Speaking and Listening Skills

Oral Fluency and Confidence 

Oral Communication Skills (OCS) 

A series of workshops aiming to help students to integrate into the social and cultural life of the university whilst improving their spoken English for everyday situations.  There are three separate, four-session courses; one repeated three times in the first half of the term [OCS1 – 3], and the other repeated 3 times in the second half of the term OCS4 – 6]. 

Use the links below to sign up for the course at the most convenient time for you. You can join a course at any point in the term, and signing up for one session will automatically sign you up for all the subsequent sessions at that time.

Current Issues

Current Issues our discussion skills class is available during term 3 and over the summer.

These sessions give participants the opportunity to express themselves on complex and controversial topics; very useful for practicing and improving seminar discussion skills as well as building confidence and fluency that you can carry into interviews and future employment.. A different topic of current importance in the world is chosen each week. 

Use the links below to sign up for the course at the most convenient time for you. You can join a course at any point in the term, and signing up for one session will automatically sign you up for all the subsequent sessions at that time.

Presentation Skills (PRES)

This is a series of 4 workshops in term 1 for students from across the university. The course focuses on how to give an effective academic presentation, with lots of useful advice, examples and opportunities for students to present. The course runs twice in term 1 covering the same content.

Click on the links to sign up.

Listening Skills

Many students find that one of the biggest challenges that they face when they first arrive at the University is adapting to listening to lectures in English. This can have a significant impact on your confidence and on your academic performance. We created this course to provide practical strategies for making the most of lectures. 

It can be a really good idea to combine a listening skills course with pronunciation workshops, as there can be a link between the two.

There are two possibilities to take this course. Click on the links below to sign up.

Pronunciation Workshops

4 workshops [repeated twice in the term] designed to extend strategies for clarity of expression and, thus success in communicating ideas, by focusing on sound, stress and intonation in English. This also has an impact on listening comprehension and interpretation of meaning beyond that given by choice of vocabulary and grammatical structures. 

Click on the links below to sign up. Signing up to one workshop will automatically sign you up for the rest of the course.

Developing your skills in Intercultural Communication

Education and the workplace are increasingly international. Working with people from other cultures provides diverse perspectives, alternative approaches to problem solving, and opportunities to challenge unconscious bias. However, lack of cultural awareness can create barriers to successful communication.

Job Search English

Dates TBC

Appointment booking link

Family Class

This is a course on cultural and communicative English offered to the partners of international students and staff members who have come to Exeter but are not studying at the University. The focus is very much on communication, culture and how to get the most from your stay in Exeter. There are 9 weeks of classes in term 1, with sessions being held twice each week. 

If you would like to join the Family Class, please email insessional@exeter.ac.uk