Level A2 (Elementary)

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will have reliably demonstrated the ability to:

Global Scale — Overall Communicative Ability
Reference: CEFR Table 1 — Common Reference Levels: Global Scale
• Understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g., very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
• Communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
• Describe in simple terms aspects of one’s background, immediate environment, and matters in areas of immediate need.

Reception — Listening and Reading
Reference: CEFR Table 2 — Self-Assessment Grid (A2 Reception)
• Understand phrases and the highest-frequency vocabulary related to areas of most immediate personal relevance (e.g., very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
• Catch the main point in short, clear, simple messages and announcements.
• Understand enough to manage simple, routine exchanges when speech is clearly and slowly articulated.
• Extract essential information from short recorded passages dealing with predictable everyday matters delivered slowly and clearly.
• Read very short, simple texts and find specific, predictable information in simple everyday material such as advertisements, prospectuses, menus, and timetables.
• Understand short, simple personal letters.
• Understand short, simple texts on familiar matters consisting of high-frequency everyday or job- related language.
• Understand everyday signs and notices in public places (streets, restaurants, railway stations) and workplaces (directions, instructions, hazard warnings).
• Identify specific information in simpler written material such as letters, brochures, and short newspaper articles describing events.

Interaction — Spoken and Written
Reference: CEFR Table 2 — Self-Assessment Grid (A2 Interaction)
• Communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar topics and activities.
• Handle very short social exchanges, even though unable to sustain the conversation independently.
• Interact with reasonable ease in structured situations and short conversations, provided the other person helps if necessary.
• Establish social contact using everyday polite forms of greeting and address; make and respond to invitations and apologies.
• Participate in short conversations in routine contexts on topics of interest; express how one feels in simple terms and express thanks.
• Ask and answer questions about what people do at work and in free time; discuss what to do, where to go, and make arrangements to meet.
• Deal with common aspects of everyday living such as travel, lodgings, eating, and shopping; make simple transactions in shops, post offices, or banks.
• Ask for and provide everyday goods and services; get simple information about travel; use public transport; ask and give directions; buy tickets.
• Write short, simple notes and messages relating to matters of immediate need.
• Write a very simple personal letter, for example thanking someone for something.

Production — Spoken and Written
Reference: CEFR Table 2 — Self-Assessment Grid (A2 Production)
• Use a series of phrases and sentences to describe in simple terms one’s family and other people, living conditions, educational background, and present or most recent job.
• Give a simple description or presentation of people, living or working conditions, daily routines, and likes/dislikes as a short series of simple phrases and sentences linked into a list.
• Tell a story or describe something in a simple list of points; describe everyday aspects of one’s environment (e.g., people, places, a job or study experience).
• Describe plans and arrangements, habits and routines, past activities and personal experiences.
• Give a short, rehearsed presentation on a topic pertinent to everyday life, briefly giving reasons and explanations for opinions, plans, and actions.
• Write a series of simple phrases and sentences linked with simple connectors like “and,” “but,” and “because.” • Write about everyday aspects of one’s environment in linked sentences; write very short, basic descriptions of events, past activities, and personal experiences.

Qualitative Aspects of Spoken Language Use
Reference: CEFR Table 3 — Qualitative Aspects of Spoken Language Use (A2)
• Range: Use basic sentence patterns with memorised phrases, groups of a few words, and formulae to communicate limited information in simple everyday situations.
• Accuracy: Use some simple structures correctly, while still systematically making basic mistakes (e.g., tense mixing, agreement errors), though the intended meaning is usually clear.
• Fluency: Make oneself understood in very short utterances, even though pauses, false starts, and reformulation are very evident.
• Interaction: Answer questions and respond to simple statements; indicate when following, but rarely sustain conversation independently.
• Coherence: Link groups of words with simple connectors like “et” (and), “mais” (but), and “parce que” (because).

Communication Strategies
Reference: CEFR Illustrative Scales (A2 Strategies)
• Use simple techniques to start, maintain, or end a short conversation; initiate, maintain, and close simple face-to-face exchanges.
• Ask very simply for repetition when not understanding; ask for clarification about key words or phrases using stock phrases.
• Use an idea of overall meaning to derive the probable meaning of unknown words from context.
• Adapt well-rehearsed memorised phrases to particular circumstances through limited lexical substitution; expand learned phrases through simple recombinations.