Today I will give you your study plan to go from intermediate to advanced in English.

As a language learner who's been learning English for a number of years now,

I understand that it's really hard to improve your language starting with upper intermediate, advanced, because those improvements are very nuanced and very detailed.

Let me give you an example.

When you just start learning a language, you know, you start with basic phrases and it takes you a few weeks and then you can actually interact in language.

You've learned a hundred words and it seems like a lot of progress.

But what if you're intermediate and you already know, say, a thousand words in English?

Adding 15 more words doesn't seem like a huge improvement and this is where your motivation starts disappearing because we constantly need this dopamine.

We constantly need to see our results, to be happy with ourselves and continue studying.

And I've been there so, so many times.

So today we're gonna go through every section of the language.

We're gonna talk about reading, we're gonna talk about vocabulary, grammar, and I will give you a list of things that you need to know in order to become advanced.

I've created this list together with a teacher from California.

Hi Lisa, thank you so much for helping me.

But before we start, please like this video and subscribe to this channel if you're not yet subscribed.

I'm gonna add a lot of commentary from myself because, oh my god, I just took another TOEFL test.

We're waiting for the final results.

But despite living in the U.S. for 10 years,

I still think that TOEFL is a very, very intense test.

Now, without further ado, we're gonna transition to your vocabulary.

And when I say that it gets harder and harder to get to the next level when you're closer to the top,

I am not making this up.

Let's look at the table that shows the number of learning hours you need to achieve each level from the level below.

So, for example, if you're at B1 now, you will need at least 180 hours to become B2.

But if you're at C1 level and you want to become C2, almost a native speaker, you need at least 300 hours.

And at this level, we're talking accent.

We're talking pronunciation of the most advanced words.

If we convert that into weeks, you need at least 40 weeks to get from B1 to B2.

But you need at least 75 weeks to go from C1 to C2.

And this is where I tell you brace yourself because, yes, it's gonna get harder.

At my level, for example, C1, C2, I am working with academic vocabulary.

I'm working with idioms that are not used in our everyday lives.

I'm working with those tiny details.

And there are so many of those.

Okay, now that you understand that this transition is gonna require some work, now you're ready.

Now let's talk about things that you actually need to become advanced.

And the first aspect that we're gonna talk about is reading.

And when it comes to reading, there are several aspects that you need to be able to understand.

Text from many genres.

Dealing with a wide range of subjects doesn't matter if you understand the subjects or not.

So, for example, I just took the TOEFL test.

And in the reading part, I had several texts.

One text was about mammals and the sea and the ocean.

The second text was about economics.

The third text was also related to science.

And there were some terms that I did not know beforehand.

And there were so many nuances and details.

But if you want to score the highest grade on tests like TOEFL, IELTS, and other English language tests, you need to be able to understand texts about anything.

Very complicated academic texts.

So I'm adding academic vocabulary here.

Now, there are several ways to improve your reading.

But obviously, you need to read a lot.

And this is the time for you to start switching to more advanced resources.

So look at texts from magazines like Time, National Geographic, The Economist,

Vogue, Self, Men's Health, The New Yorker, and The Guardian.

Those articles are advanced.

And they're going to be great for your reading practice.

Number two, listening.

Oh my goodness.

Because I just took TOEFL, I'm going to give you a lot of examples from an advanced English language test.

When it comes to listening, you need to be able to understand sarcastic sentences.

You need to be able to understand idioms.

You need to be able to understand which information actually matters and what information was secondary information.

You need to learn how to pay attention to the right things and also be able to understand accents, idioms, dialects.

That is all part of advanced listening.

So there we go.

Accents.

Again, advanced vocabulary.

I would write priorities, but basically understand what's important, what's not.

And we're going to talk about grammar later in this video.

But people love to use conditionals, and you need to understand what they actually mean.

So how do you practice listening?

Through podcasts.

I wish they existed 20 years ago when I was actively learning English.

Because podcasts give us such a great variety of accents and views.

I like Lex Friedman's podcast.

I like Andrew Huberman's podcast.

And of course, movies and TV shows would definitely help you with listening.

Emily in Paris.

This TV show is kind of easier to understand, but I would highly recommend it anyways.

They have such a beautiful vocabulary there.

They use a lot of idioms.

They use a lot of comparisons.

Their speech is strikingly beautiful in that TV show.

At least for me.

The Hunger Games.

The Little Things.

Big Little Lies.

If you're interested in a place where I live, Big Little Lies was filmed very close to the Bay Area.

The Social Network.

Better Call Saul.

And some of the other shows.

Now the third aspect that you need to be working on is, of course, writing.

Now here, let's look at what TOEFL test makers actually want you to be able to do.

If you want to qualify for the C1 level.

Produce clear, well-developed, and well-organized text.

That means that every thought has its own paragraph.

That means you have an introduction.

That means you have a conclusion.

That means you use a lot of linking words like, in my opinion, however, furthermore.

The speaker stated that.

The speaker mentioned that.

So I am writing here well-structured texts.

That include paragraphs, linking words.

Of course, the use of advanced vocabulary, meaning idioms, C1 level, words, and phrases.

