Why do you even need to know what the levels of English are? Pre-Intermediate - the level to which all those who have already left the Beginner courses behind, but cannot yet say that they speak English at a solid intermediate level, go to. And you need to know the peculiarities of this intermediate level at least in order to control the process of your learning, to be able to choose the most suitable textbooks, manuals, courses. In fact, the line between Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate is quite thin, some courses omit intermediate levels altogether, offering groups only for beginners, intermediates and advanced. However, if you need to pass any exam, this difference will be very noticeable indeed.
For example, in order to successfully pass the exam in English, you must have an Intermediate or Upper-Intermediate level. This exam does not require anything super complex, only the most general grammar and vocabulary, but the knowledge must be reliable. The level of English Pre-Intermediate in this case will be clearly insufficient, because itis somewhat unstable. The knowledge is there, but it is still too sketchy. There is no freedom or confidence in answering grammar questions, reading or listening, although everything seems very familiar.
To understand the difficulty of dividing a language into levels, try to answer the question: how does knowledge accumulate from lower levels to higher ones? Getting acquainted with phonetics and pronunciation, we must inevitably master some set of words, at least the simplest grammatical constructions, etc. In fact, when studying a language, we do not move up the steps, stepping from one to another, but plunge into a reservoir, going deeper and lower, and seeing in front of you everything the same as it was at the beginning, but in a wider perspective.
Pre-Intermediate versus Beginner and Intermediate
At the previous level, Beginner or Elementary, we get acquainted with a wide variety of topics, such as greetings, telling about yourself, characteristics of people; household vocabulary is assimilated (clothing, furniture, food, etc.) The student learns the rules of reading, at the end of the initial course he can really read, but only fairly simple texts, reading the rest can hardly be called such, rather it is analysis of texts with a dictionary, and not reading. A beginner can fill out a survey or e-mail a friend's birthday, but a lengthy email recounting all the local news will require strenuous effort. His manner of reading resembles the reading of a child who has just learned how syllables form words, and yet spends quite a lot of effort onactually the process of reading, and not on understanding. And even if he reads fluently, he encounters many seemingly read, but completely incomprehensible passages. Beginner's knowledge is enough to communicate with gestures and words at the airport, shop, on the street. Any interlocutor will understand you, but will also understand that your knowledge is very shallow and will try to speak more slowly and simply.
At the Pre-Intermediate level, all the same knowledge deepens, emphasis is placed on grammar and further expansion of the vocabulary. The main thing at the end of this level is to master the structure of the language, since at the next level an active movement "in breadth" already begins, it is not without reason that Intermediate is sometimes called functional in the West, because it is a reliable knowledge base that provides a lot of opportunities, including for work or study at the university. You need to be ready for this, therefore, at the Pre-Intermediate level, basic ideas about grammar are collected, which are finally fixed at the Intermediate level. All other skills, such as reading, speaking, develop, but it is at this level that different students clearly reveal their inclinations and abilities. Someone understands that he has excellent hearing and a certain artistry - he perfectly recognizes the nuances of pronunciation and reproduces them, someone, on the contrary, has a strong logical mind and clicks grammatical tasks like nuts, but cannot connect two words in oral speech. In any case, it is felt that the student has not yet reached the "fireproof amount". If he stops studying at this point, he will inevitably forget most of what he has learned and subsequently have to start all over again.
If at the elementary level the student understands only clear and slow speech on familiar topics, at the intermediate level he can listen and understand any popular TV shows, then Pre-Intermediate, the level that is intermediate between them, is very difficult to characterize unambiguously. Yes, you can already understand fluent speech, but selectively. You can talk about your musical tastes, but find it difficult to justify your preferences. You can read not only fairy tales, but also adult literary works. Although this reading can hardly be called a pleasure, because you will have to do some work on translating incomprehensible words and parsing complex structures, since even the most fascinating detective stories by Agatha Christie, written in a fairly simple and clear language, cause difficulties for students with a Pre-Intermediate level.
Vocabulary at different levels is approximately:
- Beginner - 1000 words;
- Pre-Intermediate - 1200 words;
- Intermediate - 1500 words.
Of course, these figures are very conditional. Some courses offer such a Pre-Intermediate, at the end of which you will know about 1800 words. In any case, in order to communicate freely or read as native speakers do, you need to know about 8 thousand words. If you know more, then we are talking about special knowledge or erudition.1500 words - this is enough for everyday everyday communication or confident, but not yet free reading.
Pre-Intermediate - the level at which you can:
- Pronounce familiar words clearly and understandably.
- Grammatically correct sentences in speech and writing.
- Tell about yourself, describe a situation or person, express an opinion.
- Ask the interlocutor to explain an incomprehensible place.
- Feel confident in everyday life and on tourist trips.
- Catch the main point of any text, including scientific articles.
- Read literary works written in plain language with a dictionary.
- Distinguish all sounds, it is good to hear familiar words in fluent speech. Good understanding of clear, not too fast speech.
- Write a pretty meaningful email to a friend using simple grammatical constructions.
- Fill out the form, questionnaire, questionnaire.
Pre-Intermediate - the level at which you cannot:
- Free to read literary works "that you have long dreamed of."
- Understand the nuances of an author's style.
- Talk to your friends about difficult philosophical topics.
- Understand people who have some kind of pronunciation, such as fluent, accented speech.
- Keep up a simple conversation about a topic you "didn't get through", like discussing your car neighbor with his new car if you typed your vocabulary on travel texts.
- Speak confidently witha scientific report, make a presentation and answer questions from the audience.
Of course, as mentioned above, all these skills depend on the course, purpose and direction of training. For example, people with a general Pre-Intermediate level can successfully communicate on work topics, for example, in the IT field. Of course, this is possible subject to the study of specific vocabulary. And while everything else, like watching popular movies, will be difficult, in certain situations a person with a Pre-Intermediate English level will feel confident.
