B1+ Vocabulary You Will ACTUALLY Use

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Welcome back to my channel. Today I have 12 B2 B1 B2 vocabulary that I want to share with you. If you remember at the end of my last video, the one about the AI recommended vocabulary, I had a list at the very end of the video of words that myself and my students have come across this week. Well, actually it was last week and I made a note of them and I want to share them with you today. I have also created an article to go along with this. So you can read it, you can pause the video, make your own examples.

[00:00:36]So that will be in the description box and that is from my own blog where I create articles about learning English.

[00:00:42]So feel free to go and check that out.

[00:00:44]It will be linked below. If this is your first time on my channel, hello. Hi, my name is Katherine. I am predominantly a business English teacher, but this channel focuses on intermediate to advanced level English vocabulary, grammar, phrases, communication in the workplace. So, if you're using English at work or hope to in the future, I'm sure you will find something helpful here. Subscribe, like the video, and let's get started with our first word today. So the first word is circumspect.

[00:01:21]Circumspect. Now, as you can see, I've put the article on the screen, but feel free to go through it yourself, make notes, whatever is easiest for you. We all learn in different ways. Now, circumspect is kind of a combination of being suspicious and careful. So when we look at something new, when we find out new information, when we approach something circumspectly, this means we are we don't trust it 100% but we want to find out more, find out the facts, find out the information before we listen or agree or whatever.

[00:01:59]If I remember correctly, this word came up because I was talking about social media. And the article that we looked at was saying how adults in the UK are becoming more circumspect when they're using social media, meaning more suspicious, more cautious, more careful. There are some examples here.

[00:02:20]I'm going to pick out the third example.

[00:02:23]So, as a learner of English, being circumspect about using about using new words in conversation helps you to avoid mistakes. Now, I agree and disagree with this. We learn from our mistakes. So don't be scared to make a mistake.

[00:02:38]However, there are a lot of English teachers on social media that will teach you synonyms for specific words and don't tell you the context. So this is what this this means. When you see a new word, be cautious, be careful, find out exactly how to use it before you use it.

[00:02:58]However, as I said, we learn from mistakes. So if you make a mistake, it's not really a big deal. you'll learn from it. If there are any words in this video today that are completely new for you, feel free to make examples in the comments and I will go through them and give you any feedback I have. So, the next one is affirm. To affirm. This is a verb to state something clearly and confidently as true. We use affirm when we want to support a fact or clarify that something is true. So for example, the teacher affirmed that regular practice improves English speaking skills. Meaning I think regular practice improves English speaking skills and the teacher agreed with me and said yes that would be true. So the teacher affirmed that for me. Now you're probably thinking, what's the difference between affirm and confirm? To confirm something. Well, typically you can use these interchangeably. He confirmed this fact. I affirmed that for them. However, confirm usually just means to agree or say yes. So, I can confirm that I'm coming to the meeting tomorrow. I can confirm that we will still meet next week, but I cannot affirm that we won't meet next week because it doesn't mean to say yes. It means something is or is not true. So, there's an example here that I've written. I confirmed I would attend the meeting. But in the meeting, he affirmed what we were all thinking, which was the company was losing sales.

[00:04:39]So, confirm to say, "Yes, I agree. I'm coming." But affirm this is a true fact.

[00:04:45]I believe I know the word, the meaning of the word affirm, but the teacher affirmed it for me in the video. Meaning the teacher said, "Yes, you're correct.

[00:04:55]This is the meaning of affirm." Number three, significance. I'm sure you've probably heard this as the adverb significantly.

[00:05:04]Significance is another way of saying the importance of something.

[00:05:09]So when we describe the significance of and the noun, significance of grammar, significance of friendship, significance of family, we mean the importance of that noun. When we describe something as significantly changing or significantly impacting, we mean it hugely. It had a great impact. English has a huge significance in the world and has done for the last x amount of years. But even more significance now that we have AI and the language that AI uses is of course English. Although it's American English, not British English that AI uses.

[00:05:51]Autonomy. Autonomy. Now, this is the ability to make your own decisions independently.

[00:05:58]It doesn't necessarily mean the decisions are right or wrong, just that you can make your own decisions.

