CEFR

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for describing language proficiency, developed by the Council of Europe. It defines six levels in three pairs:

• A1, A2 — basic user (survival vocabulary; simple everyday phrases)
• B1, B2 — independent user (can hold conversations; understand most content on familiar topics)
• C1, C2 — proficient user (fluent and nuanced; near-native at C2)

CEFR is the dominant framework for European languages, and is widely used for English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and others. Many language exams (IELTS, TOEFL, DELE, DELF, Goethe) publish official CEFR mappings.

Mandarin uses its own framework — HSK 3.0 — rather than CEFR, but the two are roughly comparable. HSK Band 3 lines up loosely with CEFR B2; Band 5 with C1.

Bookverse’s upcoming English course will be CEFR-aligned, with structured books mapped to A1-C1.