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Syllabus: Intermediate
Use this page to find your way around our Intermediate course. Click the links to go to our
other course sitemaps.
 Lower Intermediate course sitemap
 Upper Intermediate course sitemap
 Towards Advanced course sitemap

Intermediate Course – A=activity, L=listening, R=reading

Grammar Vocabulary Drama
Unit 1 – Pop-ups
L Present tenses L Hyphenation L Jamaica Inn – Part 1
6 Minute Grammar 6 Minute Vocabulary Mixed tenses: present simple,
present continuous, present
R Present tense review A Numbers and hyphens perfect

R The present simple, present A Two-word adjectives with

continuous and present perfect tenses hyphens
Grammar reference
R The pop-up phenomenon
Vocabulary relating to pop-up
businesses

Unit 2 – Hidden talents
L Present perfect continuous
6 Minute Grammar
L How to haggle
Fucntional language
L In, at, on with time expressions L Jamaica Inn – Part 2
6 Minute Vocabulary Present perfect continuous

A Making the present perfect A Which preposition?

continuous Time expressions

L Song Stars UK R Talent shows: from human

Present perfect continuous in context judges to computers
Vocabulary relating to fame
R Present perfect continuous
Grammar reference
Unit 3 – Can’t buy me love
L Quantifiers L Uncountable nouns L Jamaica Inn – Part 3
6 Minute Grammar 6 Minute Vocabulary Quantifiers: all, each, every,
either, neither
A All, each, every, both, either and A How uncountable nouns work
neither
Quantifiers R More money might not mean
more happiness
R Quantifiers Vocabulary relating to wealth and
Grammar reference lifestyle

Unit 4 – Travellers’ tales
L Phrasal verbs and prepositional
verbs
L Are we ‘stuffocating’?
Materialism and minimalism
L Spoken short forms: gonna, L Jamaica Inn – Part 4
wanna, dunno, whatcha Phrasal verbs
1
 6 Minute Grammar 6 Minute Vocabulary

R Multi-word verbs with break L Spot the short forms

Whatcha, gonna, gimme, lemme
R Multi-word verbs
Grammar reference L Pronunciation practice of short
forms

R The man who got dumped just

before his honeymoon
Phrasal verbs relating to travel and
relationships

Unit 5 – The colleague from hell
L Zero conditional and first
conditional
6 Minute Grammar
A Zero conditional and first
conditional
L Making complaints
Functional language
L Ordinal numbers L Jamaica Inn – Part 5
6 Minute Vocabulary Zero conditional, first
conditional, second conditional
R Writing ordinal numbers
R Dates and ordinal numbers

R Zero conditional and first L English at Work

conditional Asking someone to do something
Grammar reference
R Dealing with difficult people
Vocabulary relating to working
together

Unit 6 – Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past

L Modals of deduction and L Prefixes de-, dys- and dis- L Jamaica Inn – Part 6
speculation 6 Minute Vocabulary Modals of speculation and
6 Minute Grammar deduction in the present
R The little prefixes
R Modal verbs Dys-, dis- and de-
Might, may, could, might not, may not,
couldn’t, must, can’t A Prefixes
Re-, pre-, pro-, in-, un-, mis-
R Might, may, could, must and can’t
Grammar reference R Three million-year-old
technology
Vocabulary relating to an
archaeological discovery

L Double contractions
Unit 7 – Career changes
L Past perfect L Suffixes: -less and –free L Jamaica Inn – Part 7
6 Minute Grammar 6 Minute Vocabulary Past perfect

R Two events in the past R More suffixes

Past perfect -ee, -able, -ible, -ness and job suffixes

R Past perfect L The ‘Awesome Apple’

