My Journey to Passing the B1 Certification for Italian as a Foreign Language
In October, I took the CERTIFICAZIONE DI ITALIANO L2 DI LIVELLO B1 DEL CONSIGLIO D’ EUROPA exam from the Università Roma Tre.
It was the final point of a few months of consistent study, daily practice and a clear goal.
Yesterday, the results finally arrived (ahed of the expected date in mid december) — and:
I passed with 90/100.
This post is a quick summary of why I took the exam, how I prepared, and what I learned along the way.
Why I decided to take the exam
Being married to an Italian wife, Italian has been part of my personal life for many years - but I always wanted a clear, official confirmation of my level (for several practical and personal reasons). Signing up for the exam gave me a fixed date — which immediately made the learning process more focused.
From July until the exam date in early October, I created weekly routines around:
- grammar and vocabulary refreshers
- reading short articles and summarizing them
- listening to B1-level audio materials
- writing short messages and emails
- speaking practice (mostly monologues and exam role-plays)
Nothing fancy — just steady work.
Using ChatGPT Study Mode
Since I have a busy schedule, I looked for a way to keep the process consistent.
ChatGPT’s Study Mode helped me do exactly that.
I mainly used it for:
- conversation practice: small talk, monologues, exam-style questions
- writing feedback: checking short texts and correcting recurring mistakes
- grammar refresh: quick exercises on topics like ci/ne or reflexive verbs
- light exam simulations: especially speaking prompts and summaries
Study Mode didn’t replace textbooks or official exam material, but it made the daily routine easier and more structured — which was exactly what I needed.
The exam day (October)
The exam covered the usual four parts:
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
The tasks were fair and aligned with the official practice material. Thanks to the preparation, the speaking part — which I thought would be the hardest — went surprisingly well.
Waiting for the results
Waiting until yesterday wasn’t the most enjoyable part, but that’s how the process works. Receiving the email that the cerfitication results are available online finally ended the wait. Of course, I went to the online portal immediately to check my results — and seeing a 90/100 one was a great moment and closed the whole journey in a very positive way.
What’s next?
Right now, I’m happy with the result and will continue using Italian in my daily life. I might go for B2 at some point, but I’m not in a rush. First, I want to keep improving naturally, without exam pressure.
Eventually, I am going to get my English certification as well, so I might use a similar approach there. But that’s a story for another time (maybe in 2026).
Conclusion
This certification has been a meaningful milestone of mine. It showed me (once again) that consistent small steps build real progress — even with a full schedule.
If you are also learning a language: set a concrete goal, build a routine around it, and keep going. It works.
Happy learning!
Disclaimer: As ChatGPT supported me during my learning journey, it also helped me draft and organize this blog post (it knew all the important points, anyways). I reviewed and edited the content to ensure accuracy and personal voice. On top, I let ChatGPT generate the title image based on my prompts.