Self-assessment guide to language levels

Level 1
Beginners’/Taster Courses / This level is designed for absolute beginners with no knowledge of the targetlanguage.
You cannot choose this level if you have a GCSE, JLPT or HSK in your target language.
Level 1
Beginners’ Arabic – Fast Track / This course is designed students who are familiar with the Arabic alphabet and pronunciation
Level 2
Post Beginners' Japanese/Mandarin Chinese / You cannot choose this level if you have an A, AS level, recent GCSE, JLPT or HSK in your target language.
You can choose this level if you have:
  • completed Brunel University’s Beginners’ Japanese or Mandarin Chinese course or
  • had about 40 hours of tuition plus 40 hours of self-study and have a basic understanding of how the language works or
  • have lived with aJapanese or Chinese family or worked in Japan or mainland China/Taiwan for 6 - 12 months and learnt the language during that time and can do the following:
    greetings; introducing self and others; shopping; telling the time and days; asking and giving directions; ordering food and drink; describing objects and people; talking about routine activities including travel and transport; talking about events in the past

Level 2
Post Beginners' French / Spanish / You cannot choose this level if you have an A, AS level or taken a GCSE in your target language in the past 3 years.
You can choose this level if you have:
  • completed Brunel University’s Beginners’ French or Spanish course or
  • had about 40 hours of tuition plus 40 hours of self-study or
  • have lived with a French or Spanish family or worked in France or Spain for 6 - 12 months and learnt the language during that time and can do the following:
greetings; introducing self and others; shopping; telling the time and days; asking and giving directions; ordering food and drink; describing objects, people and places; dealing with simple hotel situations; talking about routine activities; use the present tense of regular and irregular verbs – have an idea of the immediate future tense
Level 3
Lower Intermediate French/
Spanish / Youcannot choose this level If you have an AS or A-level in the target language.
You can choose this level if you have:
  • completed Brunel University’s post beginners’ French or Spanish course or
  • have achieved one of the following levels: CEFR A2 or equivalent or GCSE grade C or above taken within the past 3 years
  • had about 80 hours of tuition plus 80 hours of self-study and are able to:
    describe yourself and others, your character and personality and that of others; express opinions, likes and dislikes; actively participate in simple verbal communications regarding simple and routine tasks and exchange information on familiar topics, e.g. present and past experiences and future events; write simple emails, messages and notes relating to everyday matters; understand commonly used phrases and vocabulary relating to everyday matters as listed in the post-beginners’ section above; extract specific information when listening to recordings in the target language;extract specific information from simple texts written in the target language relating to topics listed in the post-beginners’ section above .