The invention discloses a method and apparatus for information retrieval in scenarios where the relation between contents and user has a multilingual nature. The problem of content access subsists when the user does not have a standard capacity in the language of contents. The invention proposes a system so that access accounts for the user's variable linguistic capacity in the language of contents, and metrics and additional information can be generated which make possible an optimized access. The user's linguistic capacity is measured by applying the information of a linguistic knowledge base, personalized or predefined. The metrics computed include suitability predictors for the functions of understanding, learning and reviewing. The additional information supplements the deficits in user's knowledge for the toughest contents, and provides a method for improvement through the progressive training of the knowledge base.