B1 English: intermediate

B1 is the level where you can tell a story, describe your experiences and give your opinion. It's also where the present perfect stops being confusing, and where conditionals, the passive and reported speech arrive.

12 grammar lessons, 84 words in 4 topic decks, 10 graded texts, and writing and speaking practice with AI feedback.

What you can do at B1

• Listening: I can follow the main points of a conversation or podcast on a familiar topic when people speak clearly.
• Reading: I can understand articles, reviews and work emails about familiar topics, including the writer's opinion.
• Speaking: I can tell a story, describe an experience and give reasons for my opinions.
• Writing: I can write a clear email or message explaining a problem and asking for what I need.
• Speaking: I can deal with most situations when travelling or at work, even when something goes wrong.

What learners find hard at B1

Choosing between the present perfect and the past simple (I've lived or I lived?), using narrative tenses together, and disagreeing politely without sounding blunt.

What the B1 lessons cover

All 12 B1 grammar lessons

Free to read, with examples and practice questions.

1. Have you ever…? Talking about experiences
2. I've lived or I lived? Present perfect and past simple
3. for, since and how long: the present perfect continuous
4. just, already, still and yet: news and progress
5. Telling a story: narrative tenses
6. used to and would: how things were
7. If it rains, we'll stay in: real possibilities
8. If I had more time…: imagined situations
9. The woman who lives next door: relative clauses
10. It was built in 1890: the passive
11. She said she was tired: reported speech
12. In my opinion… / I see your point, but…: opinions and disagreeing politely

B1 vocabulary

• Life experiences: 26 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example
• Opinions and discussion: 18 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example
• Travel, and things going wrong: 20 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example
• Jobs, careers and the workplace: 20 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example

Reading at B1

• Six months in Lisbon: Amara moved from Lagos to Lisbon for a new job. She writes to her brother about what has changed and what she is still getting used to.
• The wrong train: Daniel has an important interview in Manchester. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong, until something unexpected happens.
• The notes in the cookbook: Lucía learns to cook from an old cookbook full of a stranger's handwritten notes, and a year later she meets the person who wrote them.
• Why I went back to the office: A writer in Kraków explains why they chose to return to the office after three years of working from home.
• Car park becomes community garden: A news report about residents in Tampere who turned a half-empty car park into a garden, and the shop owners who are unhappy about it.
• Review: the Tuesday language café: A learner in Montreal reviews a weekly language café, describing what works well and what could be better.
• The flat that won't listen: Kenji writes to his friend Priya for advice because the smart system in his new flat has started causing problems.
• Never too late: A magazine profile of Farid Haddad, who left a long career as an accountant to become a primary school teacher in his fifties.
• Ask Dr Ana: 'I can't switch off': In an advice column, a reader who can't sleep asks for help, and the columnist suggests some changes to his habits.
• A year without new clothes: In a blog post, Nadia from Cape Town looks back on a year in which she didn't buy any new clothes.

Questions