Fast Track to C1
Join our 30-day language challenge now!
How can you take part?
1. Follow the daily posts on @language.fairy to boost your vocab
2. Do the daily activities with the IG and FB stories to learn & practice new vocab
3. Download the updated Free C1 Exam Guide to get familiar with the exam
4. Download the C1 Language Journal to keep track of your progress
5. Attend the free Zoom sessions
6. Come back here each day and find useful links, tips & activities below
ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED ON OUR INSTAGRAM PAGE!
Exam Guide
Download the free E-book
Downlod the FREE 13-page Cambridge C1 Advanced exam guide, which introduces you to the exam, gives you the description of each part of the exam and equips you with lots of tips & tricks to pass your exam effortlessly!
Schedule
Download the C1 Journal
25/01/2022 - Day 1
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Starting a challenge would not be valid without setting goals, right? :-) But we all know that keeping promises and resolutions somehow do not work out. At least not for everyone. What if you, only YOU could read your goals and ONLY in the future? Let's say, in a year. Or two. How would you feel about realising or not realising your goals? Would this be motivating and encouraging? Would you strive for living up to your own expectations? Or just the opposite? The whole idea would dishearten you and put you off from reching your goals? Well, I don't think so. But why don't you give it a try? I will help you with the vocabulary!
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Write a letter to your future self on FutureMe in English using the expressions posted on my IG/FB page. Set goals for yourself, make predictions, envision the future and make it happen! www.futureme.org The letter should be around 150 words.
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First learn the expressions about the 'future' in the daily IG post.
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Do & practice the daily activities posted in the stories.
26/01/2022 - Day 2
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Travelling is a recurring topic of all exams, it's not different for Cambridge C1 either. But hopefully travelling will be a recurring topic in our lives in the post-covid period!
What is your ideal holiday destination?
Which are the top places on your bucket list?
Do yo have a bucket list? Prepare one here: https://www.bucketlist.net/
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Check out travel blogs and explore their vocabulary to boost your English!
Travel blog examples with eloquent, up-to-date and sophisticated English:
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Use impressive adjectives and expressions when writing your bucket list!
27/01/2022 - Day 3
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Learning vocabulary around a topic can be a slippery slope. Whenever you learn vocabulary related to a topic, always keep in mind that you might be tested on this particular topic in the exam. Ask yourself the question: where and how this topic can come up? In what context do I need to use them?
If you study with intention, it will be a lot easier for you to use your vocabulary in context.
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study this exam task related to tourism:
Your class has watched a television documentary on the impact of global tourism.
Areas affected by global tourism:
- the environmnent
- local economies
- international understanding
Write an essay discussing two of the areas affected in your notes. You should explain which area has been more affected by global tourism, giving reasons to support your answer.
28/01/2022 - Day 4
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Do you use flashcards? No? You shoudl! :-) One of my favourite apps for finding and creating flashcards is Quizlet.You can find basically any topic with a multitude of monolingual or bilingual flashcards. Try finding the vocabulary of your English coursebook! I bet it’s there! Most features are free with automated repetition and pronunciation.
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I have prepared one set of flashcards on today's topic: ADVENTURES
Check it out here: https://quizlet.com/_azbvgr?x=1qqt&i=o1n18
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Try other online flashcard apps or create your own!
29/01/2022 - Day 5
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Do not learn words. Learn collocations. Collocations are highly important in language studies. Meaning of words cannot be established by examining them in isolations.
Collocations help us explore the different senses or uses of words, which usually appear in different contexts, patterns and structures.
As advanced language learners we already know that perfect synonyms or words that can be used interchangeably in any context hardly exist in any language.
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Try these collocation dictionaries:
30/01/2022 - Day 6
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Daily activity - Adventure - Watch youtube vlogs
Maybe I shouldn’t even say that, since who does not watch Youtube videos, right?
But do you consciously use the platform for language learning? If you watch videos and vlogs in your target language, you can systematically improve your vocabulary with it. You’ll realize that the more videos you watch, the more you will understand form it.
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Find and watch a video about what you consider to be an epic adventure! Watch a video from that channel each and every day - for a whole week! Write down 5 expressions each day from the video and at the end of the week revise them!
