What you can do at A2
You understand frequent expressions on familiar topics: family, shopping, work, where you live. You handle simple everyday tasks and can describe yourself and your surroundings in simple terms.
Which words to learn for A2
- Work and jobs
- Home and daily life
- Health and how you feel
- Travel and transport
- Weather and seasons
- Hobbies and free time
- Verbs for talking about the past
Start with the most frequent words in these topics: they show up in every text and conversation and give you the most value.
How long it takes to reach A2
At 10 new words a day you build an A2 vocabulary in about 8.5 months, at 20 words a day in about 4 months. What matters is that the words stay: that is what spaced repetition is for.
According to Cambridge English, reaching A2 from zero takes about 180–200 guided learning hours. It is a guideline: daily practice on your own makes the path shorter.
→ How long does it take to learn a language to B1 and B2?
How to move to the next level
Learn to link ideas: “because”, “but”, “so”, “when”. Read and listen to short stories and dialogues, and add new words to your reviews straight away.
How to build an A2 vocabulary in NewLexi
- Cards on request. Ask the app to generate “A2 words about work and travel”, and NewLexi builds cards for your level.
- A daily plan. Every day a portion of new words and reviews of the ones due, with no overload.
- Context. A2 stories and dialogues are written just for you from your words, so they move into your active vocabulary.
FAQ
How many words do you need for A2?
About 1,500–2,500 words (Milton and Alexiou, 2009). These are words you recognise when reading; your active vocabulary is usually smaller.
How long does it take to learn A2 vocabulary?
About 8.5 months at 10 new words a day, or about 4 months at 20 words a day, if you review them with spaced repetition.
Sources
- Milton, J., & Alexiou, T. (2009). Vocabulary size and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In Vocabulary Studies in First and Second Language Acquisition (pp. 194–211). Palgrave Macmillan. doi.org/10.1057/9780230242258_12
- Cambridge English. Guided learning hours. support.cambridgeenglish.org/hc/en-gb/articles/202838506-Guided-learning-hours
- Council of Europe. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): global scale. www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/table-1-cefr-3.3-common-reference-levels-global-scale
