I totally agree with Andrew Strokes to say that the CEFRL is a beautifully elegant and powerful tool, burden by a complex and ugly name : The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Ugh! Everything about it jars, as Andrew says. And the worst is that complexity is not only in the name...
Complexity should not slow you down
The Framework is complex enough for language teachers and professionals, so how could it be accessible to student? The 6 levels of language defined by the CEFR are a first step in the simplifying process, but they still remain opaque for a lot of people.
These levels are grouped by two and form a scale from basic to intermediate and then to experienced/proficient user. But does it REALLY allows you to get a clear picture of the concept?
The CEFR made easy as pie
Fortunately, here is a great simple explanation for it: Sean Mc Donald's has produced a wonderfully easy to catch explanation which consists in comparing the language learning process and the different levels of mastering to ... cooking! He found a way to make the scale of levels comprehensible with drawing a parallel scale for cooking. Here's out it looks like:
Learning and cooking scales
Here are the degrees of mastering languages explained though cooking abilities:
