B2 English: upper intermediate

B2 is about precision and flexibility: talking about how the past could have been different, judging what probably happened, linking an argument, and switching between formal and informal English.

12 grammar lessons, 76 words in 4 topic decks, 10 graded texts, and writing and speaking practice with AI feedback.

What you can do at B2

• Listening: I can follow lively conversations, interviews and most films at normal speed, if the topic isn't too specialised.
• Reading: I can read articles and reports in which writers take a stance, and tell what they're implying.
• Speaking: I can take part in a discussion, defend my view and respond to other people's arguments.
• Writing: I can write a clear, organised text that argues a point, with reasons for and against.
• Speaking: I can speak spontaneously enough that conversations with fluent speakers flow without strain on either side.

What learners find hard at B2

Third and mixed conditionals, modal perfects (she must have left), verbs that change meaning with -ing or to (remember doing, remember to do), and register in emails.

What the B2 lessons cover

All 12 B2 grammar lessons

Free to read, with examples and practice questions.

1. If I had known…: third and mixed conditionals
2. I wish I had…: wishes and regrets
3. She must have left: modal perfects
4. My brother, who lives in Berlin…: adding information
5. remember doing or remember to do?: verbs that change meaning
6. although, despite, however, whereas: linking an argument
7. It is said that… / He is believed to…: reporting what people think
8. By then I'll have finished / This time tomorrow I'll be flying
9. I'm having my car repaired: having something done
10. Life, the rich and a better life: articles with general and abstract ideas
11. She suggested going / He denied taking it: reporting verbs
12. Hi Sam / Dear Mr Silva: formal and informal English

B2 vocabulary

• Decisions, regrets and arguments: 18 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example
• News, claims and formal requests: 18 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example
• Money, spending and consumer rights: 20 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example
• Environment, cities and society: 20 words and phrases, each with a plain-English definition and an example

Reading at B2

• The offer I turned down: Ten years after refusing a job in another country, a nurse from Accra looks back on the decision and on what regret really means.
• The library that wouldn't close: A local news report: a city council planned to close a library to save money. Then the residents had other ideas.
• Houses for the price of a coffee: A feature article about a hill village in Italy that sold abandoned houses for one euro, and what the scheme has really changed.
• Is homework worth the trouble?: An argumentative essay claiming that homework has some value, but that schools set too much of it and for the wrong reasons.
• The mistake nobody noticed: A short story about a translator who discovers an error in a signed contract and must decide whether to admit it.
• A night on the wrong train: A formal letter of complaint to a railway company about a delayed overnight train, a lost sleeping compartment and the costs that followed.
• A quiet triumph: The Salt Road: A film review of a slow, beautifully shot drama about a woman who crosses the Bolivian salt flats to her late grandfather's village.
• Checking the facts: An interview with a fact-checker in Nairobi about how her team tests viral claims and whether the work makes a difference.
• Four days, same pay: A report on a fictional year-long trial in which forty companies moved to a four-day working week, and what the researchers concluded.
• The year I lost my sense of smell: A personal essay about losing the sense of smell after an illness, and what the experience taught the writer.

Questions