Objective
This brand-new course is designed to complement the
Legal English course that ERA has been running successfully in Trier and
Brussels for over 20 years.
The Legal English Skills Course is designed for lawyers, legal
professionals and anybody with an interest in the language of the law.
There is therefore a focus on legal terminology in the context of areas
of law which have not been covered before in ERA’s legal English
courses, including subjects such as intellectual property law
and company law.
The main focus of this new course, however, is on skills development and
general legal/business English rather than on subject-specific
terminology. The aim is to develop the following skills in contexts
designed to suit the needs of legal professionals:
- Speaking
Participants will be encouraged to take part in directed speaking
activities, including role-play, to practise and develop their speaking
skills.
- Writing
The course includes a number of writing exercises, from simple sentence
construction drills to drafting letters of advice and memoranda.
Participants may choose to do some of the longer exercises in their own
time. All work will be supervised by the trainer, during or after the
course, and s/he will suggest ways for participants to improve their
writing.
- Reading
The material includes a range of texts which participants will be asked
to analyse and process to develop their reading skills and legal
vocabulary.
- Listening
The course includes original listening exercises in realistic settings,
such as a law court or a lawyer’s office.
Time will also be devoted to an examination of the use (or misuse) of
English within the context of the EU institutions, exploring the
differences between so-called Euro-English and the language used by
native English-speakers.
This course is not designed along the lines of a series of formal
lectures. Rather, participants are encouraged to work collaboratively,
with the trainer as a guide, to explore the target language in a way
which is both rewarding and enjoyable-
Trainer
Stephen Dillon Weston (B.A, L.L.B., R.S.A Cert. TEFL) has a degree in
languages from University College, London and a degree in law from City
University, London. He is a qualified teacher of English as a foreign
language and has wide teaching experience.
Who should
attend?
This course is designed for speakers of English at B1
level or above who have an interest in developing their English language
skills and vocabulary in the context of the
law.