Lingua
A language certificate is the result of a standardised exam, and almost every major one now speaks the CEFR's six levels. If you learn Spanish, the usual proof is the DELE; French has DELF and DALF; German has the Goethe-Zertifikat, telc and TestDaF; Italian has CILS and CELI; Russian has the TORFL. Three exams break the pattern: the JLPT for Japanese has only shown a CEFR reference since December 2025, and neither TOPIK for Korean nor CELPE-Bras for Brazilian Portuguese publishes an official CEFR equivalence at all.
What the six levels mean is covered in CEFR levels explained. This article is about the paper that proves one: which exam to sit, how its score becomes a level, and how long it stays valid.
Key points
- Pick the exam the institution names. A university, an employer or an immigration office usually lists the certificates it accepts, and that list beats any ranking.
- There are two kinds of exam. Level exams (DELE, DELF, Goethe, CILS, CELI, JLPT, TORFL) are pass or fail at one level and mostly never expire. Score-based tests (SIELE, TCF, TEF, TOPIK) give a score and often expire after two years.
- Sit the exam at a level you already reach in practice, not the one you hope for. Preparation should be format practice, not a crash course in a new level.
Which certificate do you actually need?
The right certificate depends on who will read it, and the reader usually tells you.
| Goal | What usually counts | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Studying abroad | The test the university lists, often B2 or C1 | The minimum level per skill, and how recent the result must be |
| A visa, residence or citizenship | A test named in the regulation | The exact exam and its age: France accepts TCF or TEF results under two years old |
| Work | A recognised level exam, or the company's own test | Whether "fluent" in the advert means a certificate or an interview |
| School or university credit | Whatever the institution has signed up to | Usually listed on the department's page |
| A CV or a personal milestone | Any level exam that never expires | Choose the one most recognised for that language |
One example of how specific the rules get: from 1 January 2026, French citizenship requires at least level B2, and a TCF or TEF result used as proof must have been issued less than two years earlier. An exam you passed long ago may be valid for life and still not be the proof a particular office asks for.
The main certificate for each language
| Language | Exam and owner | Levels | Expires? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | DELE, Instituto Cervantes | A1 to C2, one exam per level | No, "vigencia indefinida" |
| Spanish | SIELE, Cervantes and three universities | One test, 0 to 1,000, below A1 to C1 | After five years |
| French | DELF (A1 to B2) and DALF (C1, C2), France Éducation international | One exam per level | No time limit |
| French | TCF, TEF | One test, result given as a level | Results valid two years |
| German | Goethe-Zertifikat, Goethe-Institut | A1 to C2 | No |
| German | telc Deutsch | A1 to C2 | No date printed; the institution decides |
| German | TestDaF | TDN 3 to 5, assigned to B2 and C1 | No |
| Japanese | JLPT, Japan Foundation and JEES | N5 to N1 | Never |
| Korean | TOPIK, NIIED | TOPIK I: levels 1 to 2, TOPIK II: 3 to 6 | Two years from the results |
| Italian | CILS, Università per Stranieri di Siena | A1 to C2 | Currently no |
| Italian | CELI, Università per Stranieri di Perugia | CELI Impatto (A1), CELI 1 to 5 (A2 to C2) | No |
| Italian | PLIDA, Società Dante Alighieri | A2 to C2, Juniores A1 to B2 | Not stated |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | CELPE-Bras, Inep | Intermediário to Avançado Superior | The accepting body decides |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | CAPLE: ACESSO (A1) to DUPLE (C2) | A1 to C2 | No |
| Russian | TORFL (ТРКИ), state testing system | ТЭУ (A1) to ТРКИ-4 (C2) | Not stated in the 2014 order; the accepting body decides |
| Vietnamese | Certificate under the Vietnamese proficiency framework for foreigners, issued by authorised universities | Six bậc, 1 to 6 | Not stated |
How do scores turn into CEFR levels?
For most exams the question answers itself: a DELE B2, a Goethe-Zertifikat B2 and a CILS DUE-B2 certify B2 by name. The interesting cases are the exams that do not.
