35 ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses

Most of our students come to us specifically to improve their speaking and listening skills and we help them to do this by using the Callan Method (see below for further details). BSGS is an accredited Callan Method school. We provide experienced and friendly teachers. Moreover, our prices are very competitive!

Most of our students come to us specifically to improve their speaking and listening skills and we help them to do this by using the Callan Method (see below for further details). BSGS is an accredited Callan Method school. We provide experienced and friendly teachers. Moreover, our prices are very competitive!

This course is designed to enhance the speaking and conversational skills of adult learners in English. Through a combination of interactive activities, discussions, and real-life scenarios, participants will develop the confidence and fluency needed to engage in various social and professional situations. Emphasis will be placed on improving pronunciation, expanding vocabulary, and refining grammar structures to communicate effectively in English.  Course Duration: 10 weeks (20 sessions) Course Objectives: By the end of this course, participants will: 1. Improve their overall speaking fluency and accuracy in English. 2. Enhance their listening skills to understand and respond appropriately in conversations. 3. Expand their vocabulary and idiomatic expressions for effective communication. 4. Develop confidence in speaking English in social and professional settings. 5. Gain a deeper understanding of cultural nuances and non-verbal communication in English-speaking countries. Course Outline: Week 1: Introduction to Conversational English - Icebreaker activities to get to know each other - Assessing participants' current speaking level - Setting personal goals for the course Week 2: Pronunciation and Intonation - Identifying common pronunciation challenges - Practicing correct stress and intonation patterns - Role-playing exercises for clear communication Week 3: Everyday Conversations - Engaging in small talk and greetings - Discussing personal interests and hobbies - Describing daily routines and activities Week 4: Travel and Tourism - Asking for directions and recommendations - Role-playing scenarios at airports, hotels, and tourist attractions - Vocabulary related to travel and cultural experiences Week 5: Socialising and Networking - Discussing personal and professional backgrounds - Participating in group discussions and debates - Practicing active listening and turn-taking in conversations Week 6: Business Communication - Presenting ideas and opinions in a professional setting - Negotiating and persuading effectively - Writing and delivering effective elevator pitches Week 7: Job Interviews and Resume Building - Preparing for job interviews in English - Practicing common interview questions and answers - Crafting a compelling resume and cover letter Week 8: Public Speaking and Presentation Skills - Overcoming public speaking anxiety - Structuring and delivering engaging presentations - Using visual aids and body language effectively Week 9: Cultural Awareness and Non-verbal Communication - Understanding cultural differences in communication - Interpreting body language and gestures - Role-playing cross-cultural scenarios Week 10: Real-life Simulations - Applying all learned skills in real-life scenarios - Group discussions and feedback sessions - Reviewing progress and setting future language goals Note: This syllabus is a guideline and can be customised based on the specific needs and preferences of the participants. You can opt in and out of different modules. 

READ AND DISCUSS THIS FUNNY, VERY BRITISH, BEST-SELLING MURDER MYSTERY, FULL OF INTERESTING IDIOMS AND EXPRESSIONS  HIGHLIGHTS * Join this book club and gain extra motivation to read in English * 6 hours of live classes to help you develop fluent speaking in English * Read this funny book to develop your understanding of colloquial English * Be corrected by an expert English teacher to remove errors and mistakes Practise and develop your English online in this 6 week English book club course using the second Thursday Murder Club mystery, The Man Who Died Twice.  Each week you read some chapters, discuss them in class and improve specific areas of vocabulary or grammar while also examining literary aspects of the novel.  Personalised feedback improves your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. THE BOOK CLUB BOOK Four friends in a retirement community are again involved in solving murders.  This time the plot involves stolen diamonds, and a violent criminal looking for revenge.  Can Elizabeth help out her old friend and colleague who comes to her for assistance?  Will meeting a ruthless killer result in more funerals at the retirement home?  What would the Thursday Murder Club do with the diamonds if they found them? 'Superbly entertaining' Guardian 'A thing of joy' Kate Atkinson 'He's not only done it again, but he's done it even better' Philippa Perry Geoff says: > "This is the second in the Thursday Murder Club series which has taken the > world by storm!  This multi-million selling novel is both funny and warm, and > full of British English idioms and colloquialisms."