[00:06:06]So, often we talk about children developing a autonomy because what we're saying is we need to teach them how to make their own decisions. I don't know about you, but when I was a child, I had a lot of anxiety when I had a big decision to make. So, for example, in the UK at year 9, how old are you in year 9? 15, 14, 15, I believe. Yeah, because school finishes in year 12. So, four years and we finish at 18. Yeah. So, 14 years old, we have to decide which subjects we're going to study. we can't study all the subjects. We have to decide. We have to choose. And I remember feeling so much anxiety and stress and pressure and worry because what if I chose subjects that I didn't want to do in 6 months time or what if I chose subjects and then when I decided what I wanted to do for work, my subjects don't match the job I want. For example, if I chose chemistry, biology, physics, and maths, and then I wanted to be an English teacher, my subjects don't have any relevance to teaching English. Actually, in my case, I chose a broad range of subjects because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for work. So, I chose psychology, chemistry, English, English language, and graphics.

[00:07:36]graphic design. So, I had a a broad range. But I remember when I was making that decision, I was so stressed because I thought, I'm going to choose something wrong. Something's going to happen. This is me developing my autonomy. I can make the decision, but I also need to be independent and confident when making that decision. Okay. So, autonomy, making a decision for yourself. And as I said, we often talk about child children developing autonomy, the ability to make a decision. Okay. Number five, perception. Perception, this is the way we understand or interpret something.

[00:08:16]It's very similar to opinion, but there is a main difference. So an opinion can be developed through anything. I can watch one social media video and then decide that that's my opinion. I believe this because this video told me.

[00:08:31]However, our perception comes from such a range of things. It's your upbringing.

[00:08:37]It's your socioeconomic background. It's your culture. It's your religion. If you were brought up religious, it's the country you were born in. So many things affect our perception. So when I give my perception, it's not just my opinion.

[00:08:53]It's from my experience. It might not be true from your perception, but from my experience, from my background, from my understanding, this is how I see something. For example, I think I have a very good perception of how how non-native English speakers are treated in the UK because I have students that are non-native English speakers in the UK. Whereas someone that lives in England is English like me and hasn't got the same experience as me, they will have a different perception. Our English is easy and there's no judgment. People don't judge you. So we all have different perceptions based on our experience and our life. I'll give you some examples for perception. So So the last example, the perception of difficulty in learning English varies among students. So, as I said, you might have been born into a family where they speak English a lot at home, or you might have been born into a family that listens a lot to English music, English series, English podcast.

[00:10:03]So, your perception of learning English, your perspective of learning English is that it's relatively easy compared to someone that's maybe in their 40s and has only just started learning English.

[00:10:17]very different experiences, so very different perceptions. The next one I think is a bit easier. Restricted. So limited or controlled in some way. And to link it to the previous example, your perception of what should be restricted depends on where you live, doesn't it? If you live in a country where alcohol is very restricted, then you will have a negative image of alcohol. Whereas if you're from the UK, we drink a lot of alcohol all the time.

[00:10:50]There is no situation where we don't drink alcohol. So our perception of alcohol is much more, oh, it's fine.

[00:10:57]It's no problem. So some examples for restricted. Some websites have restricted content that requires a password.

[00:11:06]During the exam, movement in the room was restricted to prevent cheating. So limited in some way. You're prohibited.

[00:11:13]you're not allowed to do this thing either because you don't have the knowledge, experience, or just that you're not authorized. Number seven, proximity. Now, this is your physical closeness to something, but we can use it metaphorically as well, even if it's something that's not physical. Okay? So for example, the proximity of the language school to the city center makes it easy to attend classes. This is physical closeness. The school and the city center are close together, so I get there very easily. However, the last example, I learned English for 7 years as a child. However, my proximity to the language has decreased. So I feel my skills are weaker than before.

[00:12:03]my closeness to the language. Now, of course, I don't mean physically close because a language is not physical, but I mean I don't hear it on a daily basis.

[00:12:13]I'm not listening to the language or using the language. Proximity, closeness to something. Number eight, to hinder.

