ESL SYLLABUS

Phase 1: The Foundation (Phonemes & Script)

1. The 44 Sounds (Phonemes): English has 26 letters but 44 sounds. You must learn the difference between minimal pairs:

   • Ship/Sheep (short vs. long 'i')

   • Think/Sink ('th' vs. 's')

   • Very/Berry ('v' vs. 'b')

2. The Schwa (ə): The most common vowel sound (like the 'a ' in about or the 'e' in taken). Mastering this makes you sound natural, not robotic.

3. Stress & Rhythm: English is a "stress-timed" language (beats are uneven). Compare PHO-to-graph (1st syllable strong) to pho-TO-graph-y (2nd strong). Wrong stress = confusion.

Unit 1: Greetings & Introductions

• Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)

• Verb to be (affirmative, negative, questions)

• Basic greetings (hello, good morning/afternoon/evening)

• Introductions (name, origin, profession)

• Numbers 1–20

• Classroom objects and commands

Unit 2: Personal Information

• Possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, our, their)

• Question words (what, where, how old)

• Family members (mother, father, sibling, etc.)

• Countries and nationalities

• Telling age and phone numbers

Unit 3: Daily Routines & Time

• Present simple tense (affirmative, negative, questions)

• Time expressions (o’clock, half past, a.m./p.m.)

• Days of the week, months, seasons

• Adverbs of frequency (always, sometimes, never)

• Daily activities (wake up, eat, work, sleep)

Unit 4: Describing Places & People

• Adjectives (big, small, happy, sad, tall, short)

• Prepositions of place (in, on, under, next to, between)

• There is / There are

• Singular vs. plural nouns (regular and basic irregular)

• Weather vocabulary (sunny, rainy, hot, cold)

Unit 5: Food & Preferences

• Like / love / hate + noun or infinitive

• Countable and uncountable nouns (basic)

• Some / any / no

• Basic food and drink vocabulary

• Ordering food in a café (polite requests with can I have…)

Unit 6: Past Events

• Past simple of to be

• Regular and common irregular past verbs (went, ate, saw, etc.)

• Past time markers (yesterday, last week, in 2010)

• Past simple negative and questions

• Biographies and childhood memories

Unit 7: Future Plans

• Present continuous for future arrangements

• Going for intentions and predictions

• Time clauses (when, before, after, as soon as)

• Travel vocabulary (ticket, luggage, platform, gate)

• Making invitations and suggestions (Let’s, Why don’t we…?)

Unit 8: Shopping & Prices

• Demonstratives (this, that, these, those)

• Comparatives (bigger, more expensive, better)

• Superlatives (cheapest, best, worst)

• Clothing and colors vocabulary

• Asking about price (How much…?) and size

Unit 9: Abilities & Obligations

• Can / can’t for ability and permission

• Have to / don’t have to for obligation

• Should / shouldn’t for advice

• Jobs and workplace vocabulary

• Modal verbs in polite questions (Could you…? Would you…?)

Unit 10: Directions & Transportation

• Prepositions of movement (straight, past, along, through)

• Asking for and giving directions (turn left, go two blocks)

• Public transport vocabulary (bus, train, subway, fare)

• Sequencing words (first, then, next, finally)

Unit 11: Present Perfect & Life Experiences

• Present perfect simple (ever, never, already, yet, just)

• Been vs. gone

• Past simple vs. present perfect

• Vocabulary for life events (graduate, get married, travel)

• Asking about experiences (Have you ever…?)

