in all those exam courses. And yet, I continued to attempt learning other languages this way. And also, despite being the only one who could have a comfortable conversation in English, my grades did not reflect that as I could not describe what I was doing or how the language was actually structured. When taking courses guided by this step by step interpretation of the CEFR, people pointed out how they were lacking certain skills depending on the courses they took. Some lacked conversation, some lacked writing, some lacked the understanding of grammar... And people do address that eventually. I think tests are a good way to get an understanding of what you can focus on if you just take them for yourself. I never got an English certificate but I feel like I need some feedback sometimes. People rarely point out mistakes you make once they seem minor, not to mention that my spelling and choice of words is not always lining up with one type of English and I don't always get the hint when people seemingly have a heavy dialect. I am not sure how bothered others could be by this inconsistency. Also we tend to be harsh with mistakes we make in other languages while we also make a bunch of mistakes in our native languages at any given day. In any way, language and how comfortable you feel about it and others feel about conversing with you are probably the most important key to becoming part of a group. If someone is hard to converse with, people try to avoid having to talk to them. And "knowing a language" without applying it doesn't bring any satisfaction. I still do enjoy the way you can use the CEFR to give people a general idea of what you are capable of. I am also used to people describing their own abilities as something along the lines of "B2 written B1 conversation". But as with any category we place ourselves in, we shouldn't be just about that term. Although in this case, people at least won't try to be A1 for the rest of their lifes like we see with other terms.

[@olivserpa]

Thank you Christian, a hug friendly from Brazil!!

[@vitor.vieira]

Thank you 🇧🇷

[@spatz82thefierzwolf]

Instant subscribe. Than you sir

[@aisar-vw5ce]

You are great ❤❤

[@user-cf6vn6gm4o]

It should be obvious that you cannot definitively separate fluency levels by such a general approach. Language is, at least from my experience, mostly acquired through exposure. And as it so happens, one can't expose oneself to every subject at the same level. So, variation of fluency across different subjects is nothing but natural. Great video! Thank you for showing people how to properly use the CEFR scale.

[@app8414]

Great Video and clearly articulated. Would you like to discuss the ESOL/TEFL economic models?

[@paolabartoccini5768]

Many thanks

[@carmensalinas3222]

He is the only english man I can understand.😢

[@chadbailey7038]

That’s probably because he is speaking intentionally slowly 😊. As a native English speaker watching this, I had to play it at 1.25x speed to be able to sit through all of it. Honestly, I could have probably put it up to 1.5x faster and still have been ok!

[@Quolyx]

Is very easy to fix that, you only need to watch more content and the comprehensive input it'll work. This is not a race, only still practice.

[@josetur6723]

I think he is Australian. Kangaroo could be a clue. I can understand without subtitles, probably he talks slowly and clearly and I graceful at that. The most important to me it’s the message. I recommend you read a little every day, and listen some short podcast. This man encourage people and that it’s helpful. Thank you Kangaroo and Go ahead! 😊

[@LG-tt2qz]

@@chadbailey7038 I don't think speed matters in this case. This guy is very understandable even when you play the video at 2x, which btw I did to sit through it too lol. I think it is about his very crisp and clear speech.

[@EnglishwithJoe]

he is not English

[@markdonovan1540]

Mindblowing and makes for interesting food for thought. Like most things, they get highjacked by businesses and organisations who see only opportunity to make money. The marketing is aimed at selling the "language learning benefits", so they need to refer to something; but that's as far as it goes. After that, it's all about the money.

