Full video

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Hello lovely students and welcome back

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to English with Lucy. Today we are going

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to compare three different levels in

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English. B1, B2 and C1. B1 is

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intermediate level, B2 is upper

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intermediate level and C1 is that

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almighty advanced level of English. More

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specifically, we're going to be looking

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at the grammar at these levels. But what

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do those levels even mean? Well, there

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are six language levels as defined by

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the CEFR,

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the Common European Framework of

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Reference. And they start at A1,

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beginner, and go all the way up to C2,

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which is proficiency. Today we're

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looking at B1, B2 and C1 and a really

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common struggle for learners of any

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language is knowing which level you're

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at and which level you should be working

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towards. If you don't know your level,

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it's nearly impossible to choose the

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right course or learning materials or

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YouTube videos to help you improve. If

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you're already at B2, a B1 course

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wouldn't be very helpful. If you're at

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B1, a C1 course would be a pretty bad

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idea and would likely put you off

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learning for life. In this video, I'm

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going to give you some examples of the

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different grammatical structures you

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will learn to produce at each level. I'm

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going to train you to really get to know

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the levels, to properly understand them,

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so you know exactly where to place

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yourself and you can make a smart

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decision about the next steps that you

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take on your language learning journey.

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I'm going to go into as much detail as I

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can in a short YouTube video, but for

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super motivated students who want to

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take this really seriously, I have

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created an ebook. And for now, you can

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download it for free. I'm really be of

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this ebook. I think you are going to be

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mind-blown

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when you see the sheer amount of value

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that's inside of it. It's my B1 to C1

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ebook. It's a really in-depth guide. It

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shows you all of the grammar that you

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need to know at B1, B2, and C1 levels.

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We take a deep look at the vocabulary

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for each level, too, with loads of

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examples. We also give you advice on

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pronunciation to aim for for each level.

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A feature I really love, and I think

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you'll love, too, is that we created

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checklists for each level, so you can

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monitor your progress and immediately

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see what you need to work on. We sent

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out this ebook to a small test audience,

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and the feedback was amazing. They just

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couldn't believe it was free.

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Um so, for now, this ebook is free. When

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it stops being free, I will simply

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remove this section of the video. You

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won't see it anymore. If you would like

2:52

to download the B1 to C1 ebook for free,

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just click on the link in the

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description box. You enter your name and

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your email address, and you sign up to

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my mailing list. Then, the ebook will

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arrive directly in your inbox. You can

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download it and start using it

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immediately. After that, I'll keep you

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entertained with my future free PDFs,

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news, course updates, and offers. It's a

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free service, and you can unsubscribe at

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any time. I really hope you like it. A

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lot of love and work went into it.

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Right, let's get started with the

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grammar. First, I want to talk about

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making deductions. So, we often use

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modal verbs like must and might to make

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deductions, but there are other

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structures that we can use, too. Look at

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these examples and see if you can tell

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how they're getting more advanced. B1,

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I haven't seen Lucy for weeks. She must

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be ill.

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B2,

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Actually, I think she might have gone

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away for the winter.

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And C1, the odds are she's high-tailed

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it to Spain for a few months. She's

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always banging on about doing that. It's

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true, I am. It's my dream to be in

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Spain. In the B1 example, you saw a

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present modal of deduction, must be.

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In the B2 sentence, you saw a past modal

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of deduction, might have gone.

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And at C1, you didn't see a modal verb

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at all. I used the structure the odds

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are to say that something is very likely

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to be true. You can also see the

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vocabulary getting much more advanced at

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C1 as well. Okay, there's lots more to

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learn about that, but I think that's a

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good start. Next, I want to talk about

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conditional sentences. Let's go through

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those levels again and see how using

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conditionals changes from B1 to B2 to

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C1. These sentences are all about

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fitness. B1, if I were you, I'd work on

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building muscle.

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B2, I know I would be in much better

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shape if I'd started working out when I

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was younger. And C1,

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but for my husband's encouragement, I

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would never have started going to the

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gym at all. So, in the B1 sentence, I

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used a second conditional to give

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advice. If I were you, I would work on.

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Notice the use of were instead of was

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with the pronoun I.

