C1-level Grammar and Vocabulary in 1 Hour! (Advanced Level English)

Hello, lovely students.

Are you ready for a lesson that is going

to give your advanced vocabulary and grammar skills a much-deserved boost?

Well, today we're going to do just that.

This video is long, but trust me, it's

going to be worth every minute.

I'm going to help you speak confidently

in everyday situations, but we are pushing things to the extreme because

you're going to learn how to talk about everyday scenarios at a mind-blowing C1 level.

From your morning routine to ordering fast food and even navigating touchy

subjects like flirting and breaking up, this lesson is going to give you the

tools you need to use advanced vocabulary and grammar in real life to a certain extent.

Some of these examples are a little bit dramatic.

In all seriousness, my C1 students tell

me that this is their favourite type of lesson.

It's basically the most fun way to learn

advanced English.

To make sure you get the most out of this

incredibly useful lesson, I've prepared two special Ebooks that go hand in hand

with this video.

You can download both of them for free for now.

I might shut this at some point.

The first Ebook contains all of the

valuable information that we cover in this lesson, all of the vocabulary, all

of the grammar so you can refer back to it whenever you need a refresher.

I've basically made lesson notes and lesson quizzes for you and compiled them

into an Ebook.

I'm also including my B1 to C1 Ebook.

This Ebook is a 92-page Ebook that contains all of the grammar and all of

the vocabulary that you need to master in order to achieve the B1, the B2 and the

C1 levels of English.

If you would like to download these two

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You will automatically receive my free

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It's a free service and you can unsubscribe with one click at any time.

One more thing I'd like to mention because I think you might be interested.

My most popular course is my Beautiful British English C1 Programme.

When I tell you this is a masterpiece, I'm not exaggerating.

Over 5,000 students have taken my C1 Programme and they have learnt so much

advanced vocabulary as well as C1 grammatical structures, advanced features

of pronunciation, how to write different texts at an advanced level and so much more.

Students love the storyline that runs through the entire programme and the

authentic conversations between me and some of the special people in my life.

Take a look at some of the lovely things my graduates have had to say.

I would love for you to join them, for you to try this programme.

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There you'll be able to learn much more

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Okay, now you know what's happening,

let's dive into your daily routine at C1 level.

Get ready to learn how to describe your

day-to-day life with really impressive vocabulary and grammar. 

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to English with Lucy.

The first thing you learn when you

take your first English class is normally the

daily routine, right?

'I wake up', 'I get up', 'I eat breakfast'.

And I thought, what would a daily routine look like at C1 advanced level?

I started to write this lesson just as a little experiment, and

it ended up becoming so interesting that I've decided to

make it into a video for you.

In this lesson, I am going to give

you a daily routine on steroids, and 'on steroids' means the most

extreme version or a very extreme version.

In this daily routine, I am going

to give you a ton of super advanced C1 vocabulary, and we're

going to cover lots and lots of C1 level grammar structures.

So if you really want to test your English skills, this lesson is for you.

I also want to mention before we start that this is going to be

quite an extreme daily routine.

And some people will probably want to let me know,

English people do not speak like this in real life!

No, I totally agree.

I just want to see how far we can

go with advanced grammar and advanced vocabulary.

All I know is it's going to be complex and it's going to be fun.

'Upon waking up to the melodious chimes of my alarm clock, I embark

on my well-established morning routine that I've perfected over

the years.

First and foremost, I indulge in a brief

meditation session, allowing me to clear my mind and start the day with

a sense of calm.

In addition to my mental exercise,

I dive into a challenging 30-minute workout session, but I

guess it isn't so much challenging as it is invigorating.

After freshening up, I pamper myself with my nourishing skincare

regimen, ensuring a well-hydrated and glowing complexion.'

I told you this is a daily routine on steroids in

order to reach the C1

level of vocabulary and grammar.

There aren't many people in the UK that speak like this on a daily basis.

Okay, so in addition to loads of really great vocab, we also have

quite a few C1 level grammar structures.

And let's start by looking at

these three clauses.

What do you notice about them?

We have—'upon waking up to the melodious chimes of my alarm clock.'

We have—'allowing me to clear my mind and start the day with a

sense of calm.'

And we have—'ensuring a well-hydrated and glowing complexion.'

Well, these are known as

non-finite clauses.

A non-finite clause is a type of clause that doesn't have a subject

and a finite verb—a verb with tense

and agreement.

In other words, it's an incomplete

sentence that can't stand alone as a complete thought.

An non-finite clauses use verbs in their base form, infinitive, or

the -ing form, the present participle, without specific

subject information.

These incomplete sentence building

blocks help add

more context and information to our sentences.

Now let's take a look at another structure in this paragraph.

'It isn't so much challenging

as it is invigorating.'

So using 'not so much' plus adjective plus 'as' plus adjective

is an advanced comparative structure we use to compare two

related qualities.

Okay.

I'm going to address one more grammar concept from this

paragraph before we move on to the rest of my routine.

Compound adjectives

like 'well-established', '30-minute', 'well-hydrated'.

So compound adjectives are adjectives that are formed by

combining two or more words to create a single descriptive term.

These adjectives are commonly used to convey complex or specific

qualities that may not be easily expressed with just one single word.

I used several hyphenated compound adjectives in this first

paragraph, and we use the hyphens to clarify that the words are

meant to be taken together as a single descriptive unit.

Right.

Let's see what I get up to with the rest of my C1 extreme day!

Uh, this is going to get complex.

'No sooner have

I got dressed in my most casual yet professional attire than I am

wolfing down a hearty breakfast to fuel my day ahead.

With a steaming cup of herbal tea in hand,

I scan the morning headlines to stay informed on the happenings

of the world.

Meanwhile, as I commute to work, I immerse myself in an audiobook, 

relishing the well-written prose

and captivating storytelling.

Thus, I arrive at work ready to

tackle the day ahead of me.'

Wow, that's really sounding like a

novel at this point!

Okay, let's see what we've got here.

In the first sentence—'No sooner have I got dressed in my most casual

yet professional attire than I am wolfing down

a hearty breakfast to fuel my day ahead.'

