Hi, everyone. Today, I’m going to talk about my current English level. According to the CEFR, it is between A2 and B1. This means I can use simple phrases in conversations and live in countries where English is spoken. I feel this is true, but I still struggle to express my opinions. I also find it difficult to understand people who speak fast or use complicated English.
English skills can be divided into four areas: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. I analyzed my skills in each area.
Reading
I can understand sentences used in daily life. They usually don’t contain complicated words because they are meant to be understood by everyone. I can also read common English books. If I come across words I don’t know, I can often guess their meaning from the surrounding sentences.
Listening
I can understand simple and short phrases, but I struggle with long and complicated ones. I have trouble connecting words to their sounds, so even if I know a word, I sometimes can’t recognize it when I hear it. Unfortunately, I can’t understand English movies without subtitles.
Writing and Speaking
These are the most difficult parts of using English for me. I didn’t practice expressing myself in English during my school days, so I still need to translate from Japanese to English. There are huge differences between the two languages, such as grammar, pronunciation, and sentence structure.
For now, I am focusing on listening—connecting words to their sounds—and expressing my thoughts (through writing and speaking) in my own words.
In my next post, I will talk about how I study in my daily life. See you!