Gabriela Estrada

Moving from basic to intermediate or advanced English may seem like a long and difficult process, but it is not. In fact, you can make accelerated progress by enriching your vocabulary and learning more elaborate grammatical constructions, because, after all, lexical breadth is one of the essential characteristics to demonstrate mastery of a language; of course, this includes understanding the message in a conversation, not just filing words automatically.

The secret to passing an A2 level and moving on to a B2 or C1 level lies in knowing well the meaning of basic and colloquial words and phrases in order to be able to substitute them for more complex ones and use them in different contexts. In this Planeta Immiland article, I will explain how a language learner can move from A2 (basic) to B2 (intermediate) level. 

Extensive vocabulary demonstrates advanced level

When a person speaks in front of a group, writes a letter or mail, or expresses himself verbally by any means, he reveals his linguistic ability, including his social status, his level of education and more. If you have a basic or insufficient vocabulary, then you will undoubtedly reveal that you know the basics of the language. However, if you express yourself accurately using a variety of specific words and terms, you will show knowledge, competence, linguistic ability, advanced level! 

For example, in English, the word usually is quite popular in the English-speaking population, which makes it a basic or even colloquial term. We all say: usually! so the level that demonstrates its use is A2 (basic), in the European MERC framework. This does not favor the person who needs to take a language test such as the IELTS or CELPIP, where his or her breadth and richness of vocabulary will be evaluated.

Sometimes it happens that a person manages to communicate in English and make himself understood, but that does not mean that his level is high, what happens in these cases is that his vocabulary is basic, that is why he does not achieve the required score to enter the Canadian university or does not qualify for the Express Entry program. 

The strategy lies in knowing and recognizing the appropriate use of advanced grammatical constructions. Advanced speakers of English use more complex sentences. In this particular case, the basic word usually can be replaced by a more elaborate construction, such as:

• As a rule

• I tend to

• Every now and again

In this way, the receiver of the message will have to process the message further, which makes the language level higher than before.

Speaking fluency demonstrates advanced level

English beginners may have difficulties to express themselves without pauses or hesitations, this happens precisely because of lack of vocabulary, because they want to express themselves in different ways with other resources, but they do not know which is the most appropriate term, for example, if they are in front of a teacher or in front of their boss, or even more complicated, in front of the immigration officer when they arrive at the airport in Canada, that is when they realize that the little they know of English does not help them much either to express themselves 100% or for immigration purposes.

Move from A2 to B2 English with a crash course

At our language school, Planeta Immiland, we see many cases like these and, since we focus on English and French for emigrating to Canada, what we do is recommend that you take a leveling course to quickly become an advanced English speaker. In addition, we designed the new course called ACCELERATED ENGLISH PROGRAM (ACCELERATED ENGLISH PROGRAM).

English Crash Course - Planeta Immiland Education

This is an intensive English program exclusive to our Planeta Immiland academy, which helps you raise your level by going through the different 6-week crash courses.

Course 1 - Accelerated Beginner: Looks at the exploration of simple sentences for everyday communication. View Course 1 offerings.

Course 2 - Accelerated Elementary: Looks at building foundations for academic-level writing skills. View Course 2 offerings.

Course 3 - Accelerated Pre-Intermediate: Addresses the use of simple and complex grammatical structures. See Course 3 offers.

Course 4 - Accelerated Intermediate: Contemplates varied linguistic structures to express warnings, suggestions, recommendations or advice. See Course 4 offers.

Course 5 - Upper-Intermediate: Develops skills for academic writing. View Course 5 offerings.

Course 6 - Accelerated Advanced: prepares you for the expression of complex ideas with excellent control of a variety of advanced grammatical structures. Buy Course 6.

The results obtained by our students with this compendium of quick courses exceed their own expectations because they manage to learn in an accelerated way what they need to know to reach the B2 (intermediate) or C1 (advanced) level.

In short, moving from an A2 to a B2 level of English is a matter of expanding word knowledge, complex grammatical constructions and the ability to express oneself fluently and accurately. 

*I make the following caveat regarding the equivalency table; for Canada the official scale is the CLB (Canadian Language Beckman). CLB (Canadian Language Beckman)but for the purposes of this blog we used the European MERC scale, which refers to levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2.

If you want to take an accelerated English course with Planeta Immiland Education, contact us at and we will be happy to help you with whatever you need. Remember that our approach is migratory and this is a plus to your learning, see you!

With love,

Planeta Immiland Education