Week 00 — Baseline diagnostics¶

This week

Grammar: 40-item diagnostic · Vocabulary: 60-word level check · Idioms & phrasal verbs: folded into a short recognition check on Day 2 (no Day 4 this week) · Speaking: record a baseline self-introduction and answers · Writing: 150-word status email · Soft skill: communication self-assessment (30 items)

This week produces your baseline. Do not study for it, do not look anything up, and be honest. In week 24 you repeat the same instruments and compare. Record every result in docs/log/comm-baseline.md (create the file if it does not exist) using the template at the end of Day 7.

Day 1 — Grammar: Grammar diagnostic quiz (40 items)¶

⏱ 30 min · Mon

How to take it¶

Set a 25-minute timer. Answer items 1-30 by choosing a, b, c or d. Items 31-40 each contain exactly one error: rewrite the sentence correctly. No dictionary, no AI, no search. Guess if unsure, but mark guesses with a ? so you can see how much of your score is luck.

Part A — Choose the correct option (items 1-30)¶

We need to make a decision ___ end of the week. a) by the b) until the c) in d) at
She has been working on the migration ___ March. a) for b) since c) during d) from
If the API ___ down, the failover starts automatically. a) will go b) goes c) would go d) went
I'm not used to ___ on call every other week. a) work b) working c) worked d) be working
The team ___ the release by the time the client called. a) already finished b) has already finished c) had already finished d) was already finish
Neither the manager nor the engineers ___ aware of the change. a) was b) were c) is d) has been
We discussed ___ the new pricing model in the meeting. a) about b) on c) to d) (no preposition)
This is the engineer ___ code caused the outage. a) who b) whose c) which d) whom
He suggested ___ the deployment until Monday. a) to delay b) delaying c) us delay d) that delaying
There ___ several issues with the proposal. a) is b) are c) has d) have
I wish I ___ more time to prepare for yesterday's review. a) have b) had c) had had d) would have
The report, ___ was published last week, contains errors. a) that b) which c) what d) who
Not only ___ the deadline, but they also exceeded the budget. a) they missed b) did they miss c) they did miss d) missed they
The servers ___ at the moment, so please try again later. a) are upgrading b) are being upgraded c) upgrade d) have upgraded
By next year, we ___ the platform for five years. a) will maintain b) will have been maintaining c) are maintaining d) maintained
She asked me ___ I had reviewed the pull request. a) that b) if c) what d) does
You ___ me; I would have helped. a) should call b) should have called c) must have called d) had to call
I'd rather you ___ the customer before sending the fix. a) tell b) told c) to tell d) telling
___ the traffic, the truck arrived on time. a) Although b) Despite c) However d) Even though of
The number of incidents ___ dropped since January, but a number of teams ___ still affected. a) has / are b) have / is c) has / is d) have / are
Had we known about the limit, we ___ a different design. a) would choose b) would have chosen c) will choose d) had chosen
___ by three consecutive failures, the team rolled back. a) Alarming b) Alarmed c) Having alarmed d) To alarm
Rarely ___ such a clean design. a) I have seen b) have I seen c) I saw d) did I seen
It's high time we ___ the legacy service. a) retire b) retired c) will retire d) are retiring
He is said ___ the best architect in the company. a) being b) to be c) that is d) be
The proposal was rejected, ___ surprised no one. a) that b) what c) which d) it
Which sentence is correct? a) The informations are in the wiki. b) The information is in the wiki. c) The informations is in the wiki. d) An information is in the wiki.
Which sentence is correct? a) I look forward to hear from you. b) I look forward to hearing from you. c) I look forward to have heard from you. d) I look forward hearing from you.
Which sentence is correct? a) The CEO gave us an advice. b) The CEO gave us some advices. c) The CEO gave us a piece of advice. d) The CEO gave us an advices.
Hardly had the deployment started ___ the alarms went off. a) than b) when c) then d) so

Part B — Find and fix the one error (items 31-40)¶

We are agree with the proposal.
She explained me the process.
I have seen him yesterday at the stand-up.
The team has less engineers than last year.
Despite of the delay, we shipped on time.
He is working here since 2019.
If I will have time, I will review your PR.
Each of the services have its own database.
I'm interested to work on the platform team.
We must to finish the audit before Friday.

