What you need to know for upper intermediate. Have you determined your level of English?

Studying in English like oil painting: on initial stage you do the underpainting, then use rough strokes to set the light and shade, and then move on to drawing the shapes and details.

The Upper-Intermediate level or the English B2 level is exactly the level at which, on the one hand, you can already complete a full-fledged picture, and on the other hand, agree that there is still room for growth and development, to work on the details in further. Down with allegories! Let's find out!

It is at this level that learning the official style of communication begins, and at the same time learning a large number of idioms, phraseological units, phrases and stable figures of speech. The grammar here is repetitive and mostly honed in spoken language. Speaking takes up the majority of the course. So get ready to talk. A lot.

What does Upper-Intermediate mean?

Probably for many important issue is the following: “Is it possible to live in English speaking country with this level of English? We answer (drum roll): “Yes, you can!”, since this is the level of the English language at which communication and understanding of English-language information does not cause any special problems, with the exception of figurative phrases and language phrases that you will soon feel and understand, constantly being in an English-speaking environment.

Moreover, it is with the Upper-Intermediate level that you can safely take the test to receive an international certificate of language proficiency. If you are purposefully preparing to enter an educational institution or move and look for work abroad, we recommend that you pay attention to which exam is recognized by a particular country. For example, if the goal is the USA/Canada, then you should take the TOEFL; if Britain/Australia/ New Zealand, - IELTS.

Knowledge of English at Upper-Intermediate level

First, imagine one of your favorite topics (or ask someone to come up with one for you). Done? Now, in theory, it will not be so difficult for you to talk about this for a short time (about 3 minutes). Easy! However, your speech should be rich in introductory expressions, such as, for example: in my opinion, to my mind, if you don’t mind me asking, it goes without saying, etc. You must be able to construct elaborate and complex sentences with mixed grammatical structures and, of course, complete the absence of errors in grammar at the Elementary and Pre-Intermediate levels. Think you can do that?

At the Upper-Intermediate level you already need to start watching foreign news channels. You most likely won’t understand everything, but don’t despair - this skill will come to you soon (Advanced is just a stone’s throw away), but you’ve got to understand some part of fast English. Keep that in mind!

The Upper-Intermediate level program includes the study of the following topics.

Components of the Upper-Intermediate course

The main areas of the Upper-Intermediate English course are: reading English-language texts and literature, listening to English speech, correspondence in English, and using the acquired knowledge in live speech. Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• take part in long and varied conversations on various topics;
• write fluently in the language and understand most of the information presented in the text;
• use and fluently navigate a large volume of advanced level grammar;
• watch TV programs, video presentations and discussions, with the exception of technical and theoretical topics.

Duration of study for Upper-Intermediate

As mentioned earlier, you set the pace of learning English yourself. If you pay attention to the average duration, it usually takes about two years. This refers to the time period that a student must go through from Beginner to Upper-Intermediate level. If you are at a higher level, then, accordingly, the period will be shorter. One way or another, approximately six months are allotted for the full and successful completion of the level English course.

If the Upper-Intermediate level is not enough for you, and you want to get to the very top, then the tips below will appeal to you:

• As with English grammar, most English learners understand many more words than they actually use. However, there is no reason to put into the passive memory box those words that you have spent a lot of time studying. Therefore, it is necessary to get out of the comfort zone of using simple and simple phrases, and put this vocabulary into practice.

• An advanced English course where natives use idioms and emotional expressions in their everyday speech. One way to reach new level— learn the top frequently used phrases for all occasions. Pay special attention to the nuances of using them in speech (ideally, practice with a native English speaker), otherwise, due to verbal fencing, you can easily fall on your face.

• One of the reasons why English students fail to move on to the next stage is literature that is read only because it is easy. To continue improving your reading skills, choose a newspaper or magazine that you have never read before. Find a new one literary genre. By being exposed to a wider range of authors, you are exposed to a more diverse language.

Conclusion

Well, the masterpiece is finished; whether to stop at this stage or work on the details depends entirely on future goals and motivation. We hope that thanks to this article you have a complete picture of what Upper-Intermediate (B2) is and what lexical and grammatical topics a student should master at this level.

