YolangoThe CEFR, explained
Yolango's curriculum is organized by levels like A2 or B1. Those labels come from the CEFR, a shared scale for describing what someone can do in a language. Scroll down to see the scale, one level at a time.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or CEFR, was published by the Council of Europe in two thousand and one. Schools, universities, employers and exam boards now use it to describe language ability in the same terms.
It doesn't measure what you know about a language. It describes what you can do with it, in plain "can do" statements: read a menu, follow a news report, write a complaint. That is why the same level means the same thing in Spanish, Japanese or Arabic.
The letters group the levels into three broad stages. Each stage splits into a lower and a higher level.
You can get things done in familiar, predictable situations, with simple words and a patient listener.
A1 and A2
You can manage on your own: follow the main points, keep a conversation going and explain what you think.
B1 and B2
You can use the language with precision and flexibility, including for study and work.
C1 and C2
You understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases. You can introduce yourself and ask and answer simple questions about where you live, people you know and things you have.
You understand sentences about things that matter day to day: family, shopping, getting around, work. You can handle simple, routine exchanges of information.
You follow the main points of clear, standard language on familiar matters. You can deal with most situations while travelling and describe experiences, events and plans, giving brief reasons.
You understand the main ideas of complex text on concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussion in your field. You interact with enough fluency that conversation with native speakers is comfortable for both sides.
You understand demanding, longer texts and pick up implicit meaning. You express yourself fluently without searching for words, and use the language flexibly for social, academic and professional purposes.
You understand with ease virtually everything you hear or read. You can summarise information from different sources and express yourself precisely, telling apart finer shades of meaning.
CEFR in Yolango
When you set up a language, you tell Yolango the level you're starting from, so it knows where you are on the scale.
Each curriculum groups its skills under the CEFR levels from A1 to C2, across reading, listening and writing. Your progress view shows the goals you've attained at each level, and later levels open up as earlier ones fill in.
In a live session everyone answers together. The host sees patterns across the room, not rankings, and the next challenge adapts to what the room needs.
Because CEFR doesn't depend on the language, an A2 lesson means the same kind of task whichever language you're learning.
A CEFR level isn't a grade or a pass mark, and it rarely moves evenly: plenty of learners read at B1 while they write at A2. Yolango tracks skills one at a time for that reason. Your progress in Yolango shows what you've practised; it isn't an official certificate. For that, you'd sit a recognised exam that reports results on the CEFR scale.
Pick a language, choose the level you're starting from, and practise on your own or with a group in a live room.