Did you know that for only £7.22 per hour you can improve your English and get ahead your career?
Our exclusive Business English Evening Courses are designed for those who wish to improve their English language skills for use in a professional context and covers the following aspects:
Presentations
Negotiations
Meetings
Telephone Conversations
Socialising
Report Writing
Email
By the end of this course, clients should be able to:
Communicate confidently and fluently in English
Deliver clear and effective presentations
Participate in meetings and negotiations on equal terms and be able to influence, persuade, compromise and be assertive
Communicate with a high level of grammatical accuracy and vocabulary
Extract all relevant information from written text
Write reports, letters and emails
Deal with telephone calls and video conferences effectively
Deal with intercultural and social situations
Discuss current affairs and business topics
The course will last for 12 weeks with a minimum of five students and a maximum of 10. Lessons will take place twice per week on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 18.30 – 20.00
When we ask our students which aspects of English they find most difficult, most will include ‘spelling’ and ‘pronunciation’ in their reply.
Our students aren’t alone; last week, a Guardian newspaper article summed it up: “You can’t tell the spelling from the pronunciation, and you can’t tell the pronunciation from the spelling. No wonder people find English difficult!”
Here is a well-known puzzle which illustrates this issue:
How do we pronounce the word ‘ghoti’?
The answer is ‘fish’.
So how can ‘ghoti’ and ‘fish’ sound the same? They can, if we pronounce:
gh as in enough f
o as in women i
ti as in nation sh
Of course, this is a joke – ‘ghoti’ is not even a real word. But it shows the inconsistency of English spelling. It is very important to understand – and most students do, very quickly! – that English spelling and English pronunciation are often not the same.
Consider blue, shoe, flew, through, you, two and too. That’s right, seven different spellings but only one sound. How about sound, soup and southern? The same spelling, ‘ou’, pronounced differently each time.
Here at inlingua we use a number of methods and techniques to help our students with spelling and pronunciation, both textbook methods as well as making use of poems and songs. With careful guidance our students, without exception, are very quickly able to make themselves understood when speaking and writing.
Of course, to become a proficient user takes time, and most learners will have moments where they feel some part of the language they are learning is a challenge too far.
How can you overcome this feeling?
Some teachers, myself included, try to encourage students to embrace – to enjoy - this aspect of the language. There is a reason – well, an explanation! – as to why English has such irregular spelling, and that explanation takes you through the history of the language.
So why not take an interest not only in learning how to use the language, but in its interesting history, too?
An alternative is to hope that the English Spelling Society, founded in 1908, finally succeeds in ‘updating’ ‘British English’ spelling. Their guide to the history of the language is an interesting read (there are also some useful guides to English spelling on their website), but I wonder if you’ll agree with their arguments?
http://spellingsociety.org/history#/page/1
As well as irregular spelling, we’ve had a number of students complain that English has ‘too many sounds’. So how many does it have? The number most often given, is 44 – or 43.5! However, if you travelled around a number of English-speaking countries, you’d encounter many more, and would notice that some English speakers use less.
There are many languages with more sounds than English, but as teachers we recognise that 44 is a fairly high number in comparison to some of our students’ mother tongues. Spanish, for example, has approximately 24 sounds, and so Spanish speakers learning English really have to exercise their tongues!
Of course, it’s the number of sounds new to students that presents a challenge. Again, at inlingua we take great care in coaching and guiding our students towards correct pronunciation. That process can be fun – and messy.
Finally, when it all seems too much, let’s not forget Ubyjkh. Unfortunately it’s thought that the last speaker of that language died in 1992, but he/she would have used at least 86 sounds, 84 of them consonants. Compared to that challenge, we have it easy!
It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the present perfect simple and the present perfect progressive.
Compare the following sentences:
1. I have written 6 letters this morning 2. I have been writing letters all morning.
In example 1 (present perfect simple), the implication is that the action is completed and the focus is on the AMOUNT or QUANTITY of something (in this case, the letters).
In example 2 (present perfect continuous/progressive), the action may or may not be completed depending on the context (maybe you just finished writing letters, or maybe you have more to write). Example 2 does not express an amount or quantity, it focuses more on the DURATION (all morning).
In summary, present perfect simple focuses on AMOUNT/QUANTITY, whereas present perfect continuous focuses on DURATION. Compare the following:
1. I have eaten the chocolates. 2. I have been eating chocolates.
Example 1 focuses on the AMOUNT of chocolates, indicating that the chocolates are finished. In example 2, it focuses on the DURATION of the action, which may or may not be completed (there may still be chocolates to eat).
Potential Problems
So far, we have seen that present perfect simple focuses on AMOUNT and present perfect continuous on DURATION. However, look at the following sentences:
I have been a teacher for 7 years. I have had a car for 6 years.
In both sentences, present perfect simple is used when expressing a duration. Why is this?
