The age of retirement seems to get higher every year. Men and women used to retire in their early sixties and even before. As people are living longer, the retirement age has increased and may keep on going up.

It makes sense that people should work longer if they live to an older age. More people means more taxes are needed to pay for health care, schools etc. However, can a 65 or 70 year old work? If so, what kind of job can they still do?

Jim Clements is a workaholic which is which normal nowadays but he is a centenarian. 100-year-old Jim officially retired over 30 years ago but got bored. The majority of retirees stay at home, do some gardening, watch TV or go travelling. They don’t normally find a new job and go back to work. Jim is different, he works part-time at a company in South England and does basic administration work like answering the phone, filing and photocopying. He started as a temporary employee but is now a permanent member of staff.

This great-grandfather has no wish to retire, he likes his job and wants to keep busy. He says it helps him to stay fit and healthy and enjoys working with his younger colleagues. In fact, he likes them so much he makes them cups of English tea with milk and sugar.

Jim started working aged 14 and hasn’t really stopped. That means he’s had a job for 86 years and it looks like he may have one for a lot longer. He’s a great example of a hardworking employee and a person who wants to contribute to society. Yet, should companies be hiring or keeping staff who should have retired years ago? It’s an interesting question as there are so many people unemployed at the moment.

Work language

retirement 

the part of your life when you reach 65+ and don’t work

workaholic 

someone who loves working and can’t stop

centenarian  

a person who is 100 years of age

retirees   

people who reached 65 and stopped working

part-time 

not every day like a person who only works 2 days a week

administration 

work involving documents and tasks in an office

filing 

when you put documents in folders in an office

photocopying

when you make more duplicates of a document

temporary

only for a short time

permanent

forever

great-grandfather 

a person whose grandchildren have children

Marketing for English

brand identity

what the company wants the customer to think about a brand

brand image

what the customers/public actually think about the brand

market leader

a product that sells more than all similar products e.g. Red Bull

premium brand

a brand with a high price for quality products e.g. ferrari

economy brand

a brand/products with very low prices e.g. supermarket’s own-label goods

target market

the ideal group of people that a company aims a product at

brand awareness

knowing about a brand

consumer

the person who actually uses a product. The customer buys the product but might not be the consumer e.g. children’s sweets: customer = parent, consumer = small children

consideration set

a group of products that a consumer will choose from e.g. a teenager may consider buying trainers from a selection of either Nike, Adidas or Puma, but not Reebok

brand consideration

a brand that you would think about buying when you look at all the available options

brand loyalty

always buying the same brand because you like it and not buying products from a rival brand

brand ambassadors

someone who represents the brand; the face of the brand becuase this person has certain qualities that makes the brand appealing e.g George Clooney with Lavazzo coffee

creatives

people whose job it is to think up the ideas for cool content like adverts, videos etc

social demographic

a certain group of people in society e.g. Ferrari cars are NOT aimed at the student demographic

pitched

to pitch sth at sb means ‘to aim’

brand positioning

where is a brand placed in the market? Is it expensive, quality or low-cost etc

must-have item

a product that everyone wants

psychological pricing

in your mind, £14.99 seems much cheaper than £15

post-purchase dissonance

after buying a product the customer is not completely happy because the product was not as good as they thought it would be

post-purchase consonance

after buying a product the customer is very happy because the product is better than they thought it would be

This latest piece of promotion from the OPI brand is undeniably compelling. The brand identity they are trying to put across to the buying public is definitely that they are cool, contemporary and high-quality.

Does that identity equate to the brand image? I think the answer would be a definite, ‘yes’. Every person that I’ve shown this to has been super impressed with the creativity, images, music and the slow reveal of the product.

Is OPI the market leader? I’m afraid that my knowledge of nail products is not good enough to know, but the marketing budget would suggest that this is a premium brand with pricing to match, rather than an economy brand.

It’s also an amazing ad because it appeals to a far larger customer base than just the target market. Nail varnish typically would be aimed at females, but this campaign is ticking all the right boxes for brand awareness for all those boyfriends and husbands out there. OK, they are not going to be the consumer, but now the males who have seen this ad would certainly have OPI in their consideration set (possibly the only product in their brand consideration). For existing female customers it works extremely well serving to cement brand loyalty.

