CILS A1

It is the beginner level of the CILS certification of Italian as a foreign language, issued within the certification system of the Università per Stranieri di Siena. A1 signals that you can cope with very simple, routine communication in Italian. Treat this page as independent study guidance, not an official statement of the university's rules.

The published profile divides the exam evenly across listening, reading, written production and oral production, each at 25%. In practice that means short slow dialogues, simple notices and messages, a few lines of guided writing, and a brief conversation with an examiner about everyday topics such as yourself, family, food, time and places.

A1 is the lowest rung, so the language is concrete and predictable: high-frequency vocabulary, present tense, simple questions and answers. The difficulty lies less in grammar than in coping with exam conditions - hearing audio only once and having to respond in real time. Build familiarity with the task types before the exam day.

Those figures are not stated in the source material available to us, so we do not publish them. Time limits, item counts and the pass threshold can change between sessions. Check the current official CILS regulations on the Unistrasi website, or ask your local exam centre, before you plan your timing and strategy.

The retake policy is not confirmed in our source material, so we cannot state it reliably. Policies on repeating a failed session, and on carrying over a passed section, vary and are revised periodically. Confirm the current rule directly with the certifying university or your registered exam centre before relying on it.

We do not state a validity period because the source available to us does not specify one. Many users treat a language certification as a lasting record of the level reached at a given date, but requirements imposed by employers, universities or immigration authorities are set by those bodies. Verify with the institution that will receive your certificate.

Start with listening and reading, because they build the vocabulary you will later need to write and speak. Add short writing tasks of three to five lines on predictable themes, then move to speaking practice with a partner. Finish with timed mock tasks so that the format itself stops being a surprise on exam day.

Three recur: freezing when audio plays only once, writing far more than the task asks and running out of time, and answering the examiner with single words instead of short sentences. Practise hearing Italian at natural speed, keep written answers within the requested length, and rehearse full-sentence replies to basic personal questions.

Only from the certifying institution. The Università per Stranieri di Siena publishes CILS information on its website, and authorised exam centres also handle registration. Session dates, fees and deadlines change, so confirm them directly rather than relying on third-party summaries, including this page.