Business English - starts October

You must speak and understand English at least to Level B1 on the Common European Framework for Languages

Week 1 First Meetings

• Introduction to the course
• Greeting and introductions
• Making small talk in business settings
• Choosing the right level of formality
• Question forms in English
• Business jargon
• Problems communicating in English
• Continuous speech

Reading and exercises will be drawn from various parts of the course text

Business English Units 1, 2 & 12

Week 2 Brands and Competition

• Key vocabulary for talking about brands and competition
• Revision of simple present and present continuous
• Revision of order of adjectives in English and gradable and non-gradable adjectives
• Listening strategies
• Reading strategies
• Luxury brands
• Meeting skills 1 – discussing how to strengthen a brand

Market Leader Unit 1

Business English Units 15 & 17

Week 3 Talking about Change

• Phrases and vocabulary for talking about change
• Revision of use of modal verbs to express certainty about change
• Revision of simple past and present perfect
• Revision of “used to”, “be used to”, “get used to”
• Meeting skills 2 – discussing planned changes
• Writing skills 1 – business emails

Market Leader Unit 3

Business English Unit 4

Week 4 The Internal Structure of Organizations

• Key vocabulary for describing how a firm is organised
• Key vocabulary for describing company culture
• Listening skills
• Reading skills
• Talking about your organization

Market Leader Unit 4

Business English Unit 3

Week 5 Advertising

• Talking about key features of advertising
• Key advertising terminology
• Reading skills
• Revision of the use of articles in English
• Presentation skills – making a pitch for a product
• Writing skills 2 – writing an advertisement

Market Leader Unit 5

Business English Units 18, 37 & 38

Week 6 Finance and Economics

• Key vocabulary for talking about finance and the economy
• Describing trends
• Expressing numerical quantities in English
• Listening skills
• Writing skills 3 – writing a business plan

Market Leader Unit 6

Business English Units 6 & 40

Week 7 Human Resources

• Key vocabulary for talking about HR issues
• Job descriptions and person specifications
• Revision of the use of modal verbs to express degree of obligation
• Revision of the passive voice in English
• Reading skills – job advertisements
• Speaking skills – job interview practice
• Meeting skills 3 – having difficult conversations
• Writing skills – writing a covering letter

Business English Units 29, 30, 31 & 32

Week 8 Planning and Objective Setting

• Ways of talking about the future
• Revision of conditional structures in English
• Revision of the future present perfect
• Speaking skills – having a performance review
• Writing skills – writing a plan

Business English Unit 10

Week 9 Dealing with Customers and Suppliers

• Revision of past and present perfect continuous tenses
• Meeting skills 4 – sales negotiations
• Writing skills – writing formal business letters to customers and suppliers
• Speaking skills – complaint handling

Business English Units 8 & 11

Week 10 International Business

• Talking about cultural differences
• Typical problems encountered in international meetings and how to deal with them
• Talking about strategy
• Writing skills – writing a report

Business English unit 7

Professor Gary Cook holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester. He taught entrepreneurship and innovation at Loughborough University and economics at the University of Liverpool before joining Hull University Business School as Director and Professor of Economics. He is also a Visiting Professor of International Business at the Centre for International Business at the University of Leeds.

At Imperial College's Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication, Gary teaches various undergraduate modules in business and management, in addition to very popular adult education courses in Business English and Introduction to Business.

Gary's main area of research are industrial clusters with a particular focus on the broadcasting and financial services industries.

Rate Categories and Discounts

Standard Rate

• Available to all except those who fall under the Internal Rate or Associate Rate category.

Internal Rate

• Current Imperial College students and staff (incl. Imperial NHS Trust, Imperial Innovations, ancillary & service staff employed on long-term contracts at Imperial College by third-party contractors)
• People enrolling under our Friends & Family scheme
• Alumni of Imperial College and predecessor colleges and institutes, including City & Guilds College Association members
• Students, staff and alumni of the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Music and City, UAL and the City and Guilds of London Art School
• Students, staff and Governors of Woodhouse College and the IC Mathematics School

Associate Rate

• Austrian Cultural Forum staff
• Co-operative College members
• Francis Crick Institute staff, researchers and students
• Friends and Patrons of the English Chamber Orchestra
• Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
• Friends of Leighton House/ Sambourne House
• Friends of the Royal College of Music
• Harrods staff
• Historic Royal Palaces staff
• Lycee Charles de Gaulle staff
• Members of the Friends of Imperial College
• Members of the Kennel Club
• Members of the London Zoological Society
• Members of the South London Botanical Institute (SLBI)
• Members of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
• National Health Service (NHS) employees
• Natural History Museum staff
• Residents of postcodes SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10 and W8
• Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council staff
• Royal Geographical Society staff
• Science Museum staff
• Staff of Exhibition Road Cultural Group (Discover South Kensington) organisations
• Students (non-Imperial College)
• Teachers and other staff of UK schools
• The American Institute for Foreign Study
• Tutors and other staff of institution members of the Association of Colleges
• Tutors and other staff of other universities and higher education institutions
• Victoria and Albert Museum staff

Late enrolment

It is possible to enrol on many of our adult education courses after the course has already started. For non-language courses this is subject entirely to agreement by the tutor. For language courses it is subject to agreement by the language coordinator conducting level assessment. If you want to join a course late do bear in mind there might be work you will need to catch up on, particularly in language courses.

Friends and Family Scheme

This course is eligible for allowing Imperial College students and staff to share their discount with their friends and family.

Enrolment via the blue booking link is open. Early-bird discounts are available until the end of 30 September 2024

Enrolment and payment run through the Imperial College eStore. When enrolling:

• Do check on the drop down menu above called "Course Fees and Rate Categories" to see if you are eligible for a discounted rate and also do make sure you select that rate when enrolling on the eStore
• If you are a first-time eStore user you will need to create an account before enrolling. You can do this by entering an email address and password. This account can then be used for any future enrolments via the eStore.

When you have enrolled you will be sent the following email notifications:

If you have any questions about the academic content or teaching of this course please contact our Business English Tutor, Gary Cook, g.cook@imperial.ac.uk

If you have any questions about your enrolment or payment processes please contact the Programme Administrator, Christian Jacobi, eveningclass@imperial.ac.uk