Levels of Comprehension

When talking about language learning, it's very useful to have a "standardized" system for evaluating comprehension. The goal of this article is to give you a clear and useful framework for thinking about your progress and understanding of your target language.

About the Model

In the original Refold Roadmap, we used a much simpler system with just six levels ranging from total beginner to absolute mastery. This system was too simple and the gaps between the levels was very inconsistent.

But more importantly, it left out some very crucial nuance.

Comprehension is just a single part of a larger question. If you understand a TV show made for kids quite easily, that doesn't mean you'll understand a movie for adults, despite it being "in the same language."

The six level system also left out the important factor of "how difficult is it to understand." Using 100% of your energy and focus to understand is very different from being able to achieve the same level of understanding while also washing dishes and cooking dinner.

Rate of Perceived Exertion

An issue with many method of measuring comprehension is that people are generally bad at estimating percentages (what does 70% comprehension mean? 70% of the words? 70% of the sentences? 70% of the meaning? Are you positive it's actually 70% and that's not just a rough estimate?).

This problem is hard to solve, but a system that works rather well is known as "rate of perceived exertion" and is often used in personal fitness and at the gym. Basically, you give a number between 1-10 based on how much you feel like you're pushing your body.

1 means it's taking no more effort that sitting and breathing. And 10 means you cannot possibly do any more. 7 is a difficult pace, but you could keep it up, despite heavy breathing.

This works because it's an internal guesstimate based on your current fitness level. And it's more useful because of that.

It's also very useful for language learning. Although it's not exactly about exertion. Maybe Rate of Perceived Comprehension is better.

Putting them Together

To figure out your level of comprehension, we're actually going to combine a few different numbers: your rate of perceived comprehension and rate of perceived effort.

These charts are meant to give you a general idea of what each level is, but your own feeling of understanding and effort is what matters. The differences between level 5 and 6 is pretty small and is impossible to objectively measure.

When you find your level of comprehension and effort, put them together for your level of comprehension!

And ideally, if you're mentioning it to someone or recording it, include the type of content you're judging against. That way, the level is tied to content level, making it more useful.

Here's a list of (some) content types roughly in order of difficulty.

There are many more content types than just these and the lines between them might be blurred. But this chart should help you find where, more or less, the piece of content you're using would fall in terms of difficulty.

How it might look

Now that you know the general idea and levels, let's look at a few examples of various levels of comprehension and effort. These are examples from my own language learning (at time of writing):

Mandarin

I can understand the simple drama I'm watching at about a 6 or 7 level of comprehension, but it takes at least level 8 effort.

And when I watch intermediate podcasts (made for learners), I understand at a solid 8, as long as I'm putting in level 7 effort or more.

Czech

I can read plays at an 8 or 9 level of understanding with a level 6 level of focus and the help of a dictionary. But it's easy to do.

I watch simpler YouTube without too much trouble, maybe level 5-6 focus and a fairly comfortable 9 level of understanding. But if I put on something more complicated, like a news recap, I need to focus more, around level 7-8, and usually only understand at level 7 unless I can look up all the specialized vocab.

Spanish

I can listen to an audiobook at level 9 understanding with level 2 effort.

But when I get together with friends, understanding drops to more like a 7 or 8, but I'm not really trying that hard, usually only a 6 level of effort.

Practical Example: Harry Potter

Here is the first paragraph of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.

The original Roadmap had some "examples" of different levels of understanding, using the first paragraph of Harry Potter to demonstrate what each level would feel like if you were an English learner trying to read Harry Potter.

Unknown words have been replaced with gibberish. Other words and phrases have been swapped out with similar English words to represent when the learner knows the word but isn’t able to grasp its usage in the specific context. We’ve marked these with a “*”.

Level 2: Something

Pe and Per Dursley, of camer embe, Privet Unfax, were preth to say that quiga were counges kepter, *gratitude very slamy. Quiga were the pilso olical themic novatial to be vitimese in theoloney unittlem or writuence, because quiga atter inson voler rotes evere disgushese.

You recognize some individual words such as “and”, “to”, “were”, and “thank you”, but you don’t have the slightest idea what the paragraph is about.

Level 4: Bits and Pieces

Pe and Per Dursley, of camer four, Privet Unfax, were preth to say that they were counges kepter, *gratitude very slamy. They were the pilso people themic novatial to be vitimese in theoloney unittlem or writuence, because they just didn’t voler with such disgushese.

You understand around half of the individual words. This allows you to glean that the paragraph seems to be talking about a group of people.

Level 5: Gist

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of letter four, Privet Move, were preth to say that they were counges normal, *I show you gratitude. They were the *final people you’d expect to be vitimese in anything strange or writuence, because they just didn’t *carry with such disgushese.

You understand that the paragraph is talking about two people named “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley”. You’re pretty sure the point of the paragraph is to describe them as “normal”.

You know most of the words, but there are several you’ve never seen before. You don’t understand what “number four, Privet Drive” is because you think that “drive” means “to move a car”. You know what “thank you very much” means but you’ve interpreted it as “I show you gratitude”, so you’re confused as to why it’s being used in this context. You know the word “last” means “final”, but you can’t make sense of this particular usage. Same with “hold” and “carry”. Nevertheless, you’re able to infer from context that the sentence is likely saying that the Dursleys are not strange.

Level 6: Story

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, *I show you gratitude. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or writuence, because they just didn’t *carry with such nonsense.

There is only one word you don’t know. You understand that the paragraph is talking about two people named “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley”, who feel strongly about being “normal”, and perhaps even have a dislike for people who are “not normal”.

You’re still confused about what “thank you very much” is doing at the end of the first sentence. You aren’t familiar with the particular usage of “hold” in the second sentence, but you can infer from context that it probably means something along the lines of, “they don’t put up with such nonsense”.

Level 8: Comfortable

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.

There are no unknown words and you understand exactly what the core meaning of the paragraph is.

By this point, you are only missing out on nuance. You have a general sense of what “thank you very much” means in this context, but you don’t fully grasp that the tone conveys that the Dursleys are proud and obstinate people. You understand that “you’d” means “you would”, but you’re unable to perceive how this use of a contraction subtly changes the feel of the sentence. You also don’t pick up on the subtle way that “just” adds emphasis in the last sentence.

You need to think about these subtleties and nuances, but native speakers perceive them automatically and instinctively.

Level 9: Near Automatic

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were ganbly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.

You effortlessly understand the paragraph, despite not knowing a word, but you're about to easily tell that it's not important to the overall story and that it's an intensifier. You are effectively understanding at a native level.