So the construction, 'no sooner have

I got dressed' is an example of negative inversion.

A negative inversion is one of my favourite grammatical structures.

I absolutely love the way it sounds.

And when students learn it, they

can instantly sound so intelligent when they speak.

So negative inversion is where the usual word order of a sentence is

inverted or changed when a negative adverbial expression is

used at the beginning of the sentence.

The construction is important because it adds emphasis.

I'm not just saying I have got dressed,

but I'm highlighting the immediacy of the action by using

'no sooner'.

This construction often indicates

that one action happens immediately after another, almost

without any delay.

Using negative inversion helps to

add a little flair to the story instead of sticking to the same

subject-verb type construction, but it should be used sparingly.

If you use it too much, it will sound pretty contrived.

The final two sentences featured signposts.

And no, I'm not talking about these.

I'm referring to language like 'meanwhile' and 'thus'. 

And using signposting language like this is giving your writing a GPS.

It helps steer your audience smoothly along and it keeps your

thoughts organised.

These little words and phrases act

as the glue that holds your writing together.

Think of it this way.

Without these signposting cues,

your writing could get all jumbled up and end up sounding like a

bunch of random thoughts.

Let's do a quick comprehension check.

Can you identify the signposting language in our first paragraph?

I'll give you a few seconds to read through.

Use your pause button now to have a read through.

In five seconds, I'm going to give you the answers.

Okay.

You should have said—'first and

foremost', 'in addition to' and 'after'.

Okay.

What's the rest of my day looking like?

'Upon arriving at the office, I

buckle down and get on with my work, meticulously completing my

tasks in the most efficient way possible.

It's knowing that I'm contributing in a meaningful way that I thrive

on and I actively seek opportunities to enhance my skill set.

Throughout the day, I engage in productive dialogues with

colleagues, synergising ideas and learning from their unique perspectives.'

All right.

We have a few things to look at here.

First, we have the clause— 'meticulously completing my tasks

in the most efficient way possible.' This utilises a post-modified

superlative adjective.

That's quite a mouthful.

Post-modified superlative adjective.

So this is an adjective that is

placed after the noun and it modifies or adds emphasis or 

specific information about the noun.

And this construction is used to

highlight the extreme quality of the noun in comparison to others

of its kind.

The structure of the second

sentence was a bit of an odd one.

'It is knowing that I'm

contributing in a meaningful way that I thrive on and I actively

seek opportunities to enhance my skill set.'

We call this a cleft sentence,

A cleft sentence.

And this is a grammatical

construction used to emphasise a particular element in a sentence

by dividing it into two clauses.

I know

I said that negative inversion was my favourite, but I actually think

it ties with cleft sentences.

Once you master these, it opens up

an opportunity to really add some interest to your creative writing.

The purpose of a cleft sentence is to bring attention to a specific

part of the sentence, often by reorganising the structure to

highlight that element.

In this case, I wanted to

highlight 'knowing that I'm contributing in a meaningful way'.

So I was able to restructure my sentence to make sure that this

portion of the sentence was the main focus.

They're pretty nifty, these cleft sentences.

Okay, let's move on to the final

part of my routine.

'As the day draws to a close, I

reflect on my achievements, striving to be the best version of myself

both personally and professionally.

All I hope is that I outdo my

previous accomplishments each day

as I embrace life with unwavering determination.

By adopting this disciplined and

purposeful routine, I feel confident that I can continue on a

path of self-improvement and well-being.'

I feel like I'm becoming less and

less likeable as this daily routine goes on, but it's not

about me.

It's about the grammar.

So let's see what we have here.

In the first sentence—'As the day draws to a close, I reflect on my

achievements, striving to be the best version of myself

both personally and professionally.'

We have a few different things

going on here.

First, we have—'as the day draws

to a close'—which is a subordinate clause, but by C1, you should

already be familiar with them.

These are clauses that can't stand

on their own as individual sentences.

They have to be attached to a main

or independent clause.

We also have a participle clause,

a participle clause.

'Striving to be the best version of myself

both personally and professionally.'

A participle clause is a type of

non-finite clause.

We discussed those before.

It consists of a present participle and an infinitive phrase.

Can you identify the other participle clause in this paragraph?

That's right.

It is our last sentence—

'By adopting this disciplined and purposeful routine.'

I can't say purposeful without going purposeful, purposeful.

That's a very—it's quite a stuffy sounding word to me, quite old-fashioned.

Purposeful.

This participle clause also

functions as an adverbial phrase because I used the preposition 'by'

explaining how the action in the main clause is achieved.

Finally, we saw another common construction of a cleft sentence,

my other favourite.

'All I hope is that I outdo my

previous accomplishments each day

as I embrace life with unwavering determination.'

The structure 'what' or 'all' plus clause plus 'be' plus clause is

quite commonly used.

So it's a good one to have in your

back pocket.

Oh my word!

That was an intense lesson.

That's probably

one of the most advanced English lessons I have ever delivered.

Okay, now that you can talk about your

daily life like a pro, let's move on to food and drink.

Everyone can relate to this topic, right?

And now you'll learn how to discuss it at

an advanced level.

But before we 'dig into' that, because we

will talk about that phrase, if you're enjoying this lesson so far and you want

to take your advanced English skills to the next level, click on the link below

to learn more about my Beautiful British English C1 Programme.

This three-month, in-depth, self-study course covers all of the advanced topics

you need to become the fluent and confident speaker you want to be.

The programme is designed to help you achieve functional fluency in various

real-life situations.

It's a real game changer for your

advanced English skills.

The link is down there.

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Here's a question for you. 

When you learn another language, when you start to learn English, what is one 

of the first topics you want to learn about, apart from swear words?

Food and drink, obviously!

You tick them off, you learn the basic vocabulary and then you forget about them.

I want to bring them back!

Today we're going to learn food and drink, C1 to C2 advanced level.

Let's get started with the lesson. 

And I must say, when you get to a really advanced level of English, 

people like to say in the comments section, but people don't talk like this in real life.

I agree with you.

Lots of people don't, and it's not necessary.

I would say reaching B2 is the level that allows you to really exist in 

English.

