Hello, I’d like to give you a warm welcome to our course
on how to succeed in English the B1 Level exam.
On behalf of the two directors,
María Dolores Castrillo and Elena Martín Monje,
and the team of expert educators, we wish you success
and you have a great time preparing yourself for this exam.
Now, the aim here is to provide you with the necessary skills
to pass any B1 level exam in English as a foreign language, OK?
Now you can achieve this by looking at the different elements
of this exam: reading, writing, listening and speaking
and understanding the process you need to apply for the exam.
Please note that this course is not about learning English, OK?
It focusses on the different components
of the English B1 level exam.
Now, it will provide you with guidelines, tips and strategies
to help you through this process.
The structure of the course is divided into six modules.
There is video-lectures and associated written materials,
and these will help you understand the characteristics of this exam
and the best way you can undertake it.
We also would like to heavily encourage you
to use the forums and social networks which are associated with it,
because it will help you and us build a community,
a group of people with shared interests.
This is very important since it will help you support each other
and get help for the things you have difficulty with.
It is also equally important to complete activities
both for your own progress,
to help you understand what you need to do in the exam,
and also for the question of certification.
There are three types of activities for you
to undertake in the course which are different and complementary.
There are some tests and quizzes with automatic correction,
which helps you to see if you have consolidated what you need to learn.
Also, as I mentioned before, the forums,
which are moderated by some of the teaching members,
and also activities which are what we call peer to peer.
This will actually help you to see what your colleagues are doing
and for your colleagues to help you with what you are doing.
And when you undertake these activities
you will be provided with criteria which you can actually use
to undertake this evaluation. OK?
Now, the course duration is of six weeks, one per module,
so that you spend around 15 hours a week.
The course has an open structure,
which means that all the modules will be open at the same time
so that you can work quickly or slowly as you wish to.
Obviously it means that you can move forwards and backwards
as you like, but you are encouraged to follow the weekly schedule
because then you will be at the same stage as your colleagues
on this course and it makes the participation
in the forums richer and more effective.
In this first module, the introductory module,
you are going to see two things, OK?
What it means to have a B1 certificate in English,
and how autonomous learning actually takes place for foreign languages.
Obviously it is not the same to do this in an online context
as in a classroom face to face context,
so we want to help you get the best out of this process.
Please tell your colleagues, friends, acquaintances, family,
people you pass in the street, anyone, about this course,
the enrolment open until end.
And we really hope you are going to enjoy this process,
enjoy the course and get al lot from it.
There is different types accreditation and certificates
that are actually available for you on this course.
There are three types, in fact.
Firstly, badges which are informal, automatic accreditation
which you will gain as you finish certain tasks.
Then we have what we call credentials,
which if you like are a statement of participation,
having undertaken the course and finally, the certificate,
wich is linked to European Credit Transfer Scheme credits
and is recognized by universities.
OK, so before you start
please complete the questionnaire if you haven’t done so already.
Remember, this way we can help you with your learning needs.
So without anymore, please let me wish you success in this course,
more than anything that you enjoy it,
and it is true that when you are having fun you learn better!
Remember, this is an exciting moment, you are closer than you were before
to passing your English B1 Level Exam.
Come on now, let's go to module 1,
go to the forum and introduce yourself.
Only in English please, remember,
we are trying to communicate with each other and it doesn't matter
if we make mistakes as we do this.
The important thing is trying.
Good luck!