Adult English, Advanced: A Sample Class Recap
From fluent to persuasive
Tone, nuance and natural English for meetings, presentations and real conversations.
Advanced learners already speak well. What holds them back is harder to see: sounding too blunt or too stiff, missing the idiom everyone else understood, stressing the wrong syllable in a key word, or losing the room halfway through an argument. These lessons work on exactly that, using the student's own real meetings, emails and presentations, and the recap records every fix in English and in their own language.
Here is a full example. Everything works: tap 🔊 to listen, move the slider and try the practice page.
Meet Daniel 林子翔, 38, from Hsinchu. He is an engineering manager at a technology company and presents to clients in the United States every month. His English is fluent, but he says he sounds "too direct" in meetings. He has a one-hour lesson with me every Thursday at 8:30 p.m., Taiwan time, on Zoom. (Daniel is made up. His lesson is a typical one.)
1The class recap: what Daniel receives
A few minutes after class, Daniel gets this by email: what we worked on, his own sentences improved, the new expressions with sound, and what to try before next week.
Class recap · 課後小結
Daniel's English lesson 子翔的英文課
Lesson 31 · Thursday 29 October · 60 minutes on Zoom第31課 · 10月29日（星期四）· Zoom 線上60分鐘
Hi Daniel,子翔你好：
Great session. We rehearsed the first five minutes of your client update twice, and the second run was noticeably calmer and more persuasive. Here is what we covered.今天上得很好。我們把你客戶簡報的前五分鐘演練了兩次，第二次明顯更沉穩，也更有說服力。以下是今天的重點。
Today we… · 今天我們…
- 🎤Rehearsed your project update for next Tuesday's client call, using Point, Reason, Example, Point.用「論點、理由、例子、論點」的架構，演練你下週二客戶會議的專案進度報告。
- 🕊️Practised softening: turning "This is wrong" into "I'm not sure this is quite right."練習「緩和語氣」：把「這是錯的」改成「我不太確定這樣是否完全正確」。
- 🎯Showed how sure you are with the right words: will, should, might, could.用對的字表達你有多確定：will、should、might、could。
- 💬Learned five meeting idioms your clients use all the time.學了五個客戶常用的會議慣用語。
- 🔊Fixed word stress in key technical words: PHOtograph, phoTOgraphy, photoGRAPHic.修正重要專業字的重音：PHOtograph、phoTOgraphy、photoGRAPHic。
Daniel's star moment · 子翔的亮點
⭐ In the second rehearsal, when I played the difficult client, you said: "That's a fair point. Could I suggest we look at the numbers together before we decide?" Calm, polite, and you kept control of the meeting.⭐ 第二次演練時，我扮演難搞的客戶，你說：「這個觀點很合理。我們決定之前，可以先一起看看數字嗎？」冷靜、有禮貌，而且你掌握住了會議的主導權。
Your English · 你的英文
Your own sentences from today, improved. · 今天你說的句子，改得更好。
I suggest you to check the data. → I suggest you check the data. suggest 後面不接 to：suggest you check 或 suggest checking。
We need to discuss about the timeline. → We need to discuss the timeline. discuss 後面直接接受詞，不用 about。
Your design has a big problem. → I think there might be an issue with the design. 文法沒錯，但太直接。對客戶說話時，用 I think、might 和 an issue 會更得體。
New expressions · 新的說法 (tap to listen · 點一下聽發音)
Before next week · 下週之前
- Record yourself giving the first two minutes of your update. Listen once just for word stress.錄下你報告的前兩分鐘，專心只聽一次重音對不對。
- In one real email this week, soften one sentence that sounds too direct. Send me the before and after.這週在一封真正的電子郵件裡，把一句太直接的話改得委婉一點，把修改前後的句子傳給我。
- Listen to my podcast episode below and note three expressions you would like to use yourself.聽下方我的 Podcast 節目，記下三個你自己想用的說法。
Ross's note · 老師的話
Daniel, your English was never the problem. Your ideas are clear. Now your tone matches them. Good luck on Tuesday, and tell me how it goes.子翔，你的英文從來都不是問題，你的想法很清楚，現在你的語氣也跟上了。祝你週二順利，再告訴我結果如何。
📅 Next class: Thursday 5 November, 8:30 p.m. Taiwan time, on Zoom. We'll debrief your client call.下一堂課：11月5日（星期四）晚上8點30分（台灣時間），Zoom 線上。我們會一起檢討你的客戶會議。
The recap is emailed after every lesson and kept on the student's own page, so every correction is saved and easy to review.
