Official Italian certificate General objectives
The PLIDA level A1 test aims to verify whether the candidate can understand and use many familiar everyday expressions and formulas, common to satisfy needs of a specific kind. You will know how to introduce yourself and others and you will be able to ask questions about personal data and answer similar questions (where you live, people you know, the things you own). Is able to interact in a simple way as long as the interlocutor speaks slowly, clearly and is willing to cooperate.
Individual skills
- Oral production: You can formulate simple expressions, mostly isolated, about people and places.
- Written production: Can write simple expressions and isolated sentences.
- Listening Comprehension: You can understand speech that is pronounced very slowly and articulated with great precision, which contains long pauses to allow you to assimilate the meaning.
- Comprehension of a written text: Can understand very short and simple texts, reading one expression at a time, collecting known names, elementary words and expressions and eventually rereading.
- Oral interaction: is able to interact in a simple way, but the communication depends entirely on repetitions at reduced speed, from reformulations and repairs. Answer simple questions and ask similar ones, take the initiative and respond to simple statements related to the needs of immediate or very familiar topics.
- Written interaction: You can request and provide personal data in writing. You can write short and simple messages.
Duration of the PLIDA level A1 exam
Total time of 1 hour and 55 minutes.
- Oral comprehension - 35 minutes.
- Written comprehension - 30 minutes.
- Written expression - 40 minutes.
- Oral expression - 10 minutes.
Domains and contexts
Listed below for each domain are some contexts of use that occur in tests at this level.
Personal domain
- At home
- With the family
- On various occasions of contact (social gatherings, family gatherings, dinners with friends, etc.)
Public domain
- Around the city (on the street, in the square, in the park, etc.)
- At aid stations (bar, restaurant, etc.)
- At public service counters (at the information office, bank, post office , etc.)
- In the market and grocery stores
- In various stores (clothes, newsstands, etc.)
- In places of travel (at the station, at the airport, etc.)
- In means of transport (bus, taxi, etc.)
- In places of free time (cinema, theater, gym, etc.)
- In places of health and personal care (hospital, pharmacy, etc.)
Professional domain
- At your workplace
Educational domain
- In the classroom
- In the secretariat
- In other places related to their educational context (gym, dining room, patio, library, etc.)
Communication skills and general objectives
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The A1 level candidate must know |
Examples |
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Recognize the context, expressions and the most common and familiar words in widely distributed written texts; |
Understand information messages and warnings on the road and at public transport stops |
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Understand the general content of instructions and regulations in everyday contexts |
Understand the mandatory and most frequent prohibition signs. |
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Derive simple information from written and oral texts about the newspaper area (schedules, prices, places, descriptions, etc.) |
Understand information on prices, discounts, promotions in stores and supermarkets. |
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Capture essential information from formal and informal conversations on everyday topics related to immediate needs; |
Understand a simple description of a person or a place. |
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Understand a simple description of a person or a place; |
Introduce yourself to someone. |
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Report having or not having understood and ask to repeat if necessary; |
"I didn't understand, can you repeat?" |
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Confirm or deny in a simple way, express agreement or disagreement, express uncertainty and possibility about a fact |
"Yes", "No", "Maybe", "I don't know" |
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Ask for clarification on the words you don't know |
Ask how a word is spelled and what it means. |
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Give and understand simple information about people, places and objects |
Talk about your family and ask questions about the interlocutor's |
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Talk about your wishes and tastes and inquire about those of others; |
Say what you want or don't want to have lunch |
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Give and understand simple instructions; |
Understand or give simple directions. |
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Ask and get a good or a service; |
Buy an item. |
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Exchanging information about actions in progress, about someone's plans or about daily or habitual actions; |
Email a friend to inquire about their plans for the evening |
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Ask permission, invite, thank, apologize and respond to similar events; |
Invite someone to dinner. |
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Understand and give information about weather; |
Tell how the weather is. |
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Enter your personal data in a form or questionnaire; |
Fill out a form with your personal information |
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Write simple personal messages and short sentences about yourself, where you live and what you do. |
Exchange of greetings and simple information about yourself in a chat. |
Types of texts PLIDA exam level A1
Written texts
- Job announcements
- Simple content announcements and alerts
- Real estate announcements
- Notes regarding the daily routine (newspapers, etc.)
- Tickets (for means of transport, theater, cinema, etc.)
- Business letters
- Chat, sms , emails, informal letters on personal matters
- Descriptions and stories on familiar topics (interests, home, family, school, etc.)
- Identity documents and forms with personal data
- Labels and packaging
- Signs, labels and road signs
- Lists shopping
- Menu
Oral texts
- Announcements and public notices of routine and / or predictable content (for example, at the station, at the airport, in the supermarket, etc.)
- Simple announcements
- Face-to-face or telephone conversations on personal topics (family, habits, interests, home , work, etc.) and family issues (hangouts, weather, clothing, etc.)
- Formal interactions to use services (in a restaurant, in a store, in a pharmacy, at the doctor, in the bank, in the post office, supermarket, etc.)
- Formal and informal interactions in the workplace (between colleagues, with the boss, with the secretary, etc.) on family matters
- Instructions regarding the performance of daily actions or the performing a family task
- Simple messages on answering machines