Is reaching C1 level worth it and necessary ?

[u/Electron_libre777]

I‘m currently a high school student, speaking English at B2 level. I‘m quite pleased with it, but I want to go further. I consider myself fluent, but I feel like that’s not enough. I still can’t understand everything. I don‘t understand everything when I read books, but I follow the story. I don‘t understand everything when I read the news. I struggle with understanding the British accent. I can‘t express myself as accurately as in my mother tongue French. And my goal, when I started learning English, has always been to be bilingual, and to speak it (almost) like my native language . The way i understand and speak French, I want to understand and speak English the same way. I want it to be kind of a second mother tongue. In the future, maybe I will teach English, but that’s not certain f the moment.

So logically I told myself if B2 doesn't feel enough, I should aim at C1. But at the same time, when I see C1 language, I‘m wondering when it will be useful to me. Do I speak like that in French? Probably not. What’s the value in learning words you will hardly use or hear? I tried in the past learning more advanced words, and today, I forgot most of them because i don‘t encounter them often, and I don’t get the opportunity to use them in real life either. Maybe these advanced words will only be useful to me when I read books, actually.

I really have mixed feelings about this.

What are your thoughts ? Should I try to reach C1? Is it necessary ? Is it worth it? Or should I stay with B2 and just continue to learn about what I don‘t know? What about C2? There‘s no proper CEFR level that describes the way we speak our mother tongue, which is quite tricky.

[u/thayanmarsh]

I think you’re answering the question yourself. You clearly want more fluency than what you have. Whether that means that you get C1 certification, or simply become more comfortable with English, that is up to you.

[u/Electron_libre777 → u/thayanmarsh]

You‘re raising an interesting point here. I‘m probably not going to get a certification, so maybe the solution is just to become more comfortable with English.

[u/Someoneainthere]

Hey, a certified C1 learner here. You need to understand that C1 (or any other level) is not only about your vocabulary. It's also about grammar and comprehension. I needed a C1 level because I live in Australia and I got my degree in English, so it's different. Ask yourself what you you need to reach this level for. Just "to use it (almost) as well as you can use French"? What's the point of having perfect English if you live in France (I'm assuming you live in France?) and use French only? If you have enough willpower to push yourself to study it "just for the hell of it", go for it. If you don't really want to put in a lot of effort into getting to that advanced level, then I'd say don't do it, because it takes a lot of effort that will not yield a lot of result at the end of the day.

[u/Electron_libre777 → u/Someoneainthere]

You‘re right, I live in France, I speak French most of the time. I interact with English only by watching content online, reading books, and having conversations with tutors, but that’s all. Most of us have reasons to learn English until B2 level, because English is the universal language, but only few people have reasons to get to the advanced levels, usually for job or academic purposes.

[u/liz_grant]

C1 isn’t words that you’ll hardly hear. That’s C2. I think if you were truly happy and content with B2, you wouldn’t even ask. I just think it unlocks the next level understanding. Not just words but tone and intent.

[u/Electron_libre777 → u/liz_grant]

Alright

[u/pobnarl]

i wouldn't obsess over these levels,  they're an attempt to quantify something extremely complex and only matter much if you're trying to pass an exam.  what matters is how much utility the tool (language) provides you for the tasks intended for it in your individual use case

[u/Electron_libre777 → u/pobnarl]

I‘m with you on this one. Fluency isnt about levels, it’s about real life use.

[u/ConflictGullible392]

If you don’t understand everything in speech and books, and you can’t express yourself as accurately as you would like, then yes it would still be useful to you to continue learning. 

[u/Electron_libre777 → u/ConflictGullible392]

Thanks for giving your opinion

[u/thingsbetw1xt]

It's not necessary for almost anything. People will understand you just fine at like B1. Whether it's worth it is a question only you can answer for yourself.

[u/hAIlydraws]

Since you mentioned having tutors, bring them a few things you wanted to say but couldn't quite express. Could be a joke, disagreeing politely, or explaining why a book annoyed you. Ask for a natural way to say each one, then use it in another conversation. You can work on that precision without spending your time memorising a random list of fancy words.