Grammar reference Functional language to prepare
someone for disappointment

R Finding a career that’s right for

2

Unit 8 – Art
L Adjectives and adverbs
6 Minute Grammar
R Adjectives and adverbs review
R Adjectives and adverbs
Grammar reference
Unit 9 – Project management
L Third conditional
6 Minute Grammar
R Imagined past events
Third conditional
R Third conditional
Grammar reference
Unit 10 – The dog ate my homework!
L Linking devices: cause and effect
6 Minute Grammar
R Cause and effect: how to link them R Loanwords, cognates and false
R Linking devices of cause and effect
Grammar reference
Unit 11 – The diary of a double agent
L Reported speech
6 Minute Grammar
R The grammar of reporting verbs
R Direct speech and reported speech insist, suggest, advise, demand and
A Reported questions
L How to stop Dr XYZ
Reported speech in context
R Reported speech
Grammar reference
Unit 12 – Fashion forward
L Active voice and passive voice
you
Vocabulary relating to work and
careers
L Easily confused words L Jamaica Inn – Part 8
6 Minute Vocabulary Adjectives and adverbs
L Easily confused words
R Who decides what 'art' is?
L An interview with an artist
Adjectives to describe style, colour,
atmosphere and characters in a story
L Words with 'ough' L Jamaica Inn – Part 9
6 Minute Vocabulary Third conditional
L A bad day at the office
Vocabulary relating to project
management
R The principles of project
management
Vocabulary relating to project
management
L False friends L Jamaica Inn – Part 10
6 Minute Vocabulary Linking devices of cause and
effect: due to, owing to,
because, because of,
friends consequently, as a result, result
in, as a result of, thus,
L English at Work therefore
Giving the background to a situation
R Terrible excuses
Vocabulary relating to making
excuses
L Reporting verbs L The Importance of Being
6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 1
Reported speech
A Reporting verbs
Say, tell, deny, admit, apologise,
offer.
R Can you spot a big lie?
Reading about people telling lies
L Irregular verbs L The Importance of Being
3
 6 Minute Grammar
R Using and making the passive
R Active voice and passive voice
Grammar reference
Unit 13 – Flat pack skyscrapers
L Comparatives and superlatives
6 Minute Grammar
A These boots are made for
comparing
Comparative adjective forms
R Comparative and superlative
adjectives
Grammar reference
Unit 14 – Extreme sports
L Past perfect continuous
6 Minute Grammar
R Past perfect continuous and past
simple
R Past perfect simple or past perfect R Root words and suffixes
continuous
R Past perfect continuous
Grammar reference
Unit 15 – Food fads
L Adverb position 1
6 Minute Grammar
R Adverbs and verbs
Adverb position
R Adverbs and auxiliary verbs
R Ands and buts
Conjunctions
R Adverb position 1
Grammar reference
Unit 16 – Me, my selfie and I
L Definite article and abstract
uncountable nouns
6 Minute Grammar
6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 2
Passive voice
A Do you know the correct form?
Irregular verbs
R How high is too high?
Reading about fashion
L Where do your old clothes go?
L Someone, nothing, anywhere L The Importance of Being
6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 3
Comparatives and superlatives
R Pronouns with some and any
R Mini Sky City
Reading about a record-breaking
tower
L How to chat someone up
Functional language for flirting
L Suffixes: -ment, -ance, -ence L The Importance of Being
6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 4
Past perfect continuous
A Do you know your suffixes?
-ence, -ance, -ment
L English at Work
Functional language to tell people it’s
the end of the working day
R Love the fear
Vocabulary relating to extreme sports
and thrill-seeking
L Discourse markers: showing your L The Importance of Being
attitude towards something Earnest – Part 5
6 Minute Vocabulary Adverbs
R Discourse markers: like and you
know
R Hungry for the new
Vocabulary relating to food fads
L Rob’s full English breakfast
Onomatopoeia
L Suffixes: -ness and –ity L The Importance of Being
6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 6
The definite article with
R Same word, different meanings abstract uncountable nouns
4
 R Countable and uncountable nouns Building vocabulary with suffixes
R Abstract uncountable nouns
R The definite article with abstract
uncountable nouns
Grammar reference
Unit 17 – Endangered animals
L Talking about the future
6 Minute Grammar
R The future is now
Six ways to talk about the future
A Helga hits the road
Making sentences to talk about the
future
R Ways of talking about the future
Grammar reference
Unit 18 – A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
L Defining and non-defining relative L Acronyms
clauses
6 Minute Grammar
R Identifying relative clauses
R Relative pronouns
Who, that, which, whose, where, when R Getting a new face
R Relative clauses
Grammar reference
Unit 19 – I'm really sorry…
L Adverb position 2
6 Minute Grammar
R Adverbs with adjectives
R Adverb position 2
Grammar reference
R The suffix –ish
A suffix with many meanings and
uses
R Are you selfie obsessed?
Reading about photography, social
media, celebrity and privacy
L Sounds great!
Functional language for responding
using link verbs
L Antonyms L The Importance of Being
6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 7
Talking about the future: about
A The long and short of it to, going to, will, intend to,
Identifying antonyms
A Who is who in the animal world?
A quiz
R Five of the world's most
endangered animals
Vocabulary relating to animals,
natural habitats and conservation
L How can a zoologist save the
future?
Vocabulary relating to conservation
and the impact of humans on the
natural world
L The Importance of Being
6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 8
Defining and non-defining
A Is that a word? relative clauses
How to say acronyms: as a word or as
letters
Vocabulary relating to cosmetic
surgery
L At what price?
Discussing cosmetic surgery
L Words with more than one L The Importance of Being
spelling Earnest – Part 9
6 Minute Vocabulary Adverbs 2
A British or American
Check your spelling
R The migrant who wasn't
Reading about a fictional account of
5
 migration

L How to say sorry

Functional language
Unit 20 – Telling stories
L Narrative tenses L Linking words L The Importance of Being
6 Minute Grammar 6 Minute Vocabulary Earnest – Part 10
Narrative tenses: past simple,
R It’s all in the past R Linking words to talk about the past continuous, past perfect,
Past verb forms for narratives order that something happens present simple