Answers and explanations

Part A

a "by the end of the week": by = no later than; until describes a state continuing up to a time.
b since + starting point; for + duration ("for three months").
b Zero/first conditional: present simple in the if-clause for a general or likely condition.
b "be used to" + -ing (a gerund, because to is a preposition here).
c Past perfect for the earlier of two past events.
b With neither... nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject ("engineers").
d Discuss is transitive: no preposition. "Discuss about" is a very common error.
b whose = possessive relative ("the engineer's code").
b Suggest takes -ing or "that + clause" ("suggested that we delay"), never "to + verb".
b Existential there agrees with the noun that follows ("issues").
c Wish about an unreal past = past perfect.
b Non-defining relative clause (commas) cannot use that.
b Negative adverbial at the start (Not only) triggers inversion (auxiliary before subject).
b Passive continuous: an action in progress, done to the servers.
b Future perfect continuous: duration up to a future point.
b Reported yes/no question uses if/whether.
b Criticism of a past non-action: should have + past participle.
b would rather + subject + past simple for a present/future preference.
b Despite + noun phrase; although needs a clause; "despite of" does not exist.
a The number of takes a singular verb; a number of means "several" and takes a plural.
b Inverted third conditional (Had we known) needs would have + past participle.
b Past participle clause with a passive meaning ("having been alarmed"). "Alarming" would mean the team alarmed others.
b Inversion after rarely.
b It's high time + past simple, with present meaning.
b "is said to be" (passive reporting structure).
c which refers to the whole preceding clause; that is not used in non-defining clauses.
b Information is uncountable: no plural, no a/an, singular verb.
b look forward to + gerund (to is a preposition).
c Advice is uncountable; use "a piece of advice".
b Hardly... when (also No sooner... than). Hardly... than is a mixed-up pair.

Part B

We agree with the proposal. (Agree is a verb, not an adjective: no "be".)
She explained the process to me. (Explain takes the thing directly, the person with to.)
I saw him yesterday. (A finished time marker like yesterday needs past simple, not present perfect.)
The team has fewer engineers. (Fewer with countable plural nouns.)
Despite the delay / In spite of the delay. (Despite of does not exist.)
He has been working here since 2019. (Since needs a perfect tense.)
If I have time, I will review your PR. (No will in the if-clause.)
Each of the services has its own database. (Each is singular.)
I'm interested in working on the platform team. (interested in + gerund.)
We must finish the audit. (Modal verbs take the bare infinitive, no to.)

Scoring guide¶

Give 1 point per correct item. A correct fix in Part B counts only if the whole sentence is now correct.

Score /40	Approximate level	What to prioritise
36-40	Strong C1 or above	Precision and style: weeks 9-20 (inversion, rhetoric, nominalisation). Treat weeks 1-8 as fast review.
30-35	C1	Follow the plan as written. Pay extra attention to your specific misses.
22-29	B2+	Weeks 1-8 are essential, especially articles, prepositions, tenses. Do the Day 1 exercise twice (once cold, once after 3 days).
14-21	B2	Consider adding one extra 15-minute grammar session per week; focus on items 1-20 topics.
under 14	B1+	Grammar first: repeat Week 1-4 Day 1 drills slowly before advancing; use the topic pages linked from the track index.

Diagnose by topic: count misses by cluster and write them in the baseline log.

Cluster	Items
Tenses and aspect	2, 5, 14, 15, 33, 36
Conditionals and wishes	3, 11, 17, 18, 21, 24, 37
Prepositions and verb patterns	1, 4, 7, 9, 19, 28, 35, 39
Agreement and countability	6, 10, 20, 27, 29, 34, 38
Relative clauses, participles, reporting	8, 12, 16, 22, 25, 26
Inversion and fixed correlatives	13, 23, 30
Modals, transitivity, verb complements	31, 32, 40

Use it¶

Write your score, the misses by cluster, and the number of ? guesses in docs/log/comm-baseline.md.

Day 2 — Vocabulary: Vocabulary level check (60 words)¶

⏱ 30 min · Tue

How to take it¶

Below are 60 words in three bands of 20. Rate each word honestly:

K (Know), 1 point: you could use it correctly in a sentence right now, and you know its usual collocations.
R (Recognise), 0.5 points: you have seen it and roughly know the meaning, but would hesitate to use it.
N (No), 0 points.