Achieve your goals and don’t stop there, because the potential of the English language is inexhaustible!

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

Those prone to self-criticism like to repeat that they don’t know anything (although in fact they can speak the language at a level closer to average and continue to regularly enroll in English courses), and those prone to vanity assure during an interview that they speak English perfectly (when in fact, again, they may be “average”).

For the most impatient, who check their level after each cup of coffee, the buttons are located at the top. This is done for your convenience: no tedious text searches, click on health and get your certificates - we don’t mind.

And for the most assiduous, who are not used to guessing from the coffee grounds, we offer you to plunge into multi-level English. With feeling, sense, and arrangement, we will talk about how Elementary differs from Intermediate and whether Advanced is as scary as it is portrayed to be.

Basically it will evaluate the fundamental basis - i.e. grammar. However, the degree of proficiency in foreign speech depends on it. Because you can chat incessantly in English, but at the same time make so many mistakes that the interlocutor will hardly be able to guess what the conversation is all about. Or you can compose sentences slowly in oral speech, weighing each word, without making gross mistakes - and thus create the impression of a person who speaks English well.

Level 0 - Full beginner(or Full...beginner)

Just don’t say now that this is you. If you know the name of the letter “i” or even remember something from school like “teacher”, “book” - feel free to move on. Zero level- only for those who studied another language at school. Or I didn’t study any at all.

Level 1 - Elementary(Elementary)

Holmes would have rejoiced at such a name. And most of those who graduated from regular high school- Same. Because this level, unfortunately, is the most common among those who learned English through the cracks and happily received a “C” on the final exam.
What characterizes Elementary: you can read many words quite well (especially without any gh, th, ough), your vocabulary includes mother, father, I am from Russia and other popular phrases, and you can sometimes catch something from a song - something familiar.

Level 2 - Upper-Elementary(Higher Elementary)

A good student at a regular school who studies English can boast of this level. And quite often, for some reason, those who studied the language on their own decide to stop at Upper-Elementary. Why? Because the illusion of knowing English arises: the vocabulary is already decent enough to support some basic topics for conversation (in any case, in a hotel abroad it will already be possible to express oneself without indecent gestures), reading usually goes quite well, and even American movies in the original they become more or less understandable (by 25 percent).
However, such conclusions are misleading. Especially if you look at other levels of English.
You can jump from regular Elementary to Upper in about 80 hours if you work hard.

Level 3 - Pre-Intermediate(Lower Intermediate Level)

If you took the English language level test and got this result, congratulations. Because this is a very decent command of English. It occurs among excellent students of a regular school, good students of a specialized school, and the majority of those who combine English language courses with trips abroad.
What characterizes this level: in pronunciation there are no “f” or “t” instead of [θ] and in general the speech of such a student does not have a strong Russian accent, written speech is quite literate and completely understandable, one can communicate even on unfamiliar topics using simple sentences. In general, among the levels of the English language, Pre-Intermediate is most often found among serious learners.

Level 4 - Intermediate(Average level)

A very worthy result. Practically unattainable for schoolchildren in regular school and quite realistic for those who did not slack in English lessons at a specialized school. Among self-learners of English, not everyone reaches this level. They usually take the previous exam, because you can achieve Intermediate in about six months of residential courses abroad, a year of good courses, or a year of classes with a tutor.
What characterizes this level of English: clear pronunciation, good vocabulary, ability to communicate different topics, the ability to compose complex written requests (even official documents), films in English with subtitles go with a bang.
With this level you can already take the international tests TOEFL and IELTS.

Level 5 - Upper-Intermediate(Upper middle level)

If you have passed the English language level test and received this result, then you can almost without cheating write in your resume for a position: “English - Fluency" College graduates in the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​usually reach this level.
Characteristics: skillful manipulation different styles in your speech (business, conversational, etc.), almost perfect pronunciation, the ability to act as a simultaneous interpreter in an informal setting, fluent reading, understanding of the most complex style - the language of newspapers and magazines in English, dexterous composition of even particularly complex sentence structures .

