English for Secretarial staff

Introduction

English for Secretarial Staff is an online course, consisting of 56 units of English, and providing approximately 60 hours of study for students.

Course aims

To give students at Intermediate, CEFR B1/Upper Intermediate B2 level practice in general and business-oriented language required for business contexts at this level, specifically tailored towards the specialisation of secretarial duties. The course blends grammatical structures necessary for this level, with vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, speaking and pronunciation.

Gramatika

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Use present and past tenses correctly
  • Use the appropriate conditional forms to talk about situations and consequences
  • Use the present perfect to describe a link between past and present events
  • Use going to and will to talk about future predictions and intentions
  • Use the passive form correctly
  • Distinguish and be able to correctly describe countable and uncountable nouns

Slovní zásoba

By the end of the course students will have learnt approximately 200 expressions used in secretarial duties.

Skills

By the end of the course students will have had exposure to and practice in reading and hearing formal and informal English from a variety of accents and secretarial duty contexts.

Unit Summary

Module 1

  • Introduction to Secretarial Duties
  • Grammar: Present tenses
  • Slovní zásoba: Common phrases and terminology used in an office environment
  • Čtení: The role of a secretary and the skills required
  • Poslech: Dialogue between a secretary and a manager
  • Psaní: Crafting professional emails
  • Mluvení: Being a secretary
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Making and Receiving Calls
  • Grammar: Past tenses
  • Slovní zásoba: Telephone-related terminology and phrases
  • Čtení: Telephone communication in secretarial work
  • Poslech: Sample telephone conversation
  • Psaní: Taking messages
  • Mluvení: Effective phone communication
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Organising Meetings
  • Grammar: Going to and Will
  • Slovní zásoba: Terms and phrases related to meetings and scheduling
  • Čtení: Steps to effectively plan and schedule meetings
  • Poslech: Dialogue about meeting setup
  • Psaní: Writing minutes
  • Mluvení: Inviting participants and confirming meetings
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Office Management and Administrative Tasks
  • Grammar: Present perfect
  • Slovní zásoba: Office management related phrases and terms
  • Čtení: Overview of administrative responsibilities
  • Poslech: Administrative tasks
  • Psaní: Creating task lists
  • Mluvení: Asking for and giving directions within an office setting
  • Pronunciation: Bud and Bird + connected speech

Module 5

  • Handling Correspondence
  • Grammar: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Slovní zásoba: Terms related to business correspondence
  • Čtení: The importance of proper handling of office correspondence
  • Poslech: Conversation about sorting and prioritising mails
  • Psaní: Writing an email of apology
  • Mluvení: Discussing correspondence-related issues and queries
  • Pronunciation: Book and But + connected speech

Module 6

  • Document Preparation
  • Grammar: First conditional
  • Slovní zásoba: Document-related vocabulary
  • Čtení: Preparing, organising, and filing documents
  • Poslech: Talk about document review and revision
  • Psaní: Preparing office documents for everyone
  • Mluvení: Document preparation
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

  • Customer Service and Communication
  • Grammar: Passive
  • Slovní zásoba: Customer service terms
  • Čtení: Customer service and good communication skills
  • Poslech: Example interaction with client and customer
  • Psaní: Writing an internal email
  • Mluvení: Effective verbal communication with clients and customers
  • Pronunciation: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 8

  • Advanced Secretarial Duties
  • Gramatika: Second conditional
  • Slovní zásoba: Specialised terminology for advanced secretarial tasks
  • Čtení: Executive secretary responsibilities
  • Poslech: Talk regarding complex secretarial tasks
  • Psaní: Summarising a report
  • Mluvení: Office discussions and presentations
  • Pronunciation: Fine and Vine + connected speech

Follow-up

Students completing the English for Secretarial Staff course should feel confident in tackling any upper intermediate course, including our Upper Intermediate Business Power course.