Then take the 12-item verification quiz to calibrate your ratings. Time: 12 minutes for ratings, 8 for the quiz, 5 for the idiom check, 5 for scoring and logging.

Band A (upper-intermediate, B2)¶

drawback · feasible · thorough · oversight · workaround · tedious · tentative · viable · straightforward · elaborate (verb) · inevitable · reluctant · adequate · prone · substantial · outweigh · undermine · endorse · cumbersome · foresee

Band B (advanced, C1)¶

scrutiny · pragmatic · nuanced · ambiguous · tenuous · exacerbate · alleviate · foster · cumulative · discrepancy · inherent · plausible · contentious · culminate · entrench · discretion · fragmented · reconcile · disparity · precarious

Band C (high advanced, C1+/C2)¶

ubiquitous · expedite · obviate · tacit · salient · conducive · egregious · tenable · insidious · unwieldy · circumvent · ostensibly · cursory · incongruous · vindicate · capitulate · proliferate · attrition · fungible · orthogonal

Verification quiz: match the word to its meaning¶

Words: workaround, tentative, oversight, exacerbate, tenuous, discrepancy, plausible, alleviate, ostensibly, obviate, cursory, egregious

A. a mistake caused by failing to notice something
B. hasty and not thorough
C. a way of avoiding a problem without fixing its cause
D. outrageously bad, in a way that stands out
E. to make a problem worse
F. to reduce the severity of something unpleasant
G. weak or slight (a link, a connection)
H. to remove a need or difficulty in advance, so that something is unnecessary
I. reasonable and believable, though not proven
J. not certain or final; provisional
K. apparently, but perhaps not in reality
L. a difference between things that should be the same

Answers and scoring

Quiz key: workaround C · tentative J · oversight A · exacerbate E · tenuous G · discrepancy L · plausible I · alleviate F · ostensibly K · obviate H · cursory B · egregious D

Scoring 1. Vocabulary score = (number of K) + 0.5 x (number of R). Maximum 60. 2. Quiz score /12. If the quiz score is below 8, your K ratings were optimistic. Halve your K count in Band C and recompute.

Adjusted score /60	Level indication	Action
48-60	C1+	Your receptive range is wide. Work on active use: the Day 2 "Use it" step is the priority.
36-47	C1	Follow the plan; aim for the Week 8, 16, 20 vocabulary checks.
24-35	B2+	Focus on Band B words; add 5 minutes of reading per day (business news, engineering blogs).
under 24	B2	Learn Band A/B misses first; use the Anki export of each week's Word table.

Also count Band scores separately: a big drop between A and B shows where your range thins out.

Idiom recognition check (5 min, replaces this week's Day 4)¶

In your own words, say what each means. Score 1 for a reasonable paraphrase. Write down the ones you would not use spontaneously.

move the goalposts 2. drop the ball 3. back to square one 4. cut corners 5. on the back burner 6. read the room 7. in the weeds 8. take it offline 9. circle back 10. bandwidth (as in "I don't have the bandwidth")

Meanings

Change the rules or requirements after work has started, unfairly. 2. Fail to do something you were responsible for. 3. Back at the beginning, all progress lost. 4. Do something in a cheaper or faster way by skipping quality steps. 5. Postponed, low priority for now. 6. Sense the mood of the people present and adjust your behavior (informal, mostly US). 7. Lost in low-level details (informal, US business). 8. Discuss it outside this meeting or thread. 9. Come back to a topic later. 10. Capacity (time or attention) to take on more work.

Score /10. 8+ means your idiom recognition is strong; below 5 means the weekly Day 4 drills will matter.

Use it¶

Log: adjusted vocabulary score, per-band scores, quiz score, idiom score, and the five Band B words you rated N or R that seem most useful at work.

Day 3 — Speaking: Baseline speaking prompts¶

⏱ 30 min · Wed

Record yourself (phone voice memo is fine) answering these three prompts, 60-90 seconds each, one take each, no notes. Do not restart if you stumble: hesitations are exactly what we want to measure.

Self-introduction. Introduce yourself to a new leadership team: your background, what you work on, and what you want to be known for in the next two years.
A technical decision. Describe a recent technical decision you made or influenced: the options, what you chose, and why.
An incident. Describe a production incident you handled: what happened, how you responded, and what changed afterwards.

