The A1 level is where every English learner starts. Pronouns, basic verbs, everyday objects, and survival phrases.
Roughly 0–6 months of study.
A1 is the entry point of the CEFR scale. At this level you have around 500 active words, enough to introduce yourself, ask for basic things, and follow simple sentences when people speak slowly. The vocabulary clusters around personal identity, time and numbers, daily objects, basic verbs (be, have, do, go, want), and survival phrases like "How much is it?" or "I don't understand."
If you can introduce yourself in English, count to 100, and follow short instructions like "Press the button", you're around A1. Most learners spend 60–90 hours of study to finish this level. Speed depends a lot on your native language: speakers of Germanic and Romance languages often move through A1 in weeks, while learners with no Indo-European background typically need months.
At A1, the bottleneck is recognition, not nuance. Aim for 5–10 new words per day and review yesterday's words before learning new ones. Spaced repetition matters more than memorization tricks at this level; research shows you need to encounter each word in spaced contexts roughly seven times before it sticks. Pair the word list with simple input: graded readers, short videos with subtitles, or basic conversation apps.