The level of English B2 (Upper Intermediate) is a high level of knowledge of a foreign language, which implies a confident command of English in any life situations and areas of communication.

Literally, the name of the stage can be translated as “above average”, i.e. this is not an average level of knowledge: communication in a foreign language should not cause any difficulties. Those who want to get certificates that are recognized in the world (TOEFL or IELTS) must at least speak the language at the Upper Intermediate level. This is a more advanced English that is highly valued when applying for a job or entering a university.

If you are determined to enter a foreign university that requires knowledge of the English language, you must have an Upper Intermediate English level for confident knowledge of it. You can take a test to determine your level, and if it is not high enough, continue studying. Or improve the knowledge of a foreign language and continue studying to the advanced level.

This level of knowledge is more related to the systematization of all the knowledge that has been obtained before. Often people who have spent a lot of time learning a new language, and have gone from Elementary (or Beginner) to Intermediate rather quickly, have a lot of information in their heads that is scattered.

By the way, if you are taking English courses on Dragunkin in Minsk, all information is structured as you study, from simple to more complex. And the grammar of the English language is gradually built in the mind into a coherent structure.

Upper Intermediate: English level B2 - what you need to know?

So, you are confident in your knowledge, but do not understand at what level to continue learning English. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​was created just for this. Start studying at the Upper Intermediate level if:

• You only occasionally notice that you are not sure how to build this or that sentence, but it is not difficult for you to talk on almost any topic;
• It is not difficult for you to maintain a dialogue in English, and you will be able to answer any counter question of the interlocutor;
• You can hear English speech without problems, but only occasionally you may come across an unfamiliar word that is not often used in conversation;
• You are familiar with the basics of the grammar of the language: you know how to build sentences, combine words with each other, and correctly formulate your thoughts. However, you feel that you can grow further and learn more complex structures that sometimes occur in conversations or texts;
• Some time ago you had knowledge at the Upper Intermediate level, but you have not practiced for a long time and you know that you have forgotten a lot and you need to systematize and remember many rules;
• You are going to enter a foreign university, or you need a certificate of English language proficiency for employment.

Often students who want to structure their knowledge pass. So, for example, at the Dragunkin English course in Minsk, you can complete a program in a short time that will allow you to remember all the forgotten grammar rules and improve your conversational speech.

Upper-Intermediate English level: what skills will be obtained after reaching this level

A person who owns this level can express your thoughts clearly and judgments in English. Moreover, communicating with several people at once, or speaking with a monologue should not be a problem. The speaker will be able to use more complex grammatical structures when forming sentences. The sentences with which this or that thought will be expressed will become more complex and interesting.

Also expand vocabulary student. You will be able to define any subject, phenomenon in English, master both everyday and business colloquial speech. You will also be able to speak on many professional topics and select antonyms and synonyms for any word.

Improved understanding of English speech. So the accents with which the inhabitants of various countries of the world speak will become clear. In addition, it will be easier to understand fast speech, which previously merged into one incomprehensible text. Perception will improve significantly, and it will be possible to watch films and TV shows in English without subtitles.

English level B2 (Upper Intermediate) will allow you to read more complex texts in English: it can be non-adapted materials in popular science magazines, texts of American and British classics, simple scientific materials. Some of the vocabulary will be unfamiliar, but this is the way to improve your English skills.

Once you reach this level, you will be able to write essays, abstracts, letters in a foreign language. Expressing your thoughts with a pen or keyboard will become easier: you can both fill out documents and write your stories in English.

Upper Intermediate level program: what do you need to learn to start passing it?

In order to start learning English at such a difficult level, you need to reach the Intermediate level. This is not as difficult to do as it might seem. At Dragunkin English courses in Minsk, you can learn the basic grammar of a foreign language and successfully pass the test after studying for 3-4 months, depending on the intensity of the lessons.

A unique technique allows you to structure all knowledge. In addition, training is “unloaded”, it lacks complex terminology that only interferes with learning.

With the right motivation and effort, you can speak English faster than you think!

The Upper Intermediate level of English proficiency (Upper Intermediate) is the fifth of the six levels of foreign language proficiency in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​- - and is designated as B2. Upper Intermediate (Upper Intermediate) - this is the level of "above average", the owner of this level of language proficiency can communicate in English in any field. Those who know English at this level can take the FCE exam and receive a certificate confirming the Upper Intermediate (Upper Intermediate). In addition, with the Upper-Intermediate level, you can start preparing for international exams and.