2Listen at home: real English, at full speed
Advanced listeners need real, unscripted English. My podcast is exactly that. In this episode I talk about what the ComIT course taught me about online learning, and why being connected is not the same as being engaged. Listen once for the ideas, then once for the expressions.
Connected, but Not Always EngagedWhat ComIT taught me about online learning. A podcast episode with the full transcript.Listen and read →
Beyond the LessonEverything every student gets: the Time Document, recaps, homework pages and more.See it all →
🎧 Listen now
Connected, but Not Always Engaged (11 min)
From the iLearn.tw Radio Podcast, also on Apple Podcasts.
3Daniel's practice page: try it
Every student also gets a practice page of their own, built from their lessons. Here is a small version of Daniel's.
Daniel's English Practice Page 子翔的英文練習頁
01Soften it · 緩和語氣
Direct on the left, diplomatic on the right. Tap and listen to the tone. · 左邊直接，右邊委婉。點一下聽聽語氣的差別。
02Meeting idioms · 會議慣用語
Tap an idiom to see what it means and how to use it. · 點一個慣用語，看它的意思和用法。
03Word stress · 單字重音
Same family, different stress. Tap, listen, and say the strong syllable louder and longer. · 同一個字族，重音不同。點一下聽，把重音節唸得又大聲又長。
04How sure are you? · 你有多確定？
Slide from certain to unsure. Hear how one word changes the message. · 從「確定」滑到「不確定」，聽聽一個字如何改變整句話的意思。
- The update will be ready on Friday.更新「一定」會在週五完成。
- The update should be ready on Friday.更新「應該」會在週五完成。
- The update is likely to be ready on Friday.更新「很可能」會在週五完成。
- The update might be ready on Friday.更新「也許」會在週五完成。
- The update could possibly be ready on Friday.更新「有可能」會在週五完成，但不太確定。
- It's hard to say when the update will be ready.很難說更新什麼時候會完成。
05Quick quiz · 小測驗
✏️Choose the correct sentence. · 選出正確的句子。
I suggest checking it. (Or: I suggest you check it.) · suggest 後面接 V-ing，或 you + 原形動詞。
🕊️Which is the most diplomatic? · 哪一句最委婉？
"I wonder if we could…" is polite and still clear. · 「I wonder if we could…」既有禮貌又清楚。
⚾"Give me a ballpark figure" means… · 「give me a ballpark figure」的意思是…
A rough number, not an exact one. · 大概的數字，不需要很精確。
🔊Where is the stress in "photography"? · photography 的重音在哪裡？
pho·TO·gra·phy · 重音在第二個音節。
🎯You're about 50% sure. You say: the release ___ slip. · 你大約五成把握，你會說：the release ___ slip.
Might = maybe, about 50%. · might 表示「也許」，大約五成。
Real practice pages grow every week, built from the student's own emails, slides and meeting recordings.
4Tips for advanced learners
- Work on your real material. Bring next week's slides, a tricky email or a meeting that went badly. That is the lesson.
- Record yourself. You will hear things in two minutes of your own voice that no textbook can show you.
- Collect expressions, not words. "That's a fair point" is worth more than ten new adjectives.
- Tone is part of grammar. A correct sentence can still sound rude. Every recap shows you both.
Free: the Adult Advanced Pack. A printable PDF with softening phrases, meeting idioms, word-stress tables and the certainty scale from this page.
Get the free pack5Six levels, one teacher
Every student gets a recap and a practice page at their own level. See what the others look like:
Want the full tour? Beyond the Lesson shows everything a rosscline.com student gets around each class: recaps, practice pages, the Time Document and more.
Beyond the Lesson: take the tour🎧 Story Time with Ross🎙 Apple Podcasts🎁 Free English packs
How to start
Take the free level test, or book a free 30-minute "virtual handshake" on Zoom. Bring a real email or presentation and we'll look at it together. There is no cost and no pressure.
Book a virtual handshakeFree level test
Ross Cline 柯受恩
Canadian English teacher. Founder of iLearn.tw, the licensed English school I ran in Taiwan for fifteen years. Now teaching online from Phnom Penh. rosscline.com
