Breakout English offers a variety of Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) English materials. This exam, which tests candidates at a C1 level, can be a real challenge to pass. Some of the biggest difficulties are the time restrictions, especially in the Reading and Use of English paper, and the numerous task types throughout the exam.
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Fun writing activity: The consequences game
Are you struggling to make essay writing more engaging for B2 and C1 exam students with fun writing activities? Often...
Uses of punctuation marks – Writing well-structured sentences
I have long suspected that students may not have ever learnt the correct uses of punctuation marks in their 1st...
Dependent prepositions exercises – Use of English part 2
Dependent prepositions exercises are a pain in the neck for many who are preparing for a Cambridge exam. Prepositions pop...
Word Formation Exercises – Conversation Questions
Word formation exercises can be found all over the internet, but they are often dry and rather uninspiring to use...
Real and unreal conditional sentences
Conditional sentences can be a challenging aspect of English grammar for language learners, and this is especially true when it...
How to write a report
Are you planning to take an English exam like Cambridge B2 First, C1 Advanced or the Trinity ISE exams and...
C1 Advanced (CAE) Use of English Part 2
C1 Advanced (CAE) Use of English Part 2 is also known as the Open Cloze task. It consists of a...
C1 Advanced (CAE) Use of English – The Complete Guide
With this complete guide for the Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) Use of English exam, we’ll see tips and tricks for...
How to do C1 Advanced CAE Reading Part 6 – Cross-text multiple matching
When Cambridge updated the CAE exam in 2015, they included a new task type called cross-text multiple matching, which became...
Christmas Find Someone Who – Open cloze
It’s never a bad idea to do a Christmas Find Someone Who activity just before the break. You’ve often got...
Advanced (CAE) Essay Questions and Sample Answers
The Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) essay is a formal, academic writing. You’ll find it in Part 1 of the CAE...
Advanced Vocabulary Wordspot – BACK
BACK is one of those words in English that has a million definitions, so when you are studying advanced vocabulary...
Informal vs formal letters and emails
Letters and emails are probably the most practical writing type in the exam. Personally, I write emails almost every day...
Cambridge Advanced (CAE) Writing
The Cambridge Advanced (CAE) Writing exam is a deceptively difficult part of the exam to perfect and pass. While at...
How to write a film review
Writing a review is an option in many different English language exams, and films are such an obvious choice for...
Advanced CAE Speaking Part 2 Pictures
When you get to C1 level, describing a picture for Cambridge Advanced CAE Speaking Part 2 seems like it should...
Just a Minute Topics
Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 panel show where panellists are asked to talk for one minute, without...
C1 Advanced (CAE) – How to do key word transformations
Cambridge Advanced C1 key word transformations are arguably the most troublesome part of the exam. Even if you’ve been studying...
Gerunds and Infinitives List
I’m a big fan of lists. Shopping lists, to do lists, meal plan lists, hopes and dreams lists, and even...
Christmas Speaking Activities
Want to make sure your Christmas speaking activities have value for your students? By using an exam style activity, you...
IELTS Academic Writing Part 1 – Describing change and surveys
Writing Part 1 of IELTS: Academic features writing a 150 word description of a graph or a process. To succeed...
The best books for Cambridge Advanced preparation
If you are taking the Cambridge Advanced exam soon or you are preparing a class of students to take the...
Why should advanced learners use Radio 4 in Four?
Radio 4 in Four is a fantastic resource for language learners, especially for those who are taking an exam, because...
230 Advanced (CAE) Key Word Transformations C1
Key word transformations are probably the most identifiable task type in Cambridge exams, appearing in Use of English Part 4...
Advanced (CAE) Writing Examples
Advanced exam preparation course books almost always include CAE writing examples at the back of the book. These pages are...
Christmas Songs Listening
Are you looking for something to do with your classes before the Christmas break? Whether it’s an exam class or...
