Before you begin
Don’t
rush it!
Before you begin your business English journey, you need to take a few preliminary steps. You need to check your level of English and see if you are eligible for a Business English course. If you lack enough general English knowledge, a business English course may turn into a challenge rather than a means of improvement. You also need to learn about learning styles and processes. Language learning techniques are the last step to help you make the best of your course.
Before you begin learning business English, you need to make sure that you are at the right level of proficiency. This means that you need to be an intermediate level speaker of English. If you find understanding the content of this website challenging, then you need to work on your general English first.
current
proficiency level
suggestions
To make it more methodical, I will provide you with tools to understand where you are in terms of your knowledge of English. By following these steps, you will be able to locate where you are in terms of your knowledge of English, and use what you know about yourself to plan an effective learning program on your own or with your tutor.
Vocabulary
GSL
In order to make language learning more efficient, word lists have been compiled based on language corpora (body of spoken or written texts). Word lists are helpful in guiding learners’ focus on the words that provide a wider coverage of texts. The General Service List (GSL) (see https://www.eapfoundation.com/vocab/general/gsl/ for more information) is one of the oldest word lists also known as the 2000 most frequent words in English.
NGSL
An updated word list has been created recently to cover more of the new vocabulary that has been coined and used since the GSL word list was introduced. The New General Service List (NGSL) (see https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2018/05/29/general-service-list/ for more information)gives you an updates list of words you encounter in texts and their definition.
This can be your very first list of words to learn and use to improve your ability to understand the majority of texts you see. The links to both word lists have been provided above. Simply download them, and make an excel file or any other type that helps you add information and keep a record of your English vocabulary. Research shows that this list covers approximately 80% of written texts.
Next Step
You are now ready to move on to more specialized vocabulary lists. You can find more in the linguistic competencies section.
If you know these 2000 words, it means that you are able to understand about 80% of the texts you read. Therefore, it is a very useful tool for you to keep track of the words you know. You may also keep a list of the words you need to learn to make sure you can understand most of the English texts you read.
Grammar
Intermediate level grammar
You can also start with the fundamentals of Business English grammar. In this article, you will learn about sentence structure in English. You can see examples and practice creating your own sentences. Your native language may have a similar or different structure from English. If English sentence structure is similar to your native language structure, you will be able to learn and remember the structure with ease, but if your native language has a different structure, you will have to practice more through speaking and writing until it becomes natural.
When you have made sure that you are in command of intermediate level English grammar, you can move on to Business English. Grammar articles in relation to business activities are provided in the linguistic competencies.
Learning styles and habits
Learning styles are central to every learning process. Every individuals approaches learning at different times of the day. They also use strategies that best serve their learning. Although working hard is said to pay off, spending too much time on learning in a short period may become counterproductive. Before you begin your course, check the link below to learn more about learning styles.