Also, when you're writing a text and you want to qualify as C1, you need to select important information from multiple sources, integrate it, and present it coherently and clearly in writing with only occasional minor imprecision in the summary of the source information.

What they basically mean is that, yes, you can summarize with your own words, but you have to be attentive to detail.

You have to be very clear with what you're writing.

By the way, when it comes to tests, they actually allow you to make minor mistakes.

So if you're typing, if it's a typo, or maybe you didn't know how to spell the word correctly, that's fine.

But of course, don't make too many mistakes.

I'm just saying that because I want you to relax and stop trying to be perfect.

Now, how can you challenge yourself with advanced writing?

Something I can recommend is writing a review.

As a creator, sometimes I go to places like hotels, and they ask me, as part of our collaboration, to leave a review.

And this is where I have to start with my general thoughts.

Overall, this experience has been one of the best so far.

There are several reasons, and then different paragraphs.

Number one, I really enjoyed the view from my room.

Number two, the service was amazing.

Number three, I'm simplifying this for you, but this basically shows the structure.

So try writing a review on a platform like Yelp or Google Reviews.

That's going to help you.

That's going to help you practice that advanced writing.

And of course, if you have any tests coming up, the best way to practice, the best way to get ready for the test is to go and take the mock test and see what's going on.

Another way to practice all of your skills, especially listening, is to take an English language course.

And the course that we've developed at LinguaTrip is called From Intermediate to Advanced.

And when our teachers were working on it, they were paying extra attention to the plateau effect, when you're already intermediate, but you can't see any growth.

And because the teachers in that course are native speakers or non-native speakers whose accent is almost perfect, you will get exposure to a variety of teachers.

Thus, practice your listening.

That course includes 40 lessons on the most important English topics.

There are some of my classes, mostly motivating and talking about my own experience and life hacks that can help you improve your language learning journey.

There is, of course, Svenja, our accredited teacher from Los Angeles.

And there's Angela, who's a native speaker who's been teaching English for a while now.

She's also an expert in methodology, and she creates programs for English language programs worldwide.

We have level tests before and after the course, so you can see your progress.

And of course, we try to make your learning process as interesting and as entertaining as possible.

Over 10,000 students have already taken courses with LinguaTrip, and I hope you join them as well.

Also, if you decide to take this course with a group, and the next group starts on April 12th, and if you're watching this video after April 12th, check the link down below for the next start date.

So basically, if you're taking it together with a group, we're going to match you with people from all over the world so you can practice together.

The link will be down below.

I will be very excited if you take that course to speed up your way to the advanced level in English.

Now let's move on and talk about speaking.

Oh, this one is the most challenging, honestly, for me.

Because especially when you take a test or when you interact with a native speaker for the first time,

I remember I was shaking when I was talking to a native speaker just because I thought they're judging me.

They are judging my English.

They think I'm dumb.

All the time, all the time.

It kind of never goes away.

It stays with you.

This, you know, this feeling that you're not a native speaker.

Yesterday, I was at a dinner.

Almost everyone there was either a native speaker or moved to the U.S. when they were kids.

They graduated from American schools.

And, you know, sometimes there are things that they discuss that I don't understand just because I'm not part of that culture.

I only immigrated when I was 25.

I was basically born and raised in a different country.

But at the same time, I realized how inclusive the American society is.

And if you're doing something interesting, people are willing to interact with you.

So this fear never goes away, but it gets better.

So when it comes to speaking, you guys are actually lucky.

You have AI these days, and you can totally talk with AI.

Well, for example, the paid version of ChatGPT allows you to interact with it in English.

There are other different websites like SpeechHaze or SpeakAndImprove.com that you can use to practice English.

I'm going to leave all the links below.

Now, here, basically, my advice will be practice.

And the other thing as a non-native speaker, try incorporating new words as soon as you can.

So you've learned something like it happens to me all the time.

I learned something, and I'm like, OK, great word.

And I forget about it.

If you start incorporating those words into your speech as soon as possible, there's more probability you're actually going to remember and use those words.

Now, let's talk about my favorite.

People are always like, Marina, but how many words do I know to be advanced in English?

Now, there you go.

The Common European Framework of Reference states that B1 requires 2,000 to 3,000 words.

At advanced level, you need 5,000 to 6,000 words.

How does that sound?

Sounds overwhelming.

I agree.

There is nothing you can really do except just learn those words.

So there is actually a test that you can take.

If you go to lextutor.com, they have a test for 2,000 level, 3,000 level, 5,000 level.

Of course, they're not going to ask you all of those words, but they took some of the brightest examples from the category, and you're going to be able to just test yourself.

They also have a university word list, and they have a 10,000 level word list.

Just go ahead, take that test, and see how you feel.

Of course, it's an estimate.

Of course, it's not 100% accurate, but I feel like it's a cool place to start.

They have all kinds of different tests on their website.

I like it a lot.

Go to lextutor.ca, check them out.

Now, what are the other traits of advanced English language students' vocabulary?

Advanced word combinations, like a surge of anger, heavy rain, volcanic eruption, advanced synonyms.

Let's look at the example.