Tackling Grammar Problems

 In Customized Training Services we are aware that we, teachers, need to have a very good command of the language we teach since-as everything in life-we cannot give what we do not have. For this reason we have created these courses to support all those who need to consolidate their knowledge of some difficult or confusing grammatical structures. As usual, we provide personalized feedback.

Levels B2+ and C1 are already sold out but there are still a few seats for the other two (B1 and B2).

We look forward to seeing you there. 

#training #language #ctsonline #teachers #tacklinggrammarproblems

Improving English Language Skills

Customized Training Services has started a series of short summer courses for all those who are interested in improving their language skills. We have developed Listening, Writing and Speaking courses to help participants improve their communication abilities since besides all the Methodology we can learn, it is also important that our language level allows us-teachers-to better communicate with our students on the one hand and to provide a language model on the other. 

Use of English Review Courses

If you need to write, speak to people, work in English, learn another language, communicate ideas, prepare reports, manage people, study and especially teach English then learning about how English is put together and how you can put it together more effectively is an invaluable skill. Grammar describes how a language works and, since you are teaching that language, you should be able to describe what you are teaching. Grammar is a massive subject but as an English teacher you should be familiar with the basics For learning the Basics at the different CEFR levels, in CTS we have prepared these courses where we are presenting the grammatical contents suggested for the levels through different input material and we provide personalized feedback for the evaluations so participants will know what went wrong and why.

Use of English Review Courses

 In Customized Training Services we believe teachers of English need to be knowledgeable in both knowing the language we teach as well as learning how to teach it whether it is face-to-face or online.

The aim of these review courses is to refresh some Use of English issues at different levels addressing each participant´s strengths and weaknesses in personalized tutoring sessions with personalized feedback using web tools for that purpose.

We are sure you´ll find these courses useful.

Last seminars

Our last series of seminars of the year

Remote learning has turned now into online learning so the need for immediate support has been met. We feel very proud of all the teachers who joined us in these courses trying to improve their delivery. Well done!!

Use of English Review Courses

In Customized Training Services we believe teachers of English need to be knowledgable in both knowing the language we teach as well as learning how to teach it whether it is face-to-face or online.

The aim of these review courses is to refresh some Use of English issues at different levels addressing each participant´s weaknesses in personalized tutoring sessions. We are sure you will find them useful.

Pre-FCE Online Course

Official international Certificates are a very useful tool to study abroad or to demonstrate a specific Language level when applying for a job. In the job field some of the most commonly required Certificates are the ones issued by Cambridge Assessment English, particularly B2: First (previously known as FCE).

Over five million people in the world sit for Cambridge exams which measure basic skills when using a language: reading, listening, speaking and writing. First thing to do before becoming familiar with the exam structure is to reach the required level of proficiency in the language. That is why we have designed this Pre-FCE course where we will present and practice some of the most important language structures that are being assessed in the B2: First exam. Therefore, taking this course will allow participants to kill two birds with one stone: improve their Grammar proficiency and advance in their exam preparation. We can help you, contact us.

What is the Pre- FCE course about?

This is an online course that aims at supporting people who have an Intermediate level of English and are interested in refreshing their knowledge and also for those who want to start their Cambridge First exam preparation. The course develops the main grammatical structures an Intermediate student should master as well as the vocabulary based on the topics that Cambridge First exam assesses.

Being a customized course, participants will sit for a diagnostic test at the beginning of the course and will receive weekly material and  online tutoring to help them meet their needs. At the end of the course, an achievement test will be administered to measure progress.

CTS Courses  2017-0

At work (Customized Training Services), we believe that we never cease learning and that we cannot give out what we don´t have. Because of this, we try hard to provide other teachers of English courses that are going to help  them improve their language level and get an International Certificate as well.

I am lucky because I have two friends who share this goal: Liliana and Emma. Emma has so much patience and knows exactly what her students need to improve that has become a decisive element in the company.

One of the courses she teaches is Pre-FCE, a very important course since it helps students improve their language level by revising the grammatical structures the FCE (Cambridge English First) exam demands.

She also teaches the FCE Course preparation and Developing Writing Skills, she is a real expert in helping students go from understanding the writing process beginning from sentence connection to writing texts. Everything she does, she does it so well that I cannot think of a better academic partner.

Below we have some of the activities our current FCE students developed when they were in their pre-FCE course in the summer.

And in the Developing Writing course:

Our next event is our XI Facebook event, we expect it to be as useful for our colleagues as the previous ten.

Happy with the beginning of our Grammar course last Saturday

TACKLING TYPICAL GRAMMAR PROBLEMS

We  have now finished the third module of this course and the results could not have been more successful.

The purpose of the course is to help learners overcome some fossilized grammatical mistakes and/or raise awareness of some special cases that sometimes occur in even well-known structures.

Some sessions start with an activity based on a Use of English task and others go straight into understanding the structure and use of the Grammatical structure and then developing activities to put this knowledge into practice. The activities are not only sentences in a worksheet but also situations where students need to use what they have revised.

For instance, in the case of Reported Speech, students pretend they are at a party, they are given slips with some statements they need to say while mingling with the other guests while listening to some party music and then they have to report what they heard in the party.

To practise verbs and adjectives followed by prepositions we  use a game where students form groups and a member of the opposite group has to pick up cards with sentences where the preposition is missing. If they provide the right preposition,the score a point and can make their teams win.

Many people think learning Grammar is boring but in CTS we tried to make it useful and enjoyable and since the group was really small, we managed to make it really customized for participants´particular problems.

It feels good to hear from the participants that the course was good and useful and that they wanted more.

See you in the next course!!