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Course Contents

The Full C1 Roadmap

10 units · 50 lessons · 10 Review Labs · communication-first across reading, listening, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and speaking.

  1. A0/A1Beginner
  2. A1/A2Elementary
  3. A2/B1Pre-Intermediate
  4. B1/B1+Intermediate
  5. B2Upper-Intermediate
  6. C1Advanced
  7. C2Proficiency

Unit 1 · Lessons 01–05

Identity, Values & Human Behaviour

What shapes who we are

CEFR C1-

Move beyond self-introduction into the C1 territory of values, behaviour and identity — articulating what you stand for and defending it under polite challenge.

Communicative goal: Articulate personal values, interpret human behaviour, and discuss identity with nuance across generations and cultures.

Lessons

  1. 01

    Values & Voice

    What you stand for and how it shows

  2. 02

    Beneath the Surface

    Personality, behaviour and what we read in others

  3. 03

    Belonging & Difference

    Identity in groups, generations and cultures

  4. 04

    The Shaping Forces

    Family, society and the formation of self

  5. 05

    Defending What Matters

    Articulating values under pressure

Learning outcomes

  • Use a wide range of evaluative and abstract vocabulary to describe values, motivations and personality.
  • Read and signal subtext, tone and implied attitude in others.
  • Adapt register from intimate to formal-public when discussing the self.
  • Defend a personal value position under polite challenge with hedged but firm stance.

Review Lab 1

Review Lab 1 — The Values Forum

Consolidate Lessons 01–05

A moderated panel where learners present and defend a personal value position, respond to challenge with diplomacy and summarise opposing views before responding.

Articulating valuesDiplomatic disagreementReading subtextRegister control

Unit 2 · Lessons 06–10

Leadership, Influence & Professional Communication

Leading, influencing, operating with authority

CEFR C1

Move from participating in work to shaping it: leadership voice, influence without authority, decision-making meetings and high-stakes professional writing.

Communicative goal: Lead, influence and operate fluently in professional spoken and written genres; manage difficult workplace conversations.

Lessons

  1. 06

    The Leader’s Voice

    Leadership presence and style

  2. 07

    Influencing Without Authority

    Persuasion across hierarchy

  3. 08

    Managing The Room

    Meetings that decide

  4. 09

    Written Authority

    Briefs, reports and emails that land

  5. 10

    Difficult Conversations

    Feedback, refusal and escalation

Learning outcomes

  • Use nominalisation and impersonal structures for professional distance.
  • Influence across hierarchy without explicit authority.
  • Run a decision-making meeting and produce briefs, reports and high-stakes emails.
  • Deliver and receive critical feedback; refuse and escalate professionally.

Review Lab 2

Review Lab 2 — The Leadership Brief

Consolidate Lessons 06–10

Deliver a strategic recommendation to a panel, absorb hostile questioning and submit a written brief that synthesises the discussion.

Leadership voiceInfluenceChairingStrategic writing

Unit 3 · Lessons 11–15

Global Mobility, Culture & Perspective

Living between cultures

CEFR C1

Beyond the travel phrasebook: pragmatic awareness across cultures, intercultural negotiation and mediation, lingua-franca clarity and global identity.

Communicative goal: Communicate across cultures with pragmatic awareness; negotiate and mediate between different communication norms.

Lessons

  1. 11

    Between Cultures

    Living, working and studying across borders

  2. 12

    Direct & Indirect

    High- and low-context communication styles

  3. 13

    Reading What Isn’t Said

    Silence, subtext and taboo

  4. 14

    Negotiating Across Borders

    Intercultural negotiation and mediation

  5. 15

    The Global Self

    Identity, language and belonging in a global world

Learning outcomes

  • Recognise and produce indirectness, hedging and high-/low-context styles.
  • Read silence, taboo and humour across cultures.
  • Negotiate and mediate when communication norms collide.
  • Discuss global identity, migration and belonging with nuance.

Review Lab 3

Review Lab 3 — The Cross-Border Negotiation

Consolidate Lessons 11–15

Simulate a partnership negotiation between two teams with different communication norms; mediate a breakdown and debrief on style and meaning.

Intercultural awarenessMediationNegotiationPragmatic reading

Unit 4 · Lessons 16–20

Media, Narratives & Public Opinion

Deconstructing how stories shape us

CEFR C1

Move from reporting news to deconstructing framing, propaganda and platform discourse, then write and speak with stance.

