How to learn English at advanced level?

You can find many guides and ready-made plans for starting to learn English. However, once you reach a certain level, there is less and less information freely available. And this is no accident. Most free plans are designed for those who don't know how to get started. But to reach the advanced level, you will have to do a lot of thinking on your own. In this article, we'll tell you what to look for and which books will help you learn.

Define your language improvement goals

Asking the question of how to improve English to advanced level, first of all you need to clearly understand how you will use the language. The fact is that the level close to fluency is very wide. That's why you should decide from the very beginning on the area of application:

1. If you need the language to work in the financial sector, then first of all it is worth paying attention to words related to money and financial transactions.
2. If you work in the legal sector, deepen your vocabulary in this direction.

This way you will be able to find the right textbooks that will be useful for you. Understanding the end goal is important for motivation. Many students at the intermediate level of language learning tend to plateau. They are fluent and know 5000 to 10000 words. They can easily communicate with people on most basic topics. It seems that their knowledge of the language is even enough to live comfortably in an English-speaking society, but only at first.

The intermediate level plateau leaves out a lot of specialized topics. There is slang and jargon that is incomprehensible. Intermediate level holders can still make some common mistakes due to lack of confidence in their language skills. They may not play with the language to convey what they really mean, given the local slang or phraseology. Many jokes and humor may not be understood.

Having a clear understanding of why you need to improve your level will help you not to give up.

Deepen your knowledge of grammar

Before you think about how to reach the C1 level, let's assess the knowledge you have. You are already familiar with all tenses, you know a lot of phrasal verbs, you know how to use indirect speech with correct agreement of tenses. This is indeed a lot of baggage. However, if you want to improve your level, you need to attend to the details. These are the ones that make speech natural and similar to native speakers. Of course, you can simply choose a suitable textbook and move through it, but independent work also does not hurt. We tell you what topics you should pay special attention to.

Inversion

The rearrangement of the subject and predicate - this is the essence of inversion. The order of words in English is quite rigid, so usually the subject comes first and then the predicate. But with inversion, everything changes. First comes the action, and then comes who or what is doing the action.

Inversion is rarely used in everyday speech. More often it is found in books, scientific works. Inversion can be used in conditional sentences, comparative turns, with the modal verb “may”, with “here” and “there”.

Blended conditional sentences

There are two types of blending:

1. Type 1: past consequence of present condition. A sentence representing how a different situation right now would mean that the past was also different. And structure: If + past simple, would have + past participle.
2. Type 1: present results of a past action. In this case, you imagine a change in a past situation and another result of that change in the present or future. Structure: if + past perfect, would + infinitive.

At the intermediate level, you've probably learned the zero, first, second, and third conditional sentences. But now at the advanced level you will learn how to mix them up and create sentences with a past conditional and a present or future result, or vice versa.

Conversational Grammar

At the advanced level, you can confidently dive into conversational English, especially the way native speakers completely discard the rules of grammar when they're just relaxing and talking casually.

The best example of this is when they skip parts of a sentence, such as questions without auxiliary verbs or sentences without subjects or articles. It's crazy, isn't it? But remember, this is only appropriate when you're talking to friends, not when you're dealing with partners or business clients.

Of course, these are just a few examples. To raise the level to advanced, you need to learn quite a few. This can include learning more about phrasal verbs, the passive voice, infinitives, and gerunds. You are learning the same topics as before, but at a much deeper level.

Expand your vocabulary in every possible way

After reaching the intermediate level, the answer to the question of how to learn English to advanced level becomes much more pleasant. If before you needed to know a lot of words and constructions, now learning will be much easier. You can combine leisure and learning, and it will be even more effective than before.

Reading

Since you have an intermediate level of English, reading news articles and social media posts is already too easy for you. It's time to find some challenging material, but it can still be based on your interests.

Fiction is perfect for this because of its variety of layers of meaning and rich vocabulary. If you're not into it, try science magazines or a popular science book on an interesting topic. Or think of something you usually read in your native language but haven't tried reading in English until now. It's time to take a step and change your language.

Just reading some interesting material is not enough. You need to think critically about what you read and make sure you learn something new. If you understand every word and every sentence, then the material is too simple. Choose a more complex book or article.

Whenever you finish a reading session, try adding a few extra minutes after you've finished. Take another look at the text, but this time imagine you are studying for an exam. Imagine that you need to understand what the text is about, pick out the gist of it, and memorize it. Come up with some relevant questions and then challenge yourself to answer them. Mix relaxed reading with a bit of focused analysis and watch your reading skills improve.

If you feel like progress is too slow, it's not. In the beginning you may struggle to understand the context, you will often look in a dictionary or online translator, but don't give up. By reading constantly, you'll see your vocabulary increase after a few months.

Watching video content and listening to audio

Wouldn't it be great to watch an interesting TV series or listen to a fascinating audiobook while improving your English? You'll quickly get used to picking out new words from speech. And learning will come naturally and effortlessly, especially if you choose content on topics of interest.

