The language, with its manners on

Correct is not the same as right

You can compose a grammatically perfect sentence and still ask someone their salary at a drinks party, which no amount of grammar will save. English social and business life runs on a second language: manners, timing, understatement, the things said and the things carefully left unsaid. At the Academy the two languages are taught together, because in Britain they are spoken together.

What etiquette lessons cover

• Introductions, greetings and forms of address, from first names to "How do you do"
• Small talk: what to raise, what never to raise, and how to leave a conversation alive
• Table manners, dining and the full ceremony of afternoon tea
• Invitations, hosting, thank-you notes and letters that charm
• The unwritten rules: queuing, apologising, understatement, and the many meanings of "quite"

Learned at Repton, not from a manual

There are consultancies that will teach you etiquette from a laminated card. Eddie learned his at Repton and has practised it for sixty years, which is why his lessons cover not just the rule but the spirit of the thing: why the English apologise to furniture, what "interesting" means in a meeting, and when breaking a rule gracefully is the politest thing you can do.

In person in London

Online lessons weave etiquette into the language work. In London it becomes delightfully practical: afternoon tea taken properly, a gallery visited, a lunch ordered and navigated with confidence. Field work, in the nicest possible sense. See the London Experience for the full programme.

Curious how much there is to know? Start with Eddie's notes on afternoon tea etiquette, then send an enquiry.