Communicative goal: Deconstruct framing and propaganda; evaluate sources; write and speak with stance.

Lessons

  1. 16

    How Stories Are Framed

    Narrative, angle and omission

  2. 17

    The Source Question

    Evaluating evidence and intent

  3. 18

    Manufacturing Opinion

    Persuasion and propaganda at scale

  4. 19

    Voices Online

    Platforms, polarisation and public discourse

  5. 20

    Writing With a Stance

    Opinion writing with balance and edge

Learning outcomes

  • Identify framing, angle, omission and rhetorical strategy in real texts.
  • Evaluate evidence, source intent and bias with calibrated certainty.
  • Write op-ed-style opinion with balance and edge.
  • Discuss platform discourse and polarisation with critical vocabulary.

Review Lab 4

Review Lab 4 — The Editorial Desk

Consolidate Lessons 16–20

Take a contested story, write a 350-word op-ed, defend it at a simulated editorial meeting and revise in response to peer critique.

Critical analysisEvidence evaluationStance writingDefending an argument

Unit 5 · Lessons 21–25

Mind, Wellbeing & Human Psychology

How we think, feel and decide

CEFR C1

Beyond symptoms and advice: cognitive bias, motivation, mental health discourse and the ethics of the wellness industry — discussed with diplomacy and evidence.

Communicative goal: Discuss psychology, mental health and wellbeing with diplomacy and evidence; evaluate contested wellbeing claims.

Lessons

  1. 21

    Why We Do What We Do

    Motivation, habit and psychology

  2. 22

    The Mind in Public

    Mental health, language and stigma

  3. 23

    Behind the Bias

    Cognitive bias and how we reason

  4. 24

    The Wellness Question

    Industry, evidence and ethics

  5. 25

    Speaking About Hard Things

    Diplomatic discussion of sensitive topics

Learning outcomes

  • Use sensitive, non-stigmatising language in extended discussion.
  • Discuss cognitive bias, motivation and behaviour change with psychological vocabulary.
  • Evaluate evidence-based vs anecdotal claims.
  • Mediate disagreement on contested wellbeing topics.

Review Lab 5

Review Lab 5 — The Wellbeing Panel

Consolidate Lessons 21–25

Chair a panel debate on a contested wellbeing claim; mediate disagreement; summarise opposing positions for an audience.

Sensitive discussionMediationEvidence evaluationSummarising perspectives

Unit 6 · Lessons 26–30

Society, Ethics & Global Challenges

Reasoning ethically about contested issues

CEFR C1

From opinion to ethical reasoning: principle vs consequence, trade-offs, steelmanning and moving deliberation toward decision.

Communicative goal: Reason ethically; weigh trade-offs; present balanced positions on contested public issues and move discussion toward decision.

Lessons

  1. 26

    The Ethics of Now

    Moral reasoning in contemporary debates

  2. 27

    Trade-offs & Tensions

    When good values collide

  3. 28

    Whose Responsibility?

    Individual, collective and institutional

  4. 29

    Arguing the Other Side

    Steelmanning and balanced argument

  5. 30

    From Debate to Decision

    Moving discussion toward resolution

Learning outcomes

  • Construct ethical arguments using principle, consequence and trade-off reasoning.
  • Steelman opposing views and concede strategically.
  • Discuss collective vs individual responsibility with nuance.
  • Synthesise debate into a defensible recommendation.

Review Lab 6

Review Lab 6 — The Citizens’ Assembly

Consolidate Lessons 26–30

Receive a wicked-problem brief, deliberate in small groups, reach a reasoned recommendation and present and defend it under questioning.

Ethical argumentSteelmanningSynthesisDeliberation

Unit 7 · Lessons 31–35

Knowledge, Learning & Critical Thinking

How knowledge is made, defended and contested

CEFR C1+

From describing education to engaging critically with ideas and sources: synthesis, calibrated claims and substantive intellectual discussion.

Communicative goal: Engage critically with ideas and sources; synthesise multiple perspectives; calibrate claims; participate in substantive intellectual discussion.

Lessons

  1. 31

    The Knowledge Question

    What counts as knowing

  2. 32

    Reading Critically

    Sources, claims and assumptions

  3. 33

    Synthesising Voices

    Multiple perspectives into one argument

  4. 34

    Hedging & Claiming

    Calibrated certainty in writing and speech

  5. 35

    The Lifelong Learner

    Curiosity, expertise and intellectual identity

Learning outcomes

  • Question assumptions and identify gaps in reasoning.
  • Synthesise multiple sources into a coherent position.
  • Hedge and qualify claims with precision.
  • Discuss expertise, intellectual humility and lifelong learning.

