How to reach level C1 in English?

What is the C1 level in English?

C1 is the level where you can finally say that you are multilingual in English and that you speak it fluently or fluently. It’s always a bit of a controversial topic because it’s not entirely clear what C1 contains or what it really means to speak a language fluently. For most learners, and according to a large part of the polyglot community, having the C1 level in English will allow you to:

• read long complicated texts without too much difficulty, such as novels , for example;
• listen to English for long periods of time without getting tired;
• begin to understand content that is not directly related to your specialty . Until now, the things to focus on were those that affected us directly, whereas now you will learn and be able to understand information related to other areas. You will enrich your general culture in English!
• you will be able to make presentations and speeches without too much hesitation, if for example you use English in your work;
• enrich your use of oral English : you will start to use idiomatic expressions , more slang , you will be able to make jokes in English (humor and what is funny differs according to culture!). You will be able to distinguish language registers easily and notice small nuances between different ways of expressing the same thing.

And, of course, it will be YOU who talks with the taxi driver about current issues during your stay in an English-speaking country!

What does level C1 in English contain?

What skills?

According to the CEFR, this is what one should be able to do:

• Understand a wide range of long and demanding texts, as well as grasp implicit meanings.
• Express themselves spontaneously and fluently without seeming to search for words too much.
• Use the language effectively and fluently in their social, professional or academic life.
• Express yourself on complex subjects in a clear and well-structured way and use with ease the elements of organization, articulation and cohesion of speech.

The list of grammatical constructions has been adapted from the British Council and EAQUALS .

What vocabulary?

Here is the vocabulary needed to reach C1:

What subjects?

Here are the topics that you will need to be able to talk about and that you will need to be able to understand. Keep in mind that there is a good chance that you will be asked to speak about one of these during your speaking test , if you want to obtain a C1 level certificate:

How to go from level b2 to c1 in English?

The topics are taken from the ECL Examination System site .

How to reach level C1 in English?

• How to go from level B2 to level C1? If you already have a B2 level in English and are aiming for C1, then you already have sufficient skills and knowledge to use English as a tool to learn new things ! Read, listen and get informed all in English. It is normal to tend to use Hindi for research or education, but try to do it in English from now on. As you can see, most of the links we have provided are already in English to show you that you can continue your studies entirely in English! Fascinating, isn’t it?

• As we have already said in other articles, it is absurd to expect different results when you do the same thing over and over again! Luca Lampariello , one of YouTube’s most famous polyglots, advises to vary the ways of approaching each aspect of learning English . Start reading more complicated texts, such as novels . Listen to more demanding content (linguistically and culturally); I can only recommend that you discover the TEDx talksin English: they are extremely varied, interesting and you can always learn new vocabulary and new expressions! (It’s actually one of the things I’m currently doing to improve my Hindi.) Films and series are another excellent resource that will help you develop your knowledge of the different language registers, and know when and how to use them well. .

• Talk about difficult subjects! A common problem for B2 level learners is that they are already comfortable speaking English and can survive on what they already know so they are not very motivated to expand their vocabulary. They rely on the same words and phrases all the time and they don’t understand why you have to know how to say something is a piece of cake , when they can just say it’s easy ! If you want to reach level C1, you will have to diversify your language and start using idiomatic expressions , even slang, and get to know the culture better, to understand Anglophone humor.

• Level C1 comes with longer sentences and more complicated vocabulary . If you compare, for example, the texts of level B2 and those of level C1, you will undoubtedly notice the use of more advanced constructions and rarer words.

• In our article on CEFR levels , we talked about selective ignoring , that is, prioritizing what we learn because of lack of time. This is no longer the case here, because you already speak English at a level where you can get by in most situations, thanks to level B2. Now your goal is to expand your vocabulary , your cultural knowledge, improve your understanding of regional differences, etc. Don’t let any unknown word escape you !

• It becomes more difficult to reach each new level and level C1 requires a lot of work and time! At this stage of your learning, you will come across new words more rarely, which means that you will have to revise the vocabulary already studied and put yourself in a situation to come across new ones .

Method to reach the C1 level in English

If you are looking for a method that will help you reach the English C1 level in a structured, progressive and efficient way, then use Click & Speak ! This method includes all the topics, grammar and vocabulary needed to pass the C1 exam!

How long to reach level C1?

Here are the estimates of the time needed to reach the different levels:

Source: Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) cited in Introductory Guide to the CEFR for English Language Teachers, Cambridge University Press

If, for example, you want to go from B2 to C1, you will need around 200 additional study hours. However, take these estimates with a grain of salt , their purpose is to give you a general idea of the time you may need to reach the different levels, but they are only estimates.

Resources for level C1

Listen for level C1

Here are six example sentences taken from the Click & Speak method to give you an idea of the level:

• When he finds out, Edward’s dad is going to be furious! = Edward’s father will be furious when he finds out!
• We’ll be away for two weeks so we expect our mailbox to be full when we come back. = We will be away for two weeks; we are already expecting the mailbox to be overflowing when we return.
• She’s not shy. She’s just not as spontaneous in a foreign language as she is in her native tongue. = She is not shy. It’s just that she doesn’t express herself as spontaneously in a foreign language as in her mother tongue.
• This news has caused shock and outrage all over the nation. = This news shocked and outraged the entire nation.
• You should rub some alcohol on the wound; or else, you risk infection. = You should put alcohol on the wound, otherwise you risk infection.
• She wanted to order a drink, but instead of asking for Coke , she asked for cock. = She wanted to order a drink but instead of saying “Coke” she said “poop” – and if you’re into that kind of nonsense, check out The 7 Most Embarrassing Mispronunciations!

English exam level C1

Here are some examples of oral exams:

English exam level C1

Video in English, level C1

Oral comprehension level C1

Written comprehension level C1

Here are some sites to practice your reading comprehension:

• British Council
• Using English
• Learn English, British Council

C1 level test?

Are you ready to take a C1 level exam in English? Test yourself :

• Exam Français
• Englishtag

Congratulations, you’ve finally made it! We hope this article has made you want to continue your studies and progress in English, even if you are able to survive or manage just with B2. If this is the first article on CEFR levels you come across, fear not: you can start with level A1 in English and progress from there.

And if you have already reached level C1 in English, don’t worry, you can still improve: find out what more you can do in our article on level C2 in English! 🙂