Demo|Intermediate|universal

In the right place … but at the wrong time!

Last week we asked you to tell us about a holiday when the destination was perfect but, for some reason, the time wasn’t right … Here are some of your replies.

Kelly, 26, TV journalist from Belfast

Three years ago I broke up with my boyfriend and I decided to go on holiday on my own to the Seychelles. My travel agent told me that it was a wonderful place. But he didn’t tell me that it was also a very popular place for people on their honeymoon.

Everywhere I looked I saw couples holding hands and looking romantically into each other’s eyes! The travel agent also said it was always sunny there – but the weather was terrible – it was cloudy and very windy. To pass the time I decided to go do a diving course (one of my lifetime ambitions). But it was a complete disaster because the first time I went under the water I had a panic attack. I couldn’t escape from the island so I spent an incredibly boring (and expensive) two weeks in «paradise».

Kelly, 26, TV journalist from Belfast

Three years ago I broke up with my boyfriend and I decided to go on holiday on my own to the Seychelles. My travel agent told me that it was a wonderful place. But he didn’t tell me that it was also a very popular place for people on their honeymoon.

Everywhere I looked I saw couples holding hands and looking romantically into each other’s eyes! The travel agent also said it was always sunny there – but the weather was terrible – it was cloudy and very windy. To pass the time, I decided to go do a diving course (one of my lifetime ambitions). But it was a complete disaster because the first time I went under the water, I had a panic attack. I couldn’t escape from the island, so I spent an incredibly boring (and expensive) two weeks in «paradise».

This level is the starting point. With the completion of this course, students can answer a number of questions when they meet new people. More specifically, they can answer questions like «What’s your name?», «How old are you?», «Have you got brothers or sisters?», «Where do you live?» etc. Also, they can count up to a hundred, spell their name and their contact information, talk about their preferences and their daily activities.

This level requires some prior knowledge of the most basic features of the English language. The Elementary level offers students the opportunity to use phrases and structures they have already studied in a more flexible way and helps them acquire a lot of new knowledge as well. At this point, students study in brief how to talk about themselves, their favourite colours, dishes and seasons. They learn to tell the time in English and to talk about the weather, their daily routine, countries, different customs, etc. In terms of grammar, at this level, students are taught the following tenses for the first time: The Present Simple, the Present Continuous, the Past Simple, the Future Simple (will, be going to) and the Present Perfect. Some modal verbs (must, can), different types of pronouns, adjectives and the degrees of their comparison, nouns and the formulation of simple questions are also integrated in the lessons of this level. After the successful completion of the Elementary level course, students can participate in the KET (Key English test) examination.

Below average. This level follows the Elementary level. Students who have reached this level know how to formulate phrases or sentences and they can talk briefly about many topics. A Pre-Intermediate level course helps students expand their knowledge and become more confident. The texts of this level are longer and there are more practical exercises. Furthermore, new grammatical phenomena are introduced and the structure of sentences becomes more complex. In terms of grammar and syntax, these lessons include units such as the Past Continuous, different forms of Future tenses, conditional sentences, more elaborate explanation of modal verbs, infinitives and gerunds. During this course, students revise the Past Simple (regular and irregular verbs) and the Present Perfect. With the completion of this course students have developed their speaking skills as well, and they can safely go on a trip abroad where they will have the chance to practise their English. Students who have successfully completed this course can participate in PET (Preliminary English Test) and BEC (Business English Certificate) examinations.

Speaking skills

Students are able:

1. To speak with a clear pronunciation
2. To provide personal and abstract information
3. To explain easily that they have not understood something
4. To understand explanations in situations of misunderstanding
5. To express clearly their ideas and feelings
6. To communicate and participate in a dialogue

Comprehension

Students are able:

1. To understand the main idea of a text
2. To distinguish among stressed syllables, sounds and intonation
3. To read simple texts and to understand the main ideas

Writing skills

Students are able:

1. To describe a situation, a place or a person
2. To state their opinion towards certain topics, problems and people
3. To write a postcard and letters or emails in order to ask for information, to apologize and to apply for a vacancy (formal/informal style)
4. To write about themselves
5. To form clear and grammatically correct sentences

Average. At this level, knowledge gained in previous classes is consolidated and new vocabulary of a more advanced nature is added. For example, students learn vocabulary that can help them refer to people’s personalities more accurately, they also learn some scientific terms, professional vocabulary and even slang. In this course, they study the active and the passive voice, the direct and indirect speech, the participles, phrasal verbs and prepositions, the word order in complex sentences, the uses of the articles, etc. Regarding the tenses, students realize the differences between the Present Simple and the Present Continuous, the Past Simple and the Present Perfect and the Past Simple and the Past Continuous in a more thorough way. They also elaborate on various future forms. Texts at this level become longer and more significant and participating in a dialogue becomes easier for the students. An advantage of this level is that employees with an Intermediate level of English are highly valued in many modern companies. Moreover, this level is ideal for travelers since it allows them to understand their interlocutor perfectly and engage in a conversation.

