Is it mandatory to score C1 in English Language Level? Not necessarily. B1 is often sufficient for study and work abroad. But if you want to comfortably secure your place in a highly competitive position like university or work application, you will need to score a C1 level. We will share a step-by-step guide to improve your English proficiency, let’s see through these tips!

Materials for English Language Level Learning

C1 is the fifth of six levels in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This level indicates a “proficient user”. You will benefit from downloading applications or accessing websites that support your learning process. We personally wouldn’t recommend gamification applications, but we recommend:

1. AnkiApp – Flashcard app to learn languages
2. WordUp – Vocabulary builder
3. Cambridge English – Online listening, grammar, vocabulary and reading activities tailored to learners’ levels
4. British Council – For more structured learning materials if you’re done with Cambridge English
5. News in Levels – World news for students provided in three levels from beginner to advanced
6. Google Translate – Quick translation access to vocabularies

Let’s divide learning into adapting to active and passive vocabulary. Active vocabulary is what you use when speaking or writing. Passive vocabulary is what you may use yourself but can recognize and understand when you hear or read it.

Step-by-Step Improvement through English Language Level

Upgrade Active Vocabulary

First, you can download AnkiApp on your devices. This is an application for spaced repetition. It works like this: you learn 10 vocabularies, repeated tomorrow, three days after tomorrow, then a week after these three days, and so on.

Learning 10 vocabularies for each day is painful for your memory. So, this application helps you remember 10 vocabularies for a consistent interval of time. Read and try to remember the meaning of each vocabularies or words.

Even better for your learning process if you write the words down and say it out loud. Since you are using all of your senses to learn.

What this exercise gives you is the word solidifies in your mind so much that at some point you find yourself suddenly saying/writing it. You incorporated it into active vocabulary. Remember, what’s necessary is repetition and exposure to the same vocabulary until it latches on your brain.

Challenge Yourself with Flashcard

We look at the word and try to remember its meaning. Learn words every (at least almost every) day. Here you expand your passive vocabulary, and the more you know, the better. We recommend learning about 10 words a day, this is only good if you are B2 or above. If you are not, it’s okay to take it easy and learn words through repetitive intervals.

Active words are what you will use regularly in a conversation. Meanwhile, passive words are known or recognized by a person but are not used often.

Understand a Wide Range of Text

It’s a good idea to search online and offline to find suitably challenging reading and listening texts, such as novels, professional articles, podcasts, films, and courses. Go out of your comfort zone, but slowly, you don’t need to jump into a block of hard high vocabulary text.

This time you will use News in Levels. This website world is like this: you choose one news article and each article has three levels of reading. Level 1 for beginner, level 2 for intermediate, and level 3 for advanced.

You can adjust which level you want to read. The website also provides listening mode, so you can read while you listen to the narrator. They highlight the probable uncommon words to make it easier to learn.

News in Levels are optional learning material. The best way to pick up on uncommon words and implicit meanings is to encounter similar ones, so choose rich and meaningful texts, such as novels and podcasts.

Take the news article and retell them. Read the paragraph then retell it in your own words. Or if you are not comfortable with that, you can practice reading the news article over and over for familiarize yourself with the pronunciation.

Express Yourself Spontaneously

This skill is about putting your thoughts and feelings into words. Speak your mind. You can also try expressing yourself by blogging, making videos or keeping a diary.

In conversations, fluency is related to the word “flow”, and too much thinking disrupts your flow. So find your groove, as in just speak. It doesn’t have to be a grammatically correct speech. Talk to yourself in front of a mirror while you are planning your day or go shopping.

While talking alone might feel good or bad, you can try joining an English community online in your city.

It’s always good to build up your vocabulary, especially for conversation. Watch and listen to a video to observe how native English speakers express themselves, and pick up useful words and phrases from them.

Noticing new words and phrases, noting them down and then trying to use them in context is a great way to learn new words and pronounce them.

Use Words in Social, Academic and Professional Settings

Using language flexibly means being able to adapt to different situations. So, vary your speaking practice by speaking with different people, for different purposes, and expressing different ideas.

It’s also good to use English for a wide range of purposes in your life, such as for entertainment, study, work, or hobbies. You can look for opportunities to speak English in your daily life.

Practice through Structured Courses

After you’re finished with the steps above, it’s time to go through structured courses like from the British Council or Cambridge English. Going through the learning material at your own pace is good, but a structure is going to help you adjust and actually quantify your progress.

You will be following orders and steps. And you will be able to categorize your overall learning into a specific English Language Level.

Immersive Learning

Transform the language of your devices into English, phone or computer. Write notes in English. Learn blind typing with English. Surround yourself as much as you can with your intended language you want to be fluent in.

Joining English clubs, online forums, or language courses create opportunities to practice with peers and possibly native speakers. Total immersion accelerates fluency by forcing you to use English in real-life situations. Truly stepping out of your comfort zones and being in a transformative environment.

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Remember all these learning will work with consistency and patience. Leveling up roughly cannot be done in a month, but language is something to live within and next to everything you do. Although it is difficult, the journey of learning English is truly exciting. It will open up your world in so many ways.