Finally Understand How to Reach B2 English Fluency

Welcome back to another episode of the Peach Teach English Podcast! In this solo episode, I’m walking you through the exact steps you need to move from intermediate (B1) to fluent (B2) English — including how many hours to study, how much vocabulary you really need, and how to improve all four language skills.

Whether you feel stuck at B1 or you’re just starting to take fluency seriously, this episode will help you set realistic goals and build a plan to finally speak, understand, and express yourself confidently in English.

This episode + full transcript is ideal for intermediate learners who want to build fluency for school, work, travel, or life abroad. Use it to boost your listening, expand your vocabulary, and take your English to the next level.

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📝 Episode 34 Transcript:

00:00 Introduction and Purpose

Welcome back to the Peach Teach English podcast. I'm Frankie Mesmer, your host, and if you are a B1 level intermediate English learner and you feel stuck at this level, this episode is for you because I'm going to be giving you the exact tools that you need to go from B1 to B2 level fluency in English.

And if you'd like to remember the information that I'm sharing with you today, be sure to check out the free checklist in the description, which will include all of the skills, tips, vocabulary, and grammar you need to go from B1 to B2.

00:40 Challenges at the Intermediate Level

So first, let's look at why you might feel stuck at the intermediate level. What's happening is you probably feel that you don't have enough vocabulary. You're still translating in your head. It can sometimes be really difficult to understand regional English and a lot of slang. You're not a beginner, but there are still obstacles keeping you from being able to communicate efficiently and confidently, and as a result, when it's time for you to actually speak in real life, you start to freeze up.

You get real nervous. You are worried that you might not understand or people might not understand you, and the reality is you're staying in that safe zone. And in order to reach fluency, we've gotta expand our comfort zone. We gotta get out there and really start trying to understand real-life English. And so what I'm gonna do today is really show you the difference between that B1 intermediate and that B2 fluency so that you can start putting these actions into practice and become fluent.

01:56 Time and Vocabulary Requirements for B2

So how long does it take to go from B1 to B2? Really, this is a complicated question. It's not the same for everyone, and the effectiveness of your study methods matters a lot. But in general, it's recommended that you study between 200 to 250 hours to go from B1 to B2. So that means if you study between 5 and 10 hours a week, you should be able to reach B2 English fluency in six months to one year. At B1 level, you probably have around 2,000 to 3,000 vocabulary words. To reach B2, you need to have somewhere around 4,000 to 6,000 vocabulary words.

So that means you need to grow your vocabulary by like 2,000 to 4,000 more words. So we're gonna look at today, how you can do that in just a little bit. But if you would like a list of vocabulary words that you need for B2 level, I will include that in the description for you so that you can study those words.

03:16 Effective Vocabulary Building Strategies

So now let's look at how you can add all of these words to your vocabulary. Of course, you can use that list that I told you about, but that's probably not the best way to add this vocabulary into your long-term memory. Just memorizing long lists is kind of boring and you probably won't remember most of the words.

So one of the best ways to really grow your vocabulary is to interact with English, and you can do that in two ways. So you can do that with receptive skills, which is going to be listening and reading, which is probably one of the best, really, for growing your vocabulary because you're consuming the language.

But at the same time, using productive skills like speaking and writing can also be very helpful because when you're interacting, especially with native speakers, you're going to start hearing how they actually speak, the slang that they use, and the way they interact with other people. And when you try writing, you're usually attempting to be more descriptive. And so you're going to start to see what gaps you have in your vocabulary so that you can become more fluent in English.

So I really recommend developing your listening, reading, speaking, and writing every week. And if you want to know how to do that, you could check out my video where I give you seven weekly habits that you can add into your weekly study routine to fluency. But I want to give you some more specific tips about how to use listening, reading, writing, and speaking, and what it really means you can do at the B2 fluency level. So let's go ahead and check that out.

05:23 Mastering Listening Skills

So let's start with listening because it's a really crucial skill for fluency, right? When you are fluent, you should be able to understand the majority of what you hear. So when you're at B1 level and you listen to a podcast or a short audio, you're able to understand the main points, even if you don't understand every single word.

The difference is at B2, you're able to go past just getting the gist of what you hear. You're really able to start listening to more complex conversations and understand differences in intonation, starting to get more of the feeling and the intent of what is being said. You should also be able to watch series or movies and not need the subtitles. At B1, you're still probably quite dependent on those subtitles. So the question is, what can you do to take your listening to that next level, where you're getting more than just the main idea, really starting to understand more complex concepts?