Level 6 - Advanced(Advanced)

This is probably the pinnacle that English language learners can achieve in a country where it is not an official language. Those who manage to speak at the Advanced level are usually perceived by their interlocutors as people who have lived in the USA or another English-speaking country for several years.
In fact, you can achieve Advanced even in the foreign language department of college, not to mention universities. And this proves that 5 years, during which 1-2 hours a day will be spread out to study English, is enough. And if you choose intensive courses, the result will be achieved even earlier.
What characterizes the Advanced level of English: by right, this is fluency in English. Pronunciation with almost no accent, conducting formal and informal conversations, working as a simultaneous translator, full understanding of films/books/songs in the original, lack grammatical errors in written speech and minimal presence of errors in oral speech, understanding of idioms and colloquial expressions. You can confidently plan a career abroad, as well as study at foreign universities.

Level 7 - Super-Advanced(Super advanced)

Are there any here? If so, then the computer most likely crashed on the English language level test.) Because language proficiency at this level is the lot of aborigines living in a country where state language English is accepted.
What characterizes the Super-Advanced level? Imagine... yourself speaking Russian. You will understand any speech, even if it is a conversation between two emo teenagers discussing topics unknown to you. You will even understand slang. But with all this, you yourself also master the art of words, deftly using terms and putting them into beautiful sentences, without errors (including stylistic ones). And now - the same thing in English. So how?

Dia friend! Do you already feel itchy fingers? Are your seat belts fastened? And are you still here?
Press the button and go! Don't forget to insert the paper into the printer to print out the certificate and proudly display it to everyone interested.

especially for

In resumes for various vacancies, in the “language proficiency” column, applicants often indicate “English language proficiency at the Intermediate level.” Translated into Russian, this means “proficiency at an intermediate level.” Employers have an ambiguous attitude towards such a record. Some believe that this is an insufficient level, others believe that for conducting professional activity For the chosen vacancy, this is quite normal. So what is this level? And is it really sufficient? Can it be improved and how? In this work we will try to answer these questions.

First of all, we note that the concept of “average” in in this case very conditionally: after all, we are not in an English-speaking language environment, and English is precisely a foreign language. And mastering a language, even at an intermediate level, is already a great achievement. After all, why only on average? Language consists of words, phraseological units, and speech structures. Moreover, many of them are completely unknown to foreigners, but are used only by native speakers, and their true meaning is the subject of study by linguists (see the works of L.V. Koshman, I.V. Tsvetkova, I.A. Zimnyaya, etc.). For example, the expression “We are in the same boat” is translated (in our opinion) as “We are in the same boat,” while in the USA this phraseological unit means “We are all in the same position,” i.e. has a completely different meaning, familiar only to native speakers and in a particular country. There are also many different individual words and phrases that belong to the general vocabulary, but are not used as often as their synonyms and paronyms, which are familiar to those who study English. In other words, the concept of “language” as a whole can be compared with Moscow, in which local residents are well versed, on the one hand, but where, nevertheless, it is impossible even for a native Muscovite to know everything. And knowledge of the city improves only with years lived in it, i.e. again has a purely empirical character.

Hence, English Intermediate language - level is truly normal for most of our compatriots who study it. Moreover, language proficiency at this level is the result of long and hard work: it has been established that this level is typical, for example, for graduates of schools with in-depth study of the English language where a number of subjects are taught in it. Teaching in such schools is conducted according to an intensive program that places very high demands on the student.

What are the skills and abilities of a person who knows English Intermediate? This is the ability to communicate on various everyday topics, a good understanding of oral and written language, the ability to correspond in English, a good command of its grammar (although errors are allowed), and an average vocabulary.

Below we provide brief description of this level in relation to the main criteria for assessing language skills and abilities.

Dialogical speech (conversation):

• Understand others' opinions, attitudes and emotions and verbally express your own;
• Express misunderstanding of any situation and ask the interlocutor to explain it;
• Express your thoughts in a simple form using common syntactic structures;
• Communicate with clear and understandable pronunciation for others and intonation of sentences according to the purpose of the statement;
• Express personal emotions and feelings using logical stress and intonation means.

