It seems most readers are much less, hm, robust towards not-knowing than I. When I started reading English extensively, I was probably at B1. I never looked up any words, but simply read whatever I found interesting, more and more advanced styles. Jane Austen was a special favourite. Believe it or not: Reading about 200 books over 15 years or so took me all the way to C2.
That's impressive 👏 👏 👏 lots of input did its job for language comprehension. I’m curious how you practiced your productive skills (speaking and writing)?
Well, next on my learning journey was many full days of listening at workshops, learning something I was really interested in, and some speaking in the same context. Then, making friends with English speakers. Writing came sort of as a side effect of reading and speaking, it seems; never studied explicitly. Yes, I'm a big fan of massive amounts of input. (Am a DELTA certified English teacher now, so it all worked out.)
I have the same experience as you, Striving for Meaning. High tolerance for not knowing and ambiguity, patience and a love for reading. It's helped me with English, French and Spanish, it has not helped me with German. Mostly because I've never found any authors I fell in love enough with to become obsessive
Sorry about your experience with German – well, my disappointment in my native language and its often heavy-going novel style was a main reason for turning towards English. Have you tried with poetry? I did fall in love with the poems of Rilke, Schiller, Goethe, Heine. I wouldn't recommend it normally, but if you already have so many languages, you certainly have an ear for them.
Thanks for the tip! It could definitely be a good idea.
I'm not big on poetry but it's good for the brain to always try new things!
Do you also have any fiction authors you're passionate about I could try, by any chance ?
My problem wasn't really a matter of style but rather of topic! A lot of the literature I encountered felt... Dark. That's the best way I can describe it.
Hi Victoria. My first foreign language was Hungarian. It was my ancestors first language. After reading your article I understand why I’m struggling in the B1 stage. This week I’ll use the steps you laid out. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing, Rhonda! You are doing an incredible job 👏👏👏 Hungarian is one of the most challenging languages, in my view. I pass out when I see these alien-looking words with multiple stress signs 😅 Nice that you have a strong, culturally-tied motivation. It definitely helps. Good luck and look forward to hearing about your progress.
lol! I love your comment. The 17 noun cases is crazy. And yes the 44 letters with diacritics. The double letters “ny, ty, ly” are one letter, but my English mind sees two. I relate the language to the rubiks cube (Hungarian invention). It’s a pattern and when learned it’s easier. Thank you for your substack newsletter on a valuable topic.
Hi Astrid, I don't speak 15 languages. I wish 😊 maybe in the future when my children have grown up. I understand Czech though, because it's so similar to Polish, which I'm fluent at, but I don't include it in my language repertoire.
This is a very interesting and unforgettable question.
I remember very clearly that in 1980, when I was learning German in Germany up to level A2, I did not have much difficulty.
In less than five months, I learned German quite well and patiently.
My German friends helped me a lot to speak clearly and correctly.
However, from level B1 to B2, because of the large volume of texts, I became confused and sometimes mixed academic grammar with everyday speech. This is one of the reasons why we language learners find ourselves in such situations. Why do I think B1–B2 is usually more difficult than A1–A2?
No, I do not think so.
It is mainly because of vocabulary.
The basic grammar from A1 and A2 is simple to memorize, but from B1 to B2, or from C1 to C2 the grammar rules become more complex.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Reza! Your experience makes perfect sense.A1–A2 is the most exciting stage of language learning. Everything is new, words rush in fast, progress is visible almost daily, and that momentum is incredibly motivating. You feel like you're flying!
Then B1–B2 arrives and the game changes. The low-hanging fruit (easy daily vocabulary) is gone. Progress becomes subtler, texts get denser, and you have to work much harder for smaller gains, the language is asking more of you now. Nuance, register, context, all those layers that don't show up in beginner materials suddenly matter.
What you described — mixing academic grammar with everyday speech — is such a classic B1–B2 experience. You have enough language to get confused by the complexity, but not yet enough to navigate it effortlessly. That's actually a sign you're exactly where you should be in the process!
nice to meet you here in and hope you're doing well, My name is Reza and I live in Iran and retired and study at the university at age of 72 English, what do you do .?
