This course does not invent its own word list. Every level has a ceiling made of published lists — Dolch sight words, Fry frequency bands, the General Service List, the Academic Word List, and the Oxford 5000 with its CEFR bands. A word is allowed at a level only if it is inside that level's lists, and a machine checks every chapter against them.
Grammar climbs a separate ladder — how many clauses, then finite to non-finite, then moving the word order — and it is pinned to vocabulary: a grammar point whose natural examples need words above the ceiling is not taught at that level. Exam question types open the same way, so the reading questions in the upper levels are the ones a college-entrance paper actually asks.
| Level | Vocabulary ceiling | Grammar | Question types opening here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 US grades 3-5 | starter dolch, fry1000, oxford5000 cefr | simple sentence | literal recall |
| Level 2 US grades 3-5 | everyday dolch, fry1000, oxford5000 cefr | compound sentence | simple inference |
| Level 3 US grades 6-8 | general dolch, fry1000, oxford5000 cefr | complex sentence | main idea, vocab in context |
| Level 4 US grades 6-8 | broad dolch, fry1000, oxford5000 cefr, gsl | non finite | grammar in context |
| Level 5 US grades 9-12 | academic5 dolch, fry1000, oxford5000 cefr, gsl, awl sublists | complex compound | blank inference, sentence order |
| Level 6 US grades 9-12 | academic10 dolch, fry1000, oxford5000 cefr, gsl, awl sublists | word order shift | irrelevant sentence, sentence insert |