READ AND DISCUSS THIS LOVELY ROMANCE, TELLING THE STORY OF A WOMAN TORN BETWEEN LOVE AND DUTY, BETWEEN IRELAND AND AMERICA  HIGHLIGHTS * Join this book club and gain extra motivation to read in English * 6 hours of live classes to help you develop fluent speaking in English * Read & discuss this charming story of home, of migration to America, of life changing decisions  * Be corrected by an expert English teacher to remove errors and mistakes Practise and develop your English online in this 6 week English book club course using Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín.  Each week you read some chapters, discuss them in class and improve specific areas of vocabulary or grammar while also examining literary aspects of the novel.  Personalised feedback improves your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. THE BOOK CLUB BOOK This is a lovely, quiet sort of book about a small town girl getting a chance to change her life.  Ireland in the early 1950s is difficult, and for Eilis Lacey, as for other Irish girls, opportunities are limited. So when she gets a chance to emigrate to New York, she has to go. This is a story of love and of duty.  It's a powerful portrait of a woman making decisions that will shape her whole life, told in a simple, elegant style.    With this elating and humane novel, Colm Tóibín has produced a masterwork ― Sunday Times The most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman I have read in a long time -- Zoë Heller ― Guardian, Books of the Year Suffused with humane depth, funny, affecting, deftly plotted ... a novel of magnificent accomplishment -- Peter Kemp ― Sunday Times, Novel of the Year Geoff says: > "Colm Tóibín is one of the great Irish modern writers.  Brooklyn, set in Colm > Tóibín's home town, was the winner of the Costa Novel Award, and has been made > into a much loved film starring Saoirse Ronan - but as usual the book is > better!"

READ AND DISCUSS THIS WONDERFUL RUN THROUGH HISTORY IN THIS FEEL-GOOD BEST SELLER BY MATT HAIG!  HIGHLIGHTS * Join this book club and gain extra motivation to read in English * 6 hours of live classes to help you develop fluent speaking in English * A best seller that visits many historical times & places - discuss happiness and living a life well * Be corrected by an expert English teacher to remove errors and mistakes Practise and develop your English online in this 6 week upper-intermediate book club course using the modern best selling book How To Stop Time by Matt Haig.  Each week you read some chapters, discuss them in class and improve specific areas of vocabulary or grammar while also examining literary aspects of the novel.  Personalised feedback improves your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. THE BOOK CLUB BOOK Tom Hazard looks like an ordinary 41-year-old, but due to a rare condition he's been alive for centuries.  We travel with him from Elizabethan England to Paris in the 1920s, from New York to the South Pacific.  Tom has seen a lot, but now wants an ordinary life. Can he control his past? Can he prevent himself from falling in love in the present?  This is a wonderful book about losing and finding yourself, about coping in a changing world, and about learning how to really enjoy the moment. It throws a light on what it means to live a meaningful life. The movie of How to Stop Time is in development starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Geoff says: > "I chose this book because I read it and loved it!  The long life of our hero > is told in flashbacks and so we experience history through his eyes, which is > always shown with a light touch.  The themes of what it means to live and love > are thought-provoking."

One to One English Book Club. Practise and develop your English online in this individual English book club course.

Read and discuss this beautifully written, lyrical story of new neighbours disturbing a mother and daughter's carefully constructed world     HIGHLIGHTS * Join this book club and gain extra motivation to read in English * 6 hours of live classes to help you develop fluent speaking in English * Read this book to discuss Sicilian folklore, families, friendship, class and autism  * Be corrected by an expert English teacher to remove errors and mistakes Practise and develop your English online in this 6 week course using All the Little Bird Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow.  Each week you read some chapters, discuss them in class and improve specific areas of vocabulary or grammar while also examining literary aspects of the novel.  Personalised feedback improves your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. THE BOOK CLUB BOOK This poetic book is really memorable - the story of an autistic mother and free-spirited daughter whose lives change when a charming new couple move in next door.   The mother, Sunday Forrester, is neuro-diverse - she doesn't understand the world in the way that most people do, for example sometimes being compelled to only eat white foods.  Social situations are confusing for her, despite reading her etiquette handbook of how people should behave.  Another source of how things should be comes from her mother's family - the folk stories from her Sicilian heritage.  Sunday lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, her clever, independent-minded, teenage daughter. Into this world come Vita and Rollo, their new next door neighbours.  With their elegance and charm what impact will they have on the structured and controlled world that Sunday has created?  And what will be the impact on Dolly, and the relationship between mother and daughter, especially since Vita has always wanted a daughter like Dolly... *LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2024* 'Delicate and strong... I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell' 'Darkly vivacious... mesmerising' Guardian 'Immaculate' Financial Times 'A triumph' Daily Telegraph Geoff says: > "I highly recommend this if you like a beautifully written, lyrical style.  I > also loved the way that traditional beliefs, customs and stories from Sicily > are weaved into this great narrative." >

