YOUR SPANISH LEVEL

The following are the general guidelines to help you to decide which is your Spanish Level.

Level 5 is the highest or Advanced Level and Level 1 (Elementary Spanish for Begginers) is the lowest, and this one implies that the student has some kind of Spanish knowledge.

Level 1 - ELEMENTARY SPANISH  I

This is your level if

a. you have never taken any formal classes in Spanish before

b. you have taken 1 year of high school Spanish or its equivalent

c. you are basically non-communicative in Spanish but can introduce yourself, greet people, and give basic information (Speaking ability)

d. you can fill in simple info on forms (Writing skills)

e. you can understand uncomplicated info on familiar topics (Reading skills)

f. you can understand simple sentences and instructions if pronounced clearly (Listening Skills)

Level  2 - ELEMENTARY SPANISH  II

This is your level if

a. you have taken no more than 2/3   years of high school Spanish, one/2  quarters of college-level Spanish, or its equivalent.

b. you  have problems  to understand what the teacher says in Spanish, and  you may find an all-Spanish classroom somewhat difficult at first, but you can function in an all-Spanish classroom.

c. you can give brief answers  and make remarks but your Speaking Ability is limited to words and phrases, not whole sentences.

d. you can understand very simple general texts in Spanish, but you need a lot of help to read anything longer than a couple of paragraphs, mostly because there are too many words you don´t know.

e. you can draft fax and simple memos but you almost always need to look something up when you try to write a long sentence or you are not sure that your sentences are mostly grammatically correct Spanish.

Level 3 - INTERMEDIATE  SPANISH  I

This is your level if

a. you have taken more than 3 years of high school Spanish, 1 year of college-level Spanish, or its equivalent.

b. you are able to understand gist of native speakers and principal points of radio/TV and you are comfortable in an all-Spanish classroom.

c. you are hesitant when you speak Spanish, and you can describe yourself, talk about your interests, ask other people about themselves and their activities and carry out simple phone conversations.

d. you have done some reading in Spanish, but it takes you some time and effort to follow the gist of a story  or newspapers/magazine article.

e. you can write several paragraphs, short simple letters about yourself and your friends or family, without a dictionary, but with some errors.

Level 4 - INTERMEDIATE  SPANISH   II

This is your level if

a. you have no problems following your teacher in Spanish or conversations between 2 native speakers.

b. you can speak easily and express yourself well, and you are able to speak comfortably in the past or present and to talk about politics, social facts,etc.

c. you can read general and specialized texts well. It might take time, but you can read with attention and some enjoyment.

d. you can write reports and business letters and you are comfortable writing longer compositions that develop an argument or a position on a serious issue. You may need a dictionary occassionally, but you make few grammatical errors.

Level  5- ADVANCED SPANISH

This is your level if

a. you can follow Radio/TV conversations in detail.

b. you can participate in every conversation without difficulty.

c. you can write extremely well and you don´t make grammatical errors.

d. you can read unabridged Spanish texts without problems.