Japanese. Since the December 2025 session, a passing JLPT result shows a CEFR level based on the total score, and the official reference table stops at C1:
| JLPT level | Total score (of 180) | CEFR shown |
|---|---|---|
| N5 | 80 and above | A1 |
| N4 | 90 and above | A2 |
| N3 | 95 to 103 / 104 and above | A2 / B1 |
| N2 | 90 to 111 / 112 and above | B1 / B2 |
| N1 | 100 to 141 / 142 and above | B2 / C1 |
So "N2 equals B2" is only true for a strong N2; a bare pass is B1. The reference covers vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening, because the JLPT tests no speaking or writing.
Korean. TOPIK reports levels 1 to 6 from score bands (TOPIK II level 6 starts at 230 of 300 on paper), and NIIED, which runs it, publishes no official CEFR equivalence. Online charts putting level 4 at B2 are estimates.
Russian. A 2014 order of the Russian education ministry, published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, names the levels with their CEFR codes: ТЭУ A1, ТБУ A2, ТРКИ-1 B1, ТРКИ-2 B2, ТРКИ-3 C1, ТРКИ-4 C2.
Portuguese. CELPE-Bras gives one of four levels from a single exam, and Inep publishes no CEFR mapping; the equivalents on some university pages are their own.
Vietnamese. Circular 17/2015 of Vietnam's education ministry sets six bậc and states that they are compatible with A1 to C2: bậc 1 is A1, bậc 6 is C2.
If you need English as well, the two exams most universities ask for publish their own tables: IELTS puts bands 5.5 to 6.5 at B2, 7 to 8 at C1 and 8.5 to 9 at C2, while noting that band 5 could be B1 or B2, that the C1 threshold falls between 6.5 and 7, with many 6.5 candidates already at C1, and that band 8 is borderline. Since January 2026 the TOEFL iBT has reported a 1 to 6 scale built on the CEFR, where 4 to 4.5 is B2 and 5 to 5.5 is C1. Both recommend treating results as valid for two years.
How to choose between two exams
Three questions settle it.
- Does anyone name one? If the university says TestDaF or the consulate says TCF, the question is closed.
- Do you want a lifelong diploma or a recent score? Level exams such as DELE, DELF and the Goethe-Zertifikat stay valid indefinitely, which suits a CV. Single tests such as SIELE, TCF and TOPIK show where you are now, and expire.
- Are you sure of your level? A level exam is pass or fail: sit DELE B2 at a shaky B1 and you leave with nothing. A single test always returns a level, so it is the safer bet when you are unsure.
On a CV, write the level and the proof together: "Spanish, C1 (DELE C1, 2025)". Without a certificate, an honest self-assessed CEFR level is fine; an interview will check it.
How long does preparation take?
A certificate does not change the arithmetic of learning. If you are at B1 and need B2, you need the whole step; how long it takes to learn a language has the hours per level and per language. Exam preparation adds only a few weeks of format practice once you already have the level.
A short preparation plan
- Place yourself first. A free adaptive test or a page of the official sample paper tells you whether the target level is real.
- Download the official model papers. Most of the exam owners above publish sample tests on their sites; do one untimed in the first week to see the format.
- Train the weakest skill daily. Level exams fail you on one part: the DELE requires a minimum in each group of papers, and the Goethe-Zertifikat counts each module separately.
- Speak with a person every week. The oral part is where self-taught candidates lose most, and it is the hardest part to practise alone. Speaking practice without a partner helps; a real conversation helps more.
- Do two full timed mocks in the last three weeks, then stop adding new material.
In LinguaPair
LinguaPair does not issue certificates, and its level is not an exam result that a university or a consulate will accept. What it does is get you to the level the exam checks. Every course, in all ten languages, runs from A0 to C2 with lessons labelled by CEFR level, so you always know which level you are working on. The placement test is free and checks six questions per level from A1 to C2, stopping as soon as it knows where you are; try it for Spanish, French, German or Japanese before you book an exam date, and retake it once a week to see whether the level has moved. A0 and A1 are free in every course; the levels above are part of Premium, which one subscription covers for both partners. And for the speaking paper, the app is built around two people learning together: a partner you invite by link is the weekly conversation the plan above asks for.