Языковой курс: Intensive

20 hours per week, between 09.00 and 12.15, Monday to Friday, with  and four afternoon classes per week, 13.00-14.15.

The goal of these courses is to help you improve your real-life communication, for travelling, for living in the UK, or for studying or working. We believe in an active classroom, where you practise language in different ways to give you fluency and confidence in expressing yourself to the best of your ability.

Detailed learning objectives depend on the level of the course. There is a course syllabus which relates to the outcomes for each CEFR level. So, when you finish an Intermediate (B1) course, your “can dos” include describing past events; an Upper Intermediate (B2) student at the end of a course can speculate about past, present & future – and so on.

Classes follow an appropriate course-book for the level in the morning General English class. The teachers will also use a range of supplementary materials to help you practise the language you are studying, using the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Your teacher might use a clip from Youtube, or a newspaper article, or ask you to make a short presentation, or play a game. Activities will include individual work, pair-work and group-work, to maximise your opportunities to practise English in the classroom. Your teachers will also discuss with you how you can practise English outside class time, and which resources to use in the self-access centre.

Each class will have a balance of input (new or revised grammar and vocabulary) and output (active practice of these). You will have written homework at least once a week, and other shorter homework tasks on other days.

You’ll have the chance to learn about Edinburgh and Scotland, and your teacher may take you on visits relating to the topics which you study in class; for example, you might visit the Scottish Parliament or the law courts.

These classes are suitable for people who want to improve their English as quickly as possible, or who are preparing for an exam.

As well as the 15-hour morning programme, students do 5 hours (4 x afternoons, 13.00-14.15) of oral fluency, to further practise language which they have encountered in the morning.

The communication (speaking & listening) classes follow a function-based programme, which can be adapted to meet students’ needs or interests. Groups tend to be smaller and multi-level. Teachers draw on supplementary speaking & listening resources to stimulate fluency. You might give a presentation, or take part in a debate, or explain your favourite recipe; alternatively, you might role-play a job interview, or enquiring about hiring a car for the weekend.

When you enrol for any General English course, you are asked to pay for the course book, which you will use in class every day.

Classes usually have 8 – 12 students, possibly slightly more at busy times like July and August. The maximum class size is 15