Review Lab 7

Review Lab 7 — The Ideas Exchange

Consolidate Lessons 31–35

Deliver an 8-minute TED-style talk on an idea, take Q&A and submit a 300-word companion piece in a real-world intellectual register.

SynthesisCalibrated claimsIdea presentationHandling Q&A

Unit 8 · Lessons 36–40

Innovation, Technology & Ethics

Ethical reasoning about what tech makes possible

CEFR C1+

Beyond gadget chat: AI displacement, privacy, surveillance and pitching innovation under critical questioning.

Communicative goal: Speculate with ethical reasoning about technology; pitch ideas under critical questioning; weigh the consequences of innovation.

Lessons

  1. 36

    What Tech Lets Us Do

    Capability, choice and consequence

  2. 37

    Working With AI

    Collaboration, displacement and meaning

  3. 38

    Whose Data Is It?

    Privacy, surveillance and rights

  4. 39

    The Innovation Pitch

    Pitching ideas under critical questioning

  5. 40

    Where We’re Heading

    Measured prediction and ethical foresight

Learning outcomes

  • Speculate across time using a wide range of modal and conditional structures.
  • Argue ethical positions on AI, privacy and biotech.
  • Pitch a complex idea and defend it under hostile questioning.
  • Forecast with measured uncertainty, distinguishing prediction from advocacy.

Review Lab 8

Review Lab 8 — The Innovation Hearing

Consolidate Lessons 36–40

Pitch a technology to an ethics panel, absorb pointed questions and revise your proposal live in response.

Ethical speculationPitchingHandling hostile Q&APersuasion

Unit 9 · Lessons 41–45

Culture, Creativity & Interpretation

Interpreting, arguing, writing about culture

CEFR C1+

Beyond like/dislike: interpretation, aesthetic argument, controversy and long-form critical writing in a rhetorical voice.

Communicative goal: Interpret cultural work with depth; argue aesthetic judgement; write and speak with rhetorical voice.

Lessons

  1. 41

    Reading The Work

    Interpretation and the layered text

  2. 42

    Taste & Judgement

    Aesthetic argument with reasoning

  3. 43

    Art in The World

    Culture, power and controversy

  4. 44

    Writing About Culture

    The long review and the critical essay

  5. 45

    Telling the Story

    Narrative craft in real communication

Learning outcomes

  • Move beyond like/dislike to interpretation and argument.
  • Use imagery, metaphor and parallelism in spoken and written argument.
  • Discuss censorship, controversy and the social role of art.
  • Write a long-form review or critical essay.

Review Lab 9

Review Lab 9 — The Cultural Review

Consolidate Lessons 41–45

Write a critical review of a chosen work, defend a controversial reading and chair a peer’s discussion of theirs.

InterpretationAesthetic argumentRhetorical writingChairing discussion

Unit 10 · Lessons 46–50

Change, Influence & The Future

Integrated synthesis: stance, irony, public voice

CEFR C1+

Bring everything together: stance, qualification, irony and public-voice communication — the C1 finale and bridge to C2.

Communicative goal: Integrate everything from Units 1–9: speak with stance, irony and nuance; lead, persuade and reflect; bridge to C2.

Lessons

  1. 46

    Saying What You Mean

    Stance, qualification and precision

  2. 47

    Irony, Wit & Understatement

    The half-said and the implied

  3. 48

    The Public Statement

    Speaking on behalf of others

  4. 49

    Living With Complexity

    Holding ambiguity without confusion

  5. 50

    Your C1 Voice & Onward

    Synthesis, reflection and readiness for C2

Learning outcomes

  • Express stance, qualification, ambivalence and irony.
  • Speak on behalf of others in public-statement register.
  • Hold and communicate complexity without oversimplifying.
  • Reflect on personal C1 progress and identify gaps for C2.

Review Lab 10

Review Lab 10 — The Showcase

Consolidate Lessons 46–50

A final integrated assessment: a 10-minute talk on a chosen issue plus Q&A and a 400-word companion piece, drawing on at least four prior units and peer-evaluated against C1 descriptors.

SynthesisPublic voiceStance & nuanceReflection