General characteristics of the level

Knowledge of English at B2 level is sufficient to communicate fluently with native speakers. Unlike the previous stage (), this level helps to consolidate and systematize knowledge of grammar and the ability to use complicated simple verbal constructions. Vocabulary at this level is about 3000-4000 words and phrases.

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Level competencies

Each level of knowledge of the English language corresponds to certain competencies. We have selected for you the main competencies in five sections of the language:

Reading

The above-average level implies that the person reads and translates with ease:

• Adapted literature of your level;
• Any literature in the original (but encounters unfamiliar words);
• News and articles in English on the Internet.

Letter

A person who knows English at B2 level can:

• Competently build sentences using different constructions and tenses;
• Can write and translate simple formal and informal letters;
• Will be able to fill out documents in English;
• Can write an essay on any topic.

listening

The Upper Intermediate level (upper intermediate) allows you to:

• From the first listening to understand audio recordings adapted to the level;
• Understand native speakers (at any pace and even with an accent);
• Watch in English with English subtitles series and films of a general theme;
• Listen to audiobooks in English.

Speech

A person who knows English at the Upper Intermediate level (Upper Intermediate) can:

• Maintain a conversation on any topic in English;
• Use different grammatical structures in conversation;
• Operate with conditional sentences, tenses, passive and active voice;
• Quickly compose a monologue on any topic;
• Speak coherently and in long sentences (without using short, abrupt phrases);
• Do not get lost in any questions of the interlocutor.

Grammar

Knowledge of English at the level of Upper Intermediate (Upper Intermediate) implies a high level of knowledge in the field of grammar, namely:

• Knowledge of all aspects of the tenses of the English language;
• Ability to use complex
• The ability to choose correctly in which future tense to express your plans;
• Ability to use complex language structures: understand and build sentences with modal verbs with different types of infinitives, with gerunds, infinitive after the verb and others;
• Ability to correctly paraphrase direct speech.

What it takes to get to the next level

This level of English proficiency should not be final. Even such a high level as upper intermediate is a couple of steps far from ideal. In order to make it easier for you to get to the Advanced level of language proficiency (this is already the next level), follow our tips:

1. Practice language daily.


2. Communicate more with native speakers.


3. Improve your vocabulary daily by choosing words from different areas of the language.


4. Try to translate all your leisure time into English (movies, music, reading).


5. Keep learning to think in English.

Video about upper intermediate level:

In this post you will learn how I myself, without tutors and courses, without spending a penny, learned English in a year from almost full 0 to Upper Intermediate.

So, it's pretty simple: Motivation! It was she who gave impetus to self-development and the thirst for knowledge of English rules, words and letters. Agree, nothing will stop you if you have motivation ...

Everyone may have their own motivation: for some it is to go abroad in search of a better life / work / study, for others to watch films in the original and enjoy the voices of the actors, and not listen to our cool, flawed translations, for others, to understand English-language lectures, thereby killing two birds with one stone: learning English, expanding your vocabulary, and developing in the area that interests you. (Purely for reference, almost every field, whether it's anatomy, programming, drawing or something, is full of different courses and materials, and there are even more of them in English, they are cooler and better. That is, you have more options for what to watch and read.

When everything became clear with motivation, you need to outline a training plan. It can be individual for everyone, because reading is better for one, listening for another, chatting for the third ... You need to find a middle ground for yourself. That is, spend more time on one and less on the other, so that there is no bias such as you read well, but speak poorly or something like that.

It's clear that without knowing the basic set of words, you won't get very far in any of these sections. Therefore, you need to start with the cramming of words, yes, it is with the memorization of words. Services such as Anki and LinguaLeo are very helpful with this. In both of them, this is very convenient: there are spaced repetition functions, there are voiceovers of words, their transcriptions and visual representations. Anki can be downloaded for Android for free, but Apple users will have to pay almost 1000 rubles for it. This can be circumvented by practicing on Anki's own website without downloading the app on an Iphone or iPad. LinguaLeo is free for both Android and Apple, but has some limitations, such as the limit of adding words to the dictionary, truncated grammar, and so on. A full subscription for a year costs 1200r. You can get a free subscription by inviting friends. See Leo's website for details.

Once you have learned a basic set of words, such that you can understand what is required of you in the textbook (English / American textbook in English!) you can move on to grammar. In parallel with cramming the basic set of words, I recommend practicing these words by pronouncing them. It is quite convenient to do this using the method of Dr. Pimsleur, (his lessons can be downloaded, they are free). The essence of this method is that you listen to simple dialogues and repeat them. Very convenient, allows you to fix words. Along with this, you need to read! Reading is very important, do not underestimate it, it is on it that a lot of people who took toefl / ielts got burned. (international exam in English).