For me, a very interesting aspect of the ad are the models, or shall we say the brand representatives or ambassadors? If you consider the top models used for fashion mega brands like Gucci, D&G etc, these girls are a lot lower down the scale. Likewise, whilst they are great dancers, they are not the absolute best – if you compare them to a Russian primera ballerina or a leading flamenco dancer etc. This is clever casting from the creatives in the advertising group to appeal to the right social demographic of customers, positioning this brand as ‘obtainable’ (as opposed to unobtainable) for female teenagers and twenty-somethings… whilst at the same time remaining aspirational. This is clearly pitched as a product for the cool girl in the street in 2013.

The only downfall I can see is in answering the question, ‘Does the product live up to expectations?’ It could well be that after seeing this ad, the ‘want factor’ could be very high and it could turn into a must-have item. However, assuming that this range might be priced at 14.99 EUR (a nice piece of psychological pricing), then there might be some post-purchase dissonance (as opposed to post-purchase consonance) coming into play. After all, the über-cool advert may lead a customer to believe that this product is going to change their lives and make them super cool or sexy, but at the end of the day it is only nail varnish!
 
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Do you remember the days when we used to buy records, tapes and CDs from music shops? For years HMV was the main music retailer on UK high streets. It was the cool place to go on Saturdays to listen to music and buy chart singles and albums. They also sold T-shirts with band names on and concert tickets. Later on, they moved onto selling video games and their stores were packed full of young kids playing the latest releases.

Times have changed though. Virgin opened up Virgin Megastores and attracted a lot of HMV’s customer. Then, digital music became common and people started downloading from the net at a lower price. Now, people no longer buy their products like before in shops, everything is online because it’s more convenient.

At the moment, HMV is feeling the effects of a summer sales slump and is fighting to stay open. They lost around £36m in Q1 of 2012 alone. Some experts think they will have to sell more unprofitable stores or go into administration.  Another option is to cut running costs.
The majority of HMV’s profits are made at Christmas when shoppers buy music as presents. There is also the important number 1 single sales. Experts predicted a £10m profit for this year but HMV’s sales decreased by 10% over the summer. As a result, HMV’s shares fell by 40% and their future does not look good.

The biggest problem facing HMV at the moment is their £176m debt. To pay the money back they sold off Waterstones and their live music venues but it didn’t raise enough. Another bold move was to give equity to their suppliers such as EMI in return for greater access to back catalogues and the ability to buy on consignment. This has saved them lots of money as they only pay for what they sell.

Is HMV finished? FOR:

AGAINST:

 
So, what should HMV do next?

1)    Sell off more outlets?

2)    Sell more equity?

3)    Take out a loan?

4)    Develop more online sales?

5)    Cut costs?

Music Vocabulary

albums

collections of songs released together

back catalogues

previous releases

chart singles

songs in the top 40

Business Language

bold move

an important decision

feeling the effects of something

to experience the result of an event

fighting to stay open

trying to survive

sold off

bought by someone else

Financial Vocabulary

Q1

First quarter

buy on consignment

an agreement so you only pay for what is sold

cut running costs

reduce money spent on the money needed to operate the company such as the rent and salaries

equity

shares

pay the money back

repay or return borrowed money

stores go into administration

to go bankrupt and be controlled by someone else to deal with the debt/financial problems

summer sales slump

low sales during the summer

unprofitable

not making money

Image source & copyright: Guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/oct/16/tax-biggest-us-companies-uk

What do Amazon, Google, and Starbucks all have in common? They’re huge companies, they have thousands of employees and they make more money in one day than I will earn in a lifetime. Yet, more importantly, they pay very little tax.
 
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Some of them, like many companies, have based their European businesses outside the UK to avoid paying full UK tax. This is called corporate tax avoidance and it’s not illegal. Using an Ireland or Luxembourg-registered office for a company simply incurs lower tax rates. It’s a piece of cake.
 

