A2 (Waystage / Elementary)

Waystage is the Council of Europe's name for A2, and the name is apt: it is a stopping point on the way rather than a destination. You handle short routine exchanges, describe your family, job and surroundings in simple terms, and understand sentences about things that matter to you directly. Lessons at this stage widen the range of situations rather than the complexity of the grammar, so the same past tense gets used in ten different contexts until it stops needing thought. Many learners stall between A2 and B1, and regular speaking practice with a tutor is what carries them through.