Common Law Commercial Contracts: A Guide to Understanding and Drafting – Description

Who will benefit from the book?

English for the Common Law Volume 1 is written for the benefit of:

• law and business professionals with an intermediate to advanced level in English seeking to improve their level in legal English;
• law students at Masters (M1/M2) or Bar exam level;
• translators and translation students specialized in legal English;
• business students; and
• students intending to study abroad in an Anglophone country.

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What is the aim of the book?

The aim of the book is to allow non-Anglophone professionals and students to improve their level of legal English and thus to perform better at work. With this aim in mind, the book seeks to allow students to develop an understanding of the nature of the common law and the legal system in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union.[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title= »How is the interactive book organized? »][vc_column_text]

How is the interactive book organized?

The book is divided up into 10 chapters (see Chapter summaries below). The interactive system of the book operates in the following way. Upon purchasing a book the student will receive:

1. An e-version of the book containing 10 chapters.

Each chapter is organized in the following way:

• Discussion text In each chapter there are two discussion texts outlining the specific theme under discussion.
  • The first text is a one-page summary introducing the student to the theme discussed in that specific chapter. This text has been developed for the benefit intermediate level students and its purpose is to allow them acquire the necessary linguistic understanding so that they are able to access the second more detailed discussion text.
  • The second text is a more in-depth discussion of the subject under discussion. The purpose of this text is both to develop students’ understanding of the common law and more importantly their legal English vocabulary. Technical and difficult vocabulary is highlighted in both the first and second text and translated into French so as to allow students better understanding.
• Grammar section In each chapter, the main English grammar themes are revisited, for example:
  • how different tenses are formed;
  • a look at modal auxiliaries;
  • using but + auxiliary verbs;
  • how to use mid-sentence adverbs etc.

This is to allow students to brush up on grammar, probably not looked at since school. Each grammar section is presented in a clear accessible style allowing the reader maximum benefit.

• Specialist text Having worked their way through the previous sections, readers will then be in a position to tackle the specialized text set out at the end of each chapter. This text deals with a specific topic linked to the main discussion in section discussed above. This section allows readers to further develop both their understanding of the common law and above all their mastery of legal English.

2. The student will also receive access to the book’s interactive online tools.

Once a book is purchased, the student will also have access to the online interactive part of the book. The following interactive tools are available online and accompany each chapter:

• Online technical vocabulary An oral technical vocabulary list exists for each chapter, so that the student can practice pronouncing each of the technical words set out in the technical vocabulary;
• Two online videos The student will have access to two online videos to help with his/her understanding of the text. The videos take the following form:
  • a short video discussing the main text in each chapter;
  • a video developing the main theme discussed in each chapter.

Each video is developed with the purpose of allowing the student to further

develop his/her technical vocabulary and legal knowledge.

• Online audition and speech practice For each chapter there is a listening section, where the student can listen to a conversation and then is given an opportunity to develop his/her own responses. There are also exercises to check on the listener’s understanding of the conversation.
• Online translation section The students newly acquired vocabulary is then tested in six short translation texts (English to French and French to English). As in the case of the main text, the purpose is not just to improve and develop vocabulary but also to improve the translator’s knowledge of the area of law in question and to demonstrate how legal technical vocabulary is used.
• Exercises The student will have the opportunity to complete interactive online exercises to test his/her knowledge of the:
  • technical vocabulary;
  • grammar section.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][/vc_accordion][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width= »1/1″][vc_column_text]Having completed the book, readers will not only have acquired a significant technical vocabulary in the areas that have been studied but will also have developed an understanding of the common law. As a result, they will be able to use the acquired vocabulary in work and study situations, improving their overall professional/academic performance.

Once a book is purchased and the online interactive part of the course activated, the student will only have access to each online chapter for a period of one week, from the date of activation of each specific chapter. Thereafter, access to that chapter will be denied and thus, when studying a particular chapter, the student should take notes as he/she would when attending a normal real-time course.