Woman: I’m planning to study in the UK.
Man: This means you have to decide in detail, the arrangements for something you are going to do.
Woman: This is my last year here, I’m planning to study abroad.
Man: I hope you are sure about your decision

Woman: You have to pay for your fees and expenses
Man: Fees are an amount of money that you pay to join an organization, how much you spent on accommodation, books, food etc. are your expenses.
Woman: Remember you have to pay an entrance fee for each course you have chosen.
Man: I know but I can avoid extra expenses if I share a room with someone.

Woman: British Council provides information about courses in the UK
Man: This means, this Institution give students something they need to know.
Woman: My teacher suggested to me to talk with you on how to organize my study program.
Man: I’m so sorry, but you have to meet your tutor, he can provide information about your courses.

Woman: I want to apply for a grant to attend Cambrige University.
Man: When you apply for a grant you make a formal written request for an amount of money given by someone or by the government for a particular purpose.
Woman: Can I have the application form to apply for a grant?
Man: Unfortunately I do not have any paper copies, you have to apply on-line.

Woman: I mustn’t miss application deadlines
Man: This means, you have to remember the date or the time by which you have to complete and send the application form.
Woman: You need your CV to send this application form for a grant, otherwise it is not complete.
Man: I do not have a copy here!
Woman: I’m sorry but if there aren’t all the documents the committee does not accept your request, here is your application form you have only a day before the application deadline.

Woman: I need suitable accommodation
Man: Suitable accommodation is a place where you can live comfortably.
Woman: I’ m scared of living in another town. I don’t know what I can find.
Man: Don’t worry about it. First of all having suitable accommodation is important, the other things are of secondary important.

Woman: Now let’s listen to these words and phrases in the following article adapted from britishcouncil.com.

Woman: If you are planning to study in the UK, you will have to consider what course you will study, how you will pay for your fees and expenses and where you will live. The British Council can provide information about the courses you can attend in the UK. If you cannot afford the full cost of your studies, you may apply for a grant. However, competition for grants is high, so be careful not to miss application deadlines. Having suitable accommodation is very important to help you settle into the UK. Some institutions provide accommodation for students in halls of residence. The cost of accommodation and other expenses (food, books, transport) will vary depending on where you live. It is estimated that a degree student needs around £770 per month to live in the UK.

Woman: Spelling
Man: Spelling is a noun. It is the way that letters are organised to make a word. To spell is the verb form
Listen to this short conversation:
Man: I’m terrible at spelling.
Woman: What’s the problem?
Man: How do you spell opinion? Does it have 1 or 2 “p”s?
Woman: One “p”, you spell it O-P-I-N-I-O-N.
Man: Thank you.

Woman: A vowel
Man: A vowel is any of the sounds represented in English by the letters, “a” “e” “I” “o” “u”
For example
Woman: Why do “does” “goes and “shoes” have different sounds, if they use exactly the same vowels, “o” and “e”?
Man: I have absolutely no idea. English can be a strange language, there is often a mismatch between pronunciation and spelling.

Woman: A consonant
Man: A consonant is any of the letters in the English alphabet that are not vowels.
For example:
Woman: Excuse me why is the past of “play” “played” and the past of “study” “studied”?
Man: Because there is the consonant “d” before the “y”, so all verbs that end with a consonant and a “y” follow this rule, such as hurry, marry etc.
Woman: Mmmmm, thanks.

Woman: An address book.
Man: This is a small book, that has sections that follow the alphabet, where you normally write down your friends, colleagues etc addresses and telephone numbers in the appropriate section. i.e. for Charles Jones, you would insert his name, address and phone number under “J”.
For example:
Woman: Have you seen my address book? I want to write a letter to Frank Smith.
Man: It’s in its usual place by the telephone.

Woman: Now let’s listen to some information on some of the reasons why English pronunciation is so difficult. This article is adapted from www.askoxford.com

All languages exist as speech long before any written form appears. People like the written word or rather spelling to match the way we pronounce words. Unfortunately the English language has a mismatch between the spelling of words and their pronunciation. This is partly because English uses the Roman alphabet, that was originally devised for Latin, an older language with patterns of sounds and grammatical structures that differ from English.
There are over 40 sounds in English but only 26 letters to represent them. Some letters represent one sound, for example, f, l, m, and z. But most letters can represent more than 1 sound. For example the consonant c is pronounced differently in the 3 words cake, city, and church. The vowel e is different in the words den, pretty and patient, and sometimes it is not pronounced at all, especially at the end of words, for example come and dance.
Hence it is important if you are studying English, to write down new words in an address book, along side the spelling of a word, and from a dictionary to write down its phonetic symbols. This way you learn the phonetic alphabet, and improve your English pronunciation.