Reading should start developing with simple adapted stories for dumb, beginners, like Winnie the Pooh or something like that.

As soon as we push off from complete zero, and we can say / write / read something intelligible, we need to move on, namely, to complicate! In grammar, “Red Murphy or Oxford Grammar (both elementary)” will help you, in listening - BBC podcasts for English learners, conversation - native speaker (English for practice) or at worst, watch adapted videos, write out phrases from dialogues and pronounce them, reading - the same adapted books. We also continue to use Anki and LinguaLeo. Leo, for example, is full of materials that will help you learn grammar, improve reading and listening.

Once this milestone is passed, you can speak clearly (describe yourself, talk about your goals / desires, etc., using simple phrases and sentences), move on. You can start watching normal videos/series/materials for further study... Videos created by natives for natives. Wow! You can start watching Friends!

All the same ones will help you in grammar, but the already blue Murphy (blue) and the yellowed Oxford (yellow), I recommend going through both textbooks, because grammar is well stated in one, practice is well given in the other. In listening - BBC podcasts, Luke's English podcast (I especially liked it), songs, etc. (). Conversation - look for natives, this can be done using the sites interpals and scout (More on this in the next article). Reading - texts for exams like toefl/ielts. We continue to use Anki and LinguaLeo to improve our vocabulary.

After this milestone, you can safely move on to something more serious, namely, read English literature in the original, watch films in the original, talk on various topics with natives, listen to podcasts for natives created by natives and take green Murphy and green Oxford by storm .

Listening and reading can be done on the road, but grammar and conversation will have to be allocated time during the day. The Internet is a very useful thing, it has a lot of textbooks, materials that can be downloaded for free! You can learn English without spending anything but time on it! The main thing is your desire, motivation and faith in yourself. With motivation and a good start, classes will become a habit for you and then it will be easier and more enjoyable for you ...

Below are links to tutorials, podcasts, courses, and more.
(A little tip: determine what you are very interested in, and watch and read about it in English, so learning will be a great pleasure)

Learn and develop and motivate others to do the same! If any of the readers have their own success story, please write in the comments.

Foreign languages

Achieve a confident Upper-Intermediate level of English proficiency.

I've been keeping my diary here for 40 days now. Upon completion of the first stage, I reachedIntermediate level.
English has become my habit, so I just keep learning this language! I hope that my goal will also be useful to you!

Description of the Upper-Intermediate level :

• You speak spoken language in various situations (from everyday to professional), you can communicate with a native speaker without any preparation. You can speak almost clearly and in detail on a wide range of issues, explain your point of view on an important issue, giving arguments for and against. Do you read non-adapted literature on English language You are able to retell the content of complex texts.
  

Based on the above, I will build a program of my self-study.

Grammar:

1. Strengthen existing knowledge by solving tests on
2. Practice at least 40 minutes daily by Raymond Murphy | English Grammar in Use 4 edition. With the implementation of tasks from the attached program.
3. Watch some grammar videos.
+ Good YouTube channels:

The main thing is not to make this stage endlessly boring.
+ for full development in all aspects of language learning, the site is also great EnglishTown.com. I'm serious, very good site.

Auditory skills:

1. Listen to at least 30 minutes of ESL Podcast - English Cafe + Learning English - 6 Minute English - BBC.
On the way to the university and back.
+ podcasts from China232.com
+ BBC podcasts such as How to say, BBC Talk about English, Grammar Challenge with English learners.

2. Separately listen to and parse texts from the Intermediate English Course.
3. Watching various series or videos with or without subtitles (more preferably) is my favorite item.
+ Scrubs did a great job

4. Work on unfamiliar words.

Reading and retelling skill + word learning:

1.Select Readings OXFORD Intermediate. Reading the topic and retelling.
2. Macmillan Topics is also average. Reading, learning unfamiliar words.
3. Use Anki to learn new words.
+ 4. LinguaLeo.ru is also suitable for learning words. If you look at the words from your dictionary in the form of cards, then there are buttons at the bottom for various online dictionaries, so it’s convenient to look at the context or pronunciation.
+ 5. Great site to read:

Speaking Skill:

+ Effortless English fromA.J. Hoge.
+ Conversations with strangers + Good site for chatting with people from all over the world, social network:

I think this is all enough for a gradual systematic movement to achieve an average level of knowledge of the language. I plan to post results every day or every two days.

My article why LInguaLeo is not a good site for basic language learning:

I will be glad to any advice!