Structure (natural, not scripted)¶

Use whatever structure comes naturally. Afterward you will notice whether you had one. In later weeks you will learn PREP and pyramid structures.

Pronunciation baseline (5 min)¶

Read these aloud and record them. Do not look up stress first.

Stress: de-VEL-op-ment, en-GI-neer, ar-chi-TEC-ture, ANN-a-lyze, a-NAL-y-sis, com-MIT-tee, e-CO-nom-y, PRO-cess (n), pro-CESS (formal v.), re-COM-mend, ma-NAGE-ment, IN-fra-struc-ture, a-VAIL-a-bil-i-ty, vul-ner-a-BIL-i-ty
Minimal pairs: ship / sheep, full / fool, live / leave, sit / seat, thirteen / thirty, fifteen / fifty, world / word
Sentence: "We deployed the fix at fifteen minutes past thirty, but only fifty of the thirteen hundred users were affected."

How to review the recording

Listen once with only one question: where did I hesitate, and why? Common reasons: searching for a word, restructuring a sentence mid-flow, worrying about grammar. Note 3 examples. Also note your approximate speed: count the words in 30 seconds of transcript; comfortable clear speech is roughly 130-150 words per minute.

Self-check¶

I recorded all three prompts in single takes.
I noted three hesitation points and their causes.
I listened to my pronunciation of the stressed words and marked the ones I got wrong.
I could tell where my sentences ended (clear boundaries) rather than trailing off.
I saved the recordings with the date in the file name.

Day 5 — Writing: Write a 150-word status email (baseline)¶

⏱ 30 min · Fri

Task¶

Write a status email of about 150 words (140-170 is fine). Timebox 20 minutes, then a 10-minute self-review. Do not use a grammar checker until step 3.

Scenario. You lead the platform team at a global logistics company. Your migration of the booking service to a new event-streaming platform was due to finish on 30 October. A third-party vendor delivered its connector three weeks late; testing showed a throughput problem at peak load. You now expect completion on 27 November. The cost impact is small but customer-facing risk exists for the December peak season. You need a decision from your VP by Friday: extend the timeline, or launch on 30 October with a reduced feature set.

Write the email to the VP (Priya Nair) and copy the product manager.

Self-review (10 min)¶

Read it aloud once. Mark any sentence where you had to breathe in the middle of a clause.
Highlight in one color the sentence that states the decision you need. Where is it? (Top, middle, bottom?)
Count the average sentence length. Over 25 words is a warning sign.
Circle any article ("a/the") you were unsure about, any preposition you guessed.
Run a grammar checker and compare: what did it catch that you missed?

Scoring (1-4, self-assessment)¶

Criterion	1	2	3	4
Purpose is clear early	not stated	in the last lines	stated, but after context	stated in the first two lines
Concision	rambling	some padding	mostly tight	every sentence earns its place
Precision (dates, numbers, ask)	vague	some detail	most details specific	dates, numbers and ask all explicit
Accuracy (grammar, articles, prepositions)	frequent errors	several errors	1-2 errors	error-free
Tone (professional, direct)	too casual/too stiff	inconsistent	mostly appropriate	natural and confident

Log your total /20 and paste the email in docs/log/comm-baseline.md. In Week 24 you write the same email again and compare.

Day 6 — Speaking record: Record a 2-minute baseline talk and score it¶

⏱ 30 min · Sat

Task¶

Record a 2-minute talk (5 minutes to plan, 2 to record, 15 to score, 8 to shadow).

Prompt: "Describe the most significant technical challenge you have led. What was the situation, what did you do, what was the outcome, and what did you learn?"

Suggested structure¶

Situation (20 s) -> Your actions (60 s) -> Result with numbers (20 s) -> Lesson (20 s). If you use a different structure, note it.

Scoring rubric (score each 1-4)¶

Criterion	1	2	3	4
Clarity	listener must work hard to follow	main point recoverable	clear with minor confusion	effortless to follow
Structure	no discernible order	partial order	clear beginning and end	clear signposting throughout
Fluency	frequent long pauses and restarts	noticeable hesitations	occasional hesitation	smooth, natural rhythm
Grammar accuracy	errors block meaning	frequent errors, meaning clear	occasional errors	rare errors
Vocabulary range	repeats basic words	some variety	good range, some imprecision	precise, varied, natural collocations
Pronunciation	frequently unintelligible	intelligible with effort	mostly clear	clear stress, rhythm and intonation

Total /24. Compare with the anchors: 6-10 = developing, 11-15 = working proficiency, 16-20 = strong, 21-24 = near-native fluency for professional settings.