So as I mentioned, you should be able to follow movies without the subtitles. That doesn't mean never use the subtitles. I think they can help you grow your vocabulary when you see the words. But if you're always using the subtitles, you might be practicing more your reading and vocabulary than listening. So it's very helpful to turn those off sometimes and make sure you're truly understanding without seeing the words, and it doesn't have to only be with movies.

What I really like to use is YouTube videos, things like TED Talks, where you can listen to more complex topics and see if you're able to follow them. Also, podcasts like this one are a really good option because you are able to just listen. You don't have so many visuals unless you're watching the video podcast, but you're really able to focus just on what you hear.

And what I'm gonna be doing for you guys is we're going to go on a journey of B1 to B2. So with the Peach Teach English podcast, I'm going to be making videos where I use B2 level grammar through telling stories in conversation, the same with using B2 vocabulary through stories in conversation, so that you can practice your listening while also growing your vocabulary, and this will really help you reach that B2 level.

So, if you want to use the Peach Teach English podcast to help you, be sure to hit that subscribe button so that you get updates each week.

08:26 Enhancing Reading Skills

So now that we talked about listening, let's look at reading, because reading is really one of the best ways to grow your vocabulary, and one way that I want to help you practice reading each week is with this podcast. So at peachteachenglish.com, you can go to my blog where you will see the Peach Teach English podcast episodes, included with a transcript and some study materials to help you. And this way you can listen to the podcast, then you can also repeat the information and the vocabulary using the transcript for reading, and that way you're practicing listening and reading each week with just one material.

But another way that you can add reading into your studies each week is by using articles. I really recommend engoo.com. Make sure you go to that advanced section so that you are practicing more difficult reading, so that you can reach that B2 fluency. And I really recommend trying to read some books. And some that I think are really great for B2, where you're challenging yourself to read some complex ideas and develop critical thinking, are things like self-help books. So you can read Atomic Habits, and I just finished a book called Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. Absolutely loved that book. It's all about learning, and it could be a great one to get started reading English more regularly. But at the end of the day, it's more important to read about something that you're interested in.

So if you're interested in mystery novels, or you are interested in romance novels or biographies, fantasy, choose whatever it is that you're interested in because you will be more likely to continue reading it if you like it. And if you want some more recommendations of books to read, you can check out my video where I recommend some books for you.

But guys, the main difference between B1 reading and B2 reading is quite similar to the listening aspect. When you're B1, you can follow shorter texts quite easily, and you're able to get the big picture, the main ideas, but at B2, you're able to take it even further. You're able to start understanding the deeper meaning of text.

You're able to understand the author's tone, maybe things like humor and sarcasm—things that you might be missing at B2—and you're also able to follow more complex texts that are gonna make you think and involve critical thinking, informing your own ideas. So make sure that you're choosing texts that challenge you.

If it's too easy, you're not improving, but obviously not something that's too difficult where you get bored. So guys, that wraps up the receptive skills of listening and reading, and we're gonna go into the productive skills of speaking and writing.

11:58 Improving Speaking Skills

So let's start with speaking—how to go from B1 to B2 level. In speaking, I think this is actually probably the most difficult for many people, mainly because they're not practicing speaking enough. It can be hard to find someone to speak with, especially if you don't live in an English-speaking country. And I totally get that. But first, let's look at the difference with B1 and B2.

Right? So at B1 level, you can have some casual conversations, but there are moments where you feel stuck and you make a lot of grammatical mistakes. And when you reach B2, that is no longer the case. It doesn't mean you always have every word, but you have the tools you need in English to help you get to those words instead of feeling stuck or always searching for a translation, and it's easier for your conversation partner to interact with you because your English is becoming more natural and you're making fewer mistakes. So how do you achieve this? As simple as it sounds, guys, you improve your speaking by speaking—and not speaking incorrectly.

If you want to improve your English speaking, you need to be getting some feedback from people. Are they understanding your pronunciation? Is your grammar confusing them? Are you missing some vocabulary words? And part of it is just confidence. Sometimes, if you just start taking conversational classes for one month, you start to realize how easy it is for you to actually communicate, and it was really just being nervous that was holding you back from being able to speak more.

So you really need to find someone to speak with regularly. My advice is at least once a week; if you can do more, even better. And so you can use some apps to find a language partner, which means maybe for 30 minutes you speak with them in Spanish and then 30 minutes you speak in English, and you help each other improve in your languages.

