Professional English for Work

Most people learn English one word at a time. At work you need whole sentences, ready to use, in the right tone. A phrase bank keeps those sentences on one page where you can find them in seconds. It also shows your progress, because you can watch it grow.

This course builds one thing across six modules. We call it your Work English Kit. It has four parts:

1. A phrase bank: your own list of useful sentences.
2. An email set: five emails you could send at work.
3. A speaking pack: a short self-introduction, meeting phrases and a call script.
4. A recorded talk: a presentation of three to four minutes, recorded on your phone.

Every lesson has the same six parts. You read the goal, the reason and the teaching. Then you study one worked example. Then you check common mistakes. Then you do a short task and answer three quiz questions. From module 2 on, each module starts with three recall questions about earlier modules. Answer them before you read on. Trying to remember is one of the best ways to learn.

All model emails and phrases in this course are illustrative. They show a pattern. Copy the pattern, then change the names, dates and facts to match your real work. Never send a model email with someone else's details in it.

How to build a phrase bank:

1. Open a note, a document or a spreadsheet. A free notes app or word processor is enough.
2. Make three columns: Situation, Phrase and My version.
3. Save whole phrases, not single words. “Could you send me the report by Friday?” is more useful than the word “report”.
4. In the My version column, rewrite the phrase for your own job, with real names and dates.
5. Say the phrase aloud once. Your mouth needs practice as well as your eyes.

Use a dictionary to check any word you are not sure about. Free online dictionaries, such as Longman's, show example sentences. Check what each site offers now, because features change.

After every task, ask three questions. Is it clear? Is it polite? Is it correct? Later modules give you sharper checks, but these three questions work from day one.

If your phrase bank is not working, try these fixes. If the list feels too long, sort it by situation, such as Emails, Meetings and Calls. If you never open it, move it to a place you already use, such as your phone notes. If you forget to add phrases, add one after every lesson.

Example (illustrative). Ana works in the office of a small company that sells chairs. She needs a price list from a supplier. She starts her phrase bank with three rows.

Ana keeps the middle column exactly as she found it. She only changes the last column. This lets her see the pattern and use her own facts. On the way to her desk she says each My version once, out loud.

• Saving single words only. A word alone does not show you how to build a sentence. Save the whole phrase.
• Copying a phrase and never changing it. Then you cannot use it fast in real life. Fill in My version every time.
• Never reading the list again. Read it aloud for two minutes before a meeting or before you write an email.
• Making the list perfect before you start. Five rough phrases today are better than fifty perfect phrases next month.

You have a phrase bank file with three columns and at least five phrases. Each phrase has a My version that you could use in your own job tomorrow.