Pública – King's Training – VirtualCampus

Summertime

Edward — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:38:11 +0000

It looks like it’s going to be a hot one. But even if we don’t reach record temperatures there is a long summer ahead of us. As always at this time we at King’s wish you all an enjoyable and restorative summer season, but we also (for all you English learners) urge you not to park your learning for the whole summer and to interact with our famous and updated summer pack of resources and activities (all levels). Click on the image below for a whole world of independent learning wherever you are this summer!

Life in a bubble

Edward — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:02:39 +0000

These days there is a lot of talk about about how technology and online life cut us off from the outside world. I think this is true but the other day a small experiment left me wondering how much I perceive of the outside world, even when I am really paying attention. I used an app (technology again!) which identifies bird species by their song, while taking a walk through a local park; something I had done hundreds of times before. But this time, in the space of 30 minutes, the app identified 21 different bird species and gave me information on all of them – a hidden world had been revealed to me! I wonder how much more is happening around me that I am basically unaware of. And I wonder how much technology, like my app, can be the solution rather than the problem… Increase your awareness, in this case of the figurative use of bird-language in English, by clicking on the picture below.

Everyday negotiation

Edward — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:36:32 +0000

Negotiation, bargaining, haggling, horse-trading; proposals, offers, counteroffers, leverage, compromises, concessions, deadlock, ultimatums, bottom line, win-win, win-lose… and that’s just to agree what time my daughter should arrive back at home when she goes out with her friends! Whether in the professional or personal arenas negotiation is a constant mode of communication in our lives and not having the right language to negotiate can be a distinct disadvantage. With that in mind I am going to make you a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ offer: click on the picture below to learn the right phrases to make sure you don’t lose out in your next negotiation.

Ed Taylor (Head of Studies at KT)

The hardest presentation

Edward — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 14:55:52 +0000

The hardest presentation I have ever had to give was at a wedding, as the best man. The tradition is for the best man to give a speech that is affectionate, entertaining, memorable and also funny in a risky way: telling anecdotes from the groom’s past which everyone can laugh at. The speech must contain ‘naughty’ elements but you have to be careful not to offend anyone. If the best man gets the funny/risky balance wrong the rest of the day can be quite uncomfortable! I think I just about managed to get that balance right and I have the memory of a presentation experience that makes work presentations, for example, seem quite simple by comparison! However, our new interactive activity isn’t about giving a best man’s speech but about work presentations, which is probably a bit more useful Click on the picture below to access it!

Ed Taylor (Head of Studies at KT)

Projects pending

Edward — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:07:58 +0000

The beginning of the year is a good time to think about projects. Let me think of a few possibilities… For example, practical projects: redecorate my bedroom or organise my wardrobe; leisure projects: plan a trip to London or read the His Dark Materials series with my daughter; educational projects: use the El Pais app every day to improve my Spanish vocab or do an online course that interests me; creative projects; write a short novel or start a journal; health projects: increase my run to three times a week or start strength training. Phew! That’s probably more than enough, but I’ve forgotten a whole important area: work projects! Click on the picture below to access our brand-new online activity on the essential language of project management.

One year ends, another begins…

Edward — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:22:32 +0000

The team at King’s Training would like to wish all of its students a very happy and successful new year. Learning is a process which has a beginning but not necessarily an end, especially in the field of languages. Although language learning is continuous, setting time-related targets can really help progress. Why not think of 2026 as the year you reach the next level, or gain the fluency to work internationally, or watch a series in the language you are learning every month? Time-related targets allow us to measure progress which then gives us the motivation to continue learning. Perhaps you could start by clicking on the picture for our English-language quiz on new beginnings as we begin the long and eventful journey to the end of another year!

Having a calm (and spooky) Christmas!

Edward — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:39:47 +0000

Having a peaceful Christmas – with shopping, travel arrangements, presents, school events, lunches and dinners, office parties, decorations, Christmas cards, cooking on a massive scale and all the rest of it – can seem like an unlikely prospect! For that reason I like to find a little time to read, and what better genre to explore than that of the Christmas ghost story. The most famous example of this genre in English is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but why not try something a little shorter with the chilling Dark Christmas by Jeanette Winterson. And if you have a few minutes of quiet and fancy something a bit less scary why not click on the picture below for our brand new Christmas quiz. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year!

The King’s Training team

What’s your office like?

Edward — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 09:48:24 +0000

Is it big and modern and surrounded by landscaped garden in an out-of-town business park? Maybe it’s in a unit on an industrial estate with a view over a production area. Or it could be in a converted city-centre flat with a parquet floor. Or how about the thirty-eighth floor of a gleaming skyscraper? Of course, these days your office could be a place you don’t see very often as you usually work from home, or you may have been relocated so many times you can hardly remember where it is! In any case, one day you may have to show visitors around your office in English so you really should click on the picture of the lovely office below and do our new interactive activities on that very subject!

Selfishness or selflessness?

Edward — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:00:19 +0000

I read the other day that self-help books which promote the idea of individuality as the path to happiness are very popular right now. The idea is that if you allow yourself to do what you want to do (allowing other people in your life the same privilege) and accept that people may not like that, or even you, then you can stop ‘caring’, reduce anxiety and be free! But does this individuality and freedom equal happiness? Most studies find that it is precisely focussing on other people and acting for their benefit that makes us truly happy. Perhaps the middle road between selfishness and selflessness is the best (and maybe the only viable) way, but I guess moderate opinions don’t sell books these days! Click on the image below for learning activities about altruism!

Making memories

Edward — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 10:01:52 +0000

Welcome to a new year of language acquisition and skills development with King’s Training. We hope you have had a great summer and made some wonderful memories to revisit in the future. In my case, my memory isn’t especially reliable so my phone’s function of sending me photos taken on that particular date in previous years is useful. In fact, it works a bit like an auxiliary memory in helping me relate pictures to dates and places over the years and generally impose a bit of order on my hazy recollections of the past. Anyway, as we look forward to a new school year why not click on the picture below for our brand new activities centred on memory and the past.

Pública – King's Training – VirtualCampus

Summertime

Life in a bubble

Everyday negotiation

Ed Taylor (Head of Studies at KT)

The hardest presentation

Ed Taylor (Head of Studies at KT)

Projects pending

One year ends, another begins…

Having a calm (and spooky) Christmas!

The King’s Training team

What’s your office like?

Selfishness or selflessness?

Making memories

Ed Taylor (Head of Studies)