GENERAL ENGLISH Courses: 2011

Course Overview:

These are intensive practical 12 week programs for students wishing to improve their English across all English Language skills areas. Bridge has 5 General English Language classes ranging in level from Beginners to Upper-Intermediate. Teaching methods in the General English classes are based on the most up-to-date theories and methodologies for effective learning. The teachers are all well trained professionals with years of English Language teaching behind them. The morning courses are all based on a core text, supplemented with additional materials from our extensive teaching resource library and the internet.  The afternoon classes focus on practical communication and listening skills for everyday functioning in an English speaking society. All courses are interactive and provide plenty of authentic language practice.

Special Features of the Course:

• All programs are delivered by professional, well-qualified and experienced teachers

• Interactive & practical English Language programs with opportunities for students to practice ‘Real’ English in authentic situations

• English Language programs that practice all 4 skills, but include a strong focus on teaching students to communicate effectively in English

• Small mixed nationality classes (maximum 10 students) with low student to teacher ratio

• Personal goal-setting & assignments to cater for individual learning styles & needs

• Rapid English language improvement in all skills areas

On Completion of the Bridge General English Course:

Beginners will be able to:

• Understand & use words relating to common everyday items & activities, common noun phrases relating to everyday life, most numbers, days of the week & months of the year.

• Recognize & respond to simple comments & requests in the context of familiar situations

• Ask & respond to simple questions about personal information & details, country & city of origin, & personal likes & dislikes using words or short learned phrases or sentences

• Ask & answer yes / no questions about daily routine & activities

• Recognise simple signs & understand simple written sentences & texts; & find important information on prices & times from informational brochures, notices & leaflets

• Be able to write simple phrases & sentences relating to personal information, likes & dislikes

• Recognize & be able to use Present Simple, Present Continuous & Past Simple tenses

Elementary Students will be able to:

• Recognize & use vocabulary relating to names of countries, nationalities, common everyday objects, family members, buildings, jobs, kinds of transport, food, common activities, shops & shopping, describing people, clothes, common animals & town facilities

• Express immediate needs & respond to requests from others in a way that can be understood where intentions are predictable & communication is on familiar topics

• Use learned phrases & sentences to carry out short conversations about ability, future intentions, people, places, likes & dislikes, eating & drinking & other topics.

• Use simple sentences in past, present, present perfect & future tenses

• Understand the gist & recognise the main details of short, simple written texts on familiar topics

• Write simple phrases & basic sentences about themselves & others giving personal information about present & past experiences, & expressing likes, dislikes, future plans & preferences.

Pre-Intermediate Students will be able to:

• Recognise & use vocabulary relating to Leisure activities, feelings, special occasions, parts of the face & body, holidays, ambitions & dreams, geographical features, technology, money & life.

• Communicate daily needs sufficiently clearly to be understood in most everyday situations

• Conduct simple conversational exchanges within familiar contexts, as well as to attempt communication on more unfamiliar topics

• Extract information from simple written texts across a range of familiar topics & situations

• Write simple letters, descriptions, postcards, job applications & narratives using complete sentences & linking words

• Construct simple sentences & paragraphs on familiar topics such as their home town or country, favourite person or hero, their family or favourite hobbies

Intermediate Students will be able to:

• Recognise & use new vocabulary relating to other people, places, describing towns & cities, life experiences, training & work, television & movies, social occasions, machines, society & change, rules & behaviour, & problems & solutions

• Use enough English to satisfy most daily language needs & hold face-to-face conversations on familiar topics

• Communicate on topics that are beyond basic personal information & survival needs

• Read & extract essential & more detailed information from a range of texts on familiar topics at an intermediate level

• Write simple texts on familiar topics with sufficient accuracy to conduct simple social correspondence.

• Write paragraphs on familiar topics using complete sentences & basic linking strategies

Upper-Intermediate Students will be able to:

• Recognise & use new vocabulary in a diverse range of interesting topic areas

• Have sufficient understanding of the English Language to enable them to participate in most social situations & express ideas & opinions on most topics

• Handle communication of a routine nature related to their own speciality

• Use a range of complex sentences in conversation & in their writing

• Understand the gist and important details from written texts on a broad range of topics

• Write coherently on a range of subjects using appropriate paragraphing, noun phrases, relative clauses, transition signals & linking words

• Convey meaning in writing with some precision & using a range of writing styles