Business English as a Second Language – Training Course Outline

Are you a non-native English speaker working for an English-speaking company? If so, then this course is for you.

When you write business correspondence or documents you can be at a disadvantage because you are writing in a foreign language. Even if you have been taught English well – or have lived in England for a long time – you may not have learned the subtleties and nuances of communicating well in a business environment. Your knowledge of punctuation and grammar rules, on the other hand, is probably better than many of your English colleagues!

This course covers the most important rules of English usage, but concentrates on the things that non-native English writers struggle with. We also cover British versus American usage, and explore the way some usage has changed in the last few years. We will look at the kind of clichés that are common in business usage, and cover many of the standard phrases you may typically come across in day-to-day work.

This course will give you the skills to communicate with confidence in English and improve the perception your superiors and clients have of your abilities.

What you will learn on this course

By the end of the course, you will know how to:

• Avoid common grammatical mistakes often made by non-native speakers
• Tell the difference between British and American vocabulary and spelling
• Avoid commonly-confused words or miss-spelt words
• Use with confidence many idiomatic phrases and constructions

Course Duration

Grammar can be a dry subject but the emphasis on this one-day course is to make it enjoyable. This basic writing skills course is aimed at professional people who have studied English as a second language and now find themselves needing to use it intensively. It concentrates on showing, step-by-step, how to use the basics of English grammar, sentence structure and punctuation to produce professional business correspondence and documents.

Exercises are used to illustrate various points throughout the day.

Follow up session

Get the most from a staff training day and make sure valuable ideas aren't forgotten by booking a follow-up session. Our trainer will visit you again a month to six weeks after your course to give delegates the chance to:

• discuss how they implemented what they learnt
• go over points from the course
• practise their skills by working on their own writing with the trainer’s help

Plain Words Diploma in Business or Bid Writing

Would you like a professional qualification in business writing or bid writing from the UK’s foremost business and technical writing company?

Plain Words offers a full training and accreditation programme that leads to the Plain Words Diploma in Business Writing or Plain Words Diploma in Bid Writing. To find out more email or call + 44 (0)1635 202013.

Course Contents

1. Grammar – why it matters

• Why bad writing can wreck your career!
• Some examples of bad grammar from native and non-native speakers

2. Choosing your words

• Commonly confused words, including a detailed table that explains the different versions of things like wear, we’re and where
• Things that make some people cross!
• Getting the most from Word® tools

3. Everyday versus formal usage

• Everyday usage changes very quickly – it can be hard to stay on top of slang
• Regional variations
• Formal usage can be easier to understand

4. Grammar basics – the building blocks of a sentence

• Articles – when to use them and when to leave them out
• Nouns, concentrating on common irregular plurals
• Verbs, looking at phrasal verbs, for example the difference between set out, set in, set by and loads of others
• Prepositions
• Adjectives and adverbs – did you know we use adjectives in a specific order?

5. Avoiding common problems

• Even native speakers make these mistakes!

6. A detailed look at verbs

• English verbs have subtle changes in meaning to describe when things happen and if they are complete relative to other events. Our verb table includes lots of examples so you have a model for the most common situations you are likely to encounter.

7. Commonly used terms and expressions

• Business-related usage
• Frequently-encountered abbreviations
• American versus British usage

8. Some hints on proofreading

• It’s important to check your documents before you send them out. We look at why it’s so hard to see mistakes in your own work and how you can overcome this.

9. Other resources

• Books
• Useful links

Book Now!

For details of timetabled courses, see the schedule. For prices, see the costs table.

To reserve your places you can either book on-line or call us on +44 (0)1635 202013.