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

Vārdnīca

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
  • Vārdnīca: Common phrases and terminology used in an office environment
  • Lasīšana: The role of a secretary and the skills required
  • Klausīšanās: Dialogue between a secretary and a manager
  • Rakstīšana: Crafting professional emails
  • Runājot: Being a secretary
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Making and Receiving Calls
  • Grammar: Past tenses
  • Vārdnīca: Telephone-related terminology and phrases
  • Lasīšana: Telephone communication in secretarial work
  • Klausīšanās: Sample telephone conversation
  • Rakstīšana: Taking messages
  • Runājot: Effective phone communication
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Organising Meetings
  • Grammar: Going to and Will
  • Vārdnīca: Terms and phrases related to meetings and scheduling
  • Lasīšana: Steps to effectively plan and schedule meetings
  • Klausīšanās: Dialogue about meeting setup
  • Rakstīšana: Writing minutes
  • Runājot: Inviting participants and confirming meetings
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Office Management and Administrative Tasks
  • Grammar: Present perfect
  • Vārdnīca: Office management related phrases and terms
  • Lasīšana: Overview of administrative responsibilities
  • Klausīšanās: Administrative tasks
  • Rakstīšana: Creating task lists
  • Runājot: Asking for and giving directions within an office setting
  • Pronunciation: Bud and Bird + connected speech

Module 5

  • Handling Correspondence
  • Grammar: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Vārdnīca: Terms related to business correspondence
  • Lasīšana: The importance of proper handling of office correspondence
  • Klausīšanās: Conversation about sorting and prioritising mails
  • Rakstīšana: Writing an email of apology
  • Runājot: Discussing correspondence-related issues and queries
  • Pronunciation: Book and But + connected speech

Module 6

  • Document Preparation
  • Grammar: First conditional
  • Vārdnīca: Document-related vocabulary
  • Lasīšana: Preparing, organising, and filing documents
  • Klausīšanās: Talk about document review and revision
  • Rakstīšana: Preparing office documents for everyone
  • Runājot: Document preparation
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

  • Customer Service and Communication
  • Grammar: Passive
  • Vārdnīca: Customer service terms
  • Lasīšana: Customer service and good communication skills
  • Klausīšanās: Example interaction with client and customer
  • Rakstīšana: Writing an internal email
  • Runājot: Effective verbal communication with clients and customers
  • Pronunciation: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 8

  • Advanced Secretarial Duties
  • Gramatika: Second conditional
  • Vārdnīca: Specialised terminology for advanced secretarial tasks
  • Lasīšana: Executive secretary responsibilities
  • Klausīšanās: Talk regarding complex secretarial tasks
  • Rakstīšana: Summarising a report
  • Runājot: 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.