Comfortable and Furious

Top Resources To Help You On Your Intermediate English Journey

Your English Learning Journey

You begin your English-learning journey with the preparation: looking up resources to help you, reading up and downloading apps meant for English learners,  and preparing a vocabulary list of the simplest, most frequently-used English words. 

As improvements are made, you move on to more specific vocabulary suitable for use on different occasions such as while dining, and you address more difficult grammar topics.

You’re doing well in your journey to becoming a master of English and reaching the pinnacle of fluency in English. 

Somehow, you inevitably get stuck on a spot along your journey where your English can’t improve further no matter what you do.

You lose your initial momentum, and all your past methods are failing. 

It’s official, you’re no longer a Beginner. You’ve reached the “Intermediate Plateau”. 

Wondering what “Intermediate Plateau” is? It’s the stage in your learning journey where you feel your progress is stunted, and not as fast as in the initial stages. 

This can be attributed to having learned most of the grammar in the language. Sounds amazing, right? With grammar done and dusted, you can give your attention to the fun, yet challenging part: improving vocabulary and tackling advanced grammar. 

This has often led to learners being discouraged, and even giving up entirely on learning English. 

Yet, this isn’t you, is it? 

What you need is some extra help along the way! The way to overcoming Intermediate Plateau is to have a regimented learning plan with awesome resources. Read on to find out more about resources that help you get out of the rut. We recommend taking an english course suited to your learning level.

Intermediate English Courses

An all-rounded learning plan can be found by enrolling in a course. Courses help you to target various skills such as speaking, listening, reading, writing, and grammar all at one go, and give you a range of vocabulary to work with, helping you to improve quickly.

Perfectly Spoken

Meant for learners at the B1 standard, Perfectly Spoken’s online course consists of 60 lessons in video form. 

These videos are great for listening to native English being spoken but they are still easy to understand for intermediate learners and do not overwhelm them. Comprehension questions are included at the end of each lesson, allowing your understanding to be tested, and to reinforce the material taught. 

The course promises to teach English learners 2000 essential words, making it a good addition to the basic vocabulary learned as a beginner. Topical subjects such as technology, books, films, and other media are just some of the lesson topics covered.

Nothing beats a free meal, except maybe a free course! This free course allows you access without having to spend a single cent. Courses meant for learners who wish to do business in English are accessible with the payment of a small fee, alongside one-on-one lessons with tutors.

BBC’s Online Intermediate Course

Among the best media companies available that teach English, the BBC offers 30 units of extensive topics for English learners who have mastered the basics and are eager to tackle harder topics. Each unit consists of five sessions, with each session having activities that are designed around building a certain skill or topic. 

Each session of the BBC’s course starts with a breakdown of the topic via an audio file. Learners can follow the lesson with the use of the corresponding transcript. Activities such as matching, multiple-choice questions, and fill-in-the-blanks are also included. These aid learners in becoming proficient at a particular topic area and to put to use their new knowledge. 

Intermediate English Resources for Grammar

Other than an all-encompassing English course, investment in a good resource on grammar should also be considered by the intermediate learner. Be it succinct and direct explanations of English grammar or somewhere to practice that you are looking for, your grammatical knowledge and understanding will improve if you use the recommendations ahead. 

Intermediate Grammar Lessons by British Council

Have a penchant for online learning and practicing intermediate grammar over textbooks? This is the solution for you! Offered online by the international organization British Council, which specializes in the promotion of learning of the English language are lessons suitable for learners at the B1 and B2 levels. 

A large number of lessons cover grammar topics for Intermediate English. Each lesson goes into the specific grammatical usage and has a few practice exercises included.  

Content covered within each lesson includes adjectives beyond the tested scope, the conditional mood, specific words to describe time, and some key differences between British and American English. For learners seeking a more thorough regimen, intermediate vocabulary courses which are a great complement to their grammar offerings are also available from the British Council. 

Intermediate English Resources for Vocabulary 

One of the hardest things to do after the beginner’s stage is to grow your vocabulary. The wide variety of choices out there make it difficult to know which words are important. To improve your vocabulary and learn amazing words, check out these resources!

“7 Little Words”

Both a website and an app at the same time, 7 Little Words is a game that helps the common student and learners of English to improve your vocabulary while having some fun.

It is very easy to play: Seven clues are given, alongside blocks of letters below the clues. Players must tap the groups of letters to form the word which suits the definition provided by the clue. 

Fret not if there are new or unfamiliar words. You can simply figure out the words you are familiar with first, then try piecing together the words you do not know with the remaining tiles. 

Listening Resources for Intermediate English

One commonly missed aspect of intermediate English learning is listening practice. Learn vocabulary and grammar through actively listening, apart from just studying lists and reading books. When you listen to English being spoken in natural environments, it will improve your understanding, as well as your ability to speak English. 

Esolcourses.com

Lessons are on offer on this site, with the aim of helping learners of Intermediate English to improve their listening skills. Each lesson consists of a video or audio file and is accompanied by transcripts. 

A short quiz after the video or audio is played allows you to check your understanding. The speed of audio may also be adjusted in certain lessons. Topics covered range from holidays to famous tourist locations.

Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab

With dozens of exercises on offer for learners of an intermediate standard within the website, learners can take their pick of topics from the variety available. With a transcript provided alongside the audio clip for each lesson, the three-step listening process in this ESL lab provides a cohesive listening strategy for learners. 

An exercise before listening to the audio is included within each lesson, allowing learners to guess what the content of the text is, and exposes them to the new words and idioms within the audio clip. 

After listening to the short audio clip, learners then finish a comprehension quiz. Post-listening exercises end off each lesson, requiring learners to work off what they’ve just heard in English. Oral responses are encouraged to maximize both your speaking and listening practices. 

Conclusion

Now that you have all these shiny new intermediate English resources, you’re ready to continue on your journey to mastering English. Leave Intermediate Plateau behind as you reach greater heights, and achieve the pinnacle of English mastery! 


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