These outlines provide a learning framework for Cactus evening & part-time business language courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover, and include typical themes, grammar and vocabulary fields. They are flexible rather than prescriptive, and our teachers are trained to adapt the course syllabus to the level, aims and interests of the class.

• Business Language Cactus Level 1
• Business Language Cactus Level 2
• Business Language Cactus Level 3
• Business Language Cactus Level 4
• Business Language Cactus Level 5
• Business Language Cactus Level 6
• Business Language Cactus Level 7

• Talking about yourself and others
• Making telephone calls
• Travel - business trips
• Useful social language
• Describing your role in a company
• Money - types, bills, banks
• Making appointments
• Directions - asking for and giving
• Language of opinion
• Writing emails

• Past
• Future, inc 'going to'
• Can, could
• Possessives
• 'want to + infinitive'
• Some/any

• Cultural insights
• Business conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - key sounds

• Cultural insights
• Business conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - key sounds

• Describing personality & character
• Describing company structure
• Presenting information clearly
• The language of meetings
• Financial transactions
• Simple correspondence, inc emails
• IT - key vocab, issues
• Emergencies
• Hotels, restaurants and bars
• Useful social language

• Review & practise 'level 1' grammar, plus:
• More complex verb forms - eg. the perfect & the continuous
• Key modals - can, could, will, would, should
• Comparative/superlative
• Countable vs. Uncountable nouns

• Review & practise 'level 1' vocab, plus:
• Prepositions of movement
• Word-building (prefix and suffix patterns)
• Word families (noun-verb-adjective-adverb)
• Time phrases
• Common signs

• Cultural insights
• Business conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - sound clusters, problem areas

• Describing company performance
• Describing trends
• Leading presentations
• Meetings: chairing, taking part
• Sales
• Formal correspondence
• Using situation-appropriate language
• Conversational strategies
• setting priorities
• Telling personal anecdotes

• Review & practise 'level 2' grammar, plus:
• Complex verb forms
• Modals
• Reported speech
• Contingency
• passive voice
• relative clauses

• Review & practise 'level 2' vocab, plus:
• More extensive word-building (prefix and suffix patterns)
• More extensive word families (noun-verb-adjective-adverb)
• Common idioms
• Common linking words
• Key functional expressions, inc. giving advice, making enquiries, making invitations

• Cultural insights
• Business Conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - focus on problem areas

• Describing company performance
• Current business climate
• Negotiation
• Marketing - key vocab & concepts, branding
• The language of change
• Giving presentations
• Making and dealing with complaints
• The language of disagreement & dissent
• Delivering good & bad news
• Summarising complex information

• Review & practise 'level 3' grammar, plus:
• Mixed Tense and aspect
• Complex Comparatives & superlatives
• Reporting ideas and statements
• Contingency (if…)
• Passive/Active voice
• Multi-clause sentences
• multi-verb clauses

• Review & practise 'level 3' vocab, plus:
• More extensive word-building (prefix and suffix patterns)
• More extensive word families (noun-verb-adjective-adverb)
• Common idioms
• More complex linking words
• Common collocations
• Compound words

• Cultural insights
• Business conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - focus on problem areas

• Describing company performance
• Economic structures & trends - global & national
• Graphs, charts, statistics
• Economic institutions - banking, funds, corporations
• Trade issues, eg. competition
• Leading negotiations
• Argumentation
• New media
• Dilemmas, Ethics & Values
• Work-related social functions

• Review & practise 'level 4' grammar, plus:
• Discourse patterns
• Written style & register (formal/informal)
• Differentiated clause types
• Multi-Verb patterns

• Review & practise 'level 4' vocab, plus:
• Idioms
• Discourse Markers
• Business Collocations
• Metaphor
• Phrasal verbs
• Register

• Cultural insights
• Business conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - focus on problem areas

• Describing company performance
• Economic structures & trends - global & national
• Graphs, charts, statistics
• Economic institutions - banking, funds, corporations
• Trade issues, eg. competition
• Leading negotiations
• Argumentation
• New media
• Dilemmas, Ethics & Values
• Work-related social functions

• Review & practise 'level 5' grammar, plus:
• Discourse patterns
• Written style & register (formal/informal)
• Differentiated clause types
• Multi-Verb patterns

• Review & practise 'level5' vocab, plus:
• Idioms
• Discourse Markers
• Business Collocations
• Metaphor
• Phrasal verbs
• Register

• Cultural insights
• Business conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - focus on problem areas

• Corporate strategy
• Management styles
• Information in the Digital Age
• Crisis management
• Environmental issues - climate change, global imbalances, energy
• Innovation, R&D
• Globalisation - institutions, arguments for & against
• Urbanisation & demographic change
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• Mass Media & Communication

• Targeted to specific needs of students
• Can include:
• Nuance
• Complex sentences
• Narratives
• Exceptions to the rule

• Review & practise 'level 6' vocab, plus:
• Style
• Emphatic language
• Technical language
• Sector-specific language
• Dialect

• Cultural insights
• Business conventions
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation - focus on problem areas