C1 is when you are completely fluent to 

the point where you can have very nuanced conversations.

The vocabulary we'll discuss today is the kind of vocabulary you might find 

in a piece of creative writing or you might use 

with someone who is a real foodie or cooking enthusiast.

Okay, let's start. 

'I consider myself a bit of a foodie, but I'm definitely not a food snob.

I'm just as happy tucking into a simple homemade meal as I am polishing off a 

Michelin-starred work of art.

On a normal day, when I wake up, I force myself to gulp down a big glass of water before I 

indulge my caffeine addiction and brew an aromatic cup of coffee.

That first swig always hits the spot.

Fellow caffeine addicts, raise your hands.

Sometimes I like to work up an appetite before breakfast by going for a run.

Other times 

I can't wait and I gobble down a steaming bowl of porridge immediately.'

Okay, here are some of the vocabulary I want to pick out.

The first is the phrasal verb— 'to tuck' in or 'to tuck into'.

This means to start eating enthusiastically.

'After hours of preparation, everyone was ready to tuck into the roast dinner.'

The next one—'to polish off'—another phrasal verb.

This means to finish all of something, especially food.

I always imagine polishing a plate because it's so clean because you've 

eaten everything.

'I can't believe you polished off that entire pizza by yourself.'

And next—'to gulp down'—another phrasal verb.

This means to drink very quickly.

'After a run, I often gulp down a big glass of juice.'

And 'to gulp' is to swallow.

It sounds the same, 'gulp'.

The next is a verb—'to brew'—which 

means to make coffee or tea by adding hot water to the beans or the bag.

The highlight of my morning is the fresh pot of coffee my husband brews every day.

Sometimes we will call a cup of coffee or a cup of tea 'a brew'.

Do you fancy 'a brew', as a noun?

Next, we had an adjective—'aromatic'. 'Aromatic'.

And please focus on the pronunciation here.

'Aroma' as a noun, /ˌærəˈmætɪk/.

This means having a pleasant and distinctive smell.

'Spices like cardamom and cinnamon make curry an aromatic dish.'

Note that we can use it sarcastically.

If I smell a dirty sock, I might say— 'very aromatic'—meaning it stinks.

Number 6, this is a noun, a swig.

It means an amount of something  that you drink quickly. 

And it can also be used as a verb, 

meaning to have a large, quick mouthful of a liquid or gulp of a drink.

'After reaching the peak of the mountain, he took a big swig from his 

flask of iced tea.'

'We take a swig.'

You can say to have a swig, but take is the stronger collocation.

We could also say he swigged from his flask of iced tea, slightly less common.

Number seven, nice phrase here—'to work up an appetite'.

'To work up an appetite'.

This means to do something, normally strenuous, that makes you feel hungry.

'I was gardening all morning and I really worked up an appetite.'

And the final one, a nice slang phrasal verb—'to gobble down', 'to gobble down'.

So 'to gobble means' to eat quickly, 'to

gobble down', to eat very quickly with lots of swallowing.

It's just an emphasis here.

This particle doesn't really change the meaning of the verb. 

A bit like with 'to sit' and 'to sit down'. There's no real changing.

We're just emphasising the direction of the action.

The food is going down. We sit down.

An example—'My dog always gobbles down his dinner as soon as I give it to him'.

That is so true. He really does gobble down.

There's no better verbal phrasal verb to describe it.

Okay.

Next part of the story.

'When I have time, I love nothing more than whipping up some dishes in the kitchen.

When I was in Tuscany recently, I 

learnt to make this incredibly flavoursome pasta sauce.

The ingredients are so simple but fresh, and it's mouth-watering.

I love cooking one-pot meals too, because they're so easy, and there's 

minimal clean-up.

Speaking of, we're very lucky to have a 

dog who hoovers up any stray crumbs, so our kitchen is usually pretty clean.'

Okay.

That was a lot of good vocab in that passage.

So let's have a look.

Number 9, we have 'to whip up', 'to whip up'.

This is a nice slang phrasal verb.

It means to cook something quickly, especially using whatever ingredients 

you have to hand.

Don't worry, everyone.

'I'm going to whip up a gourmet feast of beans on toast.'

'Beans on toast' is a really typical

British meal when you don't have any food in the house.

We nearly always have a tin of Heinz baked beans, or actually now with 

inflation, we're buying supermarket brand ones and toast.

So beans on toast is a very common. Oh, I don't know what to make.

I don't have anything.

I'll make beans on toast.

Next, number 10 is 'flavoursome'.

'Flavoursome', which means delicious and full of flavour.

Notice the pronunciation, two schwa sounds there.

/ˈfleɪvəsəm/.

/ˈfleɪvəsəm/.

'The source proved incredibly 

flavoursome, transforming the mundane dish into a culinary masterpiece.'

Next, we have the adjective 'mouth-watering'.

'Mouth-watering', which describes food that looks so good, you want to eat it 

right then.

They served up a mouthwatering dish 

that tasted just as good as it looked.

Next, something I love to make, 'a one-pot meal'.

'A one-pot meal'.

This is a meal that can be cooked in 

'one pot', and I want to draw your attention to how I pronounced it.

Instead of saying 'one-pot', I said /ˈwʌm pɒt/.

The beauty of 'a one-pot meal' is that there's  

barely any washing up to do afterwards.

And the final one for this section is 'crumb', usually seen in the plural 

because there's almost always more than one.

'A crumb' is a very small piece of bread, cake, or biscuit, or food in general, 

that has fallen off.

'Get a plate, you're dropping crumbs everywhere.'

Next part.

'According to my husband, Will, my best dish is a chicken recipe by Ottolenghi, 

one of my favourite chefs.

Whenever I make it, Will practically inhales it.

It's incredibly moreish, too, so we never have leftovers.

What about my favourite foods?

Some of you may know that I adore fruit, especially watermelon, but I 

also love blue cheese, especially some good Stilton.

It's got quite a pungent smell, and I would say it's an acquired taste, but 

it's really yummy.

I always put it out when I do nibbles when guests are coming over.'

Okay, let's have a look at the vocabulary.