 
Another trick they use is that they charge their own subsidiary companies for services, referred to as transfer pricing: again, completely legal. Both of these examples are commonly called exploiting loopholes in the law.

So, how much are these companies paying or not paying?

One British MP said that Amazon.co.uk allegedly had the highest UK tax rate of 1.9% in 2011 when the company’s turnover was £208m. Google also got away with paying 0.9% but based on a turnover of £396m. The biggest tax dodger though was Starbucks. The coffee giant with stores all over the world and one on practically every London street paid absolutely nothing. It earned £398m but not one penny went to the tax man in corporate tax.

More shocking though is that some say Starbucks has paid no tax at all during the last two years. While Amazon has also been able to only pay 3% VAT on book sales within the UK when the official rate is 20%.

As you can see in the infographic above, some of the companies aren’t actually profitable. Starbucks claims to have lost £33m in 2011 and Google just over £21m. Amazon is the only one to have turned a profit with £3.1m. From the perspective of British customers and taxpayers, these companies are taking their money and running away with it. Yes, they are employing many local people but why do other companies have to pay full corporate tax when they don’t? Each of these companies argues to support corporate responsibility but this doesn’t look very responsible.

Several politicians have said tax laws need to change in the UK. In nearby France, the government may have already taken action and issued (£629m) a tax bill to Google. Whether they pay it though is anyone’s guess.

Tax language

corporate tax avoidance

when companies don’t pay tax

incurs lower tax rates

their actions mean they pay less tax

subsidiary companies

companies owned by them

transfer pricing

when one part of a company makes another pay for products or services it provides

exploiting loopholes

taking advantage of gaps in the law

turnover

the money a company gets from sales

tax dodger

a person or company who/which avoids tax

the tax man

a slang way to refer to the person who collects tax but generally is used to refer to the tax office

turned a profit 

made a profit

Lets talk money

The original budget for the games was set in 2007. It was almost four times the estimated cost of the London 2005 bid. The higher price was when VAT, security costs, and regeneration costs were included.

The Beijing 2008 games had been extremely expensive. So, when the financial crisis started British tax payers began to worry. Some people even talked about cancelling the games. They were scared that the games would cost too much, the organisers would go over budget and possibly bankrupt the nation.

Now it is all over, the Department for Culture Media and Sport has released some interesting information about the financial side of the games. Originally, it had been forecasted to cost £9.3bn but in the end only £8.92 billion was needed. That means that the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics combined were £377m under budget. That’s an incredible saving.
 

 

Where did all the money come from?

A quarter of the Olympic money came from the Organising Committee’s own £2.2bn operational budget. It was generated from sponsorship, ticket sales, merchandise and the rest came from the actual International Olympic Committee.

Another £3bn was for the running of the games itself like security and ceremonies. This money came out of the public purse.

More savings were made by the Olympic Delivery Authority from the building of the facilities and reduced transport savings. This accounted for £1bn in saved money.

What’s next?

The Olympics may be over but not the legacy. The next challenge is to turn the Olympic Village apartments into almost 3000 homes for new residents and the East London site into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The government says the saved money may still be needed though to cover any large costs to do with the revamping of the Olympic Park.

 
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FINANCIAL ENGLISH

budget

a set amount of money reserved for one purpose

estimated cost

the predicted price

VAT

Value Added Tax is added to products and purchases

security costs

the price of making something safe and protected

regeneration costs

the price of making something better

to go over budget

to spend more money than you have

to bankrupt the nation

to spend all the money a country has and more

the financial side of the games

a perspective to do with money

forecasted

predicted

to be under budget

to have spent less money than you had set aside

public purse

money raised through taxing people

revamping

making something better

Business English idioms are the focus here in our latest English test. Using idioms can really widen your Business English vocabulary and make you sound more like a native-speaker of English.

The sentences here come from authentic business documents and recorded conversations. This is real Business English in action and some of the vocabulary is quite advanced.

As with all our tests, you get your results immediately after finishing the test. If you get any questions wrong, you can also the correct answers!
 