[@MANALRA-bz6of]

I like you and I like what you said when you told...we should suppose the mountains not Cary it❤

[@inglesconceline9527]

Very interesting point🤔

[@WillianSolisPerez]

Thanks Christ was a very nice lesson

[@ricardosanchezmedina1552]

that is the excelent for to describe a lsngusje how try to learn some lenguaje dont matter then importsnt is your level only important is your comunicación skills

[@danielcubides5170]

As a psychologist I refuse to believe in labels categorizing all of us in a determinate construct when we're so much more than a mere number, just because you're C2 doesn't mean the value of a person with A2 should instantly decrease because you're not as good as the role model you're looking up to. English and all languages overall are like the universe, it's so vastly infinite we'll probably never get the chance to fully appreciate the whole picture of it. English is constantly evolving and the English dialect our great-grandfathers used to communicate is not going to be the same our grandkids will use to talk between each other, therefore, if any person tells you he/she is fully proficient and knows everything, better distrust because that might not be so true

[@KJ-rh1cs]

I passed a C1 exam for German in 2013 and I still have problem to understand German movies especially about war, because soldiers speak not that clearly and use very difficult vocabularies... So, I feel I am still a very beginner. In the exam, Germans speak fast but very clearly like TV moderator... And also, when I learnt German I learnt most of time alone with a grammar book, so I still don't know many vocabularies about their culture (like some words about fairytale, easter, christmas etc). I have lived in Germany for seven years but I could not make any German colleagues so I had no opportunity to hear such things. But I moved to Prague and I am learning Czech from start with teacher and students, and my wife is Czech, so my Czech is only A2 but I think I know more words about easter and christmas etc. Because I was just at home and watched KZbin in national holidays in Germany but meanwhile I participate on such holidays with my new family.

[@MarianaCarvalh0]

Perfect 👏

[@TheLanguageCoach]

I share your approach to both language learning and teaching. Language is about what you can or can't do YET in a specific context of communication. Unfortunately, as teachers and coaches, our clients constantly ask us to enforce some sort of standard measured against time vs money invested in the process. Language learning becomes an almost impossible and stressful task for many in order to advance. And we teachers, become gatekeepers.

[@josemartinezmaldonado8358]

Hi Christian. How are you doing? I am José from canary islands. We are going to go to La Coruña, and l was wondering if we can meet you. We follow you on KZbin. I really like the way you express yourself with the English language. You are a great teacher. I hope l will meet you. Please, let me know if we can meet. We are going to be there from April 11th until April 14th. Thank you.

[@positiveandstrong]

Under the CEFR scale, I have an A1 level in Swahili and an A2 in the Siamese language. Yay!

[@dertalexhien2077]

Hello Christian, you just mastered it ❤

[@remozulli4218]

You are the best!

[@ldmtag]

Yeah, right, I've always been telling people that my level is between A2 and C1 depending on a topic. I watch YT and rarely need to turn on captions, usually understand every single word spoken in different accents. I know a lot of car vocabulary, understand most jokes and puns, but I'm helpless when ordering food, cos I've never been interesting what all the vegetables and pizza toppings are called. I'm not good at giving directions either. Can't watch movies because of all the background noises. The only movie series I can watch is Harry Potter, for some reason. But whenever I come accross a movie fragment in YT shorts, I understand everything perfectly even without captions. Last sunday I failed a B2 test. A couple years ago I took a different test and scored C2😂

[@Joseph_Hovsep]

Excellent

[@maximshaptala1177]

I love your stories

[@Amorim20455]

I agree, Mr. It's an excellent reflection. Its like trying to put a big elephant in the small box. It is a harmful illusion. Thank you!

[@urso3000]

I love it’s ❤thanks again 😊

[@marianamiranda2714]

Excellent! Thanks for your videos! But, How to change the sytem?

[@jillp1840]

This was an interesting topic, thank you, Christian. My Ukrainian guest has moved into her own place, and I now have another Ukrainian staying, half the former's age. I reckon they would say they were both (eg) B1 or B2 - except their proficiencies and deficiencies are very different - and what they need English for, and English to do is also very different. The first guest needs English to find work at a managerial level, and to be able to write reports, analyse data etc. My second wants to be a songwriter. She needs to be able to 'play' with the English language; to express feelings and ideas and understand the rhythm and rhyme of the English language. I don't think she would fit into CEFR box very well. Or rather, the CEFR box isn't what she needs.