Speaking

The Cambridge C1 Advanced — widely known by its former name, the CAE — sits at the top end of the professional English proficiency range. It certifies that you can operate in English with a degree of fluency, precision, and nuance that makes you effective in demanding academic and professional environments.

One of the first questions English beginners ask: how many words do I need to know? The answer depends on what you want to do with your English — and it's more encouraging than most people expect.

You understand English. You can read it, you can write it, you might even think in it sometimes. But the moment you need to speak — in a meeting, with a native speaker, in a job interview — something happens. You freeze. You reach for a word that won't come. You second-guess your grammar mid-sentence. You apologise for your English before you've even started.

Adults want to learn English faster than they currently are. That's almost universal. And the market is full of promises — apps that claim fluency in three months, courses that guarantee results, techniques borrowed from polyglots who seem to absorb languages effortlessly. Most of it either doesn't work or works much more slowly than advertised.

B2 is the most important English level for most people on the planet. It's the level most employers mean when they write "fluent English required." It's the minimum for most UK and European university programmes. It's the gateway to most skilled worker visa pathways. And it's the threshold where using English stops feeling like a performance and starts feeling like a tool.

Not all English certificates are created equal. Some are accepted by immigration authorities on five continents. Some are required by specific professional bodies. Some are useful for your CV but carry little weight in formal applications. And some — the ones that matter most — can only be taken online, on your schedule, without sitting in an exam centre.

"Which is easier — IELTS or TOEFL?" is one of the most searched questions in English language testing. And the honest answer is: neither is easier. They're different in ways that matter enormously depending on your strengths, your goal, and how your brain processes language under pressure.

PTE Academic is one of the fastest-growing English proficiency tests in the world — and for good reason. Results arrive within 48 hours, it's accepted by over 3,500 universities and institutions globally, and the AI-based scoring eliminates examiner bias. If you've applied to universities in Australia, the UK, or Canada, or need an English test for immigration, you've almost certainly encountered it.

The Occupational English Test (OET) is the English exam designed specifically for healthcare professionals — nurses, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and more than a dozen other clinical disciplines. Unlike IELTS or TOEFL, which test general academic English, OET places every task in a clinical context: patient consultations, clinical case notes, referral letters, and medical team discussions.

You can write a polished email. You can prepare a presentation in advance. But the moment someone interrupts a meeting with an unexpected question — in English — the gap between your written fluency and your spoken fluency becomes painfully visible.

You've probably done the mental maths: group classes are cheaper, private lessons are more expensive. So the question most people ask is "can I afford private English lessons?" But that's the wrong question.

The TOEFL Speaking section trips up more test-takers than any other part of the exam — not because the English is hardest here, but because the format is unlike anything most people have practised before.

The IELTS Speaking test is the most personal part of the entire exam — and for many candidates, the most nerve-wracking. Unlike the Reading or Listening sections, there's no answer sheet to fill in.

You've been learning English for years. You understand most of what you read. You can follow a conversation when people speak slowly. But the moment you need to speak — your words disappear, your grammar collapses, and you spend the next hour replaying what you should have said.