READ AND DISCUSS THIS GRIPPING BEST-SELLING COMING-OF-AGE MURDER MYSTERY NOVEL, SET IN THE BEAUTY OF NATURE HIGHLIGHTS * Join this book club and gain extra motivation to read in English * 6 hours of live classes to help you develop fluent speaking in English * Read this book to discuss a coming of age story within a murder mystery  * Be corrected by an expert English teacher to remove errors and mistakes Practise and develop your English online in this 6 week course using Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.  Each week you read some chapters, discuss them in class and improve specific areas of vocabulary or grammar while also examining literary aspects of the novel.  Personalised feedback improves your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. THE BOOK CLUB BOOK Where the Crawdads* Sing tells the story of sensitive and intelligent Kya Clark who lives outside society in the marshlands (* a crawdad is an American word for a freshwater crayfish - like a large prawn!)   When in late 1969, Chase Andrews is found dead, the local people instinctively suspect the marsh girl of the crime. But Kya is not an ignorant wild child - she is a born naturalist, who has learnt about life from nature.  But Kya starts to need the company of others and the novel asks how isolation influences the behaviour of this young woman.    Thought-provoking, moving, and wise, Owens helps us to remember that child we once were and the shaping that happens as we grow up, in a background of the constantly changing natural world. But the book is also a murder mystery.  Highly recommended! "A rare achievement" The Times "Vivid and original" The Guardian "A painfully beautiful first novel"  The New York Times Book Review Geoff says: > "This is a very interesting book to discuss. It is a historical novel set in > the 1950s and 60s with two parallel narrative time lines. The book is hard to > classify - is it a coming of age story?  A murder mystery? A meditation on > nature and our place in it?  The truth is that it is all of these.  Readers > around the world have fallen in love with this, the debut best-selling novel > from Delia Owens who spent many years as a wildlife scientist in Africa."

DISCUSS THIS BEST-SELLING, VERY FUNNY DETECTIVE STORY FOR AN INSIGHT INTO IDIOMATIC BRITISH ENGLISH, AND BRITISH HUMOUR AND CULTURE HIGHLIGHTS * Join this book club and gain extra motivation to read in English * 6 hours of live classes to help you develop fluent speaking in English * Study this modern novel to understand British expressions & humour * Be corrected by an expert English teacher to remove errors and mistakes Practise and develop your English in this 6 week online book club course using the modern novel The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.  Each week you read some chapters, discuss them in class and improve specific areas of vocabulary or grammar while also examining literary aspects of the novel. Personalised feedback improves your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. THE BOOK CLUB BOOK The Thursday Murder Club is a detective story set in a peaceful retirement village.  Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron are four retired people who meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.  But following a murder right where they live the Thursday Murder Club springs into action to investigate their first live case. This is a lovely book that shows the skills and understanding of older people in a humorous context.  It is filled with British English expressions - great for improving your understanding of spoken British English. The Book * Genre: Murder mystery; humour * Language: British English * Suitable for people new to reading in English - from Upper-Intermediate upwards  * Text: Original * Length:  Average: 114,218 words. Dates & Time * Wednesdays from 8th May-12th June * 17.30 CET (Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome & most EU); * 16.30 (UTC+1/GMT+1) London, UK, Portugal * 18.30 CET Turkey, Greece, Saudi Arabia,  * 11.30 EDT Boston/New York Age 18+ Online class size Maximum 8 participants, on Zoom, using break-out rooms for increased speaking and discussion What you learn * To express your ideas clearly, concisely & accurately * To improve specific areas of grammar and vocabulary * To stop making repeated errors and mistakes   * To summarise arguments, highlighting significant points * To develop discussions with related comments & feedback * To overcome any gaps by paraphrasing or rephrasing * To socialise fluently and spontaneously  Your teacher * Geoff Hardy-Gould, BSc, MBA, CTEFLA, DTEFLA.  * Over 20 years' experience of UK language schools.  * Speaker at:  2024 IATEFL Conference; 2023 IATEFL TechLit! Exploring crossovers between technology and literature; 2022 Extensive Reading Foundation; 2021 TESOL Italia Geoff says: > "This book is a world-wide phenomenon! It was the Sunday Times 1# bestseller, > and it was shortlisted for the British Book Awards Crime & Thriller Book of > the Year 2021.  It is also very funny - and very British with great use of > language  - and has a great plot!"