Unit 12: Continuous Forms Review

• Past continuous (interrupted actions, background events)

• Present perfect continuous (duration vs. result)

• Future continuous (arrangements in progress)

• While and when with past continuous

• Describing photos and scenes

Unit 13: Conditionals – Zero & First

• Zero conditional (general truths, instructions)

• First conditional (real future possibilities)

• Unless / as long as / provided that

• Environment and global issues vocabulary

• Promises and warnings

Unit 14: Reported Speech & Questions

• Reported statements (say, tell) – backshift in tenses

• Reported questions (ask, wonder) – word order

• Reported commands and requests

• Reporting verbs (advise, suggest, explain, complain)

• News and media vocabulary

Unit 15: Relative Clauses & Descriptions

• Defining relative clauses (who, which, that, where, whose)

• Non-defining relative clauses (commas, additional info)

• Vocabulary for describing people (personality traits)

• Vocabulary for describing objects (material, shape, function)

Unit 16: Past Habits & Narrative Tenses

• Used to / would for past habits vs. past states

• Narrative tenses (past simple, past continuous, past perfect)

• Past perfect continuous (duration before a past event)

• Vocabulary for childhood and reminiscing

• Storytelling linking words (however, although, despite)

Unit 17: Second & Third Conditionals

• Second conditional (imaginary present/future)

• Third conditional (imaginary past – regrets & criticism)

• Mixed conditionals (past condition → present result)

• Wishes and regrets (I wish, If only, It’s time…)

• Emotional & hypothetical vocabulary

Unit 18: Passive Voice

• Passive in the present, past, and future

• Passive with modals (should be done, must be finished)

• Get + passive (get married, get lost, get paid)

• Formal and academic writing style

• Processes and inventions vocabulary

Unit 19: Modals of Deduction & Speculation

• Present deduction (must be, can’t be, might be, could be)

• Past deduction (must have been, couldn’t have done)

• Future speculation (likely to, bound to, may well)

• Mysteries and unexplained events vocabulary

• Expressing certainty and uncertainty

Unit 20: Advanced Discourse Markers

• Connectors for cause/effect (due to, owing to, consequently)

• Contrast (on the contrary, whereas, while)

• Adding information (furthermore, moreover, in addition)

• Giving examples (for instance, such as, namely)

• Concluding (in conclusion, to sum up, all in all)

Unit 21: Inversion & Emphasis

• Negative adverbial inversion (Never have I seen…, Not only… but also)

• So + adjective + inversion (So difficult was the test…)

• Emphatic structures (It is… that…, What… is…)

• Cleft sentences (The reason why…, The person who…)

• Formal vs. informal register comparison

Unit 22: Advanced Conditionals & Subjunctive

• Mixed conditionals advanced review

• Inverted conditionals (Had I known…, Were she to arrive…)

• Subjunctive mood (I suggest that he go…, It is vital that she be…)

• Hypothetical phrases (as if, as though, suppose, imagine)

• Academic and legal/formal expressions

Unit 23: Ellipsis & Substitution

• Ellipsis (leaving out repeated words)

• Substitution with so, do, one, the same

• Short answers and echo questions

• Avoiding repetition in writing and speech

• Conversational fluency devices

Unit 24: Nuanced Vocabulary & Idioms

• Collocations (strong vs. powerful, make vs. do)

• Phrasal verbs advanced (over 10 multi-word verbs per theme)

• Idioms for feelings, success, failure, and relationships

• Metaphorical language (economic climate, flood of memories)

• Register awareness (slang, neutral, formal, archaic)

Unit 25: Critical Discourse & Style

• Hedging and boosting (perhaps, tends to, definitely)

• Stance markers (fortunately, surprisingly, according to)

• Rhetorical questions and persuasive language

• Summarizing, paraphrasing, and citing

• Style guides (formal email, academic essay, report, opinion piece)

Vocabulary & Collocation (The Words & Their Friends)

Knowing a word isn't enough; you need to know who it hangs out with.

1. The 3,000 Most Common Words: 85% of daily conversation. Run, talk, eat, good, bad, house, car.

2. Collocations (Word pairs): We say "heavy rain" (not "strong rain"). We "make a decision" (not "do a decision").

3. Phrasal Verbs: The bane of ESL existence. Give up, look after, run into, put off. These are used constantly by natives instead of formal verbs.

4. Register (Formal vs. Informal):

   • Formal: "I apologize for the delay."

   • Informal: "Sorry, I'm late."