How to Improve Your English at B1 Level: Start Cementing Your Wall.

So, you’ve stacked up your vocabulary bricks at A1 and A2—fantastic! But what’s next? If A1 and A2 were all about collecting bricks, B1 is where you start mixing the cement and finally building a sturdy, reliable wall. That means tidying up your expression by shifting your focus from frantic vocabulary acquisition to structured grammar study.

Making Grammar Your Main Focus

To reach a solid B1 level, you need to gain control over the five most commonly used tenses. Notice that we’re sticking with the same approach as before—prioritising what will give you the biggest results fastest.

Here’s a fun fact: the simple present tense alone accounts for 57% of all verb usage in English! So, rather than drowning in obscure grammar rules, focus on mastering these key tenses:

1. Simple Present (57% of all verbs!) – "I go to work every day."

2. Simple Past (19.7%) – "I went to the shop."

3. Simple Future (8.5%) – "I will call you later."

4. Present Perfect (6.0%) – "I have seen that film."

5. Present Progressive (5.1%) – "I am learning English."

These five tenses alone cover almost 97% of all English verb use. That’s why learning them inside-out should be your priority—get these right, and you’ll be speaking with far greater clarity and confidence.

Keep Growing Your Vocabulary

Just because grammar has taken centre stage doesn’t mean you stop learning new words! At B1, your next big goal is 2,000 words. Once you hit this milestone, you’ll understand around 90% of all written and spoken English.

But here’s the great news: at this level, vocabulary acquisition becomes more natural. You no longer need to rely on rote memorisation because you’re now learning words in context.

This process has a name - Comprehensible Input - and it was first proposed in the 1970s by American linguist Stephen Krashen. His theory states that if you expose yourself to English that’s slightly above your current level, you’ll absorb new words effortlessly because you can infer their meaning from the surrounding context.

This means you should look for audio and texts where you can understand around 80-90% of what is being said. This is the "sweet spot" to have enough knowledge to contextualise any new words you see or hear.

Enjoying English at B1

If you’re at a B1 level, give yourself a pat on the back—this is where English becomes genuinely fun! Now, using the language isn’t just about study sessions, it’s about enjoying it as part of your daily life. At B1, you can:

• Watch YouTube videos aimed at native speakers on topics you actually care about.

• Read articles and understand most of what’s going on.

• Have real conversations without feeling totally lost.

• Start thinking in English rather than translating in your head.

This is the turning point where English stops feeling like a school subject and starts feeling like a tool you can use to explore the world. So enjoy it!

Keep cementing your knowledge, and soon, you’ll be ready to build an even stronger structure at B2!