What can you do with a B2 level in English?

A B2 level of English would allow you to function in the workplace in English, and indeed, many non-native English speakers in international workplaces have this level of English. A person working in English at a B2 level will, however, lack nuance particularly outside his own field. He may also miss some of the subtleties and implied meanings in conversation.

B2 level English skills

The official can-do statements are broken down into smaller pieces for teaching purposes. This more detailed skill breakdown can help you assess your own English level, or help a teacher assess a student’s level. For example, a student at the B2 level in English will be able to do all the things that a student in level B1 can do, and in addition he will be able to:

• Participate in meetings in your area of expertise, if you have help understanding some points.
• Discuss gender issues as they relate to perceptions of rudeness and cultural norms.
• Talk about your personal finances and give advice to friends and colleagues about their finances.
• Talk about your personal and professional lifestyle, including a description of your life at work.
• Explain your education, experience, strengths and weaknesses, and discuss your career path.
• Talk about mental processes and how you can use them to improve your effectiveness on the job.
• Talk about what you like to read and make recommendations about good things to read.
• Use appropriate language in social situations, including praising and expressing sympathy.
• Discuss leadership qualities and talk about leaders whom you admire.
• Deal with relatively complex awkward situations that arise in social and business contexts.
• Discuss common political situations and the behavior of politicians.

Although progress will depend on the type of course and the individual student, students can expect to reach the B2 level in English with 600 hours of cumulative instruction.

Skills in detail:

Listening:

• Can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Only extreme background noise, inadequate discourse structure and/or idiomatic usage influence the ability to understand.
• Can understand the main ideas of propositionally and linguistically complex speech on both concrete and abstract topics delivered in a standard dialect, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation.
• Can follow extended speech and complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar, and the direction of the talk is sign-posted by explicit markers.
• Can keep up with an animated conversation between native speakers.
• Can with some effort catch much of what is said around him/her, but may find it difficult to participate effectively in discussion with several native speakers who do not modify their language in any way.
• Can follow the essentials of lectures, talks and reports and other forms of academic/professional presentation which are propositionally and linguistically complex.
• Can understand announcements and messages on concrete and abstract topics spoken in standard dialect at normal speed.
• Can understand recordings in standard dialect likely to be encountered in social, professional or academic life and identify speaker viewpoints and attitudes as well as the information content.
• Can understand most radio documentaries and most other recorded or broadcast audio material delivered in standard dialect and can identify the speaker’s mood, tone etc.
• Can understand most TV news and current affairs programmes.
• Can understand documentaries, live interviews, talk shows, plays and the majority of films in standard dialect.

Reading:

• Can read with a large degree of independence, adapting style and speed of reading to different texts and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively. Has a broad active reading vocabulary, but may experience some difficulty with low-frequency idioms.
• Can read correspondence relating to his/her field of interest and readily grasp the essential meaning.
• Can scan quickly through long and complex texts, locating relevant details.
• Can quickly identify the content and relevance of news items, articles and reports on a wide range of professional topics, deciding whether closer study is worthwhile.
• Can obtain information, ideas and opinions from highly specialised sources within his/her field.
• Can understand specialised articles outside his/her field, provided he/she can use a dictionary occasionally to confirm his/her interpretation of terminology.
• Can understand articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the writers adopt particular stances or viewpoints.
• Can understand lengthy, complex instructions in his field, including details on conditions and warnings, provided he/she can reread difficult sections.

Speaking:

• Can use the language fluently, accurately and effectively on a wide range of general, academic, vocational or leisure topics, marking clearly the relationships between ideas.
• Can communicate spontaneously with good grammatical control without much sign of having to restrict what he/she wants to say, adopting a level of formality appropriate to the circumstances.
• Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction, and sustained relationships with native speakers quite possible without imposing strain on either party.
• Can highlight the personal significance of events and experiences, account for and sustain views clearly by providing relevant explanations and arguments.
• Can understand in detail what is said to him/her in the standard spoken language even in a noisy environment.
• Can engage in extended conversation on most general topics in a clearly participatory fashion, even in a noisy environment.
• Can sustain relationships with native speakers without unintentionally amusing or irritating them or requiring them to behave other than they would with a native speaker.
• Can convey degrees of emotion and highlight the personal significance of events and experiences.
• Can keep up with an animated discussion between native speakers.
• Can express his/her ideas and opinions with precision, present and respond to complex lines of argument convincingly.
• Can take an active part in informal discussion in familiar contexts, commenting, putting point of view clearly, evaluating alternative proposals and making and responding to hypotheses.
• Can with some effort catch much of what is said around him/her in discussion, but may find it difficult to participate effectively in discussion with several native speakers who do not modify their language in any way.
• Can account for and sustain his/her opinions in discussion by providing relevant explanations, arguments and comments.
• Can keep up with an animated discussion, identifying accurately arguments supporting and opposing points of view.
• Can express his/her ideas and opinions with precision, present and respond to complex lines of argument convincingly.
• Can participate actively in routine and non routine formal discussion.
• Can follow the discussion on matters related to his/her field, understand in detail the points given prominence by the speaker.
• Can contribute, account for and sustain his/her opinion, evaluate alternative proposals and make and respond to hypotheses.
• Can understand detailed instructions reliably.
• Can help along the progress of the work by inviting others to join in, say what they think etc.
• Can outline an issue or a problem clearly, speculating about causes or consequences, and weighing advantages and disadvantages of different approaches.
• Can cope linguistically to negotiate a solution to a dispute like an undeserved traffic ticket, financial responsibility for damage in a flat, for blame regarding an accident.
• Can outline a case for compensation, using persuasive language to demand satisfaction and state clearly the limits to any concession he/she is prepared to make.
• Can explain a problem which has arisen and make it clear that the provider of the service/customer must make a concession.
• Can understand and exchange complex information and advice on the full range of matters related to his/her occupational role.
• Can pass on detailed information reliably.
• Can give a clear, detailed description of how to carry out a procedure.
• Can synthesise and report information and arguments from a number of sources.
• Can carry out an effective, fluent interview, departing spontaneously from prepared questions, following up and probing interesting replies.
• Can take initiatives in an interview, expand and develop ideas with little help or prodding from an interviewer.
• Can give clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to his field of interest.
• Can develop a clear argument, expanding and supporting his/her points of view at some length with subsidiary points and relevant examples.
• Can construct a chain of reasoned argument.
• Can explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
• Can deliver announcements on most general topics with a degree of clarity, fluency and spontaneity which causes no strain or inconvenience to the listener.
• Can give a clear, systematically developed presentation, with highlighting of significant points, and relevant supporting detail.
• Can depart spontaneously from a prepared text and follow up interesting points raised by members of the audience, often showing remarkable fluency and ease of expression.

Writing:

• Can express news and views effectively in writing, and relate to those of others.
• Can write letters conveying degrees of emotion and highlighting the personal significance of events and experiences and commenting on the correspondent’s news and views.
• Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on a wide range of subjects related to his/her field of interest, expanding and supporting ideas with subsidiary points and relevant examples.
• Can write clear, detailed texts on a variety of subjects related to his field of interest, synthesising and evaluating information and arguments from a number of sources.
• Can write clear, detailed descriptions of real or imaginary events and experiences marking the relationship between ideas in clear connected text, and following established conventions of the genre concerned.
• Can write clear, detailed descriptions on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest.
• Can write a review of a film, book or play.
• Can write an essay or report that develops an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detail.
• Can evaluate different ideas or solutions to a problem.
• Can write an essay or report which develops an argument, giving reasons in support of or against a particular point of view and explaining the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
• Can synthesise information and arguments from a number of sources.

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