Shadowing task (8 min)¶

Choose a 60-90 second clip from a conference talk or TED talk by an engineer or leader you admire (ted.com), or a BBC Learning English "6 Minute English" episode (bbc.co.uk/learningenglish). Play one sentence, pause, repeat it copying rhythm and intonation exactly. Do this for 8-10 sentences. It is baseline: just notice which sentences you cannot copy.

Log your score¶

Add to docs/log/comm-baseline.md: date, total /24, the two lowest criteria, and the recording file name.

Day 7 — Soft skills + weekly review: Communication self-assessment¶

⏱ 30 min · Sun

Scenario and task¶

Rate yourself on each statement, 1 = rarely true, 2 = sometimes, 3 = usually, 4 = almost always. Think about the last three months of real meetings, not your best day.

Speaking and listening

I can explain a technical topic to a non-technical stakeholder without losing them.
I speak at a pace others can follow, with pauses at natural points.
I rarely use filler words (um, you know, like).
I ask clarifying questions before responding to a complex point.
I can summarise what someone said accurately before I disagree.
I feel comfortable speaking up early in a meeting.

Structure and clarity

My answers begin with the main point, then support it.
I can give a 3-minute briefing without notes.
I use signposting language ("There are three reasons...", "To sum up...").
I keep my emails short, with the ask in the first two lines.
I can cut my own drafts by 30 percent without losing meaning.
My documents are easy to skim (headings, bullets, front-loaded summary).

Language accuracy and range

I rarely worry about articles and prepositions when writing.
I choose precise verbs rather than "do", "make", "get".
I can hedge appropriately ("This might suggest...") when uncertain.
I use idioms and phrasal verbs naturally and know when not to.
I can adjust my register between a team chat and an executive email.
I notice my recurring errors and correct them.

Influence and relationships

I can disagree without damaging the relationship.
I give feedback that is specific and actionable.
I receive feedback without becoming defensive.
I can say no while offering an alternative.
I can de-escalate a tense discussion.
I adapt to communication styles from different cultures.

Executive communication

I can give a concise executive update with a clear recommendation.
I handle tough questions calmly and honestly.
I can tell a compelling story about my work.
I can facilitate a meeting so decisions get made.
I feel confident in high-stakes interviews and negotiations.
I would be comfortable presenting to a room of senior leaders tomorrow.

Scoring and interpretation

Sum your ratings (30-120). Compute the average for each block.

Total	Interpretation
100-120	Very confident; check for blind spots by asking a colleague to rate you too.
80-99	Solid; a few clear development areas.
60-79	Significant room to grow; the plan targets exactly these areas.
under 60	Prioritise the two lowest blocks; ask for feedback from someone you trust.

The lowest block is your priority soft-skill theme. Note that self-ratings tend to be biased: experienced engineers often overrate structure and underrate listening. The most informative move: ask one trusted colleague to rate you on items 4, 7, 19, 21 and 25 and compare.

Baseline log template¶

Copy this into docs/log/comm-baseline.md:

## Baseline (Week 0), date: YYYY-MM-DD
- Grammar: __/40 (level: __), weakest clusters: __
- Vocabulary: __/60 adjusted (Band A __ / B __ / C __), quiz __/12, idioms __/10
- Speaking: rubric __/24, lowest two: __, __
- Writing email: __/20, recording/email file: __
- Self-assessment: __/120, lowest block: __
- Top 3 recurring errors I noticed: 1) __ 2) __ 3) __
- Goal for Week 24: __

Weekly review¶

All results are recorded in docs/log/comm-baseline.md.
I know my two weakest grammar clusters.
I know my weakest vocabulary band.
I have recorded audio and written email samples saved for Week 24.
I have started an error log (a notes file where you write each mistake you spot, with the correction).

Error log prompt: From this week, write down your top 3 recurring mistakes (for example: "explain me", article dropped before singular nouns, wrong preposition after interested). Keep the list short and update it every Sunday.