 

1. Business English Vocabulary

2. Advanced English (C1 – C2)
 
 

As with all our tests, you get your results immediately at the end of the test. You can also see the correct answers as a bonus!

After you get the correct answers, if you still have a problem understanding a question, leave me a comment below and I will try to explain the answer for you.
 
 
Try our Advanced English (C1-C2) test
 
 

Don’t forget to vote in our polls at the end to give your opinion! They only need one click – and no sign-up or registering!

 
 
The iPhone 5 is out and Apple are raking it in. As usual, die hard Apple fans are breaking open their piggy banks to buy the latest mobile phone Even owners of the iPhone 4S are trading in their old phones for the new model.

Experts say sales are impressive. Apple shifted an unimaginable 5 million iPhone 5 handsets within the first weekend. That number continues to grow by the second. That’s over 1m more than the iPhone 4S managed. It’s not just analysts who are shocked, even Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple is impressed. He described the 5m sales as simply “incredible’ and told reporters that every single phone from their first shipment has been sold. That means that Apple needs to quickly produce more phones to keep up with demand.

It’s not all good news though for Mr Cook. Far from it. The latest iPhone model runs Apple’s very own map app. It’s well known that Apple and Google have an intense rivalry and don’t get on, so it’s not surprising to hear that Apple has made their own alternative to the massively successful, ubiquitous Google Maps

Apple and iPhone fans had high hopes for this app. After all, Apple has set the bar pretty high with their hardware and software. The iPhone 5 comes with iOS6 which is a decent improvement to the last operating system. However, Google maps is a tough act to follow.

Watch this video to see a CNN review of the map app:

As you can see, it’s not quite as good as Google maps but Apple have promised that it will get better. By the looks of this critical review though, Apple engineers definitely have their work cut out.

To see just how much they need to improve (and some of the funny bugs and mistakes in the software), check out this blog which shows quite clearly that Apple maps is nowhere near as good as Google Earth. Sorry, Mr Cook but your app has a long way to go yet.

Useful Business Vocabulary

Raking it in

making lots of money

Die hard fans

loyal followers of sth or sb

Trading in

using an old product to pay for part of a new one like when you trade in an old car. It can also just mean getting a new version of a product.

Shifted

this refers to moving goods from the shelves i.e. selling them.

Shipment

an order of goods delivered from the factory

Keep up with demand

to be able to sell as many products as customers want

ubiquitous

appears everywhere

Had high hopes for sth

had positive expectations of sth

Set the bar pretty high

when someone or thing is very good it creates a certain standard that everybody else needs to compete with or match

A tough act to follow

when someone of thing is very good it is very hard to make or do something better

Have their work cut out

have a lot of difficult and time-consuming work to do in order to them succeed at something

A long way to go

have a great deal of work to do which will take a lot of time so as to reach a certain goal

During the London Olympics a large number of people decided to work from home. They normally worked everyday in the centre of London. The idea was to make more space on the trains and underground for tourists and athletes. The people included politicians, managers and average office workers. Around 1.5 million London workers in total became teleworkers.

How can they work from home? Well, nowadays, thanks to the internet a lot of work can be done anywhere you have a laptop and an internet signal. As long as you can answer your emails, finish your reports, prepare a presentation you are OK. Thanks to video conferencing you can also have meetings, give and attend presentations and take part in conferences. Telecommuting sounds perfect!

Not travelling to work means no expensive train fares, no long, boring commuting and you save a lot of time. On top of that you get to stay at home all day or go out and do your work in a cafe. Many remote workers do this and are called nomad workers as they work anywhere they want. You may see them in a bar, a library or even in the park.

Companies now quite like homeworking. BT has 11,000 home-office workers. They have saved around 60 million pounds. It’s certain that other companies will follow suit if this helps them to reduce costs and make more money.

Is it the future? Will we all be working from home, a restaurant or the pub in a few years time? I’m not sure. You won’t really see or speak to anyone. If you live alone you might never have any contact with people. Also, what happens if your internet doesn’t work or your computer breaks? One answer is telework centres where you can go to use their facilities, their office space and even meet other people.

