What you can do at C1
You understand long, demanding texts and catch implicit meaning. You speak fluently and spontaneously without much searching for words, use the language flexibly for social, academic and professional purposes, and write clear, well-structured texts on complex subjects.
Which words to learn for C1
- Professional vocabulary of your field
- Academic language
- Idioms and colloquial expressions
- Register: formal and informal
- Discourse markers
- Language of the media and analysis
Start with the most frequent words in these topics: they show up in every text and conversation and give you the most value.
How long it takes to reach C1
At 10 new words a day you build an C1 vocabulary in about 15 months, at 20 words a day in about 7.5 months. What matters is that the words stay: that is what spaced repetition is for.
According to Cambridge English, reaching C1 from zero takes about 700–800 guided learning hours. It is a guideline: daily practice on your own makes the path shorter.
→ How long does it take to learn a language to B1 and B2?
How to move to the next level
Read literature and professional texts in the original, write and get feedback, and work on idioms and finer points of style: that is the road to C2.
How to build an C1 vocabulary in NewLexi
- Cards on request. Ask the app to generate “C1 professional vocabulary for my job”, and NewLexi builds cards for your level.
- A daily plan. Every day a portion of new words and reviews of the ones due, with no overload.
- Context. C1 stories and dialogues are written just for you from your words, so they move into your active vocabulary.
FAQ
How many words do you need for C1?
About 3,750–4,500 words (Milton and Alexiou, 2009). These are words you recognise when reading; your active vocabulary is usually smaller.
How long does it take to learn C1 vocabulary?
About 15 months at 10 new words a day, or about 7.5 months at 20 words a day, if you review them with spaced repetition.
Sources
- Milton, J., & Alexiou, T. (2009). Vocabulary size and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In Vocabulary Studies in First and Second Language Acquisition (pp. 194–211). Palgrave Macmillan. doi.org/10.1057/9780230242258_12
- Cambridge English. Guided learning hours. support.cambridgeenglish.org/hc/en-gb/articles/202838506-Guided-learning-hours
- Council of Europe. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): global scale. www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/table-1-cefr-3.3-common-reference-levels-global-scale