[00:12:21]To hinder actually, if you're from the Netherlands or a Dutch speaker, you will know this word because one of my students told me that it's the same in Dutch. To hinder means to create difficulties that delay or prevent a progress. So for example, lack of practice can hinder your progress in learning English. Stop or restrict, limit your progress. Choosing the wrong supplier could hinder our products time to market. If we choose the wrong supplier, how fast we get this product to the market is going to be stopped, restricted, limited. So to hinder means to stop the progress. You could say the new governmental rules hinder this progress or not using AI hinders your ability to apply for technological related jobs or hinders your ability to understand technology. It just means to limit to stop the progress. Next we have meticulous. Meticulous means very very small detail. Great attention to detail and it can be used in a positive and a negative way. So for example, as a positive, a meticulous approach to grammar helps avoid common mistakes.

[00:13:42]Meaning looking at grammar in a lot of detail, paying a lot of attention to the grammar helps to avoid mistakes. She is meticulous in her notetaking during English lessons means she pays a lot of attention to detail when she's listening, watching, doing her English lessons. However, we can also use it in a negative way. So, if I was to say, "My manager is so meticulous, it makes it very difficult to send any emails. It takes me an hour to get one email approved and sent off." we're using it in a negative way because we're saying my manager is so focused on the details that actually it takes me an hour to do anything because every time I send it to my manager they have feedback, they have notes and it just takes a very long time. So meticulous attention to detail in both good and bad ways. Number 10, reluctant. If you are reluctant to do something, it means you are unwilling.

[00:14:44]You don't want to do this thing.

[00:14:46]Maybe you have to or you need to, but you don't really want to. He was reluctant to try new vocabulary without practicing it first. Meaning, he didn't want to use new vocabulary because he was scared of getting it wrong. He knows he has to in order to improve, but he's scared about getting it wrong. Sometimes I am reluctant to make comments on certain situations, global situations, because I have a lot of different people watching my videos and I don't want to upset anyone. So there are certain situations in the world that I don't want to comment on. It's this feeling of not wanting to do something. I am reluctant to take students that have a huge time difference with me because it's very difficult to find hours that were both available. It doesn't mean I don't or I never do it, but it means maybe I don't want to because it might cause a challenge or an issue. Number 11, inevitable. Inevitable. If something is inevitable, it's bound to happen.

[00:15:55]Certain to happen. We cannot stop this from happening. Making mistakes is inevitable when learning a new language.

[00:16:02]It's going to happen. You can't fight it. You just have to accept that you will make a mistake and try and deal with that later. It is inevitable that some words will be difficult at first.

[00:16:13]Absolutely. You cannot change that. Some words will be difficult for you.

[00:16:19]Absolutely. If you work 6 days a week and don't get enough sleep, it's inevitable that you will eventually become tired or burnt out or lose motivation for your work.

[00:16:33]Inevitable is something we cannot stop from happening. And finally today, aware of to be aware of means having knowledge of something. So instead of saying I know you could say I'm aware of that or even perfect tense I have been made aware of something. So the focus is someone has told you this information.

[00:16:58]Being aware of your strengths and weaknesses helps you focus your English study.

[00:17:03]So knowing what your strengths and your weaknesses are helps you to improve your studying and how you study. Teachers should be aware of cultural differences in their students. You should know, you should understand. When I first started as a teacher, this was something that I don't think I've ever had a cultural difference that was really uncomfortable. Most things I can um understand and I'm not a very judgmental person. So most of the time, even if it's something I wouldn't do, I don't judge the person for it. But I remember when I first started as a teacher, I worked for a platform where the student can call you. So you don't know who you're going to be talking to. The student just calls you and you start speaking to them. And it was very common for the male students to attend the lesson without a shirt on because it's hot and they're relaxed at home. And that was strange for me. Okay, doesn't seem very professional, but I guess they're at home, they're relaxed. So that was something I had to get used to.

[00:18:06]And then something I could be aware of next time that yes, sometimes the male students would not be wearing a shirt.

[00:18:14]But as I said, it's, you know, as a as a language teacher, I think you're aware of a lot of cultural differences, and I am someone that likes to read and learn, and so nothing really surprises me anymore. So, I hope those words were helpful for you today. I hope there was something in there that was new. Feel free to ask any questions, make any examples in the comments. I'm always happy to to help. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week or your day, evening, whenever you're watching this. And I will see you again in the next video.

[00:18:46]Thank you for watching. Bye-bye.