Listening (understanding what is heard):

• Understand the main ideas presented in the text, the general meaning from the context and recognize the content of what is heard;
• Recognize and distinguish between the pronunciation of a person for whom English is not a native language and a native speaker;
• Ability to understand and differentiate between informal and formal written and spoken language in a variety of situations.

Written speech:

• Fill out various papers: declarations, questionnaires, etc.;
• Write personal letters of various contents;
• Write informational official and informal letters;
• Set out in writing the sequence of events;
• Describe people, places and situations;
• Supplement the presentation of a particular situation with personal comments;
• Express your thoughts simply and grammatically correctly in written speech.

The skills and abilities described above are quite sufficient for full-fledged work in domestic company, whose line of work includes situations where the use of English is necessary. For example, such an employee, using English Intermediate, can carry out business correspondence using common lexical units, meet a foreign partner at the airport, tell him about the company’s activities, etc.

At the same time, we note that this level is not enough for those who intend to work abroad or engage in research work there. Current practice shows that persons owning English at Intermediate-level, pass international TOEFL exams with results of 5.0 or 5.5, which is not enough, for example, for admission to a foreign university where education is taught in English (passing grade in such educational institutions according to the TOEFL system, as a rule, from 7.0 - A.Ch.). In this regard, it should be noted that English Intermediate can be improved in all aspects of language skills and abilities through special training sessions in courses or individually. At the same time, most methodologists are unanimous in the opinion that preparation should be gradual, i.e. level-by-level (for example, from the Intermediate level to the Upper-Intermediate level, and then to the Advanced level).

In other words, if your level of language proficiency is average, then it is quite possible to improve it: depending on the learning goals and the environment for using the English language, an appropriate program will be selected training program, necessary manuals and training aids.

Do you want to know if your knowledge corresponds to the Upper-Intermediate level? Take ours and get recommendations that will help you improve your English language skills.

Upper-Intermediate - a level sufficient for living and communicating in a country where English is the official language

The Upper-Intermediate level is designated B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​(CEFR). The Upper-Intermediate level is a serious level of knowledge, sufficient to communicate in English in almost all areas. As you remember, the translation of the word intermediate sounds like “middle”, and upper - “top”, so the Upper-Intermediate level means a step above average. People who study English at the Upper-Intermediate level can begin to prepare for international TOEFL exams or IELTS. Certificates from these exams will be useful for admission to foreign universities and employment abroad, as well as for emigration. In addition, upon completion of the course, you can take the FCE exam and receive a certificate international standard, which will confirm your English proficiency at the Upper-Intermediate level.

Upper-Intermediate is figuratively called the level at which “all the tails are pulled up.” And this is true, because, having reached such a fairly high level, students should be familiar with all the basic grammatical structures of the English language. Thus, their knowledge at this level is consolidated, systematized and supplemented by more complex cases of using the same modal verbs, tenses, conditional sentences and so on.

The Upper-Intermediate level program includes the study of such topics in the curriculum

How will your speech skills develop on the Upper-Intermediate course?

At the Upper-Intermediate level, special attention is paid to the development speaking skills (Speaking). The speech of an English student becomes “complex”: you will not just know in theory, but actively use in practice all aspects of English tenses, conditional sentences, phrases in the passive voice, etc. At this stage, you will be able to maintain a conversation with several interlocutors or express your point of view on almost any topic in a long monologue speech. You stop speaking in choppy short phrases: at the end of stage B2 you will build long sentences, connecting them with words in conjunctions and clearly expressing your thoughts.

In the Upper-Intermediate English course you significantly expand your lexicon (Vocabulary). At the end of the course, you will know about 3000-4000 words, which will allow you to freely express your thoughts in any environment. At the same time, your speech will be replenished with various synonyms and antonyms of words already familiar to you, phrasal verbs And stable expressions, as well as vocabulary business style. This will allow you to communicate in English both at work and at home.

Listening comprehension of native speakers (Listening) will be systematically improved: you will learn to understand the meaning of what is said, even if the English speaker speaks with a slight accent or at a fast pace. At this stage, you learn to listen to long texts both in standard English, which is also called the BBC language, and in variable English, that is, with various local features and accents.

