Me and English
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Are you someone who speaks English as an additional language?
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Do you consider yourself an English learner?
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Do you work, socialise, or learn in English?
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English is the current global lingua franca, it connects us all and allows us to communicate, connect, and collaborate across borders. But not all speakers are made equal!
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English is also a problematic language, often an indicator of social status or educational achievement, a colonial language, and a barrier for many talented people around the world who are forced to work, learn, study, and express themselves in a very 'foreign' language.
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If you can identify with those struggles, this might be the course for you.
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Why not download our course booklet to learn more?
Starting on 11th March this year, we're running a 3-week course to help you examine your relationship to English at the same time as learning and improving your English skills.
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You'll get 9 hours of live classes, 3 hours of live peer-to-peer support, an active Telegram group for your cohort including support from your facilitators, daily emails with information and reminders, and additional online content, all for £90.
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What will you learn?
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Based on Upskilling For Change’s guiding values & principles, this is a course for English learners who wish to examine their relationship with English, and to examine the language in a more social, cultural and political context.
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The course aims to boost your confidence in English by helping you to understand the English language's position as a global lingua franca, a colonial language, a 'status' language.
You’ll come away with a better understanding of your own relationship to English, your feelings towards it and your need for it. We hope that when you finish this course, you’ll feel more positive about your own relationship with the language, and much more comfortable when using it.
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A focus on sharing spaces and peer-to-peer support encourages collaborative learning and reflection. Classes of mixed nationalities and a focus on sharing and connection helps promote intercultural understanding and will support learners working and collaborating in multicultural spaces.
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Fiona and Sahar, course facilitators
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How does the course work?
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This is an online, live course of three weeks, running from 11th to 28th March, consisting of 9 hours of live instruction, 3 hours of peer-to-peer work, an active Telegram group for additional support, daily emails with information and reminders, and bonus online content.
For the duration of the course, learners will be included in an active Telegram* group for their cohort where ongoing discussion related to the course will be encouraged.
All classes run from 15:00pm (GMT) until 16:00pm (GMT) - please check what time that is in your country. Classes are on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (for the peer support sessions on Thursdays, the exact time is flexible and will be decided by you and your course-mates). The platform we use for all sessions is Zoom**.
* We use Telegram because it is widely available in different countries, and because group participants are not obliged to share their phone number with their cohort.
** We are open to using a different platform if it increases the accessibility of the course, please contact us at info@upskillingforchange.com if you feel a different platform would work better.
Download our course booklet for more details
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Your English level
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We ask participants on this course to have what is called a ‘professional working proficiency’.
“Someone at this language proficiency level can make contributions to office meetings, have conversations with clients, and carry out most work functions requested of them.”
(Vipond, 2023).
If you can work, travel or ‘get by’ in English, but still feel that you lack confidence, or feel uncomfortable, or at a professional or social disadvantage because of your English abilities, then this course is made for you!
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