WELCOME TO INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
We hope you enjoy studying in your Intermediate class.
As an Intermediate level student you are probably able to communicate all your
basic needs in English and are beginning to communicate more complicated ideas.
However, you probably often make mistakes or feel shy about speaking because
you are afraid of making a lot of mistakes.
In your lessons we will encourage you to try to improve both your fluency and
your accuracy in English. It is important that you try to communicate and are
not afraid of making mistakes, because this is how you will improve. But it is
also important that you try to learn from your mistakes so that people can easily
understand what you say or write.
At Intermediate level many students feel that they have stopped making
progress and that their English is not getting better. This is a normal stage of
learning a language. But if you are worried, talk to your teacher about how you
feel.
You will be studying English with other students from different countries in the
world. It is very important that you get to know these other students, that you
learn their names and that you try to work with different people every lesson.
It will be better for your English if you sit in a different seat every lesson and
talk to different students. English is an International language now. In the
future you may need to use English to talk to people from many different
countries - so it is important that you get used to listening to different accents
and ways of speaking English.
The Style of the Lessons
In some traditional language classes, the teacher does most of the explaining
and talking, classes are very serious and grammar gets the most attention.
Our programme is for people who want to not only learn about important things
like grammar and vocabulary, but also how to communicate, hopefully in a
relaxed and informal way. Lots of studying and knowledge about the language is
no good if you can't use it! So we expect students to work together a lot in
pairs or groups - not just with the teacher. The most successful and enjoyable
classes are ones where everyone works together out of mutual respect and
interest.
In the lesson you will do different activities. Sometimes you will:
 work in pairs or groups with other students
 work alone
 talk/listen to the teacher.
It is important that you take an active part in all these stages.
The structure of the course
In your classes we may follow a course book to give you a basic structure to
the course but we will use a lot of other materials and give you a lot of
worksheets. So you will need to bring a file to class to organise your work and
notes.
In your lessons we will practise the 4 skills of:
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speaking
writing,
reading,
listening
You will learn a lot of new vocabulary and expressions that you need to write
down and to practise regularly. Sometimes in class you will be learning new
things about English. But often you will be practising language that you have
studied before but do not yet use well.
In the middle of the Autumn and Spring terms you will have a progress test
which will help to show you how your English is going.
Attendance and punctuality
This is important! You need to attend classes regularly. If you can't come to
class it is best to ask another student to collect handouts for you and to tell
you about any homework. Although everyone has commitments and occasional
problems, good attendance means good punctuality too. Everyone (including your
teacher!) is expected to be on time for classes!
There may be a waiting list of students who want to join this class. So if you
miss 4 lessons together, let your teacher know why. If you do not tell us why
you have not come we will think that you do not want your class place any more
and we may give it to another student.
In class
We all get hungry sometimes during classes, but eating is not allowed in any
class on the campus. Not only is it distracting, but it often results in a mess for
the next class and even problems with insects.
Homework
You should expect to be given some homework after most classes. You don't
need to do it, but you will make much faster progress if you do. If you don't do
homework, you may find that some of the next lesson is wasted on you.
You should expect to get your homework back no more than a week after giving
it to your teacher.
Exams
Not everyone wants or needs to do an exam, but at the end of this level you
should be ready to take the Cambridge PET exam. This exam can be taken in
December of June, although you will need to register with Cambridge and pay
for the exam 2-3 months before you take it.
What next?
Normally you will need to study at Intermediate level for at least 2 terms
before you will be ready to progress to the next level (Upper Intermediate).
You can always talk to your teacher about your progress.
Course objectives
Appropriate examination: Cambridge KET or PET
Summary
At the end of this level students will be able to handle the main structures of
the language with some confidence, demonstrate understanding, though not
active use of a wide range of vocabulary and use appropriate communicative
strategies in many social situations. The student will be able to use a certain
degree of independence in a some contexts, show some flexibility to deal with
the unexpected and but may fall into fixed patterns or short utterances.
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/ket/index.html
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/pet/index.html
Speaking
By the end of this level students will be able to deal with many familiar
situations that may occur in shops, restaurants and hotels and could express
pleasure or displeasure at the service given in a polite but limited way. In
social conversation they will be able to talk about a number of familiar topics
and express opinions to a limited extent.
Students will be able to give sufficient information and state the most
important requirements within a familiar topic area. They will be able to take
and pass on messages and carry out simple negotiations albeit with a number of
inaccuracies.
Writing
At the end of this level students will be able to produce more extended written
formal and informal documents although accuracy may be limited and register
sometimes inappropriate. They will be able to produce texts which describe and
give simple information as long as it is within a familiar area of work and to
write requests, also within a predictable range. Texts will be mostly
paragraphed appropriately if rather short.
Reading
At the end of this level, students will be able to read slightly longer texts e.g.
one side of A4. They will be able to understand routine letters and basic
newspaper and magazine articles, and have developed reading skills related to
factual topics in which they have a special interest. In everyday, practical
situations, such as eating out, shopping and using services such as banks, they
can read competently enough to deal with many areas which do not involve some
kind of specialised language.
At this level students are still unlikely to have enough language ability to cope
with some non-academic training courses conducted in English.
Listening
Students will be able to cope with conversation on familiar, predictable topics,
such as personal experiences. They will have better control over two-way
communication. They will be able to understand more of a TV programme
because of the visual support, and grasp the main points of a radio programme.
Typical Grammar
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Present Simple vs Present Continuous
Past Simple vs Past Continuous
Present Perfect Simple and Continuous for incomplete states and actions
Present Perfect Simple vs Present Perfect Continuous for complete and
unfinished actions
1st and 2nd conditional for future actions and real/unreal situations
Contrast of ‘Must’, ‘Have to’, and ‘Should’ for obligation and advice
Use of modal verbs ‘Can’ , ‘Could’, ‘May’, ‘Might’ and ‘Must’ for deductions
Comparing ‘Will’, ‘going to’ and Present Continuous to describe future
actions and intentions
Using the Passive ‘Be + past participle’ on different tenses
Reported speech using tense change
Adverbs with gradable and non gradable adjectives e.g. ‘very pretty’ vs
‘absolutely incredible’
Typical Functions
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Using polite, neutral and informal register
Obligation and non obligation
Making requests and offers
Typical vocabulary areas
Likes and dislikes
Food and eating
Clothes and fashion
Music and books
Childhood
Relationships
Family
Rules and regulations
Personal news
For a more detailed coverage of the syllabus, go to:
https://www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org/ts/digitalAssets/117693_Cambridg
e_English_Preliminary__PET__Handbook.pdf