R A horse walks into a bar… R Stating the obvious

Using present verb forms to narrate past Linking words and phrases for saying
events something we think is easily
understood
L Who do you believe?
Three narratives told by BBC Learning L Brian’s incredible life
English Words and phrases for expressing
disbelief
R Narrative tenses
Grammar reference
Unit 21 – Fakes and phrasals
L The grammar of multi-word verbs L Commonly misspelled words L Gulliver's Travels – Part 1
6 Minute Grammar 6 Minute Vocabulary Phrasal verbs

R What is a multi-word verb? R Some simple spelling rules

R Multi-word verbs / Phrasal verbs R Same sound, different spelling

type 1, 2, 3 and 4 Homophones
Grammar reference
R Getting forgery down to a fine
art
Vocabulary relating to art forgery and
crime

L Marcus the centurion goes on

holiday
Using phrasal verbs to sound natural
Unit 22 – Looking to the future
L Future continuous and be + L Discourse markers: interjections L Gulliver's Travels – Part 2
infinitive 6 Minute Vocabulary Future continuous
6 Minute Grammar
R Yuck!
R This time next week Discourse markers for expressing
The future continuous likes and dislikes

L Excuses, excuses R Running against the Olympic

The future continuous in context clock
Reading about preparations for the
R Future continuous and be + 2016 Olympic Games
infinitive with future sense
Grammar reference
Unit 23 – Becoming familiar with things
L Used to, be used and get used to L Synonyms L Gulliver's Travels – Part 3
6 Minute Grammar 6 Minute Vocabulary Used to

6
 R Used to
Talking about the past
R Our guide to life away from home owl?
Be used to and get used to in context Be used to something and get used to
R Used to and be/get used to
Grammar reference
Unit 24 – From rags to riches
L Review of conditionals
6 Minute Grammar
R What is a conditional sentence?
R Conditionals review
Grammar reference
Unit 25 – Against the odds
L Linking devices of contrast
6 Minute Grammar
R Brave or foolish?
Linking devices of contrast: even
though, although, despite, in spite of,
however, but
R Linking devices of contrast
Grammar reference
Unit 26 – Our future on Mars?
L The future perfect
6 Minute Grammar
R What will the future bring and
when?
The future perfect form
R One-way ticket to Mars
The future perfect in context
L By this time next week…
The future perfect in context
R The future perfect
Grammar reference
Unit 27 – Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
L -ing and -ed clauses (participle
clauses)
6 Minute Grammar
R Synonyms and collocations
R Are you an early bird or a night
something
L English at Work
Functional language for when you
can’t understand something
L Suffixes: -tian, -sion, -tion L Gulliver's Travels – Part 4
6 Minute Vocabulary Conditionals
L The disappearing spy
Words with suffixes that end in 'shun'
or 'jhun'
R The music icon that never was
A second chance at fame
L How to make polite requests
Functional language for being polite
L Large numbers L Gulliver's Travels – Part 5
6 Minute Vocabulary Linking devices of contrast
R Thousands and millions
R The appeal of the underdog
Vocabulary for talking about
succeeding against the odds
L How to disagree
Functional language
L Adjectives from names L Gulliver's Travels – Part 6
6 Minute Vocabulary Future perfect
R Artistic eponymous adjectives
-esque adjectives
L Eponyms as nouns and verbs L Gulliver's Travels – Part 7
6 Minute Vocabulary Participle clauses
7
 R A business trip
Present participle clauses
R Public notices: Are you talking to
me?
Participle clauses in context
R Participle (-ing and –ed) clauses
Grammar reference
Unit 28 – Dodgy dating
L So, such, enough, too
6 Minute Grammar
R Intensifiers
So, such, too, enough
R Intensifiers: so, such, enough, too
Grammar reference
Unit 29 – Annoying advice
L Verb patterns
6 Minute Grammar
R What comes after a verb?
Verb patterns, verb + infinitive, verb + parenting
gerund
L Babysitting advice
Verb + infinitive, verb + gerund, verb +
(that) clause in context
R Verb patterns
Grammar reference
Unit 30 – I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks
L Future perfect continuous
6 Minute Grammar
R Looking back from the future
The future perfect continuous
L 24-hour BBC Learning English-
athon
Future perfect continuous in context
R Future perfect continuous
Grammar reference
R New language of technology
L Did you know: Crazy laws?
Listening to some descriptions of
some unusual laws
L Irregular verbs L Gulliver's Travels – Part 8
6 Minute Vocabulary So, such, enough, too
R Do you want to get a date?
Vocabulary relating to online dating,
apps and relationships
L The Dodgy Dating Agency
Intensifiers in action
L Talk like Shakespeare L Gulliver's Travels – Part 9
6 Minute Vocabulary Verb patterns
R Annoying advice for new parents
Vocabulary relating to advice about
L Academic English L Gulliver's Travels – Part
6 Minute Vocabulary 10
Future perfect continuous
R General v Academic English
Differences between general and
academic English
R Giving a presentation
Top tips for presentations
R Going ape for charity!
Vocabulary relating to fund-raising
and charity