First up, number 14, 'to inhale', 'to inhale'.

This means to breathe in, literally.

However, in the context of food, it means to eat very quickly.

He was so hungry, he seemed to inhale his sandwich.

The next is a lovely adjective, 'moreish', 'moreish'.

This describes something that is so delicious, you want more of it.

'This cake is so moreish; I can't stop eating it.'

Next, I love this one, the adjective 'pungent', 'pungent'.

I love the phonemes 'ng',  'ng' together, 'pungent'.

I feel it's so descriptive.

It's not normally a very positive adjective, because it means having a 

very strong smell or taste, normally smell.

When we're talking about blue cheese, though, that's a good thing, that's 

what we pay for.

An example—'The durian fruit has quite a pungent smell'.

Next, I talked about something being 'an acquired taste', which means something 

that you might not like at first, but you start to enjoy over time.

'Olives are an acquired taste, and children often don't like them.'

I used to pretend to like olives as a child, because I wanted to sit with the 

adults and have nibbles, and that was often the only thing on offer.

And if I stopped eating, they'd send me to bed.

And the final word was the noun 'nibbles', which means small items of 

food that are normally eaten with your fingers.

You will often see them on restaurant menus.

'Nibbles', then starters, mains, desserts.

We also have the verb 'to nibble', which means to take a small bite of something.

And if you 'have a nibble of something', again, you take a small bite.

But 'nibbles' in general, little snacks, you normally eat with your fingers.

'I put out some nibbles like cheese and crackers before dinner.'

Okay, last part of the story.

'Will and I also love eating out.

If I know we're going somewhere special, I make sure to not spoil my 

appetite beforehand.

Even so, my eyes are often bigger than my stomach, and I end up with too much food.

Doggy bags aren't much of a thing in the UK, but I wish they were.

I always walk out of a completely stuffed.'

Okay, finally, here are four more words and phrases to finish off this video.

Number 19 is 'to spoil one's appetite', 'to spoil one's appetite'.

And this means to eat something before a meal that causes you to fill up or 

not feel hungry.

'Don't have that chocolate bar, it'll spoil your appetite.'

Nex—'one's eyes are bigger than one's stomach'. If 'your eyes are bigger than your 

stomach', it means you order or put too much food on your plate and you can't 

finish it.

'I always have eyes bigger than my stomach at a buffet.'

I want to pile my plate with absolutely everything, and then when I start 

eating, I realise I've taken way too much.

An example—'Sorry, I really can't finish this.

My eyes were bigger than my stomach.'

The next phrase, and this one might surprise you, is 'doggy bag', 'doggy bag'.

And this is a bag or a box you get from a restaurant to take home your 

leftovers in.

And it's more common in the US.

It's becoming more of a thing in the UK.

When I went to the US, I was really shocked at how big their portions were.

But when I mentioned it to my American 

friends, they said, don't judge us because we take almost everything home 

with us at the end of the meal and we have it as leftovers in our fridge.

And it made perfect sense for me.

In the UK, I would say we are more inclined and often pushed by our 

parents to finish everything on our plate.

An example—'Could I have a doggy bag, please?'

It was delicious, just a huge portion.

And the final word I want to talk about is the adjective 'stuffed', which means 

very full.

'I couldn't eat another bite;

I'm absolutely stuffed!'

Okay, that's it for your C1 food and drink lesson.

Okay, now that you've got a taste for food and drink vocabulary, let's focus on

a specific scenario.

Ordering a coffee!

If you're not a coffee person, don't worry, these skills can be applied to

ordering whatever your drink of choice might be.

Let's take your coffee-ordering skills to the next level.

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Today, I decided to really push myself, and push you too, and see if I could write

a lesson about ordering a coffee in English at a C1 level.

How advanced can we make ordering a simple cup of coffee?

Oh, just watch me.

It's going to get advanced.

Right, let's get started.

So we all know that ordering a coffee is

one of the first things you learn in English and it can be very simple.

'Can I have a coffee, please?'

This way of ordering a coffee is

absolutely fine.

It's perfect in fact, although it

probably wouldn't work in somewhere like Starbucks where an order is more like—

'Can I get a doppio half-caf skinny mocha venti to go?'

You love one of those.

I know, I do.

But that's not what we're talking about today.

I want to order a normal coffee in

advanced English.

And I know what some people are going to

say when they hear my order.

People never speak like that.

I agree.

I agree.

It's not necessary, but it's fun and it's cool.

And if we can't have fun, cool English

lessons, then what have we got?

I think it's fun to see how far we can

take it.

And more importantly for you, I think

it's a fun and memorable way to introduce 

some advanced grammatical  structures and vocabulary.

Are you ready?

We're going to move up through the levels.

Level one—'Black coffee, please'.

This is the simplest way to order a coffee.

And it's perhaps not the most polite way to order in a coffee shop.

But if you're ordering as part of a group after dinner, for example, I think it's fine.

The addition of 'please' at the end though is important.

Let's take it up a notch.

Level 2—'Can I have a black coffee, please?'

Here, the request is formulated as a question using the modal verb 'can', which

makes it more polite than the first one.

You will often hear this said as —'Can I

get a black coffee, please?'

This is slightly more common in American

English, but it's making its way into British English.

Some people don't like the use of 'get' here, but a lot of native speakers use it.

Now let's say this more politely.

Level 3—'May I please have a black

coffee with a splash of milk?'

All right, we're getting a little bit

more complex here.

This is a very polite way to order a

coffee using the modal verb 'may'. You can also replace 'may' with the modal

verb 'could' which is a more polite way to make requests than can.

You can also see that the word 'please' has moved from the end to directly after may I.

This front loading of 'please' emphasises the politeness of the request and sets a

formal tone from the outset.

We are also now asking for 'a splash of

milk' and 'a splash' means a small amount of liquid in this context.

Okay, can I go further?

Level 4—'Could you kindly prepare a

black coffee with a splash of milk and two sugars?'

Okay, we're getting closer to advanced level here and further from reality now.

We have the modal verb 'could', which I talked about in level three.

And instead of 'please', we can see the adverb 'kindly'.