Reading skill (Reading) is also actively developing in the Upper-Intermediate course. At this stage you will read feature articles, journalistic texts and works fiction in unadapted English with almost complete reading comprehension. On average, the text will contain no more than 10% unfamiliar vocabulary, which will not interfere with the general understanding of the text.

You will be able to spontaneously express your thoughts and in writing (Writing). At the Upper-Intermediate level, you learn to perform written work according to specific formats: formal and informal letters, articles, reports, essays, etc.

Upon completion of the Upper-Intermediate course, you can take the FCE, IELTS or TOEFL exam to document your English language proficiency at level B2. With such a certificate you can go to study or live abroad, and you can also present it at an interview with an international company that requires knowledge of English at least Upper-Intermediate.

Duration of study at the Upper-Intermediate level

The duration of studying English at the Upper-Intermediate level depends on individual characteristics student and regularity of classes. Average duration The Upper-Intermediate course lasts 6-9 months.

Learning at the Upper-Intermediate level is a rather complex process that requires serious effort on the part of both the teacher and the student. But your efforts will not be in vain, since proficiency in English at this level will allow you to get high paying job or enroll in a prestigious foreign university where teaching is conducted in English. In addition, you cannot stop there: if you have already successfully completed the previous stages, then you need to continue to develop your skills. You need to repeat the material you have covered so as not to forget it, and use the acquired knowledge in practice.

If you want to improve your knowledge of English, we suggest you improve your level at our school. A competent teacher will determine your level, weaknesses and strong points and will help you reach the top of the English language.

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

The name of the level can be literally translated as “above average”, i.e. This is not an average level of knowledge: communicating in a foreign language should not cause any difficulties. Those who want to obtain internationally recognized certificates (TOEFL or IELTS) must have at least an Upper Intermediate level of language proficiency. This is more advanced English, which is highly valued when applying for a job or entering a university.

If you are determined to enroll in a foreign university that requires knowledge of the English language, to be confident in it you must have an Upper Intermediate level of English. You can take a screening test to determine your level, and if it is not high enough, continue your studies. Or improve your ownership 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 acquired before. Often people who have spent a lot of time learning a new language and have gone from Elementary (or Beginner) to Intermediate quite quickly have a lot of information in their heads that is scattered.

By the way, if you take English courses according to 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 do you need to know?

So, you are confident in your knowledge, but you don’t understand at what level to continue studying English. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​is designed to do just that. Start studying at the Upper Intermediate level if:

• You only occasionally notice that you are unsure of how to construct this or that sentence, but talking on almost any topic is not difficult for you;
• Maintaining a dialogue in English is not difficult for you, and you will be able to answer any counter question from your interlocutor;
• You can perceive English speech by ear 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 language grammar: you know how to construct sentences, combine words with each other, and correctly formulate your thoughts. However, you feel that you can grow further and learn more complex designs, which sometimes appear 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 need to systematize and remember many of the rules;
• Are you going to enroll in foreign university, or you need an English language certificate to be hired.

Often students who want to structure their knowledge take. So, for example, in English courses according to Dragunkin in Minsk, you can complete a program in a short time that will allow you to remember all the forgotten grammatical rules and improve your spoken language.

Upper-Intermediate level of English: what skills will be acquired 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 performing 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 lexicon student. You will be able to define any subject or phenomenon in English, and master both everyday and business conversational speech. You will also be able to speak many languages professional themes and select antonyms and synonyms for any word.

The perception of English speech will improve. This way, the accents with which residents of different 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 you will be able to watch films and TV series in English without subtitles.

English level B2 (Upper Intermediate) will allow you to read more complex texts in English: these can be unadapted materials in popular science magazines, texts of American and British classics, simple scientific materials. Some vocabulary will be unfamiliar, but this is the path to improving your English proficiency.

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

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

In order to start learning English at such a complex level, you need to reach the Intermediate level. This is not as difficult to do as it might seem. In English courses according to Dragunkin in Minsk you can learn basic grammar 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”; there is no complex terminology, which only interferes with learning.

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