English for Everyday Life: From A1 to A2 Communication Skills
Develop practical English skills for work, study, and life while building confidence speaking with others.
Duration
8 weeksWeekly study
2 hours100% online
How it worksDigital upgrade
Free
English for Everyday Life: From A1 to A2 Communication Skills
Turn everyday interactions into opportunities to practise English
Learning a language starts with conversation.
Whether you’re preparing for work, daily life, or future study, developing confidence in spoken English can open doors and create new opportunities.
On this free eight-week course from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you’ll gradually build practical communication skills while progressing from A1 towards A2 level, following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Through videos, speaking activities, listening exercises, and interactive tasks, you’ll develop the confidence to communicate in a range of real-world situations.
Break the ice and start conversations
Begin with the building blocks of spoken English.
You’ll practise introducing yourself, asking and answering questions, and exchanging information with others.
Along the way, you’ll strengthen your vocabulary, pronunciation, and understanding of everyday expressions.
Bring English into everyday situations
Next, you’ll use English in contexts that reflect daily life.
You’ll develop speaking strategies for conversations about work, routines, pop culture, and practical situations, while improving your listening and comprehension skills.
As your confidence grows, you’ll learn how to keep conversations flowing naturally.
Create habits that help you keep learning
Learning a language takes practice. Throughout the course, you’ll develop routines and strategies that support continued learning beyond the classroom.
By the end of the course, you’ll be able to communicate with greater confidence and continue your journey towards higher levels of English proficiency.
Syllabus
Week 1
Getting Started: Your English Journey
Welcome!
You will get to know the course and see what you will do in Week 1. You will learn how we use English when we speak and what is important when you speak English.
You and English
You will think about why you want to learn English, how you feel when speaking English, and decide what you want to get better at in English. This will help you learn what you need to learn.
Make a study plan
You will make a study plan and practise a little every day to speak English better. You will also learn how to do well in the course and how to use English in your everyday life to help you learn.
Study help
Study Help gives you ideas to help you study. You can use the checklist to get ready for the course. The Weekly Booster Challenge gives you simple tips to practise English and get better step by step.
Week 2
Introducing yourself
This week's lesson
In this lesson, you will learn how to greet people, introduce yourself, and talk about your job, studies, and hobbies. The things you learn can help you meet new people and find new chances for work, study, or friendship.
Let's Practise
Next, you will practise introducing yourself. You will listen to another learner's introduction and then introduce yourself. This gives you a chance to practise and get to know your classmates.
Study tips
You will now try two new ways to learn. The technique of 'shadowing' helps you to get better at speaking in English. You will also use the online tool 'YouGlish' to listen to real-life English.
Weekly booster challenge
Weekly Boosters help you learn faster. In this Weekly Booster, you will practise introducing yourself. This can help you feel more confident and make it easier to talk to new people.
Week 3
Asking and Answering Simple Questions
This week's lesson
Asking questions is an important part of speaking English. Questions help you get information and keep talking. You will learn six question words, correct word order, and how to use intonation in English questions.
Let's practise
You will practise asking questions. Listen and repeat!
Study tips
In this activity, you will get a list of questions to use in everyday situations and make your own list. You will also learn useful starting words to help you to ask questions.
Weekly booster challenge
Weekly Boosters help you learn faster. This week, you will practise asking a question. This can help you get information, get things you need, and get to know people.
Week 4
Exchanging Information
This week's lesson
In this week's lesson, you will learn how to make appointments. The things you learn can help you when you need to visit a doctor, want to make plans with friends, or have to make appointments for work.
Let's Practise
Now, you will practise sentences for making an appointment. Then, you will listen to Mary making an appointment.
Study Tips
You will now learn how to tell the other person when you don't understand. You will also learn about "The Sounds of English" and make a pronunciation guide.
Weekly booster challenge
Weekly Boosters help you learn faster - try these to enhance your learning!
Week 5
Having Everyday Conversations
This week's lesson
In this week's lesson, you learn language for everyday conversations about things that happen, ideas and feelings. You also learn what to say when you do not understand something.
Let's practise
Next, you can listen to, and practise, everyday conversations.
Study tips
You will study conversations that you can use in everyday life. You will also make a word bank where you write new words. Then, you can use these new words in your conversations.
Weekly booster challenge
Weekly Boosters help you learn faster. This week, you will go on a word hunt. Find new words you did not know before and use them in everyday conversations.
Week 6
Talking About Work and School
This week's lesson
In this lesson, you will learn useful words about work and school. You will also learn how to talk about the things you do at work or at school. Then, you will learn what you can say at work and at school.
Let's practise
Now, you'll practise talking about work and school.
Study tips
You will now learn how to spot new words around you and how to remember them. You will also get tips about polite and relaxed language used at work.
Weekly booster challenge
Weekly Boosters help you learn faster. This week, you will write 5-7 sentences about your work or school. You can use your sentences when you meet a new person.
Week 7
Everyday Life
This week's lesson
You will learn what to say when you need to speak English in everyday. You will also learn what you can do when you don't understand and how to speak naturally.
Let's practise
In this activity, you can listen to sentences that people use to get around in everyday life. For example, at the doctor or a restaurant. In the study tips for this week, you can see more sentences.
Study tips
You will now study more sentences for everyday life. For your Work Bank, you will study words that are said together. Finally, you will get a tip for what to do when you don’t understand a word.
Weekly booster challenge
Weekly Boosters help you learn faster. This week, you will try to listen to sentences from everyday life.
Week 8
My English Journey: What I’ve Learned & What’s Next
Looking back
In this week, you are going to think about your English journey. What was difficult for you? You are going to look at what you have practised and how you got better.
How am I doing?
How are you doing now? Celebrate the steps you have made in your English journey! In this activity, you are going to check how you feel and what you know. You can see what you can do well and what you still need to practise.
What's next?
Finally, what do you want to learn next? You are going to think about your next steps in English and how you can do it.
Goodbye!
In this final step, your teacher looks back at everything you have done in the course. She tells you the things you have learned and practised. Then, she says goodbye and wishes you all the best for your future English learning!
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Describe their learning needs in spoken English
- Engage in simple interactions in spoken English, for example, exchanging information, having everyday conversations or talking about /at work.
- Explain routine tasks in spoken English.
- Identify clearly spoken English on familiar topics and situations.
- Interpret and use words and phrases that are relevant to their personal needs and circumstances.
- Reflect on their learning.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for beginners who want to improve their spoken English for work, study, or everyday life. Ideal for learners progressing from A1 towards A2 level and anyone looking to build confidence communicating in English.
Who will you learn with?
I am a Senior Lecturer in English Linguistics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. My research is in grammatical variation and change. I teach courses in Global English and English speaking skills.
Who developed the course?
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s English department at Amsterdam offers first-class education and cutting-edge research in variation and change in the English language and English literature.
FutureLearn
FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform and has been providing high quality online courses for learners around the world over the last ten years.
What's included?
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that you can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that you get:
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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