Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE)

Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) are official titles certifying degree of competence and mastery of the Spanish language, granted by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain.

Students who participate in the ISA program will take the DELE in their 8th Grade year.

Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) are divided into six levels:*

Spanish Diploma Level A1 (Breakthrough)
Certifies that the student is able to communicate using the language in a basic way in situations having to do with immediate needs or everyday situations.

Spanish Diploma Level A2 (Waystage)
Certifies that the candidate can understand commonly used, everyday phrases and expressions related to areas of experience especially relevant to them (basic information about themselves, and their families, shopping, places of interest, work, etc.).

Spanish Diploma Level B1 (Threshold)
Certifies candidates’ capacity to understand the gist of clear texts, in standard language, if they involve well-known topics related to work, studies or leisure. It also certifies students’ ability to deal with most situations that occur while travelling in areas where Spanish is spoken; to produce simple and coherent texts about familiar topics, or topics of personal interest; and lastly to be able to describe experiences, events, wishes and hopes, as well as to be able to briefly express opinions or explain plans.

Spanish Diploma Level B2 (Vantage)
Certifies students’ ability to interact with native speakers with a sufficient degree of fluency and spontaneity to enable easy and natural communication between interlocutors; produce clear and detailed texts about diverse topics, as well as defend an opinion about general topics, expressing the pros and cons for each argument; and lastly, understand the gist of complex texts about both concrete and abstract topics, including technical texts, provided they are within the candidate’s area of expertise.

Spanish Diploma Level C1 (Effective Operational Proficiency)
Certifies sufficient linguistic competence to understand a wide variety of lengthy, and somewhat demanding texts, as well as to grasp implicit meaning in the same; to express themselves fluently and spontaneously without apparent effort to find the right words; to be able to use the language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes; and finally, to be able to produce clear, well-structured and detailed texts about topics of some complexity, correctly using mechanisms of organization, articulation and cohesion in the text.

Spanish Diploma Level C2 (Mastery)
Certifies sufficient linguistic competence to communicate effectively in any situation, proving ability to spontaneously adapt to any context, with a high degree of precision. The language users show subtle control of nuances which allow for fluent and natural expression in all interactions.

*More information about the DELE can be found at http://www.dele.org