Latvian B1 level means you can manage everyday life in Latvian, keep a simple conversation going on familiar topics, including your work, and give and explain your opinion. Latvia's state language proficiency test certifies it at the first grade of the intermediate level, B1. If you are at A2 and your first language is English, plan on roughly 275 to 400 more hours.
What can you do at Latvian B1 level?
B1 is where the CEFR moves you from basic to independent user. On the Latvian scale, B1 is the first grade of the intermediate level: you can keep up a simple dialogue on everyday subjects and familiar work topics, give an opinion, and read simple texts on different subjects. In practice, that means talking to a neighbour, handling a visit to the doctor, following a work briefing and reading a notice from the building manager.
What makes Latvian Latvian at this level:
- Seven cases. Nouns change for who does what to whom: ar draugu (with a friend), uz veikalu (to the shop), no darba (from work).
- Long vowels that change meaning. The macron marks length, and it matters: kazas are goats, kāzas is a wedding.
- Stress on the first syllable, almost always, which makes new words easier to say than to spell.
- The debitive mood. Latvian says "to me it is to be worked" for "I have to work": Man jāstrādā. The object stays in the nominative: Mums jāpērk maize (we need to buy bread).
- No articles. Definiteness shows up in adjective endings instead.
| Latvian | English |
|---|---|
| Es Rīgā dzīvoju jau divus gadus, un man šeit ļoti patīk. | I've been living in Riga for two years already, and I like it here a lot. |
| Vai jūs varētu runāt mazliet lēnāk? | Could you speak a little more slowly? |
| Ja man būtu vairāk laika, es mācītos arī lietuviešu valodu. | If I had more time, I would also learn Lithuanian. |
| Manuprāt, biļetes ir pārāk dārgas. | In my opinion, the tickets are too expensive. |
| Vakar es aizgāju uz veikalu, bet aizmirsu nopirkt pienu. | Yesterday I went to the shop but forgot to buy milk. |
Which test certifies Latvian B1?
The state language proficiency test (valsts valodas prasmes pārbaude). It has three levels, A, B and C, each with two grades, which gives A1 to C2 (VIAA test page). The test used to be run by VISC; VIAA, the State Education Development Agency, has taken over that work, and on 22 September 2026 the government decided to move state language testing to the Latvian Language Agency. Check the current organiser before you register.
| Exam | Who runs it | Levels | CEFR link |
|---|---|---|---|
| State language proficiency test | VIAA (formerly VISC), moving to the Latvian Language Agency | A1 to C2 (three levels with two grades each) | Uses the CEFR level names |
| Naturalisation language test | Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) | One pass level, everyday Latvian | No CEFR level stated |
These are two different tests. The state language test is the one employers and residence rules refer to. Citizenship applicants take PMLP's own test, which checks listening, reading, writing and speaking in everyday situations and does not state a CEFR level (PMLP).
Latvian A2 vs B1: what changes?
A2 gets you through routine tasks. B1 lets you explain, describe and disagree. The milestones:
- Cases with prepositions under control. Ar takes the accusative in the singular, no and bez take the genitive, and in the plural every preposition takes the dative. At B1 these come out right most of the time.
- Past and future tenses. Es gāju (I went), es iešu (I will go), plus the irregular verbs you use every day.
- The conditional. Es gribētu kafiju (I'd like a coffee) for politeness, and ja man būtu laiks for what if.
- The debitive in daily use. Man jāiet (I have to go), tev jāzvana (you need to call).
- Reflexive verbs. Satiksimies rīt (let's meet tomorrow), mazgāties (to wash oneself).
- New vocabulary areas: work, health, housing, local government and the news.
