IBC Course

Today I started teaching a new class on the IBC course at Holland Park. IBC stands for International Business Communication. It's our class for professionals who want to improve their business English for international communication.

I have taught this class a number of times before and it is always an interesting experience for me. The people who enrol on this course are usually professionals who work in top positions in different areas of business, so they are always interesting and dynamic people with experience or expertise in their particular field. They're busy people which means they have to make the most of their time here in London.

The course runs for 6 hours a day, but the participants are always willing to concentrate and focus throughout each lesson. It's inspiring for me to see students who know how to manage their time, and to be efficient. It just goes to show - when you work full time, you don't have much time for anything else, and that includes studying English, so you have to take advantage of any learning opportunities.

If you're young, and haven't started working full time yet, you should learn a lesson from my current IBC class. Make the most of your time, focus and try to learn and practise as much as you can, in every minute of your lesson. Do it now when you have time, because later on you will be rushed off your feet answering emails and attending meetings and you won't have any spare moments to brush up on your English.

The students in my class are motivated, and that motivates me too. As well as that, they are usually a bit older and more experienced. This means that they have plenty of things to say about business. I have met directors of large successful companies, former prime ministers, television journalists and even movie producers on this course, and they all have their own stories to tell and their own insight into how to achieve business success in their own particular context. As well as helping them learn, I have also learned a lot from them, and it makes me realise that one of the most satisfying things about this job is the contact I have with interesting people from many countries. In the end, it proves to me that it is people, not money, that make the world go round.

stands for - We use this expression to explain what an acronym (letters that represent a longer phrase) means. For example, FBI stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation.

enrol (v) - This means to sign up for a course

field - this is your 'area of expertise'. For example, my field is English language teaching.

make the most of their time - This means to use your time as effectively as possible, without wasting any.

It just goes to show - This is an expression which we use when we point out that something proves something else to be true. E.g. I see you're going to the dentist again. It just goes to show that you shouldn't eat so much sugar.

To take advantage of something - This means to use something as much as possible in order to get the benefit of it. It is similar to 'make the most of'. For example - you should take advantage of the free internet access at school and use it to save money.

rushed off your feet - to be very busy

brush up on - to improve something, typically language

money makes the world go round - this is an old saying, which means that money is what motivates everyone in the world to do things, and it is money which is responsible for making everything happen.

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