To be able to view Workplace English Training E-platform you will require:

• Windows XP, Vista, 7
• A modern Web browser

Workplace English Training E-Platform has been in development over a number of years. As a result, for some of the older content will require you to have specific software programs installed on your PC.

In particular, we have embedded a number of different mp3 players in the lessons.

To view all the features of the E-Platform you will require the following software:

WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER (plays mp3 files)

REAL PLAYER (plays Real Media files and mp3 file)

QUICKTIME PLAYER  (plays mp3 files)

 FLASH PLAYER (plays Flash files and mp3 files)

ADOBE ACROBAT READER (opens PDF files)

JAVASCRIPT (up-to-date Javascript software is needed to display certain pages)

At the bottom of every page on the site you'll see the icons for the Clarity Voice Recorder. With this facility you can listen to an audio file, record your own voice and compare it with the original recording. This will help you to improve your pronunciation and intonation.

• The first time you use the E-Platform, you'll see a button at the bottom of your screen with a picture of a microphone on it.
• To set up the recording device, click on web link on the button.
• From Clarity's website, download a small set up programme for the sound recorder.
• Install the recorder on your PC (in settings it's best to set it to open on start so that it is always running. Just keep in minimised.)
• Once installed, you'll see a red recording button beside the microphone.
• Always ensure that the Clarity Voice Recorder is running when you use the device.
• Press the red button to record, and the square green button to stop and the green arrow button to play
• Voice recordings cannot be saved.

VIEWING AND PRINTING PDF FILES

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open, view and print out all offline worksheets, study notes, functional language lists, flashcards and transcripts associated with the interactive lessons

.

If you don’t have “Adobe Acrobat Reader”, you can download it for free by following this link.

VIEWING AND PRINTING MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENTS

You will need Microsoft Word to open, view and print out all the 1500+ documents included in the Download Centre.

Listening to our mp3 Podcast Lessons on Site

You can listen to our podcast lessons on our website using the embedded mp3 Flash player on this page (click here... ).

Beside the mp3 Flash player, there’s a text link ‘Play in Pop Up’. Click on this link if you would like to play the audio file in a pop up window. The mp3 Flash player will become visible within the pop up window.

If for example you would like to navigate away from the podcast page (e.g. to read the podcast transcript) while listening to an audio file, you should play the file in a pop up.

When playing an audio file using the Flash player, you can pause it, rewind/forward wind it at any time.

Downloading our mp3 Podcast Lessons

Downloading lets you save a copy of your chosen audio file onto your computer. You can then listen to this whenever you want, or even transfer it onto your portable MP3 player. However, you cannot download mp3 files directly from the podcast page (click here... ).

To download an mp3 file you need to enter the Subscriber’s area of the website and find the relevant Business Speaking Skills topic.

On the podcast lesson page, you’ll find a text link to the mp3 file.

To download the file you need to right click the download link. You should then see a list of options including either "Save Target As…" or "Save Link As…". If you select this option (or a similar option containing the word "save") you should be able to save the audio file (MP3) to your computer. Remember to save it to a folder you'll be able to find again later.

If you click on the Download link using the left hand button on your mouse, the audio will usually play. How this happens will depend on the set up and settings of your computer. Usually your default media player will open and the audio will start playing automatically.

We have 100+ podcast lesson on the site. There are three steps involved in setting up your PC to receive podcasts.

1. Get some podcast software

You need to install a piece of software which will search the web to find the latest episode and automatically deliver it to your computer. 

This software is usually free, and these three are popular:

• iTunes  
• Juice  
• Doppler

2. Subscribe to podcasts

Once you have the software installed you need to subscribe to some podcasts.

How you do this will vary depending on which software you have chosen. Here is a rough guide to how this might work:

You can subscribe to some podcasts through the iTunes Podcast Directory.

If you can't find the podcast that you want in iTunes then you can follow the same method as outlined below for Juice, Doppler and other podcast software.

If you have Juice, Doppler or another piece of software then this is likely to be the method you will need to follow. This is also the case if you can't find the podcast you want in iTunes.

In all of these cases you need to add the "feed" of the podcast to your software. The feed is really just the address of the podcast, which the software will go to each time it wants to check for a new episode.

You can find the feed to our podcast by clicking on the orange RSS buttons under the heading ‘Subscribe to Podcast’ on the right of the page. The feed address will appear in the address bar as this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/workplace-english-training-emagazine

You will need to copy this feed address and paste it into your podcast software. How you do this will depend on your software, but you should look out for buttons or links that say "Add" or "Subscribe".

3. Listen to the audio

After you have subscribed to the feed, when a new podcast lesson becomes available, your software will automatically download it. You can then listen to this podcast lesson on your computer or transfer it to your portable player to listen to later.

You may want to check the settings of your podcast software for details including how often it will check for new podcasts, whether it will keep old podcasts for you etc. This will vary depending on the software you have chosen, and your personal preferences.

If you decide that you no longer want to receive podcast lessons then it should be very easy to unsubscribe. Again, how you do this will depend on your software, but you should look for "Clear" or "Unsubscribe" options.

All the audio files featured in Workplace English Training E-Platform are in mp3 format. Click on an audio link to listen to an audio file.

If the file is in the form of a text link, it will automatically open in your Windows Media Player unless you have set another media player as your default audio player.

We use an embedded QuickTime Player in some older pages and an embedded Flash player in more recent pages. You will need QuickTime and Flash installed on your PC to enable the embedded players to display correctly.

You can listen to an audio file as many times as you want by clicking the play button on your Windows Media, Quicktime or Flash Players. You can pause a file at any time by clicking the pause button.

If you would like to download the mp3 files to your PC or mp3 player, right click the text audio link and 'Save Target As'. Then save the file the directory where you would like to store it.

We always recommend that you should use the most up-to-date version of Flash. However, Flash version 7 and above will work perfectly well on the site.

The lost username/password facility functions correctly.

If you use this facility and you do not receive an email notifying you:

1) Make sure you input the same email address as when you registered.

2) Ensure that your first login screen details are correct.

If the above fails, you should register again as a new user (corporate sub-account users only). If you are an individual subscriber, please email us and we will reset your account.

If certain exercises are not displaying, you are missing the necessary software on your computer to view them.

Our older exercises use Javascript. If you cannot see a Javascript exercise (you may see only the frame), a Javascript icon should flash in the bottom right hand corner of your browser. Then follow these instructions:

1) Click on the Javascript icon and follow the link to the free software download page.

2) Download and install the software (just follow the on-screen instructions).

3) Refresh the page you were on.

4) The Javascript exercise will display.

More recent exercises are in Flash format. Your computer will notify you if you don't have Flash installed once you enter a page with Flash. Then follow these instructions:

1) Follow the Flash link to the free software download.

2) You will be prompted to download the latest Flash version.

3) Click the download button.

4) The software will install automatically.

5) Refresh the page you were on.

6) The Flash exercise will display.

If you are a new user or a registered user and cannot see the form in the second login screen, click on the button 'Switch to Standard Mode'.

To correct this problem:

1) Clear your browser cache.

2) Repeat the login procedure.

Clicking the refresh page button on your browser will correct this problem.

If you see 'Invalid Token,' you can do two things:

1) Return to the last page using your back button.

2) Click the page refresh button in your browser menu, then try to login again.

If this doesn't solve the problem:

1) Clear your browser cache.

2) Try to login again.

If you see a content page with a past date showing, you need to refresh the page in your browser. Either click on the refresh button or click Ctrl + F5. The most up-to-date page will then show.