Belarusian B1 level means you can use Belarusian on your own in everyday situations: tell a story in the past, explain your plans and opinions, and follow clear speech and simple articles. You can prove it with the certification test in Belarusian as a foreign language at the National Institute for Higher Education (NIHE) in Minsk, or with the B1 certification exam at the University of Warsaw. From A2, allow roughly 150 to 200 more hours.
What can you do at Belarusian B1 level?
The CEFR describes B1 as understanding the main points of clear speech on familiar matters, coping with most everyday situations, and describing experiences, plans and opinions in simple connected text. Belarusian has a few features you meet properly at this level. Spelling follows pronunciation, so an unstressed o is written as a: малако (malako, milk). The letter ў (ŭ) is a short u that appears after vowels, and д and т soften to дз and ц, as in дзень (dzień, day) and цёплы (cioply, warm).
At this level you can:
- Tell what happened in the past and say what you will do, choosing between imperfective and perfective verbs.
- Use all six cases in everyday phrases.
- Explain an opinion and give reasons.
- Read short articles, posts and messages in Belarusian.
- Follow clear speech on familiar topics.
Typical B1 sentences:
- Летась я ездзіў да сяброў у Гродна. (Lietaś ja jezdziŭ da siabroŭ u Hrodna.) Last year I went to see friends in Hrodna.
- Калі ў мяне будзе час, я табе патэлефаную ўвечары. (Kali ŭ mianie budzie čas, ja tabie pateliefanuju ŭviečary.) If I have time, I'll phone you in the evening.
- Мне падабаецца гэтая кніга, бо яна напісана простай мовай. (Mnie padabajecca hetaja kniha, bo jana napisana prostaj movaj.) I like this book because it's written in simple language.
- Я думаю, што трэба больш чытаць па-беларуску. (Ja dumaju, što treba boĺš čytać pa-bielarusku.) I think we should read more in Belarusian.
- Я б пайшоў, калі б меў час. (Ja b pajšoŭ, kali b mieŭ čas.) I'd go if I had time.
Which exam proves Belarusian B1 level?
Two institutions issue Belarusian certificates. NIHE in Minsk runs certification testing in Belarusian as a foreign language at all six levels, matched to the CEFR and ALTE scales. The test has five parts (vocabulary and grammar, reading, writing, listening and speaking), takes three hours in two stages, and costs 150 BYN as of October 2026 (NIHE).
| Exam | Who runs it | Levels | CEFR link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certification testing in Belarusian as a foreign language | National Institute for Higher Education, Minsk | A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 | Official, matched to CEFR and ALTE levels |
| Certification exam in Belarusian as a foreign language | University of Warsaw | B1, B2 | Official CEFR levels |
A 2024 article published by the University of Warsaw describes its B1 and B2 exam as the only Belarusian certification available in Europe outside Belarus (University of Warsaw). If you live in the EU, that is the practical option.
Belarusian A2 vs B1: what changes?
A2 Belarusian covers routines and simple needs. B1 adds the grammar for stories, plans and reasons:
- Aspect. Рабіць and зрабіць (rabić, zrabić), and the perfective future зраблю (zrabliu, I'll do it).
- Cases in full. The instrumental after з and as a predicate, the locative after у and на, the genitive after numbers and negation.
- Conditional. Бы or б with the past tense, as in Я б пайшоў (ja b pajšoŭ).
- The ў rule. У becomes ў after a vowel: яна ў Мінску (jana ŭ Minsku) but ён у Мінску (jon u Minsku).
- Connectors. Таму што (tamu što, because), хоць (choć, although), аднак (adnak, however).
