Business English Course

Course Description

Business English courses at our school are ideal for adults who need to use English confidently in real work situations. The course focuses on practical skills for meetings, presentations, emails, and phone calls, enabling clear and professional communication with colleagues and clients. Students can choose an intensive short stay to focus on specific goals, or a longer course that allows time to build strong fluency, expand business vocabulary, and feel fully prepared to use English in their career.

What will I be able to do after this Award?

SPEAKING

• Ask for factual information, understand and reflect on the answer
• Deal with routine requests for goods and services
• Contribute effectively to meetings, brainstorming sessions, and interviews with guest speakers and seminars, amongst other likely scenarios
• Express own opinion, present arguments with a reasonable amount of practice, and argue for or against a case
• Confidently deliver prepared presentations that are well-structured, signposted, and which make reference to visual data as well as research material
• Deliver competent performances in an individual capacity as well as in a team setting
• Engage in extended conversation with visitors and new connections (for instance, at trade fairs or acquaintances made during conferences) on matters within areas of general business competence, as well as socialise with colleagues, clients, and guests in entertainment settings such as over a meal
• Practise using English in real-world business scenarios and receive feedback to improve communication skills over the phone and in online as well as in-person scenarios

LISTENING

• Follow discussion with only occasional need for clarification
• Take and pass on most messages during a normal working day
• Understand a large variety of speakers – sometimes monologuing, dialoguing, or speaking at the same time – speaking at different speeds, with different accents, and at various degrees of technical difficulty
• Understand the importance of and practise active listening for quality communication, to respond appropriately in business situations, and to prevent communication breakdowns

READING

• Follow discussion with only occasional need for clarification
• Take and pass on most messages during a normal working day
• Understand a large variety of speakers – sometimes monologuing, dialoguing, or speaking at the same time – speaking at different speeds, with different accents, and at various degrees of technical difficulty
• Understand the importance of and practise active listening for quality communication, to respond appropriately in business situations, and to prevent communication breakdowns

VOCABULARY & ACCURACY

• Recall chunks of language (e.g., phrasal verbs, word partnerships, fixed expressions, idioms, colloquialisms, conversational phrases) and know when to use them appropriately in speaking or writing
• Evolve a comprehensive vocabulary for a variety of business-related topics, such as finance, marketing, management, human resources, energy, technology, and law
• Be able to define and use a number of technical terms appropriately in English
• Identify and adopt linguistic strategies for developing interpersonal relationships, networking, bargaining, negotiating deals, resolving conflicts, and problem-solving in a wide range of business contexts
• Improve working grammar and vocabulary to ensure clear and effective communication in business settings
• Show good to excellent control of a range of simple to complex grammatical forms in language production
• Increase cross-cultural awareness and understand how to create rapport with business partners from diverse backgrounds

WRITING

• Apply knowledge of the various written forms used for professional interaction to construct them according to requirements
• Get lots of practice writing e-mails, memos, factual reports, press releases, instant messaging and social media updates, business proposals, meeting minutes, plans, and more
• Learn to summarise, inform, evaluate, advise….all the things you can do in speaking but in writing