Shopping Matters. English for the retail trade - Swiss Edition is the new English course for Swiss retail apprentices in particular, and all other sales staff wishing to improve their spoken and written skills. It covers all the requirements of the Reform sales 2022+ syllabus and can be used flexibly with students preparing for both the Federal Certificate of Vocational Education and Training (FCV: EBA/AFP/CFP) and the Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (FDV: EFZ/CFC/AFC).
The language used is suitable for learners who have reached level A2.1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the content is designed to develop the practical skills required by the Swiss syllabus. All situations and activities dealt with are set in typical vocational contexts in the various sectors of Swiss retail.
The Coursebook is the main part of the course and is designed for use in the classroom.
Each unit starts with a short scenario describing a typical situation in the unit's main retail sector. The vocational goals are then listed after the scenario together with the language goals needed to reach the vocational goals.
Each unit has three parts:
- Foundation. This defines, develops and practises the unit's main performance goal in the retail sector featured both here and in the rest of the unit.
- Parts A+B. These two parts focus on further practical work-related skills in both the sector featured throughout the unit and further sectors.
- Focus on language. Here the language features listed after the scenario are explained in simple language and practised.
The order of the units is based on the years of the Swiss retail apprenticeship and also on the national syllabus. As there are various different types of vocational training colleges in Switzerland, this course has a modular structure. It can therefore be used as required by an individual college's curriculum, or several units covering a range of skills can be worked on at the same time. Each unit also has a modular structure and after Foundation, Parts A, B and Focus on language can be worked on in any convenient order.
The coursebook also has an Appendix. This contains partner files, business correspondence, space for a personal word list, maps of the countries featured in the units, spelling guidelines and a list of irregular verbs.