You can use apps like Tandem or HelloTalk to do that, or maybe you can go to some language exchanges in your city. If you have some relatives or friends, that can also help you out. And really, one of the best ways, guys, is to find a tutor that you really like, someone that feels like a friend that you're comfortable speaking with. That's going to give you that feedback that you need to improve your vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

And if you'd like to get that practice with me, you can go to peachteachenglish.com, schedule a free consultation. You can also click the link there in the description, and I would really love to help you go from that B1 intermediate level to that B2 fluency where you're confidently speaking English.

15:27 Advancing Writing Skills

And that brings us to the final skill, which is writing. What's the difference between B1 and B2 writing? So at B1, you can probably write like a page telling a story, sharing your opinion, but you're probably still using very simple language. You can use some connectors, but the writing still might sound very unnatural, and you need to improve the structure and the grammar.

And when you get to B2 level, you are able to start writing more professional essays, longer essays. You're using more variety of language, more advanced connectors, and your writing is starting to sound very good, getting to where maybe you could start using it at a more academic level. Of course, that becomes even stronger at C1, but we won't look at that today.

But you're getting closer to where your writing is at the level you can use it at university. And so, how are you going to be able to take those writing skills from B1 to B2? And that is, I would say, at least once a week, sit down and really challenge yourself to write one page. You could do more, but at least one page of something that challenges your critical thinking.

Really try to look at advantages and disadvantages. What are your opinions on a topic? And really give supportive examples. Try to do some research, write summaries of books, movies, articles that you've read, but really challenge yourself to support your ideas and start using more advanced language, and try to study those connectors so that your writing becomes more and more advanced and professional.

And guys, for this one, do not neglect ChatGPT because you can ask it to give you some writing prompts for B2 level. You can also then ask it to correct your writing and give you tips to improve your writing. So, really take advantage of some AI tools with that, but also getting feedback from native speakers or a writing tutor will also really help you build your writing skills.

Especially if long-term you would like to study abroad at an English university or something.

18:25 Importance of Grammar

And so you might be wondering, teacher, what about grammar? Guys, when you want to reach B2 fluency, your grammar should be pretty strong. Just remember, even native speakers we make grammatical mistakes, so you're not trying to never make a mistake.

You are trying to reduce those mistakes, and studying some grammar, especially advanced grammar topics, will certainly help you reach B2 level. But remember first that communication is more important than perfection. And now what I want to say is—remember, at the beginning of the episode I told you there's a free checklist? In the description of that checklist, you will find a list of grammatical topics that you should study to help you get to B2. And so what you can do is you can search different videos and activities to help you practice with those topics. And don't just learn it—use it. Okay? So with your language partner, with your tutor, really try to ask questions and use those new structures, especially with writing as well.

But I'm going to help you with these topics each week. So remember to hit that subscribe button, and through this podcast and through my YouTube channel, I'm going to be explaining these topics to you so that you can go from B1 intermediate to fluent, and I'm really excited to start this journey with you, 'cause I know that you can become fluent in English, and I wanna help you get there. So remember to grab that free checklist.

20:22 Final Tips and Encouragement

Just a reminder, guys, to go from B1 to B2, make sure you focus on growing that vocabulary so you can start communicating more complex ideas, and make sure you're listening to longer audios or videos and turn off those subtitles sometimes. Try reading longer, more complex texts, and maybe even try reading a book. And make sure you're speaking regularly with someone and getting that feedback so you can correct your mistakes, and make sure you are writing regularly, trying to develop your own ideas and opinions and critical thinking on a variety of topics.

Guys, this journey is not always easy, but what really gets you fluent in a language is consistency, believing in yourself, and never giving up. You can always learn more vocabulary, and you can always become more confident and fluent in a language. So just never give up. Follow the Peach Teach English podcast, and I'm here to guide you on this journey to English fluency.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and see you in the next one.

🎯 B1 to B2 English Study Guide

This episode is packed with actionable strategies to help you reach English fluency. Use this guide to review what you learned and take real steps toward improving your vocabulary, listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills.

📘 Free Resources

FREE Study Guide – Go from B1 to B2 with confidence
👉 peachteachenglish.com/post/B2-Level-Study-Guide

Oxford B2 Vocabulary List (PDF)
👉 Oxford 3000 by CEFR Level

📚 Recommended Books

👉 Atomic Habits by James Clear
https://amzn.to/46HkNkk

👉 Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
https://amzn.to/46C2UU9

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