It’s true that almost every company can benefit from teleworkers but they would save even more money if they hired cheaper staff. If telecommuting grows because of cost saving then why not just hire staff in a cheaper country?

Working at home language

teleworkers

people who work for a company but do the work at home

work from home

to do your normal office work but at home

telecommuting

the act of working from home for a company

commuting

the travelling that you do from your home to work everyday

remote workers

people who can choose when and where they work

nomad workers

people who can work anywhere they use their laptop

homeworking

the act of doing work at home

home-office

working from your own home and not at your company’s office

telework centres

business centres for teleworkers to use as an office

                                           
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Burberry is known for being a ‘luxury brand’. It is also popular because it is British. In fact, it uses lot of English images in its advertising. Burberry even uses ‘made in Britain’. This is why it makes a great deal of money.  An exact profit of £366m to be precise.

So, Burberry sells traditional British clothes that are made in Britain by British people. Not really. 5 years ago Burberry closed a 70 year old factory in the UK and fired all 300 employees.

In 2009 Burberry closed another UK factory and 170 people were made redundant. Followed by their last 2 where 120 employees were let go.

After they sacked all these people they moved production to somewhere outside of England. Yes, somewhere where they could pay lower salaries and get cheaper material and that place was China. Their employment laws are different to the UK so they have more freedom to hire and axe staff when they want.

The company said that it was the right decision and had no regrets, even though they dismissed around 600 members of staff in the UK.

Burberry now saves more money because their wages and production costs are cheaper. A Burberry shirt can cost about £55 but only costs £4 to make. That’s a £51 profit and is why Burberry’s profits can increase by at least £2m. However, they sell some on their website for £150. That’s an incredible £146 difference.

Another clothing company called Mulberry has layed off all its Chinese workers and moved back to the UK. It wants to keep a British image. They decided to give all their Chinese employees their marching orders and open a factory in the UK with local employees.

Both companies want to become more successful and they think that looking more British sells clothes. It may be true that people abroad like classic British clothes. However, would you buy something from a company who gave hundreds of staff the elbow to save a bit of money? (Leave a comment below about this)

Firing staff phrases

All these phrases are the same in meaning. You can use them to say when someone’s employment is stopped or terminated.

to fire someone

to let someone go

to sack someone

to dismiss someone

to lay someone off

to give employees their marching orders

to give hundreds of staff the elbow

When you want to explain that someone has been fired because their position is no longer needed use this:

to make someone redundant

This happens when a company is made smaller and the number of staff is reduced. They often receive a large amount of money like a full months pay or even 6 months.

Knight Capital Group (KCG) lost an amazing $440 million in only 30 minutes on August 1st. Why? A small computer problem. Apparently their trading system had a technical problem. Experts have said their software went haywire.
 
The company blamed a minor computer bug in its software. Their technicians worked on the system straightaway to fix the malfunction and to stop it happening again. The effect was a huge financial loss and a reduced stock price but nobody knew why or how it happened.
 
Trades were made automatically at crazy prices but eventually stopped. It could have continued and destroyed the company but thankfully it didn’t. This technical blip created 4 million extra trades across 550 million shares.
 
Experts say that Knight were testing new software and it had a flaw. It must have been very defective to make such a big mistake and cost the company $440M.
 
Before this mishap, Knight’s software had a reputation for security and being reliable. Not anymore. Traders and investors are losing confidence in trading systems. This is not the first time we’ve seen a gremlin in a programme that’s caused big problems. It probably won’t be the last either.
 

Vocabulary Focus

This text has lots of words to describe problems with computers. Let’s take a look at them:

Technical problem

This can be used to explain any problem with a computer or electronic device. You may hear it used in airports when a plane has a problem.

Haywire

This is a strange word that means not functioning properly, broken or crazy.

Bug

People can have a stomach bug which means a virus but so can computers. So, a computer bug could be a virus or just a problem in the software.

Malfunction

Software or a machine that doesn’t work properly or does something wrong malfunctions. A machine in a factory that has a serious malfunction can be dangerous.

Blip

A blip refers to something that is small and temporary.

Flaw

Any weakness or negative part of something god can be called a flaw. People have flaws and computers too.

