How I reached C1 level in English? 5 tips to become ADVANCED

Summary

In this video, Karina, an English teacher and Instagram blogger, shares her journey to achieving a C1 level in English. Bilingual from childhood, she emphasizes the importance of a positive attitude towards language learning. Karina credits a supportive teacher for her early success and later, her modeling career for practical language experience. She advises making English a part of daily life, practicing consistently, and seeking feedback to improve. Karina encourages viewers to stay persistent, highlighting the ups and downs of the learning process.

Takeaways

• 😀 Karina is an English teacher and has a blog on Instagram, and this is her first YouTube video.
• 🌐 English is Karina's third language, after Russian and Romanian, which helped her have a positive attitude towards learning languages.
• 💡 The right attitude is crucial when learning a new language; if you think it's difficult, it will be.
• 👶 Learning a second language is easier than the first because you already have the experience of language acquisition.
• 👩‍🏫 Karina attributes her success in English to having a great teacher, emphasizing the importance of a supportive educator.
• 📚 Even without a teacher, one can be self-taught, as Karina did after school, reaching A2 to B1 level.
• 🌍 Karina's modeling career took her to different countries, providing her with the opportunity to practice English with various accents.
• 🗣️ It took Karina around three weeks to start speaking English fluently, illustrating the challenge of transitioning from knowledge to practice.
• 👨‍🏫 Karina began teaching English during the COVID-19 quarantine, which helped her improve her own English significantly.
• 🔁 The process of learning English involves a cycle of learning and forgetting, but persistence leads to progress.
• 🔄 Feedback is essential for improvement; having someone to correct mistakes and provide guidance accelerates language learning.
• 🎯 To improve English, make it a part of daily life through movies, books, conversations, and seeking out opportunities to practice and receive feedback.

Q & A

What is Karina's profession and what additional platforms does she use to share her knowledge?

Karina is an English teacher and she also has a blog on Instagram where she shares her knowledge and experiences.

Why does Karina believe that her multilingual background helped her in learning English?

Karina believes her multilingual background helped because she already spoke Russian and Romanian, which made learning English as a third language seem less daunting.

What is the first key attitude Karina suggests for learning a new language?

The first key attitude is to view learning a new language as a manageable step rather than a huge, difficult task.

How did Karina start learning English and at what age?

Karina started learning English in her second grade, when she was about seven years old.

What role does Karina believe a good teacher plays in language learning success?

Karina believes a good teacher is key to success in language learning, as they can support and help students effectively.

How did Karina's experience as a model contribute to her English language skills?

Karina's modeling career allowed her to practice English with people from different countries and accents, which helped her to improve her speaking skills.

What level of English proficiency did Karina reach before she started teaching English?

Karina reached a B2 level of English proficiency before she started teaching English.

What does Karina suggest as a method to improve understanding of the English language system?

Karina suggests going deep into studies, understanding grammar, sentence construction, and practicing regularly.

How does Karina define the importance of practice in learning English?

Karina emphasizes that practice is crucial, and the more one practices, the better they get at English.

What is the role of feedback in language learning according to Karina?

Feedback is important as it helps learners understand their mistakes and correct them, thus improving their language skills.

What is Karina's advice for those who feel they are not making progress in learning English?

Karina advises to remain patient and persistent, as progress in language learning is often non-linear and requires continuous effort.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Embracing Language Learning with the Right Mindset

Karina, an English teacher and Instagram blogger, introduces herself and shares her journey to achieving a C1 level in English. She emphasizes that English is her third language, following Russian and Romanian, and credits her bilingual upbringing for her positive attitude towards learning languages. Karina suggests that the mindset one has towards learning a new language is crucial, as it can determine whether one views it as an insurmountable challenge or a manageable step. She encourages learners to see language acquisition as a gradual process, starting from scratch, and to believe in their ability to learn English as others have done before them. Karina also highlights the importance of having a supportive teacher, sharing her own experience with a great teacher who played a key role in her success.

05:03

📚 From Classroom to Real World: Enhancing English Proficiency

In the second paragraph, Karina discusses her personal experience with learning English beyond the classroom. She admits to having a decent grasp of English grammar and vocabulary after school but struggled with speaking fluently. Her career as a model took her to various countries, providing a real-world environment to practice English. Initially, she faced difficulties in forming sentences and speaking, but persistence paid off, and within three weeks, she began to communicate effectively. Karina also touches on the importance of practice and feedback in language learning, suggesting that while practice is essential, receiving constructive feedback can significantly enhance one's language skills. She concludes by advising learners to be patient with their progress, as language acquisition is a cyclical process of learning and forgetting, ultimately leading to mastery.

Keywords

💡C1 level

The C1 level refers to a high proficiency in English language skills, as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In the video, the speaker mentions reaching this level, indicating advanced mastery of English. The C1 level is significant because it represents the ability to understand and fluently express ideas in a wide range of complex topics.