Woman: The UK is well known for the quality of its further and higher education programmes.
There are higher education colleges and universities throughout the UK, ranging from large universities with 30,000 or more students, to small colleges of higher education with fewer than 1,000 students.

Most courses for a first degree last three or four years. There are also vocational courses, for example medicine, dentistry and architecture, which are longer and DipHE Foundation degrees and HND courses which normally last for two years and Certificate of HE educational programmes for one year.

Woman : Now listen to the following conversation

Woman: Hello! This is the University of Birmingham. I’m Rose. How can I help you?
Man: I’m an Italian student and I’d like to have some information about your undergraduate degree.
Woman: For admission to all degree programmes you will need to satisfy our entrance requirements. The entry requirements that you need for the course you are considering, refers to UK exams either as grades or tariff point score.
You have to fill in the application form which must be made direct through the UCAS, the Universities Colleges Admissions Service
Man: Where can I find the application form?
Woman: You can apply on-line or you can also download a copy of the application form. Note that you need to send us a copy of it including your references and certificates.
Man: I have another question about the standard of my English.
English is not my first language and I took a First Certificate in English. Is it high enough for me to succeed in my course?
Woman: For this question I do not have an answer. First of all, you have to choose your course and then, you can check which English Language Testing Certificate qualifications are acceptable.
A short guide to higher education in the UK is available on the Higher Education Funding Council for England website, and more general information about the full range of further education opportunities available in the UK may be obtained from British Council and the Learning and Skills Council or the Association of Colleges.
Man: You have been very helpful. Hope to see you soon. Bye.

Listen to other examples:

Man: Alison had an accident yesterday. She’s in hospital now
Woman: I went to the hospital this morning to visit her.
Man: Potonski is in prison
Woman: My company is repairing the prison

Woman: Remember that if before the word College or University or other names of buildings there is a proper or geographical name the article is left out. However, if after the name there is an expression which determines it, the article [the] is required
Listen to this example:
Man: She has applied to study French at London University.
Woman: They are going to visit Coventry Cathedral
Man: Where is Charing Cross station?
Woman: It’s off Trafalgar Square, between the Post Office and Coutts Bank .
Man: They are going to visit the Wall of China
Woman: They are going to visit the Wall of China

Woman: Note that the names of most hotels and pubs, many theatres and cinemas and most
museums and art galleries need to be used with the definite article.
Man: Shall we eat at the Duck. It’s a nice place
Woman: The National Gallery is on the northern side of Trafalgar Square. It’s about half an hour walk from The British Museum.

Woman : Now let’s listen to a dialogue between two students deciding where to eat on campus:
Woman: Shall we eat at Pino’s?
Man: No, I’m a vegetarian. Let’s have dinner at the Irish Pub.
Woman: Don’t be ridiculous! You can also have something to eat over there!
Man: Bad idea! It’s impossible because they don’t serve salad…
Woman: I don’t like the Irish Pub. Can you suggest another place?
Man: Uhm…. Let me think…Well… shall we eat at the Slug and Lettuce?
Woman: Good choice! I like the place and I never have chance to go there…. Let’s go!

Man: This is a guideline and standardisation, for all professional examination centres, to set the standards of English language, grammar, functions, lexis etc, for students, to define if they have an elementary, intermediate or advanced level and knowledge of the English language.
Listen to this example:
Woman: Do you know what exam and certificate we’ll get at the end of this course?
Man: I think we’ll do something like the “University of Cambridge’s” PET Exam, or Trinity level 8.
Woman: How do you know that?
Man: Well this course is classified as B1, by the European Framework, so it has to be one or the other.

Woman: Received Pronunciation.
Man: This is a standard “BBC English” pronunciation used, for the sounds of phonetic spellings.
Listen to this example:
Woman: Do you think my accent is improving?
Man: Well you sound like the Queen of England now.
Woman: Well, I’ve been studying phonology all morning, so I hope I have BBC English standard RP,or rather received pronunciation.

Woman: Phonemes
Man: Phonemes are the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish 2 words, for example, “can” and “fan”, these words only differ with initial sound /k/ and /f/. But “ban” and “bin” differ only with their vowel sound, / ɪ / and / æ /
Listen to this short conversation:
Woman: I never knew a language could be so complicated, I’ve been trying to memorise the phonetic sounds all morning, so I’m ready for the test.
Man: Sounds or Phonemes?
Woman: Stop trying to trick me. They mean the same thing don’t they?

Woman: ESOL & EFL
Man: EFL – is a term for students, whom are studying English, it means: “English as a Foreign Language.”
ESOL - is a more politically correct term for students, whom are studying English, which means “ English for Speakers of Other Languages.”
Listen to this:
Woman: Hi what are you studying?
Man: I’m an ESOL student, studying for an IELTS.
Woman: Aah, you’re an EFL student, I thought I saw you on some of my courses.

