Be realistic first
Going from a solid A2 to a strong B2 in six months is possible, but only with daily, structured work. Language schools commonly plan somewhere around 150–200 guided class hours per CEFR level at B1–B2, plus self-study on top. These are planning estimates used in course design, not research results, and the real figure varies a lot from learner to learner. If you already speak French or English, many words and structures transfer, which works in your favour.
The plan below assumes about 2 hours a day, 6 days a week (≈ 300 hours in 26 weeks). With 1 hour a day, expect to reach a solid B1+ and to need about three more months for B2.
What the research says about studying efficiently
These principles are well established in cognitive psychology and second-language research, and the plan is built on them:
| Principle | What it means for you | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Spaced practice | Review the same material several times over increasing intervals (1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 1 month), instead of in one long session. | Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted & Rohrer (2006), Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380: a meta-analysis of 317 experiments showing robust benefits of distributed over massed practice. |
| Retrieval practice | Test yourself (cover the table, do the Práctica, write from memory) rather than rereading. | Karpicke & Roediger (2008), Science, 319(5865), 966–968; Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan & Willingham (2013), Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58, rate practice testing and distributed practice as the two most useful techniques. |
| Vocabulary size matters for reading and listening | To read authentic texts comfortably you need to know ~98 % of the words on the page; this requires several thousand word families. | Hu & Nation (2000), Reading in a Foreign Language, 13(1), 403–430; Nation (2006), Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59–82 (≈ 8,000–9,000 word families for written text, 6,000–7,000 for spoken text, in English). |
| Extensive input | Large amounts of comprehensible reading and listening build vocabulary and grammar intuition alongside explicit study. | Supported by a large body of SLA research; effect sizes vary and explicit instruction remains useful (e.g. Norris & Ortega, 2000, Language Learning, 50(3), 417–528, on the effectiveness of explicit instruction). |
What is not settled: the exact number of hours needed for B2, and the best balance between explicit grammar study and pure input. Researchers disagree on both. The plan therefore combines both approaches.
A typical study day (≈ 2 hours)
| Block | Time | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Review | 15 min | Flashcards (Anki or paper): yesterday's words + old ones that are due. Reread last week's Correcciones box. |
| 2 · Grammar | 30 min | One unit (or half of a long one): read, say examples aloud, do the Práctica without looking, correct with the key. |
| 3 · Vocabulary | 20 min | One field: copy 15–20 new words into cards, with an example sentence of your own. |
| 4 · Input | 30 min | Listening (podcast, news, series with Spanish subtitles) or reading (a text from Part VIII, a news article, a novel). |
| 5 · Output | 25 min | Alternate: writing one task from Part IX (Mon/Wed/Fri), speaking aloud one task from Part X (Tue/Thu/Sat), recorded on your phone. |
| Sunday | — | Rest, or one film/series episode in Spanish just for pleasure. |
The 26 weeks
The plan has four phases. Each week lists grammar units (numbers), vocabulary fields (V…), word-knowledge chapters (L…), skills chapters (R = reading, E = writing, O = oral) and conjugation work (C…).
Phase 1 · Consolidate A1–A2 (weeks 1–6)
Much of this material is A1–A2 review. Go fast where you feel safe, but do every Práctica: errors show you what to slow down on.
