A solid vocabulary and expressions, understanding of addressed speech, knowledge of grammatical structures and the ability to express your point of view - all this you should be able to already at an intermediate level of English proficiency.
B1 - what level of English is this?
In accordance with the CEFR ( Common European Framework of Reference ) B1 Intermediate is called threshold, which means that further language learning involves mastering advanced skills. Learning English to an intermediate level is like getting to the equator, beyond which you will have free communication with native speakers of this language.
Get your TEFL TESOL certification
Travel, work online, get a job abroad, or be
an EFL and ESL teacher in your country.
At the Intermediate you should easily:
- Understand the general meaning of articles in a magazine or website.
- Be able to write simple and coherent texts on familiar topics up to 30 sentences.
- Describe personal experiences and reflect on intentions in personal correspondence.
- Read adapted literature at level B1 or non-adapted A1 or A2 .
- Distinguish business speech from informal and be able to switch quickly.
- Conduct business correspondence using a dictionary.
- Retell the plot of the material read and express your attitude.
- Understand about 65% of the words in films in the original or in an interview with a native speaker
- Do not get lost in English-speaking countries and be able to ask a question, clarify information.
- Interview for a job abroad by understanding the questions and telling basic facts about yourself.
- Own 2500-3000 words, as well as fundamental grammar rules.
- Have in stock several dozen idioms, introductory and connecting structures and phraseological units.
- Easily pass the English proficiency test.
You have enough knowledge for a career abroad, you are able to understand work problems, navigate typical situations, and make connections. A little more effort and you will speak fluently.
English at level B1 , as a rule, is spoken by someone who:
- Returned after a long stay in an English-speaking country.
- Completed a bachelor's degree in English or a linguistic profile.
- Successfully completed Pre-Intermediate courses.
When should knowledge be at least average?
If your goal is to understand the interlocutor and respond to him, for example, during the workflow, without delving into grammar, stylistic beauty and advanced vocabulary, then you must speak English at least at the Intermediate . It will also be enough to:
- travel to English speaking countries,
- communicate with native speakers,
- work with content in social networks,
- do internet marketing
- tutoring with children
- find a job in a language kindergarten or elementary school,
- take TEFL/TESOL courses for the right to teach English to non-native speakers,
- careers as a developer, tester, web designer, targetologist.
What do you need to know for B1?
The average level of English proficiency assumes the following knowledge:
- Present, Past, Future Simple,
- Present, Past and Future Continuous,
- Present, Past and Future Perfect,
- Present, Past and Future Perfect Continuous,
- Relative clauses (defining & non-defining),
- Passive Voice,
- Articles & Quantifiers,
- Reported Speech,
- prepositions,
- Gerund & Infinitive,
- action & state verbs,
- conditions,
- Auxiliary verbs,
- modal verbs,
- conjunctions,
- All kinds & forms of questions,
- Rules for comparing adjectives.
In addition, you need:
- Understand the difference between I used to eat my mom's salad and I'm used to eat my mom's salad.
- be able to explain why I'm going to watch "The Lord of the Rings", but I'm watching "The Lord of the Rings" tomorrow at 4 pm or I'll watch "The Lord of the Rings" next week.
- Know the difference between You mustn't do workouts and You don't have to do workouts.
- Correctly translate I stopped to relax and I stopped relaxing.
- can easily name the type of conditional sentence: If you come back, we'll go walking, If you came back, we would go walking, If you had come back, we would have gone walking.
- skillfully paraphrase direct speech : Susan demanded: “What are you preparing for?” in indirect Susan demanded what I was preparing for.
- Substitute question tags: You don't want some milk, do you?
Your vocabulary includes: additionally, due to, as good as, because of, neither of, both of.
Intermediate topics
A person can, without prior preparation, conduct a dialogue on such topics:
- My emotions & feelings
- Hobby & work activity
- Hotels: booking & traveling tips
- Theatre, cinema, cafes
- Animals: wild nature
- Social networks & celebrities
- Sport like profession & as a hobby
- Talking to the police officer
- Transport & payments
- My education & career
- Urban life: post-Covid main rules
- My relationship: friends, family, colleagues
- My plans, hopes, & dreams
- Life events: current & past
- The world around us
- modern technologies
- Morality, justice & humanity
- Money, business, achievements
- Disasters, social problems, famine
- health & beauty
- world news & my opinion
- Different people: the elderly, teenagers, children
- Shopping, fashion & other entertainment
- impact advertising
- Science, knowledge, research
Intermediate Skills
We have put together for you some examples of text that you need to understand and/or play at threshold Intermediate. This table will help you better understand what B1 requires of you. You can use it as an exercise.