Woman: Cafeteria
Man: It is a self-service restaurant where students choose their own food and carry it to the table
Woman: Well, it’s time to have lunch! I’ll go to the cafeteria
Man: I’ll follow you

Man: Health Centre
Woman: It’s a building where students go and find medical help or advice.
Woman: I don’t feel well. I got up this morning with a bad stomach ache.
Man: What did you eat last night?
Woman: Nothing special. I had milk and biscuits.
Man: It’s better you go to the health centre…. The doctor can help you!

Woman: Language centre
Man: A place where students can attend language courses or do self-activities using multimedia technology
Woman: Look! It is a very modern language centre!
Man: Yeah… I’ve never seen anything like that before. What about you?
Woman: I agree. When I was at school we only had a room with a TV and a tape recorder.

Man: Sports Hall
Woman: In this place, students can do exercise and play different sports
Woman: Today the football game will be interesting!
Man: I think so! Both teams want to win
Woman: Why did they choose to play in the sports hall?
Man: Because the other two football teams will play on the pitch outside

Woman: Computer centre
Man: A place which provides a series of services, such as open-access PC laboratories, printing facilities, Internet and e-mail
Woman: Hurry up! It’s late…. The other lesson is starting!
Man: Where is the class for the lesson ?
Woman: It is in the main building… close to the cafeteria… 2nd floor… in the computer centre

Man: Library
Woman: You go to the library to look at books, records or to borrow them
Woman: What time does the library open?
Man: At 9 am during the week and at 10 am for the weekend.
Woman: Well, I’ll go now because I need a book for this afternoon.
Man: Ok… I’ll wait for you in class

Woman: Pronunciation techniques
Man: As the English written language is very different to its spoken language, it’s important for every student to find a technique that suits them to improve their pronunciation and learn the phonetic alphabet.
Listen to this short conversation.

Woman: Your English pronunciation is so good. What technique do you use?
Man: Well I’ve had a lot of English speaking girlfriends, I think that’s probably why.

Woman: Minimal Pair Practice
Man: This is a useful technique, often used in the classroom, but you can do it yourself also. It involves the practising of 2 different sounds, such as:
Ship – sheep
Bit – beat
Bin – bean
Slip - sleep

Woman: Utilising a dictionary and an address book.
Man: To improve your knowledge of sounds, and the phonetic alphabet, take the time to write down any new words, their translation and their phonetic transcription.
For example:

Woman: What are you doing with that little black book? Looking up more girlfriends’ numbers?
Man: How dare you? I’m noting down the phonetic transcription of trouble actually. This little black book, is for new vocabulary and their sounds as I learn new words.

Woman: It is important to study phonetics, and learn the symbols as you go, but, remember that American, Australian and British accents are very different as are regional accents and dialects.
Now you will listen to a conversation between two people in a university canteen, discussing their problems with English pronunciation.

Woman: I’m exhausted, after 2 hours of phonetics?
Man: Why? What did you study in the lesson?
Woman: Well the first hour and a half, was about how to move your tongue, when you speak English.
Man: Sounds interesting.
Woman: Well at least I can say “the” properly now. Did you know that you have to put the tip of your tongue between your front teeth to make the “th” sound correctly
Man: No, but I don’t think I want to hear about this, while I’m eating lunch.
Woman: Sorry! Anyway, the last half an hour was on minimal pair practice, which was great fun, and useful to learn the long “ee” and short “e”. For example, sheet not sh*t, and beach not bi***h.
Man: OK, you can teach me something about it all after lunch. Eat something now, you must be starving.

Do you want to attend undergraduate programmes? In this case, the applications must be sent to the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service, UCAS. Surely this word is new for you! UCAS is a centralised organization that processes applications for full time undergraduate courses at UK universities and colleges. It gives lots of useful information about deadlines and application guidelines.

You can also enrol on courses as an exchange student; note that you have to apply for the Study Abroad Programme or the Exchange student programme.

Woman: Now learn some useful sentences:

Man: I would like to take a first degree in History

Man: I would like to take a Master’s degree or a PhD in Economics.

Man: Can you give me some information about financial support for students?

Man: Do I have to pay an application fee?

Man: Do I have to submit a research proposal?

Woman: I would like to attend your summer course in Business English

Woman: I would like a written document with information about how much your courses cost and accommodation

Woman: Please send me a brochure with details of your courses in English as a Foreign Language.

Woman: Is there a deadline?

Man: 24/ ŋ / as in wing

Woman: Although it is impossible to learn phonetic transcription over night, it is a good idea to make a note of them when you look up a word in a dictionary, so you start to begin to recognise them, and improve your pronunciation, as there is often no logic to the way English words are written and spoken, due to how the language has developed and changed over the centuries.