Lesson 5
Welcome back to the blog.
In our fifth lesson we reviewed the grammar homework for future forms: Present Continuous for the future, going to, will/won’t/shall, and using ‘will’ and ‘might’ for predictions. We also reviewed must/have to/can for saying what is necessary/unnecessary, rules, and what is allowed.
The first topic we looked at in the textbook was topic 31, ‘Describing trends’. It looked at language commonly used in business to describe trends, changes and forecasts in business. Here is a video that looks at the basics for describing trends:
Here is another good video which looks at how to present business information using charts and graphs:
The next topic that we started to look at was topic 20, ‘Arranging a meeting’. Unfortunately we ran out of time, so I asked you to complete sections B, C, D and E on pages 44 and 45 for homework.
I also emailed you some grammar exercises on First Conditional and Zero Conditional to complete for homework. Here is an excellent video that explains the difference between First Conditional and Zero Conditional:
That’s all for this week. As I mentioned during our lesson, unfortunately I am unable to finish this course with you. My colleague Morty will be replacing me for your final three lessons. He is a very experienced teacher, and I’m sure you will all enjoy his charming Irish accent. He will be emailing you all early next week with the new Zoom meeting details, so please make sure to check your emails. (If you can’t find the email, don’t forget to check your Junk folder in case your email provide has accidentally sent it there.)
Finally, I’d like to thank you all for being such an pleasurable class to teach, and I wish you all the best for the future.
Steve
Lesson 4
Hello again.
In our fourth lesson we reviewed the grammar homework for the Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous tenses.
For those of you that had some difficulty with the homework, here is a short video explaining Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect :
Here is a longer, much more detailed explanation of how Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous are used:
The first topic we looked at in the textbook was topic 4, ‘Giving news’, which looked at Both formal and informal ways of delivering news to people in a work setting. After that we looked at topic 11, ‘Common mistakes 1’. As the title suggests, this topic covered some mistakes that are commonly made by people when using English as a second language. Unfortunately we did not have time to cover a third topic during our lesson.
For homework I have emailed you some grammar exercises on how we can speak about the future. These include using Present Continuous and ‘going to’ for the future, using ‘will/won’t/shall’ for decisions, offers, promises, requests and suggestions, and also using ‘will’ or ‘might’ for predictions. You should read the matching text before attempting the exercises. Please complete these so we can go through them together in our next lesson.
Here is a video that explains how to use Present Continuous and ‘going to’ for the future:
Here is a link to a very short video that looks at how to use will/won’t/shall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Zd3v_Oo4g
Here is a video that looks at the difference between ‘will’ and ‘might’. It also talks about ‘may’, which is almost always the same as ‘might’, and ‘would’, which we use to talk about an imaginary future:
That’s all for today. Have a great week!
Steve
Lesson 3
Welcome back to the blog.
In our third lesson we began by reviewing the grammar homework which looked at the Past Simple and Past Continuous tenses. After that we moved on to topic 3 in the textbook, ‘Opening and Closing’, which looked at different formal and informal ways to begin and end written correspondence.
Next we looked at topic 10, ‘Missing our words; Abbreviations’. This topic looked at words that are often left out of informal communication, and some very common shortenings of words.
Here is a video with some important business abbreviations and acronyms (the first letters of each word in a term or phrase) that you might find useful:
Here is another video with 30 acronyms that are regularly used in English:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNhTRJ6AbFc
We finished the lesson by looking at topic 21, ‘Negotiating with external partners’. This looked at using the correct modal verb for polite requests and statements, and also some phrases that you might find useful when dealing with an external partner.
For homework I asked you to complete the exercises on pages 25 and 47. You can check your answers in the back of the textbook. If you still have any questions you can email me or ask in our next lesson.
I have also emailed you some grammar exercises on the Present Perfect (Simple) and Present Perfect Continuous tenses for homework. You should read the matching text before attempting the exercises. Please complete these so we can go through them together in our next lesson.
That’s all for now. Have a great week!
Steve
Lesson 2
Hello again, and welcome back to the blog.
In our second lesson we began by going through the homework. Then we looked at topic 2, ‘Key phrases’. It covered both formal and informal phrases that are commonly used in written correspondence. Formal English is usually used if communicating by traditional mail, whereas both formal and informal English are both commonly used when communicating via email.
Next we looked at topic 9, ‘Sentence building’. This showed us the correct sentence structure, and how we can combine two sentences to create more complex sentences. We covered all of page 22. You need to complete exercises B and C on page 23 for homework. The answers can be found at the back of the book.
Here is a very basic video which shows the sentence structure for simple sentences:
Here is a much longer, and more detailed, video about sentence structure that also looks at more complex sentences:
Lastly, we looked at topic 14, ‘Being brief and businesslike’. This looked at being brief in our communication, and at giving more details. We worked on identifying the key words required to communicate the most important information. You need to complete exercises B, D and E on page 33 for homework. Sample answers can be found at the back of the book.
Other than the exercises on pages 23 and 33, I have also emailed you some grammar exercises on Past Simple and Past Continuous that you need to complete for homework. We will go through these grammar exercises at the beginning of our next lesson.
Here is a video that looks at the differences between Past Simple and Past Continuous:
Here is another video which has some examples which show how we can use both Past Simple and Past Continuous in the same sentence:
That’s all for this week. I’ll see you all on Thursday.
Steve
Lesson 1
Hello everyone, and welcome to the course blog!
This blog is intended to help you get the most out of this course. After each lesson I will update it with a brief outline of what we cover in each lesson, as well as inform you of the homework that has been set. In future blogs I may also include links to videos or other webpages to read to help your learning.
We began our first lesson by introducing ourselves to each other. It was very nice to meet you all. We have students from a variety of different countries and cultures.
The course textbook is called ’email English, 2nd Edition (Paul Enmerson)’.
You can buy the book at Studium International Bookshop, Karlavägen 4, Stockholm. If you tell the cashier that you are a student of Folkuniversitetet you will receive a 25% discount. You should take a copy of your booking confirmation email to prove you are a student at Folkuniversitetet.
We began the lesson with a brief course introduction.
We then began with the first topic of the textbook, ‘1 Formal or informal’ (pages 6 & 7 in the textbook). We discussed the different situations in which you might use Formal English, Neutral English, or Informal English. You then did some exercises matching Informal phrases/words and Formal phrases/words which have the same meaning.
Click here for a link to the British Council website with advice on formal and informal ways to start and finish your emails. It also has some related exercises.
Next we looked at ‘8 Verb forms’ (pages 20 & 21). This grammar topic focused on some different English verb tenses: present simple, present continuous, past simple, past continuous, present perfect (simple), and present perfect continuous.
Some of you were unsure which verb tenses need to be used in different situations. I will give you some different exercises for homework each work looking at these tenses in slightly more detail. This week I have emailed you some exercises looking at the difference between Present Simple and Present Continuous.
Here is a video that explains Present Simple and Present Continuous in more detail that you might find helpful:
For homework I asked you to choose 3 topics from topic 14 to topic 32 in the contents list on page 3 of the textbook and email your selections to me. In the same email you should complete exercise C on page 7 and I will check your answers.
You also need to complete exercise C, D, E and F on page 21. We will look at these exercises at the beginning of our next class.
As mentioned previously, I have also emailed you some reading and exercises on Present Simple and Present Continuous. Please complete these exercises and we will also go through them in our next class.
That’s all for today. Have a great week!
Steve