Successful Language Learning with Q Business Online
An Overview

Q Business Online is a fully online program for business professionals. In over 80 hours of online learning, Q Business Online exposes you to authentic language through a full-length video, reading and listening texts, photographs, and slideshows. The program provides the practice you need through activities that help you internalize essential business vocabulary, grammar structures, and language functions, all crucial for professional success in today's world of globalization.

Q Business Online was developed especially for you, the autonomous learner, and features an interactive language learning process in which you, the learner, are a partner. While Q Business Online provides you with a recommended learning path, you decide when and how you want to learn, how much time you want to spend on each lesson, and how many lessons you want to complete.

In Q Business Online, you will use business English to solve everyday professional problems in an authentic-like business environment. The program provides you with necessary building blocks for the Cambridge English Certificate, Vantage Level exam. The themes, text-types, and question formats available in the program assist you in preparing for this prestigious exam.

The Structure of the Program
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Q Business Online has 24 sequential units, and two BEC practice exams.
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Each unit of Q Business Online is divided into three lessons.

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 Lesson 1 consists of an original video clip which carries the story line of the program, focusing on Yamaguchi Electronics' search for a sales representative to market its new GPS-based cellular product. This lesson is accompanied by a scene summary of the video, as well as listening comprehension activities.
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 Lesson 2 consists of three pieces of information which you will read or listen to in order to construct a business-related document, such as a form, an About Us page on a website, or a section of a contract.
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 Lesson 3 contains reading texts about intercultural issues that arise in business, and are accompanied by reading comprehension and grammar activities.
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 Each unit contains a detailed Unit Information page, available by clicking on the "i" icon in each unit. Here you can find a list of unit objectives, as well as an in-depth description of each of the three lessons in the unit.
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 Every lesson in Q Business Online is organized in a similar way. The left side of the screen contains the text that the lesson is focusing on. Also on this side of the screen are the video, slideshow, photographs, and audio access that accompany the text. The right side of the screen always contains the activities that relate to the text. You can move from activity to activity by using the activity bar at the bottom of the screen, while the text still remains available to you on the left side of the screen. You will also see if you got an answer correct, partially correct, or wrong above each activity number. Sometimes there are two or three texts in a lesson. As you move from activity to activity, you will see that the text on the left side sometimes changes.
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 Getting immediate feedback is both motivating and reinforcing for learning. In Q Business Online¸ you can check the answer to any question at any time. Once you've checked your answer, you can clear it and try again, or see all of the correct answers. The lessons in Q Business Online are just that - lessons. In language learning, you practice many of the same skills, but at different language levels and with different content. As a learner, you benefit from seeing what the correct answer is to a question, as it will help you when doing other questions that focus on the same skill.

Assessment
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There are two 45-minute practice exams that reflect the same types of reading and listening questions that are used in the Cambridge Business English Certificate Exam. These exams test the vocabulary, functions, and structures that you have learned in Q Business Online.
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We generally recommend that you complete the 24 units of Q Business Online before attempting the practice exams, as they are based upon vocabulary, language skills, and grammar structures that you encounter throughout the level.

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 If you are dissatisfied with your results, feel free to go back and do lessons you skipped and redo lessons that you found difficult. Once you have spent a number of additional hours practicing, go back and try the practice exams again.

Tips for Effective Learning

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Organizing Your Time
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 Before you begin a Q Business Online level, decide how many hours a week you will be able to devote to learning English.
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 Make a schedule for yourself. Plan specific study times that are convenient for you.
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 A lesson will take a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour. Make sure that you have enough time before beginning.
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 The more often you encounter English, the more quickly you will internalize the language. Therefore, we recommend that you try to study in short, frequent intervals. It's more effective to do three different lessons a week, for example, in three different short sittings, than to try to do them all at one sitting.
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Before You Begin a Lesson
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 Have a pencil or pen ready to jot down new words, phrases, information, or questions to check after you finish.
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 Be sure you will not be distracted by other people in the room or by unnecessary noise during the lesson. When learning a new language, it's important to be able to focus on what you are reading, listening to, or viewing.
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Augmenting Your Learning
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 Do look up words that you don't understand in the dictionary. Depending upon your learning style, you may choose to stop and look up a word while you are reading a text, or jot down the word and look it up later.
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 You may not always have time to be online. You can take advantage of the print function to make your learning portable. Print the texts from the lesson, as well as the Study Aids, and work with them offline.
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Following Your Progress
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 Check your progress often by viewing your reports. This helps you see how well you are doing.
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 If you are not happy with your results on a particular lesson, feel free to do it again. Q Business Online's records feature allows you to view both your first and last attempt on an activity, displaying how you have progressed.
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Applying Your Success in Q to Real-world Use of English
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 By learning with Q Business Online, you are increasing your knowledge of English by leaps and bounds. Create situations in which you can use your new language skills.
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 Use the Internet to search for authentic sites that reflect the themes that you are reading about in the program. See how many new words you can identify that you encountered in Q Business Online.
 
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 Visit places such as travel agencies that have materials in English. Browse through the materials to help internalize your new language.
 
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 Look at English newspapers either in print or online. Choose topics that interest you in the news, returning again and again to check your increased vocabulary.
Enjoy your journey through Q Business Online. You are standing at the threshold of your future, as you join the billions of people in the world who use Business English effectively!