| Skill | Example |
|---|---|
| Reading simple instructions, brochures, catalogs, promotional materials, product cards | Givenchy's AW21 collection was defined by tactile textures. With contrasting bull hide leather sleeves, this logo-embossed bomber jacket evokes a desire to reach out and touch this cropped design. Lining: Polyester 100%, Viscose 52%, Cotton 48% Outer: Bull hide Leather 100%, Wool 80%, Polyamide 20%. |
| Correct understanding of events, messages, announcements on topics familiar to you | The UK Government has now confirmed that it plans to move to Step 4 of its Roadmap for lifting COVID-19 restrictions on Monday 19 July. However, with rates of COVID-19 in Oxford 70% above the national average, all staff and students working and studying on site should continue to follow all existing University health guidance. |
| Generating a quick answer, question, or explanation while traveling or communicating with native speakers | We are not sure we will get to the Tower if we go that way. Could you please view our route and give us some advice? |
| Description of your thoughts, hopes, plans, goals without loss of meaning and simplification | This year I plan to visit my grandmother in Finland. However, I am not sure if this is possible if all the current restrictions remain. So far, we are communicating via Skype, but it is still no a warm conversation over a cup of tea and a delicious grandma's pie. I miss her and wish as soon as possible that the pandemic was over so I could hug her. |
| Understanding more than half of the words and phrases in the video | Test yourself on these films . |
| Conducting business correspondence with courtesy | Hiya David! I noticed that you misunderstood my edit to text #3. You should replace slang expressions with more understandable phrases for our target audience. Look forward to hearing from you by 7 pm tonight. Regards, Dima. |
| An impromptu description of your experiences | I am excited about this grand corporate party! The fellows were so friendly that I stopped being nervous within the first 10 minutes. Even though I was new to the team, guys accepted me as an old and trusted friend. |
If neither translation nor self-compilation of phrases in English caused any difficulties for you, then we have good news for you!
Areas of Excellence at the Threshold Level
B1 means quite serious success in all five fundamental areas: speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar & vocabulary
Ability to communicate
It depends on your efforts at this stage whether you will be able to master conversational in the short term or whether you will stumble. of the English language Intermediate assumes the main emphasis on this particular direction - the active training of oral speech. Speak with those for whom English is native or with those who know it very well. If this is not possible, you can train yourself with the help of videos, songs, audiobooks. As a result, you should be able to combine complex and simple phrases, enter idioms and catchphrases, defend your point of view and communicate without long pauses.
Listening comprehension
The level of English Intermediate means that you already have access to the details and not the obvious meaning of the work, whether it's a movie or a podcast. From this stage, you can switch to viewing without subtitles. And in no case should you ignore such an activity as listening, because this is an important component of fluent speech training, so you should strive for 90% listening comprehension.
Reading
Knowledge of English at the level of "intermediate" suggests that it is time to move from adapted literature to original works. Reading the blogs of universities, the media, American or Australian large companies will be a good workout. You can also read the wonderful Shakespeare: “to be or not to be: that is the question”.
Letter
English level B1 means that you can draw up and fill out contracts, invoices, reports, declarations, postcards, reviews. You can try your hand at writing a foreign resume, a cover letter for a job, an autobiography, or a long article on LinkedIn. You can enter into correspondence without fear and understand up to 80% of the information from native speakers.
Grammar and vocabulary
Intermediate level, you need to know about 3000 English words. This is the same standard that includes everyday vocabulary, working words and phrases, some specific terms, synonyms and introductory words. You can make lists of different words by interests or by the topics noted above and thus replenish the vocabulary box. To practice grammar skills, it is worth devoting time to exercises and tests every day to eliminate errors.
How to learn English to an intermediate level?
To begin with, it is worth determining your initial level and topics that you already know quite well. Then, taking into account this information, draw up a personal plan, which includes the allowable margin of time, as well as the planned frequency of classes.
This algorithm will give you an understanding of the real situation and will allow you to assess your capabilities and prospects. In the process, you can adjust this or that component. For example, if you realize that you need to devote more lessons to speaking and grammar, or, conversely, you realize that you are already well versed in the topic and the stock in the form of 5 lessons is too large.
Detailed instructions for those who want to learn English up to B1, we have provided in this article .
As a conclusion
Get your TEFL TESOL certification
Travel, work online, get a job abroad, or be
an EFL and ESL teacher in your country.
Knowledge of English at the intermediate level is a golden key to career opportunities and an important growth point for a specialist who wants to earn a salary in dollars.
If you have something to share on the topic of this material, then write about it in the comments, and also remember that our educational portal has the best prices for TEFL / TESOL courses, which will allow you to teach English in any country in the world!
We wish you success and undying motivation!