French Level Test
Twenty questions to place your French between A2 and C1. Grammar, tenses, prepositions, idioms.
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About this test
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the CEFR, splits command of a language into six levels, A1 to C2. The jump from B2 to C1 is the hardest and slowest, because it is no longer about grammar but about idiom: from that point on you make far fewer mistakes and far more awkward choices.
A verifiable detail that explains much of the difficulty with French: the language has only around a hundred thousand common dictionary entries, far fewer than English, yet it compensates with an unusually rich verb system — roughly a hundred irregular verbs and a conjugation table that includes a subjunctive used in ordinary speech, which English has almost entirely shed. That is why learners who find French vocabulary approachable so often stall on the verbs.
The most effective advice at every level: stop translating and start absorbing whole chunks. French prepositions and the verbs that govern them — s'intéresser à, dépendre de, penser à — are not deducible by rule. Store them as single units, the way you store a word, and a large share of persistent mistakes simply stops happening.
This test is provided for entertainment purposes only. It is not a diagnosis or professional advice.