CILS B2 study guide
CILS B2 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
CILS - Certificazione di Italiano come Lingua Straniera - is the Italian-language certification suite issued by the Università per Stranieri di Siena, one of Italy's state universities specialised in teaching Italian to non-native speakers. The B2 level sits in the upper-intermediate band of the Common European Framework of Reference: a candidate at this level is expected to understand the main ideas of complex texts, interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers possible without strain, and produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects. The CILS B2 study guide has 5 sections and about 1,895 words.
01Ascolto: cogliere il senso, non le singole parole
At B2 you are no longer listening for isolated words: you must separate what a speaker says from what a speaker means. Expect authentic-sounding recordings - phone calls, radio interviews, announcements, short discussions - in which you have to catch the main point, retrieve concrete details (times, prices, places, numbers) and read the speaker's position: agreement, doubt, irritation, polite refusal, mild complaint.
371 words, about 2 min02Lettura: coesione, registro e ricostruzione del testo
The reading paper normally combines three kinds of task: matching short texts (advertisements, notices, short articles) to headings, statements or situations; multiple-choice comprehension of a longer article; and reconstruction of a text from which sentences have been removed. The third task is where most marks are lost, because it tests textual grammar rather than vocabulary.
373 words, about 2 min03Analisi delle strutture: grammatica dentro il testo
This section mixes completion exercises (with and without options), transformations and lexical matching. The grammar core at B2 is: the subjunctive in subordinate clauses, the hypothetical period, tense agreement and the reported past, the pronoun system (ci, ne, combined pronouns, relative che/cui/il quale), prepositions and articulated prepositions, and verb-plus-preposition patterns (pensare di, riuscire a, dipendere da).
371 words, about 2 min04Produzione scritta: due testi, due compiti diversi
You normally write two texts: a functional letter or email (to a friend, a landlord, an office, a newspaper) and a longer text - narrative, descriptive or argumentative - often linked to a short input. You are assessed on communicative effectiveness, register, range of structures and lexis, formal accuracy and cohesion.
406 words, about 2 min05Produzione orale: interagire e parlare a lungo
The oral test usually combines an interaction with the examiner - a conversation starting from a short input, a photo, an advertisement or a situation to negotiate - and a monologue in which you develop a topic chosen from two options. You are judged on fluency, accuracy, range, pronunciation and, crucially, interaction: can you keep the exchange alive, react, ask, reformulate?
374 words, about 2 min