Regarding international certificates, students can sit for the following examinations: the FCE examination (First Certificate in English) (mark: B / C), PET Level 3, BULATS, BEC Vantage, TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) (mark: 4.5-5.5) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) (mark: 80-85).

Speaking skills

Students are able:

1. To learn about someone else’s views, attitude and emotions and to express their own
2. To express a misunderstanding regarding a matter and ask for clarifications
3. To express their ideas in a simple manner
4. To use the right intonation in their speech
5. To construct sentences correctly in both spoken and written English

Comprehension

Students are able:

1. To understand the main ideas of the listening exercises in class
2. To understand all the major points and the general meaning in context and to distinguish the content
3. To tell the difference between someone who speaks English as a foreign language and someone who is a native speaker judging from each one’s pronunciation
4. To better understand the difference between formal and informal style in both spoken and written English

Writing skills

Students are able:

1. To fill in various papers and forms: applications, questionnaires, etc.
2. To write letters, postcards, etc.
3. To write formal and informal letters and emails
4. To write stories and describe the sequence of events correctly
5. To describe people, places and situations
6. To express personal comments
7. To express their thoughts simply and correctly

Above average. Students of this level are able to understand fluent English speech easily and to communicate without difficulties using the vocabulary they have already acquired. Students in Upper-Intermediate classes can practise their English more since they only revise grammar theory and rules. Students also work more systematically on the Past/Narrative tenses such as the Past Continuous, the Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Continuous. In addition, Upper-Intermediate students focus on the future tenses (the Future Continuous and the Future Perfect), the uses of the articles, the modal verbs, the indirect speech, conditional sentences, abstract nouns, the causative form and some other grammatical phenomena. This level of English is extremely popular in both businesses and educational institutions. People who speak English at this level can succeed in interviews and even enroll in foreign High Schools without difficulties. Students who have completed this course can participate in the following examinations: the FCE examination (mark: A/B), BEC (Business English Certificate) – Vantage or Higher, TOEFL (mark: 100) and IELTS (mark: 5.5-6.5).

Speaking skills

Students are able:

1. To perceive and provide information under various circumstances
2. To speak in a formal and an informal manner in various situations
3. To participate in a conversation
4. To spot their own pronunciation mistakes
5. To speak fluently and possibly make few grammatical mistakes which they are able to correct while speaking

Comprehension

Students are able:

1. To understand the main ideas of a text immediately
2. To understand the emotions of the characters presented in a text by listening to it
3. To realize the differences among various regional accents
4. To communicate over the phone without difficulties
5. To read newspapers and magazines and understand key information and ideas
6. To distinguish different styles: formal, informal, slang, etc.
7. To draw conclusions after reading

Writing skills

Students are able:

1. To write formal and informal letters
2. To write instructions and manuals
3. To write brief reviews of films and stories
4. To form simple and more complex syntactic structures
5. To use various styles when writing letters, stories etc.
6. To express ideas clearly and correctly in terms of grammar so that the reader can easily understand them

This level is necessary for students and professionals who want to reach high fluency in English. Unlike the Upper-Intermediate level, advanced students work more systematically on fixed phrases and idioms. All the grammar related knowledge, which was taught in previous courses, only becomes wider. The topics that are discussed are more scientific and professional, for example, the environment and natural disasters, legal processes, genres of literature, terminology found in computer science, etc. After the completion of the Advanced course, it is possible to succeed in the following examinations: CAE (Cambridge Advanced English), IELTS (mark: 7) and TOEFL (110 points). It is also possible to apply for prestigious vacancies in foreign companies or for enrollment in western High Schools.

Speaking skills

Students are able:

1. To use formal and informal speech style depending on the circumstances
2. To speak with a very limited number of mistakes
3. To speak fluently on various topics
4. To be able to mention idiomatic expressions, fixed phrases and word-combinations
5. To understand the phonological features of the English language and to use the right intonation in order to include emphasis in their speech

Comprehension

Students are able:

1. To understand key information immediately and address the attitude of their interlocutor towards an issue
2. To expect the intonation of their interlocutor and to make assumptions about his/her feelings

Writing skills

Students are able:

1. To write formal and informal letters/e-mails and express their own feelings and thoughts
2. To write narrative essays
3. To write argumentative essays
4. To write reports, articles and reviews of books and films

The level of native speakers. The name speaks for itself. This level describes expert users of a language and it is the level closest to a native English speaker – a person who was born and raised in an English speaking environment. With this level of English, people can succeed in any interview and pass any examination such as the CPE Examination (Cambridge Proficiency Exam), IELTS (at the highest mark: 8.5-9). This scale is called the ESL (English as a second language) or EFL (English as a Foreign language) classification of levels and is used by the ALTE Association of Language Testers in Europe. The level scale can vary depending on the country, school, or organization. For example, some organizations reduce the level 7 to 5 and may refer to these levels in a slightly different way: Beginner (Elementary), Low Intermediate, High — Intermediate, Proficiency, Advanced — Proficiency. However, both the meaning and the content of the levels remain the same.