How to get from B2 to C1 – What’s the difference in vocabulary?
What vocabulary does a learner need to know at C1 level? How many words do they need to know? What’s a lemma? Does it matter? A lot of students worry about which vocabulary, and the amount of vocabulary, they should know at each level of English, especially when they’re getting to higher levels such as B2 and C1. I’d like to highlight a few key tips for learning vocabulary when moving from B2 to C1 level. Here’s the million dollar question in terms of exam preparation. Is it more important to learn all the words that correspond to C1 level, or to be able to use fewer words and expressions more accurately? Let’s rewind a little. I did a blog just before Easter asking the Easter bunny for three gifts to help with exam preparation. One of them was about how to structure a vocabulary notebook. I wrote that it should be based on collocations, with example sentences, and be organised by theme, part of exam or some other personal system . You’ll notice there was no mention of a numbe...