I know there are different levels of flute. like a beginner flute, intermediate (im talking about the instrument, not the player). so, i was wondering, how do i tell what kind of flute i have?

lets see...
a
"buffet
crompon & cie (these are as close as i can tell its written in a script thats hard to read)
a paris
Series II"
all that is on the body where it joins with the head joint. also, its an open hole.

this is a beginner flute

It sounds like a student to me, but you can tell if it has a solid silver headjoint or not by 'pinging' it. Hold it by the crown in you finger tips and flick the tenon with your finger. If it 'tings' its only plated, if it 'thunks' its silver. Thus finding out if student or intermediate.

well, my headjoint definitely goes "think", but on my lipplate it says "sterling". does that mean that only the lip plate is made of silver?

Not sure.. Usually when silver is marked only on the lip plate then the tubing of the head is plated. If it is solid silver then the tenon will be the same silver color as your headjoint. If it is plated the tenon will look nickel in color.

what is the tenon? i am trying to figure that out for some time now. :D

The tenon is the area that goes into the main body of the flute on the end of your headjoint. There is also a tenon on the main body of your flute that goes into the footjoint. Hope that makes sense. I am horrible at trying to describe anything.

thanks. yes, it makes sense . my tenon looks used, very used. I guess that my flute was once silver plated but it wore off. the only shiny part on it is the lip plate.

thanks everyone for the help.