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Using were is an example of the

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subjunctive mood, which expresses

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hypothetical situations. In the B2

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sentence, I used a mixed conditional to

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say how something in the past can affect

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the present. I used would be in the

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second conditional and had started in

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the third conditional. And in the C1

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sentence, you can see a third

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conditional with the structure but for

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standing in for an if phrase. Again,

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there is so much more to learn about

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conditionals at each level. That's just

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a small glimpse. Next, let's talk about

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the future at B1, B2, and C1 levels. You

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need to be able to talk about the future

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in different ways. We're going to take a

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look in the context of the environment.

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B1, sea levels will continue to rise

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over the coming decades. Nice and

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simple. B2,

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by 2050, many scientists believe that

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sea levels will have risen by around 30

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cm in the US. C1,

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some coastal communities in Louisiana

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and Florida are on the brink of

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catastrophe. In B1, you can see the

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future with will to make a prediction.

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Nice and simple. Notice that it's

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followed by continue in the base form,

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and then continue is followed by to

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rise, the infinitive. Verb patterns, ing

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verbs, and infinitives are a really

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important element of B1 and the levels

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after that. In B2, you can see the

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future perfect simple, will have risen.

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We use it to talk about something that

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will be completed by a certain time in

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the future. In the C1 sentence, we're

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missing the obvious future tense words

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like will.

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Instead, we have the phrase to be on the

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brink of. At C1, you are expected to use

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a variety of expressions like this to

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talk about future events. The next

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construction I want to talk about is the

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passive voice, and I want to talk about

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sushi. I love all the random topics like

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the environment, fitness. Next topic,

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sushi. Here we go. B1, the sushi was

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prepared by a top chef. The B2, it is

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widely believed that sushi originally

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comes from Japan. And C1, Jack recalled

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having been told that sushi actually

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originated in China. Remember, we use

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the passive voice to shift the focus

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from the subject performing an action to

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the subject receiving an action. In the

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B1 sentence, you can see a sentence in

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the passive voice in the past simple.

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Was prepared. For B2, we can see an

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impersonal passive construction. It is

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widely believed that. We use this

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construction to say that people believe

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this, but not necessarily the speaker.

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It's very diplomatic. A politician might

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use it. And at C1, we see a passive ing

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form. Recalled having been told. The

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verb to recall is followed by an ing

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verb and by the passive voice in this

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sentence. Remember that I go into a lot

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more detail on the grammar in the B1 to

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C1 ebook, and the link is down below if

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you fancy reading more in depth.

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Finally, I want to talk about

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adjectives. And you start using

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adjectives right from A1 level, the very

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first beginner level. But, as you move

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to higher levels in English, you are

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expected to move beyond flying is scary.

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So, let's talk about flying at B1, B2,

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and C1 levels. So, B1, flying is much

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less scary than I imagined. B2,

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the thought of it was utterly

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terrifying. And C1, for me, flying is

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not so much alarming as dull. So, at B1,

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we use words like much and slightly in

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addition to basic comparative adjectives

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to move beyond A2 level and show big and

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small differences. Much less scary. At

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B2 level, we use adverb adjective

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collocations to add some spice to our

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descriptions.

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Utterly terrifying, not bitterly or

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entirely terrifying. For example,

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utterly terrifying is a lovely

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collocation. They just fit together.

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It's what native speakers would

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naturally reach for. We talk a lot about

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adverbs and adjective collocations in

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our B2 program. I'll leave information

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for my B1, B2, and C1 programs in the

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description box as well in case you're

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interested. At C1 level, we use a range

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of advanced comparative structures to

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compare things.

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Not so much alarming as dull, meaning

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it's boring, not scary. Okay, has that

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given you some idea of the grammatical

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structures and phrases you typically

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learn at B1, B2, and C1 level? If you're

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intrigued, you want to learn more, you

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want to go deeper, and work out the next

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step to take, then download the B1 to C1

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ebook. This is where you'll get

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comprehensive overview of all of the

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grammar and vocabulary that you need to

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learn to reach these levels of English.

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The link to download the ebook is in the

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description box. It's free for now.

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That's it for today's lesson. I hope you

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enjoyed it. I will see you soon for

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another lesson.