Business English

Learn Better English Online

Student Comment  "It has taught me to write better reports/business letters and emails.  I feel I have improved! I feel more confident.  Excellent feedback and advice! Clear and positive, Positive feedback encourages you to continue."

• Improve your English Skills
• Ideal for Business
• Suitable mid level ESL

Good communication is essential for anyone in business. An email or letter may be the very first thing a person sees about you. And first impressions DO count.

This course will develop your knowledge of English grammar and your ability to write in English for business and study. The course is aimed at students who can write and speak basic English and wish to strengthen their English language skills, particularly their writing skills. Students will learn by reading the course notes, completing written and spoken exercises for each lesson, and submitting them for comment and correction. Your tutor will provide ongoing and personalised support.

The English language is complex and varied having evolved from several languages (Latin, French, and Anglo-Saxon) over the centuries. In order to become proficient in the English language it is important to consider the range of differences between English and the collection of languages around the world.

This course will help improve your ability to read and write in English.

This course is suitable for anyone in business who would like to improve their English skills.

Lesson Structure

There are 12 lessons in this course:

1. Parts of speech
   • Introduction
   • Parts of speech ... nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, etc
   • Gender; noun gener, pronoun gender
   • Adjectives; types of adjectives
   • Articles; definite and indefinite
   • When to Use an article
2. Verbs
   • Verb phrases
   • Auxillary or Helping Verbs
   • Subject - Verb Agreement
   • Gerunds
   • Verb Mood
   • Verb Tense
   • Present, Past, Mixed, Future Tense
   • Verb Voice
3. Parts of a sentence
   • Object
   • Clauses and phrases
   • Subject and Predicate
   • Roles of a Verb in a Sentence; transitive verbs, Intransitive verbs
4. Building and combining sentences
   • Sentence Construction
   • Basic Sentence Patterns
   • Verb Position in a Sentence
   • Forming Questions
   • Expanding Basic Sentences
   • Adding Modifying Words, Clauses or Phrases
   • Linking words
5. Vocabulary
   • Related words
   • Word origins
   • Prefixes
   • Suffixes
   • Word combinations
6. Developing vocabulary
   • Context
   • Formal and informal language
   • Connotative and denotative language
7. Writing for different purposes Part 1
   • Writing to obtain and clarify information
   • Purpose
   • Your Reader
   • Content
   • Method of Communicating
   • Guidelines for Effective Writing in English
   • Tips for Requesting and Clarifying Information
8. Writing for different purposes Part 2
   • Informative Writing Goals
   • Writing to provide information
   • What Else are You Communicating; Information, attitude, relationship
   • Tips for Providing Information; good, neutral or bad news
   • Persuasion
9. Writing for business
   • Writing letters
   • Short reports
   • Submissions
10. Study skills
    • Understanding concepts
    • Essay structure
    • Addressing all parts of a topic
    • Understanding what is required
    • Referencing
11. Proof reading and editing
    • Correcting and refining your document
    • Targeting the intended reader
12. Special project
    • Reading
    • Researching and writing for three different contexts (work, study, business).

Aims

• Understand the basic rules of grammar
• Apply rules of grammar to construct correct sentences
• Identify word parts ... word roots, prefixes and suffixes
• Use word parts to develop vocabulary
• Name the parts of speech
• Understand basic principles of correct sentence construction
• Understand the nature and purpose of a paragraph
• Identify different kinds of language - formal/informal, direct/indirect
• Identify appropriate language for different writing contexts
• Use correct formats for business writing
• Use correct formats for writing for study
• Improve pronunciation

What You Will Do

• Discuss basic principles and terms of English grammar
• Consider what are the parts of speech in English, and the forms in which they can be used
• Explain how to correctly use parts of speech, including as adverbs and pronouns
• Discuss
  • what are the basic building blocks of English sentences
  • how to construct correct sentences
  • how to vary sentence structure
  • what is a paragraph, and how to construct one
  • common work roots and how they are used to create different English words
  • the role and meanings of suffixes and prefixes
  • when and how to use direct (denotative) and indirect (connotative) language in business or study
  • how to write correctly for different purposes
  • correct business writing
  • how to respond appropriately to different study tasks
  • different writing formats for workplace and study
  • how and why to reference
  • how to edit a piece of writing to improve its organisation and readability
  • how to proof read a piece of writing to eliminate errors
  • what to consider when planning a piece of writing.

