I’m B1–B2 in English and I’ve been stuck here for years. I need to reach C1–C2 but nothing works

B2 to C1 (roughly speaking) is probably the toughest gap in language learning. It requires focused, consistent, persistent use of the language. Everybody says that C1 is when you start "learning in the real world," which is sort of true, but you still need to put effort into it. You may need to find lists of specialized vocabulary, for example. You may need to actually *study* academic writing and how it works. It's hard stuff. The good thing is that you're stuck on some of the things that native speakers also struggle with, the difference is that we aren't just learning a language. We have teachers at school to help us navigate every major subject area--both the content and how it is written.

> But what if you’re already B1/B2 and stuck? A lot of non-native speakers get stuck at B2. It is just the way things are. Language learning (or learning anything for that matter) has an increasing learning curve. It is very easy to learn new things when you don't know much, but it gets harder and harder to learn new things when you already know some things. Think of this scenario - if you were watching Friends as someone who speaks barely any English, almost everything the actors say is new to you, and so you will find so many new things to learn every episode. But if you are B2 already, it may take you several episodes to come across a sentence that you don't understand, making it a very inefficient use of time to watch Friends to learn English. Most non-native speakers I meet are perpetually stuck at B2. Some have lived here for several decades, and much more than however much time they spent in their home country. This is because for almost all purposes, B2 in any language is sufficient in real life, and so people stop learning the language after that. There are however, near-native (C1 or C2) non native speakers of English. The reality is that they sank way more hours into learning English than you did. You just have to keep at it. Find what you find difficult to do (in your case, you said it is reading academic text) and do more of it. You will need to put as much effort into going from B2 to C1 as you did to go from A1 to B1. On a side note, I do not know if textbooks and other academic publications are printed in your native language (often, technical books are only printed in the more commonly spoken languages), but if they are, try reading those and see if you can understand those. You may have a learning disability if you cannot.

Jumping to C1 would be akin to entering enthusiast level. Sad to say this but you won't easily find self study materials you need on the internet. Like all things to do with enthusiasts, it's obviously niche. It won't be generalized English anymore; you'll be heading straight for Jargon(land). My first advice to you would be replacing the verbs and adjectives that you would usually use in your written sentences with something more complicated. Whatever you do, never forget the tenses and clauses as they are a part of what makes up a sentence!

I'm sorry cuz I can't help you, I know some people on social media too who are talking about how to improve or how to reach C1 easily or something like that, I can't know also Im B2 level and Im going to improve my speaking skills and my language over all but to be honest with you, I have many things that maybe help me without any partner but I need somebody to speak with about what I'm already achieved and share our goals together and maybe listen to each other about problems in life and many things like that. If it's ok with you, we can chat 

I am at B2 level of English, but I can't understand everything in the US and UK TV shows. I do understand the general things about the show and how the events are going but not really well. Any advice please....

Read and listen through pain. Find a language branch you haven't even heard about and dive into it, trying to catch all the grammar, words, idioms, etc. Random Wiki articles should suffice as a starter. I have had to read through industrial patents dating back to the 1880's; after that, virtually any text (besides maybe philosophical nonsense) seems a walk in the park. Curiously, I've read a sole fiction book, *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory*

As others have said, it’s often just a matter of putting in the hours to get you to the next level. However, one thing I would add is the level of rigor you need. At the beginner levels, you don’t have to worry about small nuances. For example, it’s not too important whether or not adjectives are in the right order. English can be a bit forgiving and still sound roughly correct. However, at an advanced level, the order of adjectives makes a difference to whether the sentence sounds native. When learning, it’s important to make a point to pay attention to those small details.

Have you tried taking cambridge mock exams? How do you know you are at B2? Most people are in a different place when it comes to writing, listening, speaking and reading. It may be that you are rather C1 in speaking but clearly B2 level in reading.

Langauge Jones on YouTube has a good video about this, but in essence the difference between B levels and C levels is understanding of cultural context. By B2 you understand most words and sentence structures, but getting to C1/2 requires understanding a lot more context. The way to learn that? Probably just engage in conversation with English speakers, and do it a lot

For what it's worth, I had to read your post twice because I was confused why you were posting in r/EnglishLearning as it really read as though you were a native English speaker. I think you're maybe a lot closer to C1 than you think - a lot of native speakers don't understand academic texts and abstract topics.

I’m a native english speaker and from the other side I just want to say that I understand your frustration but also think you should congratulate yourself for getting this far in the first place. I know my native language very well but I’ve always struggled immensely to learn any other language and have come no further than A1 on any of them. And English is notoriously hard to learn as a second language. Be patient with yourself and recognize all the progress you’ve already made (in addition to pushing yourself further)

You’re ready to engage with more complex texts. Perhaps you could try moving on from YouTube videos to documentaries, or from young adult fiction to adult fiction. If your country doesn’t censor it, read our news articles or Wikipedia. Whatever it is, I encourage you to pick something which will challenge but not overwhelm you. It’s really a paradigm shift: you’ve mostly moved on from learning English to learning _in_ English, even if it isn’t a formal academic setting.

If I were you I'd purchase a Kindle and start reading literature. Your sentences and grammar are fine, but you need to widen your vocabulary, and to play around with longer and more varied sentence structures. I would also try to join a book club or people to talk to about the shows or topics you are interested in. Immerse yourself in the authentic language, not an academically deconstructed, barren view of it.

Academic English varies from field to field, and is often very jargon heavy. What are you studying?

It sounds like you need some focused advice about what to tackle and how to continue to improve. You could probably benefit from some time with a qualified teacher to help you get on track.

Let me tell you what worked for me watch movies do that for like 2 Month and volah

How often are you talking to people? Also academic writing is hard for basically everyone.

If anyone is looking for online English classes, preparation for exams etcetera please reach out so I could give you more info 🤗

Hi, I’m an English learner from Italy. Like you, I’m currently at the B2 level and struggle to reach a solid C1. Unfortunately, I’m not often in environments where I can speak English naturally so I’m taking conversation lessons. Recently, I started a specific language course of three months to reach at least 7 in IELTS. My focus is on improving speaking skills and listening comprehension. A few tips from my teacher to finally overcome B2, FOCUS ON CREATING OUTPUTS rather than passive inputs. You should focus on writing and speaking. Write down on paper everything that pops into your mind (your job tasks, your daily life chores, your thoughts). Speak at least 30 minutes a day, ask ChatGPT questions, and try to answer. Pick a text and work on it for days, one day try to focus on unknown words, the day later pay attention to grammar, then pay attention to the idioms/ collocations/ common expressions, read it out loud, summarize it, come up with questions and write down the answers, find synonyms, rephrase the sentences. It’s bound to be a bit boring but breaking down deeply the same text is essential to memorize.

you could always try an online tutoring service. i used to work for preply and they tend to have pretty good tutors. not sure if I'm allowed to link it but I'll try [https://preply.com/en/?pref=NDUyNTExNA==&id=1744736951.302181&ep=](https://preply.com/en/?pref=NDUyNTExNA==&id=1744736951.302181&ep=)