English Tutor Alice here: The other thing too that is very common.... is American English language learners that are A2 tell me they've only watched American English podcasts that talk about something like finances or the gov't. Podcasts that use professional English. Scripted/rehearsed American English. Then they wonder why they struggle to come up with more words/phrases when they try to actually do small talk about hobbies, books, games or movies. Or they feel just 'stuck' in their level. I always suggest also watching a Youtube channel that is geared towards helping someone speak American English. A channel that uses basic, small talk English with words and phrases that would be common for the average everyday American English speaker to use. They watch things that only talk about the news....but they don't watch/listen to anything that would help them learn how to talk to someone at a restaurant or book store. If you're A2...and lack enough basic vocab to hold a substantial conversation with someone that is a native English speaker from the US...then only watching/listening to words and phrases about the government of science or finances isn't going to help you get a broad grasp of basic general vocabulary. It's going to put you in a box where you could only have a conversation if that random niche topic is brought up to you. Knowing a lot of American English words about government issues is great but it's not gonna help you when someone from the US asks you about your hobbies and you can barely say like two sentence responses.