At a Glance
- Classroom course
- Thursdays 18:00 - 20:00
- 10 weeks: May to July
- Tutor: Professor Gary Cook
- Fees from £140 to £235
- Deadline to enrol: 24 April 2023
Deadline to enrol: 24 April 2023
...
Practical Business English
Thursdays 18:00 - 20:00
Starts: 4 May 2023 - 10 weeks
Tutor: Professor Gary Cook
Classroom course at South Kensington
This course is now full
Minimum entry requirements: You must speak and understand English at least to Level B1 on the Common European Framework for Languages
English is one of the global languages for business, finance and other professional activities, and this course is designed to build your proficiency in Business English. There will be a focus on the key skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking in a business contex and overage of a range of contemporary topics and situations in business. There will be lots of interactivity and opportunities to practice your English.
We take a functional approach, organised principally by the typical activities people have to carry out in a commercial environment, and practical skills will be to the fore with an emphasis on use of English to achieve your aims and objectives.
Vocabulary and expression will be built through function (e.g. making a presentation, chairing a meeting) and topic (e.g. dealing with problems of behaviour, quality or work performance). Grammar will be revised where it has a particular importance for the function being explored for the week. The course topics are indicative in outline and in detail and the course can be customised to the particular requirements of participants.
Class Recordings

These classes are not recorded
Attendance Certificate

Successful completion of this course leads to the award of an Imperial College attendance certificate
Terms and conditions apply to all enrolments to this course. Please read them before enrolment
Course Information
- Course Programme
- Course Fees and Rate Categories
- Term Dates 2022-23
- Enrolment Process
- Any Questions?
Course Programme (subject to some possible modification)
Week 1 – Effective Business Communication
- The 5 Cs of communication
- Picking the right level of formality
- Key differences between written and spoken English
- Describing effective communication at both individual and corporate levels
- Verbal and non-verbal communication
- Checking understanding
- Signalling in verbal and written communication
- Review of discourse markers
- Principles of effective presentations
- Making technical presentations to non-technical audiences
Week 2 – Effective reading skills
- Matching reading strategy to purpose
- Noun phrases
- Dealing with unfamiliar words
- Reading the business press
- Organising your in-tray
- Reading legal documents
- Reading long reports
Week 3 – Talking about globalisation
- Talking about cultural differences and their importance
- Issues in using English as a common language
- Discussing trends and linking past, present and future
Week 4 – Building relationships
- Making small talk
- Building trust
- Smoothing over awkward situations
- Responding to inappropriate remarks and questions
- Expressing appreciation
- Review of phrasal and prepositional verbs
- Protocols for making and accepting verbal or written invitations
- Review of the modal perfect
Week 5 – Report writing
- Formal report structure
- Writing report summaries
- Writing recommendations
- Using glossaries
- Writing a report on an internal investigation
- Writing reports for an external audience and handling sensitive infrmatiomn
Week 6 – Leadership and management
- Key vocabulary for talking about personal qualities
- Key vocabulary for describing management and leadership styles
- Review of textual devices for enhancing coherence and cohesion
Week 7 – Meeting Skills
- Writing a meeting agenda
- Taking, writing and checking meeting minutes
- Bringing people in, handling people who talk too much
- Moving the business on and keeping to time
- Opening and closing a meeting
- Particular issues with online meetings
Week 8 –&Բ;Having Difficult Conversations
- Non-violent communication
- Assertive language
- Review of prefixes and suffixes
- Review of the passive voice and its use with a range of tenses
- Sounding people out
- Cold-calling someone by phone and email
Week 9 –&Բ;Risk and Crisis Management
- Key vocabulary for describing risk and crisis
- Review of adverbs of degree
- Motivational and morale-raising written and oral communications
- Review of conditionals
- The language of insurance
Week 10 –&Բ;Quality and Customer Service
- Key language for expressing dissatisfaction and resolving complaints
- Review of Gerunds
- Active listening skills
- The language of Total Quality Management
- Diagnosing service and quality problems
- Using diplomatic language
Course Materials
Lingo Mastery, Business English Vocabulary Builder (ISBN: )
| Weeks | Standard Rate | Internal Rate | Associate Rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | £235 |
£140 | £185 | ||
| All fee rates quoted are for the whole course. Part-payments are not possible. | |||||
Rate Categories and Discounts
Standard Rate
- Available to all except those who fall under the Internal Rate or Associate Rate category, respectively.
Internal Rate
- Current Imperial College ý 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
- Students, staff and alumni of the Royal College of Art and Royal College of Music
- Students, staff and Governors of Woodhouse College and the IC Mathematics School
Associate Rate
- Austrian Cultural Forum staff
- City & Guilds College Association members
- Co-operative College members
- Francis Crick Institute staff, researchers and ý
- 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 College of Art and Royal College of Music tutors and other 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
- 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 the allowing Imperial College ý and staff to share their discount with their friends and family.
| Weeks | Spring term | Summer term | Summer School | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | n/a | Week commencing 1 May to week ending 8 July 2023* | n/a | ||
| *This is a 1-term course | |||||
Web enrolment opens on 1st March 2023
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:
| What is sent | When is it sent | What does it contain |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Payment confirmation | Is sent immediately following submission of your online application |
|
| 2. Enrolment confirmation | Is sent within 10 working days. Please treat your payment confirmation as confirmation that your applicant details and payment have been received |
|
| 3. Programme information | Is usually sent on Friday late afternoon the week before term starts |
|
| If you need further help with the above information please ring 020 7594 8756 | ||
If you have any questions about the academic content or teaching of this course please contact the Course Tutor, Professor 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