| Week | Grammar | Vocabulary & lexis | Skills & conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pronunciation; 1, 2, 3, 4 | V1, V2, V3 | C1 (the conjugation system); T1 |
| 2 | 5, 6, 7 | V4, V5, V6 | C2 drill 1 (present); T2 |
| 3 | 8, 9, 10, 11 | V7, V8, V16 | C2 drill 2; O1, O2 (pronunciation) |
| 4 | 12, 13, 14, 15 | V9, V10, V17 | R1 (reading strategies); T5 |
| 5 | 16, 17, 18 | V11, V12, V18 | C2 drill 3 (perfect, participles); O3 |
| 6 | 19, 20 | V13, V14, L3 | C2 drill 4 (indefinido); T7; self-test: all Prácticas of Units 1– 20 again |
Phase 2 · Master A2–B1 (weeks 7–12)
| Week | Grammar | Vocabulary & lexis | Skills & conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 21, 22 | V15, V19, L2 | C2 drill 5 (imperfect); T3 |
| 8 | 23, 24, 25 | V20, L1 | C2 drill 6 (imperative, future); E1, E3 |
| 9 | 26, 27, 28 | V21, L4 | R2; O4, O5 |
| 10 | 29, 30, 31 | V22, V23 | C2 drill 7 (subjunctive forms); E2 |
| 11 | 32, 33, 34 | V24, L5 | R3; T8 |
| 12 | 35, 36, 37 | V25, L6 | Review week: redo all the errors in your error notebook and in Appendix C; O9 dialogues |
Phase 3 · Build B2 (weeks 13–20)
| Week | Grammar | Vocabulary & lexis | Skills & conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 38, 39 | V26, V27 | C2 drill 8 (imperfect subjunctive); E4 |
| 14 | 40, 41, 47 | V28 | R4; O6 |
| 15 | 42, 43, 48 | V29, V30 | E5; T9 |
| 16 | 44, 45, 49 | V31 | R5; O7 |
| 17 | 46, 50, 51 | V32, V33 | E6; C3 (verbs by model: learn 40 per week from here) |
| 18 | 52, 53 | V34, V35 | R6; O8 |
| 19 | 54, 55, 56 | V36 | E7, E8; L7 (songs) |
| 20 | 57, 58, 59 | V37 | R7; O10 |
Phase 4 · B2 advanced and exam training (weeks 21–26)
| Week | Grammar | Vocabulary & lexis | Skills & conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 60, 61 | V38 | R8; E9 (topics 1–5) |
| 22 | 62, 63 | V39 | Reading task 4 × 2; E9 (topics 6–10); O6–O8 again, timed |
| 23 | 64, 65 | V40 | E9 (topics 11–15); speaking with a partner / online tutor |
| 24 | 66 (typical errors) | Review all V-fields with cards | Mock exam (Part XI), timed, in one morning |
| 25 | Weak points from the mock | Review | Correct the mock; rewrite both writing tasks; redo failed reading items |
| 26 | Light review | Light review | Second full timed run of the mock or an official model exam from the Instituto Cervantes; rest the day before the exam |
How to measure progress
- Every 2 weeks, write one text (150–180 words) without a dictionary and compare it with an earlier one: count errors per 100 words.
- Every month, record a 3-minute monologue on the same topic (mi ciudad, mis estudios, un problema de mi país) and listen to the old recordings. Fluency gains become very clear.
- Keep an error notebook: every mistake from the Prácticas, with the correct form and the unit number. Reread it on Sundays.
- At the end of week 12, take the official DELE B1 model exam from the Instituto Cervantes website as a checkpoint; at the end of week 24, the B2 model exam.
Input you will need beyond this course
The course reads texts aloud with your device’s voice, but you also need real recordings. For listening and speaking you need regular audio. Choose material where you understand at least 70–80 % and increase the difficulty gradually:
| Level | Type of material | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A2– B1 | Slow, clear podcasts for learners; children's series; news in easy Spanish | Podcasts for learners (search "español lento", "Spanish podcast intermediate"); RTVE's news broadcasts with subtitles |
| B1– B2 | Normal-speed podcasts; TV series with Spanish subtitles; YouTube channels about science or history | Spanish public radio and TV (RTVE, Radio Nacional), narrative journalism podcasts in Spanish |
| B2 | News, debates, documentaries, films without subtitles | Daily news programmes; debate shows; documentaries |
Use Spanish subtitles, not French or Arabic ones: you will connect the sound with the written word. Watch the same episode twice — once for the story, once for the language, pausing to write down 5–10 expressions.
Speaking practice
You can prepare the speaking tasks alone (Part X gives you models and timings), but you need real interaction at least once a week from Phase 2: a language exchange (intercambio) with a Spanish speaker who wants to learn Arabic, French or English, an online tutor, or a study partner preparing the same exam. Record yourself, and compare with the model monologues in Part X.