In a few months, there will be an immense shift in your listening comprehension, I can guarantee! Have fun! Find a channel that you are really intersted in.
If you don't know where to start, check out these vlogs:
31/01/2022 - Day 7
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Do you know yourself? What type of personality are you?
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Complete the personality quiz here and write down 10 new expressions, which describe you the most: www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
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C1 Expressions related to personalities
01/02/2022 - Day 8
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Find a study partner - Accountability partnerships are one of the most popular goal-setting strategies. Knowing that we will check in with someone who is emotionally and energetically invested in our success keeps us on track, even when things get hard.
If you can go running or go to the gym with your best friend, why don't you try studying together?
A friend might be the best accountability partner ever!
Even when you are not at the same level concerning your English skills, you both might be just equally committed to achieving your goals.
You need an ACCOUNTABILITY partner to whom you have to give daily feedback about your English studies... to help you keep on track!
If you have a friend with the same mindset, you have already won part of the challenge!
You can set goals together and be accountable to each other!
Feel free to give and ask feedback to and from each other and help one other to keep on track.
So, who could be your accountability partner?
Who could you study or train with?
Send her/him a message now! Let's see if they are in!
I am sure they will be! 😉
02/02/2022 - Day 9
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What is the best way to learn about personal behabiour? Read a horoscope online! :-)
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You don't beleive in horoscopes? Who cares! Go for the vocabulary!
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If you have no idea where to go, start here: Funny Horoscope
03/02/2022 - Day 10
WHEN do you like practising English?
What fires YOU up? 🔥🔥🔥
✔️ Having a chat with a native speaker in English?
✔️ Watching a NETFLIX movie and understanding it?
✔️ Giving a successful business presentation in English?
✔️ Travelling abroad?
✔️ Understanding the English letter or contract of your client?
Here comes the secret:
Having fun is the CORE of the whole language learning process!
Let me explain why!
Many of us find sitting in a classroom dreadfully painful.
After all, we are all very busy people! We have places to be and things to do—it is hard to make time in our schedules for English classes. And English classes are…. well, most of the time…. boring…. 😩
How to study English without ever sitting in a classroom??
There are a whole lot of options! 👉
The goal isn’t to add stress to your life, but rather to remove it.
The best of us couldn’t bring ourselves to do something we hate consistently, so make getting in shape or learning a language fun, however you do it.
- That could be participating in a sport event you love in English or
- travelling abroad with a good friend, ✈️
- joining an English club with natives 👨👨👧👦 so you can meet new people, or giving yourselfone “free day” per week where you forget about your English Grammar and go drinking 🍷 into one of the fancy pubs or
ruin-pubs where you will bump into foreigners in the first 5 minutes
- or if you don't feel like drinking, 😃 watch an English film at home! 🎥🎞️
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So, here is your task for today:
Find an activity you particularly enjoy doing and.... and go for it! Today!
So, what are YOU going to do today? 😉
04/02/2022 - Day 11
Stop procrastinating! Start planning!
Trivial it may sound, but this is the basis of your success.Your resolutions might be deemed to failure if you do not have a thoroughly detailed plan of action. If you have no plan in place, you set yourself up for disappointment, losing track and losing motivation. As they say, a goal without a plan or a deadline is just a dream.Let's see...
So, what is the secret of effective planning?
1. Imagine your goal and its positive impact on your life!
2. Now, write it down. Make it as detailed as possible!
3. Set a deadline
4. Identify your obstacles. If you know what to expect, it is a lot easier to circumvent it.
5. Make a list! – Think about what it takes to reach your goal. Consider and write down each step you need to take.
6. Organise your list into a plan. It can be a simple mind-map, a chart,a table or a mobile app
7. Write your plan down in an agenda
8. Find a support group, or a coach who back you up
9. Let others know about your plan
10. Start realizing your goal!
05/02/2022 - Day 12
Take notes! But... really!
Taking notes is the key to a long life and a good memory! 😃
This is one of my favourite tips! Really!
Steps to take: ➡️
1. Buy a trendy pocket notebook! 📒📓📘
2. Write down 10 new expressions each day you run into! On Instagram, online magazines, English class, TEDx talk, podcast, youtube etc.
