We’re now in the 21st century, living in an age of increasing globalization in which communication across borders is paramount to success. It is estimated that about a third of the world’s population speaks English as a mother tongue and that it is the most widely used and most popular second language. Without doubt, English today is the universal language of business, trade and international law. Perhaps we have got to the point where it is not enough just to have a general knowledge of English: is more business English needed to make English more immediately relevant in the modern world? Why study business English? Here are a couple of reasons that might be relevant to different people at different stages of their personal and professional development and some insights for you, as teacher or educational institution, as to how Market Leader can help your students achieve their diverse goals. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Business English
5 different English classes – but which type of class is for you?
These days there are all kinds of classes available for the budding English language student. Here are 5 of the most common English classes. Which type of class do you go with?
1. Grammar-based
Traditional language lessons were heavily reliant on grammar-based instruction, with lots of explanations of rules, lots drilling of structures and lots of translation exercises. But grammar alone doesn’t get you very far. Vocabulary is more useful. If you’re dying of thirst in a boiling hot English-speaking country (although, let’s face it, that’s unlikely to be the case in the UK), it won’t do you any good to know that in English pronouns must usually be expressed, that uncountable nouns don’t take an article or that the object follows the verb if you don’t know the words ‘want’ and ‘water’. Continue reading