Set course to… perfecting your passive English skills

The 21st century world speaks English. It is the go-to language during political, scientific and business meetings, as well as that of students going abroad for internships. You also refer to it on a daily basis, both in professional settings and in your spare time, like when you watch a movie on a popular streaming service or translate the lyrics of your favorite song for your own pleasure. Or… when a foreigner in the street asks you for directions to the nearest pharmacy!

Usually, when you learn or work on a language, you focus on active skills (speaking) and forget that passive skills (reading and listening) are just as important. After all, a conversation is not a monologue, but rather two or more people taking turns to speak and listen. That’s why in this course, the most important topics are approached in the forms of dialogues and short texts which you listen to without seeing the transcript, just as you would in the real world. Activities during the classes will help you to hone the skills you need to understand spoken texts, and useful expressions listed in the additional materials will serve as a quick guide.

The course has three levels, so that you can go from easier tasks to harder ones as you progress.

What you can expect from our professional training

During the course:

•    You will gain the skill of seeking the information you need in dialogues and in a flowing text
•    You will familiarize yourself with different accents while listening
•    You will gain the capability to listen and understand without reading the text at the same time

Moreover…

•    You’ll revise expressions that you know and learn new ones ready to be used in practice

Skill Master: listening. From zero to hero is designed for learners at all levels of English. To make full use of the course, you need to know English at least on the A1 level (know basic grammatical tenses, such as Present Simple, Past Simple, Present Continuous, Future Simple and basic vocabulary relating to everyday life). Basic-level English speakers will benefit most from working with easier texts, while more advanced users can expect texts filled with more difficult vocabulary, fast speech and background noise, which reflect the real-life situations in which you are supposed to make use of your skills.

Excuse me, could you repeat?

Learning a foreign language is a never-ending journey. It’s not about signing up to a course and cramming new vocabulary into your head or doing hundreds of grammar exercises, after all. You need to challenge yourself in practice so that your skills don’t become rusty. It’s worth reaching deeper and listening in on informal speech, sayings, abbreviations and phrases: things that are obvious to a native speaker, but completely new for you. This ability to use idiomatic, „real” English will help you soar onto a higher level in your conversations. That’s why the course focuses on everyday topics, such as meeting new people, negotiations, networking, communication at the airport, in a shop or at a hotel, as well as job interviews and listening to radio and TV news.

Meet our expert

Anna Lewoc, graduate of the Institute of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warsaw, works as a translator and interpreter of English and French into Polish, as well as a teacher of English. She’s also the organizer of one of the largest conferences for the translation and localization industry in this part of Europe: The Translation and Localization Conference. It doesn’t exhaust the long list of projects she takes up. In her free time, she does sports (weightlifting, running, yoga), cooks, watches TV series or plays video games (mostly RPG). She’s passionate about psychology and self-management.

Get your listening to a new level!

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