It seems most readers are much less, hm, robust towards not-knowing than I. When I started reading English extensively, I was probably at B1. I never looked up any words, but simply read whatever I found interesting, more and more advanced styles. Jane Austen was a special favourite. Believe it or not: Reading about 200 books over 15 years or so took me all the way to C2.
That's impressive 👏 👏 👏 lots of input did its job for language comprehension. I’m curious how you practiced your productive skills (speaking and writing)?
Well, next on my learning journey was many full days of listening at workshops, learning something I was really interested in, and some speaking in the same context. Then, making friends with English speakers. Writing came sort of as a side effect of reading and speaking, it seems; never studied explicitly. Yes, I'm a big fan of massive amounts of input. (Am a DELTA certified English teacher now, so it all worked out.)
I have the same experience as you, Striving for Meaning. High tolerance for not knowing and ambiguity, patience and a love for reading. It's helped me with English, French and Spanish, it has not helped me with German. Mostly because I've never found any authors I fell in love enough with to become obsessive
Sorry about your experience with German – well, my disappointment in my native language and its often heavy-going novel style was a main reason for turning towards English. Have you tried with poetry? I did fall in love with the poems of Rilke, Schiller, Goethe, Heine. I wouldn't recommend it normally, but if you already have so many languages, you certainly have an ear for them.
Thanks for the tip! It could definitely be a good idea.
I'm not big on poetry but it's good for the brain to always try new things!
Do you also have any fiction authors you're passionate about I could try, by any chance ?
My problem wasn't really a matter of style but rather of topic! A lot of the literature I encountered felt... Dark. That's the best way I can describe it.
Hi Victoria. My first foreign language was Hungarian. It was my ancestors first language. After reading your article I understand why I’m struggling in the B1 stage. This week I’ll use the steps you laid out. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing, Rhonda! You are doing an incredible job 👏👏👏 Hungarian is one of the most challenging languages, in my view. I pass out when I see these alien-looking words with multiple stress signs 😅 Nice that you have a strong, culturally-tied motivation. It definitely helps. Good luck and look forward to hearing about your progress.
lol! I love your comment. The 17 noun cases is crazy. And yes the 44 letters with diacritics. The double letters “ny, ty, ly” are one letter, but my English mind sees two. I relate the language to the rubiks cube (Hungarian invention). It’s a pattern and when learned it’s easier. Thank you for your substack newsletter on a valuable topic.
Très intéressant !
Thank you, that was a helpful information. I will practice with those tools to enhance my learning.
Thanks for reading Iran! Happy it's helpful 😊 good luck
Do you include czech in your 15+ languages? Thank you for an answer, best Astrid
Hi Astrid, I don't speak 15 languages. I wish 😊 maybe in the future when my children have grown up. I understand Czech though, because it's so similar to Polish, which I'm fluent at, but I don't include it in my language repertoire.
This is a very interesting and unforgettable question.
I remember very clearly that in 1980, when I was learning German in Germany up to level A2, I did not have much difficulty.
In less than five months, I learned German quite well and patiently.
My German friends helped me a lot to speak clearly and correctly.
However, from level B1 to B2, because of the large volume of texts, I became confused and sometimes mixed academic grammar with everyday speech. This is one of the reasons why we language learners find ourselves in such situations. Why do I think B1–B2 is usually more difficult than A1–A2?
No, I do not think so.
It is mainly because of vocabulary.
The basic grammar from A1 and A2 is simple to memorize, but from B1 to B2, or from C1 to C2 the grammar rules become more complex.
However, the meaning does not really change.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Reza! Your experience makes perfect sense.A1–A2 is the most exciting stage of language learning. Everything is new, words rush in fast, progress is visible almost daily, and that momentum is incredibly motivating. You feel like you're flying!
Then B1–B2 arrives and the game changes. The low-hanging fruit (easy daily vocabulary) is gone. Progress becomes subtler, texts get denser, and you have to work much harder for smaller gains, the language is asking more of you now. Nuance, register, context, all those layers that don't show up in beginner materials suddenly matter.
What you described — mixing academic grammar with everyday speech — is such a classic B1–B2 experience. You have enough language to get confused by the complexity, but not yet enough to navigate it effortlessly. That's actually a sign you're exactly where you should be in the process!
Hi dear Iran,
nice to meet you here in and hope you're doing well, My name is Reza and I live in Iran and retired and study at the university at age of 72 English, what do you do .?