Are you a happy B2?

[rdearman]

Anyone target a B2 level only in a language? I'm curious how many people actually only aim for B2 and move on with their lives (or other languages).

[tarvos]

Pretty happy B2 in many languages

[brilliantyears]

Yep, I aim for B2 in all my languages. Most of them are a luxury, not a necessity in my life (with the exception of Dutch and English).

[tarvos]

I aim for a C2 in Spanish, but that's a job thing...

[rdearman]

@tarvos & @brilliantyears, Did you set out to get to B2 and stop? Or did it just happen that way?

[USF_Fan]

My goal is to reach B2 in Spanish as I have heard that's the level where "fluency" is achieved and you can enjoy using the language at that level.


However, would there be a lot of limitations for B2? For example, would you not be able to live in the country where the language is spoken? Given that you will encounter taxes, medical bills, plumbing, car repairments, purchasing and selling a house and negotiating, working in an educational environment, seeking a social worker or psychologist, describing more complex medical terms in the event of an emergency, injury, or illness etc.


For those who have achieved B2, what would you say you can and cannot do with a B2 in the language?

[tungemål]

It is hard to define these levels. Unless you do a test, it is hard to know what level you are on...

My target is:
- able to read common texts and books
- comprehend TV and radio
- normal conversations with people

Would this be B1, B2, or C1?

[rdearman]

It is hard to define these levels. Unless you do a test, it is hard to know what level you are on...

My target is:
- able to read common texts and books
- comprehend TV and radio
- normal conversations with people

Would this be B1, B2, or C1?

You can do self-assessments. But that is probably about B2 level.

https://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/sites/l ... ropean.pdf

[Lawyer&Mom]

My goal is to reach B2 in Spanish as I have heard that's the level where "fluency" is achieved and you can enjoy using the language at that level.


However, would there be a lot of limitations for B2? For example, would you not be able to live in the country where the language is spoken? Given that you will encounter taxes, medical bills, plumbing, car repairments, purchasing and selling a house and negotiating, working in an educational environment, seeking a social worker or psychologist, describing more complex medical terms in the event of an emergency, injury, or illness etc.


For those who have achieved B2, what would you say you can and cannot do with a B2 in the language?

In my experience you can absolutely live in a country with B2. You can communicate in day to day situations. But you use *a lot* of circumlocution, using basic vocabulary to describe what you need because you don’t know the actual word for something. Like me in a bike shop: “Hi, I’m looking for the thing that makes the wheel bigger? When there isn’t enough air, and you need more air?” It isn’t elegant or efficient, but it works. You aren’t going to come across as educated or sophisticated, but you get over that and make do. Millions of people do it all day every day and so can you.

At B2 in German or French I can absolutely read the tax forms, or the real estate contract and understand the most of it, but I’m highly educated in my native language and these are areas I’m generally comfortable with. What I couldn’t possibly do is actually work in my field at a B2, because I work with words for a living. But I could work at a daycare, drive a taxi, cashier at a grocery store etc. Jobs were you need to be able to communicate with people, but at a basic level. In my city, I interact with people in service jobs everyday who have a B2 or less in English.

[iguanamon]

Good topic, rdearman. There's been some threads around about this lately. A few of my thoughts: A language isn't a trophy that we put up on the wall and admire- "Yeah, that's Spanish up there on the shelf. Took me 10 years to get that C2 trophy!". The effort and work involved in reaching C levels is for using the language at those levels. It allows for ease of use between all parties. It is not perfection and there is still room for a lot of improvement, but in my experience it allows me to interact with low stress and opens up much more of an L2 culture to me.

B2 is where I stopped with Lesser Antilles French Creole. For me, it means I don't have to study it anymore but it means that I have to do more circumlocution and asking for what I want to say than I have to do with Haitian Creole at C1. I have more difficulty understanding complex conversations, still, with my background in languages I can usually make it out.

I've been studying Catalan and I would say in listening and reading I am at B2 but I am not there yet in speaking and writing. It will take a concentrated push of a few months to do that. Then I plan on stopping. B2 will be enough for my purposes of travel and interaction.

However, would there be a lot of limitations for B2? For example, would you not be able to live in the country where the language is spoken? Given that you will encounter taxes, medical bills, plumbing, car repairments, purchasing and selling a house and negotiating, working in an educational environment, seeking a social worker or psychologist, describing more complex medical terms in the event of an emergency, injury, or illness etc.
For those who have achieved B2, what would you say you can and cannot do with a B2 in the language?

I think it's helpful to look at what the CEFR says about B2 & C1 Levels:

B2: Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialization.
Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
C1: Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer clauses, and recognize implicit meaning.
Can express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.
Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.

If I could sum up the difference in one word that word would be "polish". The difference is that at C1 there's less groping around for the right word, less asking for repetition of what's been said. Arguments are clearer, more defined and more polished. Understanding is easier.

Yes, a learner can live in a country at B2, but while living there the learner will want to (and most likely will) improve their level as it will definitely make life easier. A B2 speaker will get tired of having to ask for vocabulary and using circumlocution everyday while living and working in TL. I would venture to say that a person's desire for improvement increases the more daily interaction with the language the person has.

Those of us who do not live in a TL country and have a high language level will have difficulty dealing with some everyday interactions that those who live in a TL country face because, for example, my auto mechanic is an English-speaker. If I had to get my car repaired in Spanish or another language, I would have to research the vocabulary beforehand, obviously. At higher levels it is easier to find and retain that knowledge, at least in my experience. I have dealt with banks, insurance, doctors, government bureaucracies, and obtuse airline reps in both Portuguese and Spanish. If I had to do these things in Lesser Antilles French Creole or Catalan, I could, but it would be cruder and not polished. I'd be doing more circumlocution and more word-searching. In Catalan, where I am not at B2 in speaking or writing, I'd probably switch to Spanish as it would be easier for both of us. That's the advantage of related languages and having a language at a higher level that both parties can speak with each other.

To me, B2 is "arrival" in a language. At this point, I'm not as polished as I am in other languages but I'm also still taken seriously by native-speakers, not as a dilettante who knows a few basics. I can come back to B2 after a prolonged absence and "get right back into it" after just a little while.

While B2 has its frustrations, we probably can't achieve C levels in a dozen languages. I know how much work and effort is involved and I don't want to go through all that for every language I decide to learn. There is such a thing as "good enough" and B2 is "good enough" for most of us as learners who do not live and work in TL.

When discussing B2 adequacy, I always think about leosmith who has done this for pretty much all of his languages. It seems to me to be a good strategy for those who want to have a larger number of languages under their belts. Hopefully the Big Dog will see this thread. I'd enjoy reading his thoughts on the matter.