Use modern technology and listen to audiobooks in English when you do housework or commute to work or school. Choose fiction or business books, textbooks related to your industry, self-development literature - whatever you enjoy. Focus on the content and try to capture the essence as much as you can. Look up unfamiliar words and phrases in a dictionary or translate them in an online translator.

After listening to the content, try to come up with questions and homework for best results. Organize your thoughts by writing down what you heard.

Pay attention to the pronunciation of native speakers

English is spoken in many different countries and pronunciation is slightly different. At C1 level, you should be able to understand the different variations. Watching a TV series with professional actors is not enough for this purpose. You need to turn to other resources. Perhaps some documentaries or podcasts aimed at a narrow audience. This is the only way to quickly and effectively learn to the advanced level.

The content you consume should vary by topic. To understand spoken English in real-life situations, you will have to listen to different dialects of English. For example, you can look for local shows from different regions of the US, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and other countries.

When watching or listening, pay close attention to the accent and intonation of the speaker. Analyze the differences with the norms you have learned. In the future, this will help you communicate with a variety of people with ease.

Do not lower the bar and do not forget about analysis

Even among non-adapted literature you can find easier and more difficult texts. Do not underestimate yourself and read only what you understand well. On the contrary, a challenging text will help you reach the desired advanced level faster. But don't forget that it is important to work with the text correctly.

After reading it, mark the places that were unclear to you. Analyze the grammatical constructions you see and write down new vocabulary. With this kind of study, your command of the language will grow very quickly. You may find some aspects difficult to understand on your own. In this case, you should consider taking a language course.

There is nothing better than a discussion

Not only truth is born in a debate, but also a great command of the language. Just talking can be boring, so try debating. It not only develops your speaking skill but also your thinking skills. In addition, it is an extremely interesting activity that is engrossing off the top of your head. Many people make the mistake of considering a foreign language as an end. In reality, it is a means.

You have certainly already practiced speaking and can hold a casual conversation. That's a great start, but now you need to make it harder. At B2 level, your speaking practice should be more varied. It should range from pronunciation and accent to regular use of idioms and complex grammatical structures.

Knowledge of idioms can be your ticket to the C1 level. They are like a special seasoning that adds flavor to your language dish. You probably already know a few idioms from books, movies or just from talking to people. Start by writing down a few idioms that you would like to try. Keep them in your head and then look for opportunities to put them into speech.

The best part is that you don't need to insert idioms into every sentence - it's unlikely to be appropriate.

Think in English

Thinking in English is a powerful way to develop fluency and vocabulary for real-life situations. It's also a very interesting activity. If you're working on improving your English skills, why not start thinking in English? Here are sample steps to help you switch up your thinking language.

Start with single words

You may not be able to construct complex sentences in English yet, but you can notice your surroundings in English by thinking about the names of objects you see or actions you take. With these small steps, you will make it easier to think in English by learning more words. This knowledge will come in handy for more fluent speech. The more you develop your skills, the more you can add to your thoughts, and soon you'll be thinking in full sentences in English.

Recount your day

At the end of the day, you can use a simple technique. Recount the events in English. It's up to you how detailed you want to be: you can limit yourself to a few sentences, or you can elaborate on every little detail and your own feelings. Such regular practice will help you learn to build sentences, think in a foreign language, organically build idioms into your speech.

Make up dialogs

Pick a topic and pretend to talk to someone about it. If you're preparing for a job interview, you can pretend you're in a job interview. If you are just trying to learn a new list of words, you can ask yourself questions about a specific topic. Any topic will do. Practice out loud or with a partner after you have had a few imaginary conversations in your mind. By the way, making up dialogues is a popular technique in school English programs.

Practice creativity

There is always more than one way to express something. Even if you don't know the words, you can convey your idea by thinking creatively and using other expressions. For example, if you are trying to explain to someone that you lost a pen but can't remember the word pen, you can say to them instead, “I can't write a note, because I don't have a tool for it” or “I can't write, I lost the thing you use to do it.” Both sentences don't use the word pen, but they're both clear enough that you can tell - we're talking about a pen.

So if you're stuck thinking in English, don't rush to switch to your native language. Instead, think of a way to explain the word without using it. This will help build the skill you need when you're having a real conversation and can't remember the right word.

Vocabulary

Carry a small notebook with you or use a note-taking app on your phone. Every time you can't remember a word (or don't know a word) in English, write it down. At the end of the day, find those words in English and write them down.

Now that you have a long list of new words, try to use them. The first step is to apply them in conversations (and your thoughts). A good way to do this is to group the words into blocks. Choose a group of about five words each morning and use them throughout the day.

Use English-English dictionaries

When you feel more comfortable thinking in English, be sure to do so in your daily life. Try switching to English-English dictionaries. They also give the definition of a word in English. Instead of translating right away, try to understand the word by its description. The less you translate, the easier it will be for you to think and speak in English.

You may be tempted to go back to your English-Russian dictionary. Do this only as a last resort if even the English description of a word does not help you understand its meaning.