This is another way to soften a request and make it more polite.

Let's add a little more advanced language.

Level 5 —'Would it be possible for you

to brew a medium-sized black coffee with a splash of milk, two sugars and a

sprinkling of cinnamon on top?'

All right, this one is even more polite

and a bit poetic as well.

' Would it be possible' is a very polite way

to form a question.

We also have some more advanced

vocabulary, including 'to brew', meaning to make a hot drink like coffee or tea and

'sprinkling', which means a small amount of liquid or powder that is dropped onto a surface.

Can I make it even more advanced?

Level 6 and we're not even at the end yet.

'If it's not too much trouble, could you please craft a medium-sized black coffee,

enriched with a splash of organic milk and precisely two cubes of raw sugar,

while ensuring it's brewed to the optimum temperature, and then garnish it with a

delicate sprinkling of cinnamon on top?'

We're moving into nightmare customer

territory now.

'If it's not too much trouble' is a very

polite way of asking someone to do something, we often add it to the

beginning of a request.

Often when we know the request is going

to cause some extra effort.

Now we're asking for the barista 'to craft'

the coffee, not just make one, 'craft'.

This means to make objects in a skilled

way, especially with your hands.

And the coffee is 'to be enriched with a

splash of milk'.

'To enrich' means to make the quality of

something better by adding something else.

Then it is 'to be brewed to  the optimum temperature'.

'Optimum' means best possible.

You might hear the synonym 'optimal' or

/ˈɒptɪməl/ used in American English.

And then we have 'garnished with cinnamon'.

'To garnish' means to decorate food or drink with a small amount of food.

Can this customer get any worse?

Yes.

The answer is yes.

If you've ever worked in retail or

hospitality, you know the answer is yes.

Here is my coffee order in its final form.

Level 7—

'Would you be so kind as to commence the

artisanal preparation of a medium-sized black coffee sourced, if possible, from

single-origin beans and brewed at precisely 89 degrees Celsius?

It should be complemented with a splash of organic, locally sourced milk,

sweetened to a modest degree with exactly two cubes of raw sugar and adorned with

a subtle yet discernible sprinkling of hand-ground cinnamon.

Finally—because I'm not done yet—I request that it be presented in a ceramic

mug featuring a handle ergonomically designed for a right-handed individual.'

Someone is definitely going to spit in this customer's coffee.

Let's look at the grammar.

'Would you be so kind as to' is a very,

very polite and formal way to make a request.

And in the final sentence, you saw the

structure, 'I request that it be presented'.

This sentence uses the subjunctive mood,

which is a formal structure in English and appears after certain verbs like request.

And the vocabulary, first there is 'to commence', which means 'to begin'.

We had 'artisanal', 'artisanal', meaning prepared in a traditional way.

We have 'complemented'.

This is the verb to complement with an 'e',

it's different to the one with 'i'.

If one thing complements with an 'e',

another, it goes well with the other thing and it makes it better.

'We complement each other'—we go well together, we make each other better.

'We compliment each other' means we give each other compliments.

'I like your dress', 'I like your hair', 'I like your coffee'.

'What did you ask for?

I'm going to ask for that.'

Little did she know.

We also have 'adorned with'.

The verb 'to adorn' means to add something decorative to a person or thing to make

it more attractive.

We also have the adjectives  'subtle' and 'discernible'.

'Subtle' means not obvious or noticeable, while 'discernible' means able to be recognised.

So I wanted it subtle but discernible.

Nightmare!

And finally, perhaps the most egregious request, 'an ergonomically designed handle'.

'Ergonomically' means in a way that makes something, often equipment or furniture,

comfortable and effective for people who use it.

What did you think of my C1 level coffee order?

Is it realistic?

No.

Is it interesting?

I think so.

And I hope it will help you to remember some of the structures and vocabulary

that I've presented.

We really do use all of these words and

phrases in real life.

Okay, now it's time to shift gears and

spice things up.

In this lesson, we're going to explore

the art of flirting in English.

You're going to learn colloquial language

and slang that will help you navigate these exciting social interactions.

Let's get flirty.

Hello, you gorgeous things, and welcome to my super-advanced lesson on flirting.

In this lesson, I am going to show you how you can ask someone out, how you can

flirt with someone at a C1 to C2 advanced level.

We're going to be focusing on British

English slang, and we'll also touch on some pronunciation as well.

Okay, let's start with the first one.

This is a baseline.

It doesn't have any slang.

It's a starting point so that you can make comparisons with later passages.

Let's try it.

Ready?

'My friend doesn't think you'll agree to go on a date with me, but I'd love to

take you out for dinner sometime.'

Nice and simple, a nice easy start.

That's our baseline.

Let's move to the next level, level 2.

'I've been wanting to ask you out all night, but my mate told me I had no

chance of getting a date with you.

He'll be absolutely speechless if you say yes.

So, you wanna to get a bite to eat?

No pressure.'

So did you understand all of that?

It wasn't too advanced, but there are a

few words that I really want to look at.

The first one is 'mate', 'mate'.

This here in this context means friend, and it's really common in British

English, but it's even more common in Australian English.

For example—'My mates encouraged me to ask you out.'

The second word is the informal contraction 'wanna', which is short for

'want to', 'wanna'.

Some people pronounce it /ˈwʌnə/, others

/ˈwɒnə/ with more of an 'o' sound.

Some use a, wanna, wanna as an alternative.

An example—'Do you want to  go for a drink sometime?'

And the final phrase from that text is 'a

bite to eat', 'a bite to eat'.

Now notice the pronunciation here.

In fast speech, when one word ends in a vowel sound and the next one starts with

a vowel sound, we often add an extra sound to make it easier to say.

In this case, the extra sound is 'w', 'a bite to eat', 'to eat'.

But what does it mean?

Well, 'a bite to eat' often means a small meal.

However, we also use it in conversation to ask if someone wants to go out for

something to eat, not necessarily something small.

It's just very informal.

For example—'Fancy getting a bite to eat

at the local pub.'

Note that you will also hear 'bite on its

own' or 'a bite on its own'.

'Fancy a bite later', fancy something to

eat later.

