The CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is an international system that classifies levels of proficiency in foreign languages and divides language levels into six categories: A1 (beginner), A2 (upper beginner), B1 (intermediate), B2 (upper intermediate), C1 (advanced) and C2 (near-native).
Here’s a description of Finnish at B2 (upper intermediate) level according to the University of Helsinki:
Speaking
You can handle successfully most communicative tasks and situations related to work and social life and can cope in more unfamiliar situations as well. You can express your ideas and thoughts as coherent entities and support opinions. You can differentiate between formal and informal language. You have a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to your field and most general topics.
Listening
You can understand longer stretches of speech and lectures and follow complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar. You can understand most TV news and current affairs programmes, missing only some details. You still have some problems understanding fast or dialectal speech.
Reading
You can understand texts on general topics, but not necessarily all shades of meaning in them. You can obtain information, ideas and opinions from specialised sources within your field. You can read contemporary prose.
Writing
You can write clear detailed texts on topics that are familiar to you and express your thoughts coherently. You can write an essay or a report, explain facts and give reasons to support or oppose a particular point. You have a good command of the basic structures of the language, and you can differentiate between formal and informal language.
According to Chris Elliott (The International Language Institute of Massachusetts), reaching B1-B2 level in a difficult language like Finnish takes 1100 hours of study on average. Finnish is classified as ‘difficult’ due to the significant linguistic differences from English. Of course, if your native language is Estonian, Finnish might not be so difficult for you! But for the majority of learners, Finnish probably feels harder than many other European languages.
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