ESL Students often make simple mistakes.

It can be difficult to convert to English if they have been speaking a different language all their lives.

It is important when learning or developing your skills in a second language not to translate each word or sentence from your native tongue to the language you are learning.

In time you will become familiar enough with the new language to automatically recognise the foreign language from a new vocabulary. Also worth noting is the differences within a language. This may be referred to as a ‘dialect.’ This is a form of language spoken in a particular area generally distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. In addition to this you have ‘colloquialism’ or ‘slang’. These are informal words generally used in speech and restricted to a social of cultural group from a particular area. A typical Australian slang term would be ‘fair dinkum’ which is used in a number of ways but generally means ‘it’s true’. 

When learning the parts of speech and the general rules in applying these parts of speech one can eventually master the English language.

Parts of speech are the basic elements of language, and are used to build all language forms.

In English, the main parts of speech are:

• Nouns – words that name things, people, places, ideas or states of being (hat, dog, beauty, girl).
• Pronouns – words that stand in place of nouns (he, she, it, they, we, you).
• Adjectives – words that modify or tell more about nouns (cool, large, excellent, thin, inefficient).
• Verbs – words that state actions (sit, stand, be, think, do, throw, write).
• Adverbs – words that modify or tell more about verbs (slowly, quietly, soon, tomorrow, later, angrily).
• Prepositions –words that relate to position (about, below, above, inside, like, without, near).
• Conjunctions –words that join parts of a sentence (and, neither-nor, either-or, both, after, when, until).
• Interjections – words that express emotion or get attention (oh, help, goodness, wow, hey, cheers).

What to expect in the course

Each lesson contains lesson notes explaining key concepts or terms. There are also set readings. These may include additional readings, where you can read from a variety of different sources. Reading is an important part of learning to write well, so you are encouraged to do all the readings carefully.

In each lesson, you will be given a Set Task, which is one or more practical exercises, and an Assignment with 5 or more language exercises. When you complete all the writing exercises, submit your work to the school. You work will be assessed by a tutor. The tutor will comment on it and make corrections or write notes where needed, and give you a mark for the work, then your work will be returned to you.

If you do not understand any part of an assignment or task, you can contact the school at and ask for assistance. Alternatively, you can do as much of the work as you can, and send it in with a short note explaining what you found difficult. Your tutor will explain where needed. You may be asked to try that particular task again, and resubmit it.

While this course is aimed primarily at developing your English writing skills, it is designed to improve all of your language skills, including your speaking and reading skills. Therefore, some speaking and reading exercises have been included in some lessons. These are not part of the course assessment. However, we recommend that you complete the reading and speaking practices suggested in each lesson to maximise your learning.

WHY STUDY WITH ACS?

There are lots of reasons why you should sign up to do this course with us, including:

• The course is detailed to ensure that you have the level of knowledge required to apply the practices in your own work,to develop more effective communication skills
• Within each lesson you have the opportunity to apply your learning to activities which enables you to practice different concepts
• Showing that you have spent time developing your business English will enable you to stand out from other applicants when it comes to applying for jobs, it will also give you greater confidence
• Our subject specialist tutors will be there to support you throughout your course, they are only too happy to share their industry knowledge and experience with you
• When studying with us you set your own deadlines, meaning you study at your own pace enabling it to fit around other commitments

TAKE THE NEXT STEP AND ENROL NOW!

You can enrol on the course now, but if you have any questions about the content of the course or studying with ACS, then please get in touch with us today - use our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE to get in touch with our expert tutors. They will be pleased to help you!