Now, before I move on, I also want to

talk about something in this question.

You might have noticed that do is missing

from it.

Instead of saying—do you wanna get a

bite to eat?

I just say—'You wanna get a bite to eat?'

In informal speech, we often omit auxiliary verbs like do from questions.

If we want to go super informal, we can omit 'you' as well.

Wanna get a bite to eat?

Okay, I can do better than this.

We can go more advanced.

Let's try level 3.

Ready?

'You are, by miles, the most stunning person

in the room, and I've been weighing up whether to come over all night.

My mate over there, the slightly trollied one, told me I didn't have a chance in

hell of getting you to go out with me.

He's gonna be gobsmacked if you agree. So,

what do you reckon?

You wanna go out for a slap-up meal sometime?

No worries if not.'

Okay, how did you do with that?

It's definitely getting more advanced.

Not too advanced though.

It doesn't sound like you're  trying to be Shakespeare.

The first phrase is 'by miles', 'by miles'.

You can also say 'by far'.

It means 'by a very large amount' or 'by a

long way'.

We do not use the metric system when we

use this phrase.

We can't say by kilometres.

It just doesn't sound right.

An example—'You're the funniest person

I've ever met by miles, by a long way.'

We also had to 'weigh up', 'to weigh up'.

This is a phrasal verb.

This means to think carefully about doing

something before making a decision.

There is another linking sound in that

phrase, 'to weigh up', 'weigh up'.

Can you hear it?

We insert a little j'' sound.

My next word is extremely colloquial, informal.

It's 'trolleyed', 'trolleyed', and this means very drunk.

'Ben's trolleyed.

Get him a taxi.'

And next, we have an idiom—'to not have a chance in hell'.

Sometimes we omit 'the in hell' part.

We just say—'to not have a chance'.

And even sometimes—'to not stand a chance'.

We also use it with the verb 'to be'.

'There's no chance in hell that he will go out with you.'

Now, this example might sound a little bit mean, but it's an example of British

banter, our humour.

We often say these kinds of things to

close friends, knowing, hopefully, that they will know that it's a joke.

It's like playful teasing.

It can go too far, but be prepared for it

if you come to Britain and mix with Brits.

Next, I just want to mention 'gonna' from

that text.

It's another informal contraction, just

like 'wanna' or 'wanna'.

'Gonna' is generally pronounced with the schwa.

/ˈɡənə/, /ˈɡənə/.

'You gonna ask him out or not?'

'You gonna ask him out or not?'

Another great word, super informal, 'gobsmacked'.

'Gobsmacked'.

So 'gob' is quite a rude, informal slang

word for mouth.

'Shut your gob.'

If you are 'gobsmacked', you are so surprised that you can't speak.

You smack your mouth.

'I'm gobsmacked.'

'I'm absolutely gobsmacked.'

It's very informal.

'I was gobsmacked when he turned up to our date wearing a tuxedo, black tie.'

The final word that I want to point out from that text is an adjective, 'slap-up'.

'Slap-up', which often comes before the word meal.

This means a very large and delicious meal. But I will tell you a secret.

I didn't understand the meaning of this for a very long time.

I thought a meal that was...

A slap-up meal was something that was

just slapped up in the kitchen, something that was made in a really careless way.

So honestly, if someone had invited me for a slap-up meal, I'd have said—'Well,

maybe you could put in a little bit more effort.'

An example—'I'd love to take you out for

a slap-up meal sometime, a really large and delicious and luxurious meal.'

That was good, but I think we can make it even more advanced.

Here is number 4, level 4, the final level.

Ready?

'My mate - the tipsy one by the bar - is

absolutely sick of me banging on about how stunning you look and told me to shut

my cakehole and do something about it.

Anyway, I decided, nothing ventured,

nothing gained, so I'm here to ask you out for dinner.

He'll be floored if you say yes

(maybe literally - he's more than tipsy, to

be honest).

And I'll be well chuffed to get a date

with the fittest person in London.

No stress if you don't fancy it though.'

Okay, how was that one?

Would you say yes to me?

It was packed full of slang, so let me break some of it down for you.

We have 'to be sick of something'.

If you are 'sick of something', you are

bored of something because it's annoying, it's repetitive.

You will also hear people say, 'I'm sick of it', 'I'm sick of this', 'I'm bored of this'.

An example—'I'm sick of you talking about Dylan. Either ask him out or stop'.

We also have 'to bang on about something', 'to bang on about'.

This means to talk for a long time about something in a way that is annoying.

'Ruth's been banging on about her date for hours.'

Did you notice that when I'm trying to be

extra informal, instead of saying 'banging' with the 'ng' sound at the end, I said

/bæŋɪŋ/, /bæŋɪŋ/.

And sometimes we do this for emphasis.

It also sometimes happens when we talk quickly.

'I've been singing for hours', 'singing for

hours', should be 'singing'.

The next word is possibly the funniest

one on my list.

'Cakehole', 'cakehole', which is British

slang for mouth.

Isn't that wonderful?

It's literally the hole that you put cake into.

So we've had 'gob' and 'cakehole'.

This is an incredibly rude lesson.

It's not a polite word, but you will

often hear it in the phrase, 'shut your cakehole', 'shut your mouth'.

In American English, they often say 'piehole', which maybe means that Americans

prefer pie over cake.

Now I want to talk about the idiom,

'nothing ventured, nothing gained'.

This is a proverb, meaning that you have

to take risks to achieve something or to get something good.

If you don't take any risks, you won't get the reward.

An example—'Just ask Ravi on a date, nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

Next, let's look at the verb 'to floor', which means to confuse or to surprise

someone so much that they don't know what to say.

Very slang here.

You saw this phrase in the passive voice,

'he'll be floored', but you can also use it in the active voice.

'Amelia floored me when she asked me if I wanted to dance.

I didn't think she knew who I was.'

After that, you heard the most marvellous

slang adjective, 'chuffed', 'chuffed', which means very happy or proud, or sometimes

even satisfied in a positive, in a really positive way.

'I was really chuffed', 'surprised' and 'happy'.

'I was really chuffed when Tom gave me his

phone number', or 'I was so chuffed with my exam result.'