This is because the verbs ‘be’ and ‘have’ belong to a group of verbs known as state (or stative) verbs. That is, they express a state (a feeling, or something permanent). In other words, they do not describe a physical action (for example: eat, dance, drink, sing).
Other state (stative) verbs include: like, dislike, hate, love. While action (or dynamic) verbs have continuous forms, state verbs DO NOT HAVE CONTINUOUS FORMS, as they are not physical actions.
Learning Present Perfect and Present Perfect Progressive
The best way to learn these tenses is to use hobbies and careers. For example:
I started playing guitar in 1999 and I still play guitar now, so I have been playing guitar for 17 years. In these 17 years I have learnt 200 songsand played 150 shows.
“Speaking” classes should be fun, stimulating and hopefully a great way for students to learn some new vocabulary (and grammar). The teacher will always try to get everybody speaking, he/she may make you speak in pairs or in small groups or in front of the class but the important thing is you have to speak!
Things to Do
Some people are shy but don’t worry about making mistakes, even students who appear to be very good make mistakes too. Remember you are there to speak – the teacher will try to involve you as much as possible.
Try to listen to the other students carefully – they will always know words that you don’t know.
Bring a notebook or paper and pen. There will always be new words/grammar to learn. Yes, it is a speaking class but writing things down helps you remember.
Sometimes you will be asked your opinion on subjects you don’t like or are not interested in, but remember you are there to practice your English – so say something! Even if it’s not your true opinion. Of course, you can always say “I’m not interested” but then please say why, like “the politicians in my country are all corrupt” etc..
If you want to suggest something to talk about maybe a newspaper article or something on the news please suggest it to the teacher. He or she will really like that you want to talk about something in particular.
Things Not to Do
Sometimes (not very often at inlingua Edinburgh) there can be people of the same nationality – always try to sit near somebody who ISN’T the same nationality and of course, NEVER speak your own language!
Don’t shout! People need to hear you but if the classroom is small we can hear you!
Try not to use bad language (swear words) – yes, sometimes we all say words we shouldn’t but particularly in English you have to be careful with swear words in certain situations. At a pub or football match swearing is fine but swearing in English with people you don’t know or don’t know well is a real “no no”.
Don’t get angry with the other students in the class if they have different opinions that you really don’t like. Perhaps they don’t really mean what they say and perhaps they don’t have the words in English to express what they really want to say. In any case, it’s just an English class! You are there to practice your English and it doesn’t really matter what your opinion is (though it can be great to have some ‘deep’ discussions too)
Learn with Rebecca from EngVid 10 common business abbreviations used by native speakers in the workplace. Find out the difference between HR and PR, your USP, and your ROI. Such short forms are used every day in business. You need to understand and use them to be successful in your career. There are many aspects to the English language, in this lesson you’ll learn to communicate effectively using business English abbreviations.
Talking about the future in English can be complicated. Everyone knows that ‘will’ is used to talk about the future, but some learners make the mistake of using ‘will’ all the time. In this post I’ll explain the most common uses of ‘will’, and when ‘be going to’ or the Present Continuous should be used instead. If you’re not sure of the differences or just want to review, read on!
Will
Form: Subject + will (+ not) + infinitive
The main difference between ‘will’ and the other forms concerns when the speaker decides his/her future actions. ‘Will’ is used for decisions made in the moment. If the speaker has decided what to do at an earlier time, we use ‘be going to’ or the Present Continuous (see below).
Example: Everything on this menu looks delicious, but I think I’ll have the salad.
‘Will’ has many other uses – here are some more. Note that when we make offers or suggestions in the form of a question, we use ‘shall’ instead of ‘will’.
Offers Example: You look cold. I’ll turn up the heating. OR Shall I turn up the heating?
Suggestions Example: Shall we go to the cinema?
Promises Example: I won’t tell anyone your secret!
Predictions Example: I think it’ll snow tonight.
Be going to
Form: Subject + be (+ not) + going to + infinitive
We use ‘be going to’ to talk about our plans or intentions for the future. Using ‘be going to’ indicates that we have already thought about the future before we speak. Example: I’m going to see the new Star Wars film this weekend.
Similarly, if we ask a question with ‘be going to’ we are not asking the person we are addressing to make a decision now – we think the decision has already been made. Example: Are you going to visit your parents this Christmas?
We can also use ‘be going to’ for predictions, especially if we have some evidence. Example: This is Edinburgh – of course it’s going to rain today!
Using the Present Continuous to talk about the future is very similar to ‘be going to’. In many cases, either form can be used. However, the Present Continuous is only used to talk about definite arrangements or plans, not intentions.
Example: I’m not going back to my hometown this Christmas – I’m staying in Edinburgh.
I hope you’ve found this short summary of future forms useful! For more detailed information, I’d recommend consulting Michael Swan’s Practical English Usage or Raymond Murphy’s English Grammar in Use.
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