What A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 actually mean
A1 to C2 are not this site's invention. They are the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the scale the Council of Europe published in 2001 and updated in 2020 with the Companion Volume. It measures what you can actually do in the language, not how many rules you have memorised. The CILS, CELI and PLIDA exams are calibrated on it, and so are the language requirements for an Italian residence permit and for citizenship.
Source: Council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, 2001, and Companion Volume, 2020. coe.int
What you can do at this level
You understand complex text on concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussion in your own field. You speak with fluency and spontaneity, write clear detailed text and can argue a position showing both sides.
Where to put your effort
On your own: reading widely and building vocabulary, because at this level volume matters more than rules. With a teacher: the subjunctive across tenses and conditional sentences, where the error stops being grammatical and becomes logical.
Coming to Italian from English
English conditionals map onto Italian fairly well, type 1 with the present and type 2 with past plus would. The difference is formal: Italian puts the congiuntivo imperfetto in the if clause, English does not. The passive and impersonal si also concentrate into one particle what English spreads over one, you or they.
Common questions
Why aim for B2 if citizenship only needs B1?
Because B2 opens study and work. Most Italian universities ask for it as a minimum, and it is the level at which an interview becomes a real conversation.
What is the difference between B1 and B2?
Not the number of rules but the freedom. At B2 you stop building the sentence before saying it, and you catch what is implied rather than stated.
How do you form the Italian conditional sentence?
Type 1 with the indicative, type 2 with congiuntivo imperfetto plus condizionale presente, type 3 with congiuntivo trapassato plus condizionale passato.
Every topic, a world
In the Ti app, grammar is practised inside thematic pathways with field-specific vocabulary: il bar, i trasporti, il calcio, la moda, la burocrazia and seventeen more. Choose your world and the grammar comes along by itself, explained in your language too.
Half the path free, no sign-up
★★★★★(7)by Alessio, a teacher since 2018
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