We sometimes say—'well chuffed' or 'chuffed to bits' for emphasis.

Using 'well' instead of very or incredibly is uber slang.

It's not traditionally grammatically correct, but it's a common feature in

many dialects.

'You look well nice today.'

'That food is well good.'

Unless you're trying to integrate into a

specific community that uses it, I wouldn't say it's something that you

should really say, but it's really important to understand it.

And the final word that I want to talk about is 'fit', 'fit', which in the text, in

that context means physically attractive.

'We met some really fit guys at the pub

last night.'

Did you notice how I used a glottal stop

at the end?

'Fit guys', 'fit'.

I'm being informal.

And when I am with my friends or family,

I'm talking fast.

We're having fun.

I don't follow all of the RP pronunciation rules.

I do use the glottal stop.

I do make intentional grammar mistakes.

As I said, you don't want to sound forced, but really important that you

understand why people say them.

Okay.

What do you think?

Would you use any of these phrases to ask

someone out if you were in the UK?

And maybe you can adopt some of the slang

into your daily conversations.

That was hot.

But not every fling is a match made in

heaven and breakups are never easy, but being able to express yourself clearly

can help.

So in this lesson, we're going to tackle

this emotionally complex topic using your advanced English skills.

Don't worry, I've got your back here.

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Unfortunately, all good things must

come to an end.

Today, I'm doing a video on how to break

up with someone in super advanced, C1 to C2 level English.

Now this is something I hope you never have to do, but if you are going to do

it, you might as well do it in style. Am I right?

Before I get into the speeches that I've

created to help you break up with someone, I want to talk about a few

clichés that you might have heard in films or on TV or even read in books.

Maybe you've even heard them in real life, but I really hope not.

These are phrases that people often say to end a relationship, but they don't

usually express what the speaker really means.

So I'm going to translate them for you.

The first one, you might have a version of this in your own language.

'It's not you. It's me.'

Also, don't get that wrong and say—'It's

not me, it's you—because that's even worse.

If someone says—'It's not you, it's me',

the translation is that it's probably you.

The next one. Oh, this one's painful.

'I love you.

I'm just not in love with you.'

Translation of this is that they might see you more as a friend.

The next one, I've heard this one before.

Heartbreaking.

'I need space.'

If someone 'needs space', they need space

away from you.

That relationship didn't work out for me.

Another one I've heard as well.

Oh my word, this is triggering.

'You deserve better.'

'You deserve better.'

I guess when someone says this, they just can't think of anything better to say.

That's a major red flag.

It's a red flag.

Now, I don't think there are any really

good ways to break up with someone.

Let's start with level 1, and this is

going to be a very basic way to break up with someone.

Are you ready?

Because this is going to be brutal.

'I'm not happy.

This isn't working.

We need to break up.'

Okay, I'm going to take that as a

baseline for my super-advanced ways to break up with someone.

Before I start, I need to add my disclaimer.

The following levels are for

entertainment purposes!

I do not recommend that you try to break

up with someone and also aim for a C1 or C2 level of language whilst doing it.

I do think that this is a really fun and interesting way of teaching you advanced

level grammar and vocabulary.

If you copy my wording when breaking up

with your partner, that's on you.

Your partner will probably be confused or

furious or both.

Let's go with number 2.

'You're a fantastic person, and I've treasured the moments we've shared.

But I've been reflecting a lot lately, and it's become clear that we're as different

as chalk and cheese.

Let's call a spade a spade -

our paths are heading in completely different directions.

The odds are that we're just going to make each other miserable in the future.

This has been as good a relationship as I've ever had, but I think we need to

acknowledge reality and go our separate ways.'

That's a fairly advanced text, and

there's a lot to unpack here.

There's a lot to analyse.

There were two idioms that I want to point out.

'Chalk and cheese' is the first, which means completely different.

'Chalk and cheese' are very different.

We can say that people or things are like

'chalk and cheese' or are as different as 'chalk and cheese'.

Notice the pronunciation of 'and'.

In this phrase, I drop the 'd' sound and I

say 'n', 'chalk and cheese'.

We call chalk and cheese a binomial, and

in a binomial, there are two words separated by a conjunction, and the

conjunction is often 'and', said as 'n'.

The word order is usually fixed.

It's always 'chalk and cheese' and never 'cheese and chalk'.

'Chalk and cheese' is also an alliterative phrase.

It's an alliteration, meaning that the

two words start with the same sound, /tʃ/, /tʃ/, 'chalk', 'cheese'.

There are lots of other binomials in English, and they're not always idioms,

as in this case.

They include ones that use synonyms like

'pride and joy'.

Sorry, I couldn't quite find my thumb there.

'Pride and joy'.

We also have ones that use opposites like

'ups and downs'.

The other idiom I want to talk about is

'to call a spade a spade', 'to call a spade a spade', and I feel this one is fairly British.

This means to tell the truth and say exactly what you think, even if it's not

polite, even if it's going to hurt someone's feelings.

Now I want to touch on some structures I use that are very advanced.

The first is 'the odds are', 'the odds are'.

Now, this is a phrase that we use to say

how likely it is that something will happen.

You saw this phrase in the sentence—'The

odds are that we're just going to make each other miserable in the future',

meaning it's likely that we will make each other miserable.

An example—'The odds are that Jane and Ellie will break up soon'.

The second phrase is an advanced comparative.

You saw this in the sentence—'This has

been as good a relationship as I've ever had', 'as good a relationship as'.

I'm saying 'as', as 'as', a weak form, 'as good a relationship as'.

This means that the relationship was as good as or equally good as any other

relationship the person has had.

The structure is 'as' + adjective + a

or an + noun + 'as'.

'You're as patient a partner as I could

wish for.'

'You're as perfect a match as I could ever

hope for.'

All right, let's see if we can make it

more advanced.

Let's move to level 3.

Are you ready?

'Our relationship has experienced its

share of waxing and waning.

You know that I've always had a jealous

streak, but lately, I've been feeling there's a lack of trust between us.

It's been an honour to have been a part 

of your life, and I've  cherished our time together.

