Description of Spanish levels

Description of Spanish language levels

Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5	Level 6	Level 7	Level 8
Diagram of levels - Spanish language

Spanish Beginners – Spanish Level 1

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

The student does not speak Spanish or has basic knowledge of the Spanish language. He or she uses only model sentences to communicate in Spanish and has difficulties understanding and interacting. The student only can take part in very simple conversations. He or she reads very simple texts.

Level objectives in Spanish Courses for Beginners

Based on a communicative approach of the Spanish language starting from the first day, the objective of this level is to enable the student to have simple conversations in Spanish language on topics such as introductions, to give or ask about personal information, to speak about how he or she feels physically and emotionally, to ask for explanations, to express his or her desires, tastes and preferences, to maintain basic conversations in public places, shops and restaurants, to speak about timetables and to make plans for the future. The student can also make invitations and propose plans.

Fluency is more important than correctness at Spanish Beginners level.

In sum, the student is ready to understand and to make him or herself understood in basic everyday situations both verbally and in writing, even if he or she speaks slowly or makes mistakes.

Spanish Elementary – Spanish Level 2

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

The student’s conversations in Spanish language are limited to familiar topics and answers simple questions. He or she can also express basic opinions, feelings and necessities, as well as make plans. The student can read adapted short texts with simple Spanish vocabulary. Difficulties understanding in situations beyond the most familiar topics. Limited fluency and mistakes interfere in the communication in Spanish.

Level objectives in Spanish Courses for Elementary students

The objective at this level is to enable the student to maintain a conversation with more fluency in public places, to express his or her opinion, to speak about personal daily activities, to comment his or her plans about the future and previous experiences. The Spanish student can give orders and advice, as well as make comparisons.

At this level, fluency continues to have more importance but correctness also has its significance, limiting the mistakes that interfere in his or her communication. The student writes and understands notes and warnings, as well as simple real texts from which he or she is able to extract key information.

By the end of this level, the student is able to maintain conversations on aspects of everyday life, verbally and in writing, with a much more varied and active vocabulary. His or her grammar notions are still quite limited.

Spanish Elementary 2 – Spanish Level 3

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

The student speaks in Spanish with relative fluency in conversations concerning everyday life, although he or she still makes many mistakes because until now fluency has been of greater importance than correctness.

Level objectives in Spanish courses for Upper Elementary

The main objective at this level is to enable the student to understand and speak in the past and future tenses. He or she should be able to speak about his or her life, to retell his or her biography, to value experiences or to express desires and basic hypotheses. The student can interpret and give orders and predictions, transmit information or messages to other people. This course prepares the student to understand written texts from real life: announcements, cinema posters, and simple brochures...

Even if fluency is still of greater importance, we will be working on correctness as well as enriching vocabulary. The structures and knowledge that the student has are reaffirmed. At this level, the main point is to increase the student’s confidence and self-assurance while speaking.

Spanish Low Intermediate – Spanish Level 4

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

The student can speak about his or her actual life, past and future. His of her comprehension level allows him or her to maintain conversations in a normal register on daily topics such as studies, work, hobbies and tastes. The student makes some mistakes while using the past tenses, even if they do not interfere too much in communications.

Level objectives in Spanish courses for lower Intermediate

This level’s objective is to enable the student to understand ever more complex conversations as well as to increase his or her fluency. The aim is also to limit the mistakes and increase the number of actively used words so that his or her vocabulary is more appropriate in specific situations.

This course concentrates on speaking in past tenses: personal résumé, interviews, biographies, description of people and customs in the past, retelling jokes and stories. The student is also able to speak about the future and make plans. He or she can ask questions, give advice, formulate hypotheses, and express justified personal opinions.

Knowledge of Spanish grammar increases substantially and students start using structures that are more complex.

Spanish Intermediate – Spanish Level 5

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

There are no problems communicating in general using Spanish, even if from time to time some comprehension difficulties occur due to new vocabulary and the fluency level. The student can understand colloquial expressions, even if he or she misunderstands them sometimes.

He or she is able to speak and write fluently on the most familiar topics.

Level objectives in Spanish courses for Intermediate students

The objective of this course is to enable the student to express hypotheses, opinions, tastes, agreement and disagreement, emotions, doubts, advice and recommendations.  The student should be able to speak about the future and make plans. He or she should also be able to express causes and consequences, as well as hypothetical conditions by the use of subjunctive structures.

Lexical knowledge broadens and colloquial expressions are studied for their use in conversation.

The student can read not very complex literature and informative texts. He or she has some problems with articles expressing opinions.

Spanish Upper Intermediate – Spanish Level 6

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

The student is able to give information on various topics verbally and in writing. His or her fluency is high. His or her listening and reading comprehension capacity allows the student to participate in conversations of both formal and informal type, even if sometimes the student misunderstands or does not understand everything. The grammar level is high but there are some mistakes in the usage of complex structures.

Level objectives in Spanish courses for Upper Intermediate

Reviews of all the verbal tenses of Spanish are made with the aim at reducing the number of mistakes that may result some misunderstanding as to the aspect of the action and the moment of its realisation.

This Spanish course concentrates on the expression of hypotheses as well as different degrees of doubt in the present, past and future tenses. The student can show emotions and desires concerning him or herself or others. He or she is able to express desires, which did not happen in the past. He can indicate the degree of hypotheses as well as formulate reactions and recommendations in a past context.

The student is able to prepare presentations, reports and argumentation, organising the ideas and concepts he or she wants to transmit. He or she can take part in discussions and debates with different speakers.

The student can read literary texts by contemporary authors when they are not very difficult, as well as texts presenting reports, argumentations and information. Even if he or she reads articles expressing opinion, there is still some difficulty reading “between the lines” or interpreting irony or written plays on words.

The students are trained to have a good knowledge of the Spanish culture.

Spanish Advanced – Spanish Level 7

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

The student speaks fluently with few mistakes, even if he or she continues having some problems with new situations and exceptions to the rules. Sometimes he or she uses very common words in situations that require specific vocabulary. He or she is able to recognise different styles and to interpret the irony, as well as to read “between the lines” in not very complicated articles expressing opinion. The Spanish grammar level is high.

Level objectives in Spanish courses for Advanced students

The objective of this course is to improve the student’s capacity to react spontaneously, to make plays on words and differentiate spoken and written registers. He or she should be able to express him or herself correctly, fluently and appropriately according to context. 

The student works on the correction of mistakes. Exceptions and colloquial or formal expressions are included. The work is concentrated on the logic and coherent expression of speech. The student is able to write using his or her linguistic knowledge.

Topics related to the Spanish culture are emphasised.

Spanish Proficiency – Spanish Level 8

Spanish Knowledge profile of the student before the Spanish course

The student speaks fluently in Spanish, with a rich vocabulary, even if he makes some mistakes in complex syntax and in the use of exceptions.

He or she can read journalistic, scientific or literary texts quickly, extracting the most important information. He or she can understand messages with a double meaning.

Level objectives in Spanish courses for Proficiency

The level’s objective is to enable the student to express him or herself verbally and in writing with the precision required by the context and the register. The student should be able to use the most complex structures: different verbal circumlocutions, adverbial phrases.