💡Bilingual

Being bilingual means having the ability to speak two languages fluently. The speaker uses this term to describe her early language learning experience with Russian and Romanian, which she believes helped her to have a positive attitude towards learning additional languages, including English.

💡Attitude

Attitude in this context refers to one's mindset or approach towards learning a language. The speaker emphasizes the importance of having the right attitude, suggesting that if one views language learning as a difficult task, it will indeed be challenging. A positive attitude is portrayed as a key factor in language acquisition.

💡Language barrier

A language barrier is the difficulty in communication due to a lack of proficiency in a common language. The speaker mentions this term when discussing her initial struggles with speaking English fluently, highlighting the challenge of transitioning from knowing the rules to actual conversation.

💡Modeling

Modeling, in this context, refers to the speaker's career as a fashion model, which involved traveling to different countries and interacting with people from various linguistic backgrounds. This experience is mentioned as a turning point in her English language practice, providing her with the opportunity to improve her speaking skills.

💡Practice

Practice is the act of repeatedly performing an activity or skill to improve proficiency. The speaker stresses the importance of practice in language learning, stating that the more one practices, the better they become. This is a central theme in the video, as the speaker's own experience with teaching and learning English is rooted in consistent practice.

💡Feedback

Feedback is the process of receiving comments or criticism on one's performance, which can be used for improvement. The speaker discusses the value of feedback in language learning, noting that it helps learners identify and correct mistakes, thus enhancing their language skills.

💡Teaching

Teaching, in the context of the video, refers to the act of instructing others, which the speaker did to help beginners learn English. The speaker found that teaching helped her improve her own English skills, as it required a deep understanding of the language and constant interaction with it.

💡Grammar

Grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in a language. The speaker mentions understanding grammar as a key component of her English learning journey, emphasizing the importance of not just knowing the rules but also how to apply them in speech and writing.

💡Progress

Progress refers to the act of moving forward or improving in a skill or activity. The speaker reassures viewers that it's normal not to see immediate progress in language learning and encourages them to keep going despite any setbacks or plateaus.

💡English as a Third Language (ESL)

ESL stands for English as a Second Language, but in the speaker's case, it would be English as a Third Language, as she already speaks Russian and Romanian. This term is relevant as it frames the speaker's perspective on learning English and her advice for others learning a third language.

Highlights

Karina, an English teacher and Instagram blogger, shares her journey to C1 English proficiency.

English is Karina's third language, following Russian and Romanian, which influenced her positive attitude towards language learning.

Bilingualism from childhood helped Karina view learning English as an additional, not daunting, task.

The importance of mindset when starting to learn a language, viewing it as achievable rather than difficult.

Karina emphasizes the significance of a good teacher in her English learning success.

Becoming one's own teacher is possible and encouraged if a supportive teacher is not available.

Learning English began in the second grade for Karina, at the age of seven, with a great teacher.

Karina's modeling career at 18 provided real-world practice and improved her English speaking skills.

The challenge of speaking English fluently despite knowing the rules and phrases.

Practicing with people of different nationalities and accents helped Karina overcome language barriers.

By 20, Karina had reached B2 level in English and decided to switch career fields.

Teaching English during the COVID-19 quarantine significantly improved Karina's language skills.

Teaching requires deep understanding and practice of English grammar and sentence structure.

The necessity of making English a part of daily life for effective learning.

The value of feedback in language learning to correct mistakes and improve.

Karina's experience of teaching English for three years and the progress she observed.

Encouragement for learners to be patient with their progress and not to give up.

Key takeaways for improving English: positive attitude, self-teaching, practice, and feedback.