3. Take out your notebook while having your morning coffee ☕ or sitting on a bus, 🚌 and learn 10 words from last week!
4. That’s all! 🙃 When the book is full, buy a new notebook (yeah!!) and start over.
Easy-peasy!
06/02/2022 - Day 13
Check (or engage a trainer to check) your writing assignments according to the poinst below.
⬇️
Cambridge English examiners consider these points when marking a piece of work:
1. Content
✔ The candidate answered the task. They have done what they were asked to do.
2. Communicative Achievement
✔ The writing is appropriate for the task. The candidate used a style which is appropriate for the specific communicative context.
3. Organisation
✔ The writing is put together well. It is logical and ordered.
4. Language
✔ There is a good range of vocabulary and grammar. They are used accurately.
07/02/2022 - Day 14
Learn the difference between formal and informal writing. Join our Webinar!
08/02/2022 - Day 15
Make a plan!
Trivial it may sound, but this is the basis of your success.
Your resolutions might be deemed to failure if you do not have a thoroughly detailed plan of action. If you have no plan in place, you set yourself up for disappointment, losing track and losing motivation. As they say, a goal without a plan or a deadline is just a dream.
Let's see... What is the secret of good planning? 🤔
1. Imagine your goal and its positive impact on your life!
2. Now, write it down. ✍️ Make it as detailed as possible!
3. Set a deadline
4. Identify your obstacles. If you know what to expect, it is a lot easier to circumvent it.
5. Make a list! – Think about what it takes to reach your goal. Consider and write down each step you need to take. 🗒
6. Organise your list into a plan. It can be a simple mind-map, a chart,a table or a mobile app 📋
7. Write your plan down in an agenda 📆
8. Find a support group, or a coach who back you up 👫
9. Let others know about your plan 📣
10. Start realizing your goal! 👩🎓
09/02/2022 - Day 16
Today’s task is extremely easy!
THE 10 BEST ENGLISH LEARNING APPS!
1. Pick one app from the following list and download the one you like the most
2. Choose an activity from the app and do it today!
THE 10 BEST ENGLISH LEARNING APPS:
1. BBC LEARNING ENGLISH – probably you all know and have already used their website. Why don’t you try the app? You can watch videos, have listening activities even downloaded to your mobile together with the script of the text.
2. FluentU – Great app, using real videos with which you can prepare your own study sheets. 6 levels but only for Iphone at the moment. However, it has an excellent website with great resources for 10 or 20$/month
3. BUSUU – Very useful app, you can get chat and call other users all around the world to practice any Language. Even writing correction is available. However, these are premium features wchich are not free after the trial period: 6$/month annual rate.
4. DUOLINGO – It is a free fun app, mainly learning vocabulary in context. But less features with not much listening.
5. MEMRISE – Basic feature is quite simple, mainly a flashcard system, but it is science based, connecting different types of information and encoding them into your memory with great testing method. Additional features are not free, from 5$/month
6. BRITISH COUNCIL - Learn English Podcasts – Great app, with offline and downloadable listening, you can even download the tapescript, a must-try!
7. BRITISH COUNCIL – Learn English Grammar. Wonderful grammar practice app on all levels. It is really fun!
8. QUIZLET – One of my favourites for finding and creating flashcards. You can find basically any topic with a multitude of monolingual or bilingual flashcards. Try finding the vocabulary of your English coursebook! I bet it’s there! Most features are free with automated repetition and pronunciation.
9. LINGUALIFT
This is a language app that is geared more towards serious learners who want a complete language program with the guidance of a tutor. Yes they have a good app, but it’s the extra help from the professional teachers that makes the difference.
The tutors are available to answer any questions you might have. They can help with grammar, suggest extra resources, and will even assign and correct homework for those interested.
If you sign up for this app, remember, the tutors are there to help.
10. HELLOTALK
An app aimed to facilitate speaking practice and eliminate the potential stress of real time conversation. Learners can find native speakers and converse with them using a whatsapp-like chat with voice and text messages. Users can correct each other’s messages with an in-built correction tool, which transforms the language exchanges into tiny tutoring sessions. The app also has an integrated translation system.
