course _noun

1-) a series of lessons

ADJECTIVES & NOUNS

language, art, business, etc. 
・The school runs language courses in the summer.

full-time, part-time 
・We also offer part-time courses for mature students.

short
・I did a short course on website design.

one-year, two-year, etc.
・She did a one-year teacher training course.

college, university
・Students who fail their college courses still have to pay the fee.

degree, undergraduate 
・The college offers degree courses in nursing.

postgraduate
・After graduating, she did a two-year postgraduate course.

beginner’s, intermediate, advanced 
・She is taking an advanced course in art and design.

introductory
・She decided to do an introductory computing course.

intensive, crash
・Workers who are moving to the Moscow office are sent on an intensive Russian course.

training
・Before you start the job, you will attend a two-week training course.

induction
・The company will send you on an induction course.

vocational 
・The local college offers a number of vocational courses.

correspondence, distance-learning
・Older students often prefer to do a correspondence course.

foundation 
・You do a science foundation course before taking chemistry.

refresher 
・When the rules change, all referees will have to attend a refresher course.

sandwich 
・Students on the sandwich course spend a year working in the industry.

COURSE + NOUN
tutor
・I discussed the essay with my course tutor.

material
・Some course material is available on the school’s website.

syllabus 
・The history department has recently introduced a new course syllabus.

VERBS

do, take
・I decided to do a Spanish course.

go on 
・My company wanted me to go on a course in time management.

attend 
・She couldn’t attend the course because she was ill.

enrol on, sign up for 
・He enrolled on a cookery course.

apply for
・She applied for a nursing course.

pass 
・If you pass the course, you get a diploma.

fail 
・If she fails the course, she may lose her job.

finish, complete 
・I went back to university to finish my degree course.

run 
・The course is run by the British Council.

teach 
・He is teaching an introductory course in Russian.

drop out of
・She dropped out of the course after a few weeks.

change 
・Students can change their course after the first year.

COURSE + VERB 
cover, include
・The course covers all aspects of wine-making.

focus on, concentrate on 
・The course focuses on European history.

PREPOSITIONS 

on, in 
・We run a six-month course on car maintenance.

2-) the way that something changes, develops or is done

VERBS

change, alter 
・The incident changed the course of the election.

influence, shape 
・This battle influenced the whole course of the war.

determine, decide 
・Passing or failing an exam could decide the course of your career.

take
・Events were taking a dangerous course.

reverse 
・There is no way now to reverse the course of history.

PHRASES

the course of history
・The king’s sudden death changed the course of history.

sth takes/runs its course 
・Doctors can only watch the illness run its course.