Transcripts

hi guys welcome to my channel my name is

Karina I'm an English teacher and I also

have a Blog on Instagram so this is my

first video on YouTube channel and I

would love to talk to you about how I

reached C1 level in English

well first of all I have to say that

English is not my second language it's

my third language I'm bilingual and I

speak two more languages since I was a

child it's Russian and Romanian and this

is exactly what helped me to have the

right attitude toward languages when you

speak two languages when you're like six

years old you don't look at English as a

huge big task which is really difficult

to do because it's your third language

and when you speak two languages it's

like one more not a big deal so this is

what you have to pay attention on first

when you start learning a language what

do you think about it if you think that

it's difficult or you're not so good at

languages and it's just impossible task

for you well guess what it will be an

impossible task for you so first look at

this as just

and you step it's not difficult all the

other people who speak language

languages other languages and especially

English they also started from scratch

they didn't know English and now they

know so it means they did it and it

means that you will be able to do it too

as I said before I'm an English teacher

and I also like to say to my students to

those who think that English is

difficult I like to say then that man

you learned Russian this is one of the

most difficult languages ever and even

it's not even your native language it's

not Russian but any other languages pay

attention that you were a child and you

didn't speak any other languages and you

learned your first language from scratch

like by gestures and mime and all the

stuff so to learn the second language

it's much easier than the first language

keep that in mind and it will help you

to go forward and in learning your

language so I started learning English

in my second grade when I was a child I

was about like seven years old and I had

a great teacher I think this is actually

the key of My Success in English that I

had a really nice teacher and I can

definitely say that a lot of things

depend on what kind of teacher you have

if this teacher supports you helps you

and it's really important for him and

her to help you in your way then yeah

good for you congratulations uh it will

help you a lot

and if you didn't have such a teacher

that's well that's fine don't worry

about it because you can actually be

your own teacher and this is exactly

what is my video about that I learned

English by myself of course I started

doing that it's cool and then when I

finished school I had around let's say

A2 level or B1 I knew all the rules

pretty well but I couldn't speak this is

I think a pretty common problem for a

lot of people so how I deal with this

problem when I was 18 years old I

started modeling and I was sent to some

different countries to work as a model

there and this is where I started

practicing English because when you know

some rules some phrases is one thing but

when you start speaking that oh man that

was really difficult to speak and I

think it took me around

three weeks to start actually speaking

and making sentences because it's like

when you're trying to say something and

your brain doesn't listen to you your

tongue doesn't listen to you and it's

just a mess in your mouth so yeah that's

totally fine too you just have to go

through that in order to achieve your

goal so don't worry about it if you have

this language barrier it's totally fine

you just have to keep going and talk the

more you talk the better it gets so I

was working as a model for two years and

all this time I was practicing with

different boys and girls of different

countries with different accents as well

and of course not all the time I could

understand them because they were

speaking too fast or too

like I could understand them actually I

have to admit that so at the end of my

modeling career I was about 20 years old

and I decided to change my field but

this is a topic for a different video so

ah by then I had a B2 level and I spoke

quite well and when the quarantine

started covid-19 I decided that well

actually I can teach English for those

especially for beginners because I could

speak I could understand and I'm pretty

good explaining so I started doing that

and you know this is exactly which

actually helped me a lot to improve my

English because uh

first of all I started doing it

constantly

I had lessons every day almost every day

of course I had some weekends but I had

lessons almost every day a few lessons

each day and of course I do want to say

that to improve your English you have to

become a teacher no no

but you have just to understand the main

principle what is behind that job what I

did so when you start actually going

deep into these studies like

understanding better how grammar Works

how to make sentences how to learn this

system like 10 Spacey voice reported

speech all the topic more let's say deep

not just some phrases but to understand

how it really works and then practicing

it the main thing is actually practice

if you don't practice come on don't wait

that you have a really great result yeah

it's all comes to practice and the more

you practice the better you get so I

started teaching English I had as I said

before like a few lessons each day and

in total I would say that I had let's

say an average around

four or five hours of English per day

and you know when you do it so so much

English every day you will eventually

become better at it so the main thought

I want to say is that you have to make

English a part of your life of course

it's not necessary and it's not the only

way like to become a teacher or to teach

someone else but you just have to

surround you with English watch some

movies or some serious read some books

find some friends to whom you can

communicate and talk and learn some

phrases and besides that there is really

one more important thing is when you

speak to other people

the most valuable thing is actually not

just practice your practice as I said

before is really important but also

feedback because when you just practice

you can talk talk talk and you will not

understand where you had a mistake yeah

of course some people especially some of

your friends they will feel really shy

to interrupt you and just say hey you

made a mistake it's not he don't but he

doesn't

of course they won't do it so you have

to find a person maybe a teacher who

will give you feedback will correct your

mistakes who will explain you where you

have your mistakes because in this case

you will analyze uh what you say

and how you actually had to say that to

sound correctly of course when I was

teaching English no one could give me

feedback but because I was practicing

for a long long long long long time

because I've been teaching English for

three years and we don't want to spend a

lot of time and a lot of effort for

something you will eventually get the

result so if you're learning English and

you don't see your progress just relax

and keep going it's totally fine if

you're learning it for some time and you

don't see the progress because well yeah

it's fine it doesn't go like that

actually it doesn't go like that it goes

like this

so you will learn you will forget you

will learn again you will forget and it

will go like this like curse you know so

don't worry about it if you don't see

the progress just keep going don't give

up and eventually you'll have perfect

English as you want to have it for

example as I do so let me stop the video

the first important thing is your

attitude if you think that English is

difficult for you then yeah for sure

it's going to be difficult for you

second if you have a teacher that's

great if you don't have it you choose

that's what they find don't worry about

it you can do it by yourself for sure

third you have to create a system and

make English a part of your life

fourth you have to practice a lot and

the more you practice the better you get

keep that in mind and the last thing is

feedback you have this opportunity to

get feedback from someone do it please

the more feedback you get the better

your English will be so that's it for

today I hope you liked the video let me

know in the comments probably some of

your tips which you use to improve your

English and subscribe to my channel you

will see a lot of interesting videos

here see you bye bye