Advanced (CAE) word formation up, down, over, under
There are words like overwhelming which spring to mind when thinking of word formation up, down, over and under. In...
The 120 most useful phrasal verbs list
Phrasal verbs are one of the love to hate them areas of the English language, but love them or hate...
Advanced (CAE) Song – The General – Dispatch
“The General” is one of my favourite Advanced (CAE) song activities. The language isn’t especially difficult in itself, but the...
Linking words – How to improve your writing
Linking words, also known as linkers, cohesive devices, connectors and transition words, are a vital part of writing. Often when...
Advanced (CAE) Speaking – Sample Tests
In the Cambridge Advanced CAE Speaking test there are 4 separate but equally important and challenging parts. The topics for...
How to do Advanced (CAE) Reading Part 7 – Gapped Text
Advanced (CAE) Reading Part 7 is unquestionably one of the most time-consuming and difficult parts of the Reading paper. Even...
Advanced (CAE) Word Formation Conversation Questions – Negative Prefixes
Negative prefixes are possibly the juiciest of word formation affixes at any level. However, once you get to Advanced (CAE)...
Word Formation Games
Word formation is probably the easiest part of Cambridge exams to gamify (from the root word GAME of course). Use...
Advanced (CAE) C1 Key Word Transformations – Inversion
Once your students get to a high C1 level, there isn’t much grammar left to surprise or challenge them. It’s...
How to teach Cambridge exam classes
Cambridge English exams are taken by over 5.5 million candidates per year in 130 different countries. Since introducing the first...
Advanced (CAE) – Fixed Expressions
Fixed expressions are a huge part of the Cambridge Advanced exam, coming into play far more frequently than in lower...
Nouns in Formal English
At C1 Advanced level, being able to write formally starts to increase in importance. Not only do successful candidates at...
Cambridge Speaking Part 1 – Chat Cards
Speaking Part 1 in Preliminary (PET), First (FCE) and Advanced (CAE) are all quite similar and can be practised with...
First day of exam class – Get to know the exam (Cambridge)
The first day of class can be tough to plan for, whether its an exam class or not. There’s a...
Advanced (CAE) C1 Key Word Transformations – Fixed Expressions
Advanced (CAE) C1 key word transformations can be a huge challenge for students. These fixed expressions CAE transformations use expressions...
Advanced (CAE) Word Formation Board Game
Advanced (CAE) word formation gets to be quite tricky. You might occasionally get an easy word, but you’ll also get multiple...
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How to prepare for Advanced (CAE)
When preparing for the Cambridge Advanced (CAE) English exam, candidates should focus on improving linguistic output. At C1, it’s not enough to be good, you have to show off. Focus on high level, complex grammar and vocabulary while also practising reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
Cambridge describes their Advanced exam as rigorous, which is a fitting adjective. Once someone has achieved a Cambridge C1 level, there is no doubt that they are able to use English effectively in personal, professional and academic capacities.
Here are some things you can do to prepare for the exam:
- Read in English all the time – Read newspapers, magazines, books, stories and pretty much anything that you can get your hands on.
- Listen to English as much as possible – Watching TV is great, but it’s not enough to improve listening skills for a CAE English level. Use websites like Radio 4 in Four to challenge yourself.
- Practise writing formal texts – The majority of writing tasks at C1 level will be formal. Look at models of essays, reports, proposals and formal letters and reproduce them yourself.
- Brush up on your grammar and vocabulary – If your basic grammar isn’t prefect, you’re not ready for the CAE English exam. You need to eliminate all those little mistakes and slips from your speaking and writing or you’ll endanger your chances of passing the exam.
- Take a class – There’s no substitute for classes when preparing for an official exam. It will give you the chance to practise speaking while having a teacher to guide you through the preparation process.
- Practice makes perfect – Get your hands on some practice exams and do lots of them. After you’ve done a few, the element of surprise is gone and your timing will be better.
Enjoy the Advanced (CAE) materials!
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