However, given that trust is fundamental, we would be better off parting ways.'

Tough to hear, but trust, trust is essential in a relationship.

Let's look at some of the vocabulary and structures in this text.

The first one, 'to wax and wane', 'to wax and wane'.

This is another binomial with two words with opposite meanings.

I will say that this is quite an old-fashioned idiom and we don't tend to use

the words separately.

'Wane' maybe, but 'wax' in this context,

not as much.

'To wax' is to grow stronger.

'To wane' is to grow weaker.

'To wax and wane', to grow stronger and weaker.

It comes from the phases of the moon.

When the moon is getting bigger, it's waxing.

When it's getting smaller, it's waning.

Next, I want to point out a strong, a

very strong collocation, a 'jealous streak'.

'A streak' is a characteristic and it's

often an unpleasant one.

If someone has 'a jealous streak', they

have a tendency to be jealous sometimes.

Other strong collocations include 'a

stubborn streak', 'a vicious streak', 'a nasty streak', 'an independent streak'.

That one could be used positively or negatively.

'Streak', characteristic.

Finally, I want to touch on an advanced conditional sentence from the text.

You saw that—'given that trust is fundamental, we would be better off

parting ways'.

'Given that' means when you consider that.

'Given that Heather is in love with you, she will be devastated when you break it off.'

Okay, that was pretty advanced, but I know we can do better.

Let's move to level 4, our most advanced level.

Are you ready?

'It seems that our paths in life are diverging.

We've indisputably had some incredible moments together, but it's imperative

that I be true to myself.

Recently, it's become apparent to me that

variety is the spice of life, and I feel a powerful need to explore diverse relationships.

This decision hasn't been taken lightly, but it's essential for both of us to

prioritise our individual  happiness and fulfilment.'

Okay, good riddance.

What a horrible speech for a breakup.

It's horribly advanced as well.

So let's take a look at some of the vocabulary and structures that are used

in that text.

Firstly, I want to highlight the verb 'to seem'.

And I know this is not an advanced verb, so you may already know that it means to appear.

One common use of this verb is to make what we are saying less forceful.

It softens it, often when we're not sure whether what we're saying is true or if

we want to be polite.

This is a skill that we call hedging.

You often see 'to seem' in the structure, 'it seems that', or 'it seems to me that'.

'It seems that Jeremy is looking to end the relationship'—for example.

I don't know for sure, that's what it seems like to me.

The next word I want to draw your attention to is 'indisputably', 'indisputably'.

This is an advanced adverb meaning in a way that is true or cannot be disagreed with.

The adverb 'indisputably' emphasises or boosts what we're saying.

Other similar adverbs include 'undeniably' and 'unquestionably'.

Hedging and boosting are really important skills to learn when you reach an

advanced level in English.

Now I want to talk about the phrase

'variety is the spice of life'.

It's a proverb that means new things and

changes make life more interesting.

And this is probably one of the worst

things that you could say during a breakup because it makes the person think

that you want to date other people.

Okay, there are two grammatical

structures that I want to cover now.

The first was in the sentence—'it's

imperative that I be true to myself'.

You can see 'I be' instead of the usual I am.

This is an example of the subjunctive mood, which we use to express

possibilities and wishes.

If we use the subjunctive mood in the

present tense with the verb 'to be', we use 'be' for all subjects.

'I be', 'you be', 'he be', 'she be', for example.

Quite fun to say—'he be', 'she be'.

We use the base form with all subjects.

So instead of 'she goes', the subjunctive

is 'she go'.

Here are a couple more examples.

'I propose that you be completely honest about the reasons why you want to break up.'

Or—'It's my recommendation that she end the relationship immediately.'

The subjunctive mood is formal and impersonal.

And in modern usage, it's not

particularly common.

And people will often say—'it's imperative

that I am true to myself'—for example.

I do personally use it.

And this video is all about advanced English and the subjunctive is super-advanced.

And I love the way it sounds.

I think it sounds really elegant.

I just like it!

And I think you should like it too.

Finally, I want to look at the passive voice.

You saw it in this sentence—

'This decision hasn't been taken lightly.'

'Hasn't been taken' is an example of the present perfect simple passive voice.

'Has not been' + the past participle.

In this case, the passive voice makes the

sentence very impersonal by not naming the person who made the decision.

And it's more commonly heard from leaders like politicians or people in business

who don't want to take  responsibility for something.

I sincerely hope that you never hear this

when someone is breaking up with you.

Well, I really hope no one ever breaks up

with you, but I really hope they don't use the passive voice whilst doing it.

An example of how politicians would use it.

'Mistakes have been made.

Promises have been broken.'

They're not saying I made a mistake or we

broke promises.

'They have been broken.

They have been made.'

Okay.

'Well, the course of true love never did run smooth.'

Shakespeare said that, not me.

Okay, if you're still here—well done!

That was intense, from discussing your daily routine, to navigating the

complexities of relationships.

You've learned so much advanced English

vocabulary and grammar, and I hope you feel more confident in your ability to

tackle these real-life situations and express yourself with a little more

flair, a little more art.

Before we wrap up, I just want to remind

you about the fantastic Ebooks that are on offer to you for free today.

The link to download those is in the description box and if you found these

lessons useful you really will love my Beautiful British English C1 Programme.

Look at the amazing experiences that some of my graduates have had.

In this programme, we focus on the nuances and intricacies of English to train you

to speak beautifully, fluently and proficiently.

It's a fantastic 12-week programme that

features pronunciation lessons, conversation lessons, advanced grammar, writing.

All of the reading and listening lessons are delivered to you in an interactive

story so that you learn how the language is actually used in context and you don't

get bored.

You want to check in each week to follow

the story.

You also get access to our  private course community.

You can interact with my expert team of teachers whenever you need a

clarification or have a question, you can upgrade to our VIP Feedback Plan if you'd

like to submit writing and pronunciation homework and receive audio and written feedback.

All of the information is down in the link below, or you can just visit

englishwithlucy.com and click on our C1 Programme.

Thank you for joining me on this epic

language learning journey!

I can't wait to see you in the next lesson.

Muah!