Italian Certification: Level B2

I just received my CELI B2 certification in Italian! For those unfamiliar, CELI (Certificato di Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana) is an official Italian language certification recognized internationally. The levels correspond to the CEFR, and B2 is what you need to enroll in an Italian university.

I officially speak Italian

From zero to fluent

I started learning Italian in college because my girlfriend at the time was from Tuscany. After graduation, I moved to Italy. We broke up soon after, but I decided to stay a little longer. That “little longer” ended up being three years working as an English tutor in Bologna. I’ve been surprised how much I’ve been able to maintain my skills since I moved back, but my conversational Italian is definitely weaker.

Tortellini in brodo, come Dio commanda

Exam prep

I’ve always told people that my Italian is fluent, but I’d never had anything that could prove it. Last May, I decided to give it a shot and reached out to the Istituto Italiano di Cultura. They matched me with a tutor, Francesca Lorenzon, who provided excellent study materials. We met weekly until my exam in June.

My preparation included:

  • Weekly tutoring sessions
  • YouTube videos on specific topics
  • Daily Italian podcasts (something I do anyway)
  • Reading Italian literature
Giulia Crivelli, who tells me everything that I don’t hear from American news

Years of listening to the news and reading in Italian had put me in a funny position—I could talk easily about “the growing fear that the GDP is going to decline,” but I was rusty at chatting about everyday things.

The exam experience

The CELI B2 exam is tough. The length surprised me—it feels more like a marathon than a sprint. During one reading section about Ferrari, I noticed some historical dates that didn’t seem to add up, which was distracting. After the test, I rewarded myself with some focaccia from Liguria Bakery.

The exam is pass/fail rather than scored, so you have to pick your level beforehand. While I think I could handle C1, I wanted to start with B2, then move forward after success there.

How to prep for language exams

My two cents if you’re preparing for TOEFL or any language exam:

  1. Maximize comprehensible input through content you genuinely enjoy (YouTube, podcasts, novels, etc.)
  2. Don’t obsess over what you don’t understand
  3. Work with a tutor who can explain specific challenges
  4. Leverage AI for conversation practice. Unlike humans, AI won’t get frustrated speaking at your level

I might try for C1 next year, but I don’t know when I’ll find the time to study, between work, family, and side projects.