Defective

A product that is defective does not work or does not work properly.

Mishap

When something bad and unlucky happens it is a mishap. It normally causes bad things.

Gremlin

A gremlin is a small monster that causes problems in something. A gremlin in the system is the same, it’s a serious problem.

Have a look at this video where people are comparing business cards:

They use different ways to ask for opinions about the cards:

What do you think?

Look at that!

Look at this!

They also use the typical English word ‘nice’ which we like because it can be used to lie. So, if you say something is ‘nice’ you may actually not like it but you feel you have to say something positive in the situation. Maybe you don’t want to make the others angry by giving your opinion and saying how you really feel. Here are some ‘nice’ words they use:

Nice

Very nice

That is really nice

And some other phrases:

Impressive

That’s really super

It’s very cool

In these situations you should try not to repeat what other people say but not to sound too creative. These are different phrases you could use:

Wow!

I’m impressed

That’s really something

I’m speechless

In the video they also use ‘but’ and then a phrase to introduce something better. This is what they say:

But that’s nothing!

But wait, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

These phrases are useful when you are being competitive and saying that your next thing is better than the current one. For instance:

A:Look at my card.

B:Wow!

C:Impressive

D:But that’s nothing, look at this!

C:Nice

A:That’s really something

B:But wait, you ain’t seen nothing yet. What do you think of this card?

This can continue and continue.

Questions for comment section

1. Do you have a business card?
2. How important are they in your country?
3. What do you say when you see a business card?
4. What do you compete with people about in conversations?

But until there is a huge change (if ever) and we reach a point of legal writing in plain English, I’m afraid that  we will all just have to make an effort to learn the very specific English for legal purposes, or keep on paying out huge amounts of cash to lawyers who already know these terms.

So here is a legal English exercise to help you become accustomed to some legal vocabulary used in official business reports.

These words refer to position, time and result, usually within the document that they appear in. While they seem confusing at first, they can add legal precision.

Legal English Exercise

(Upper Intermediate / Advanced)

Put the legal referencing words into the correct sentences below. There is a definition in brackets at the end of every sentence which implies the correct answer.

1. above
2. hereby
3. thereinafter
4. aforementioned
5. herein
6. thereinbefore
7. below
8. hereunder
9. therein
10. hereafter
11. thereafter

a. The __________________ parties should not therefore be considered for any future contracts (stated or listed earlier)

b. As can be seen in the chart ______________ wholesale oil prices have risen by 8.6% this year. (written or shown at a later point in the document)

c. As mentioned ______________ the new system should be implemented by July 21st to conform to the new regulations. (written or shown at an earlier point in the document)

d. Some confusion arose, as the original contract named the client as The Penryn Partnership in the first paragraph, but ____________ as Penryn Ltd.. (listed or mentioned earlier in the document)

e. Please clarify whether the delivery date is December 2nd as mentioned in the final paragraph of the agreement, or December 9th as stated ____________ . (listed or mentioned earlier in the document)

f. For further information on this matter, please consult the documents listed ____________ . (immediately after this phrase)

g. The Mason Jones Edwardes Partnership, _______________ MJEP, have submitted a tender for the project. (from this point onwards)

h. All signatories to this contract are obliged to comply with the conditions stated ______________ unless given explicit permission to do otherwise. (in this document)

i. Please consult also the contract signed 5th May 2011 ref: SGI837261 and the terms and conditions cited ___________ . (in that document)

j. The contract states that payments of 10 000 GBP should be made by June 1st and April 1st, then 5 000 GBP on the first day of the month ____________ for the remainder of the contract period (from that time onward)

k. Mrs Jameson has failed to act in accordance with the conditions stated in the contract and we _____________ revoke said contract. (as a result, in this way)
 
 
If you need to improve your legal English terms knowledge, SGI could arrange a bespoke legal English course for you here  in London, where you would study one-to-one with one of our experienced Business English trainers. But if you don’t have the time for that, here are the answers 

Answers:

1. c
2. k
3. d
4. a
5. h
6. e
7. f
8. b
9. i
10. g
11. j

So, what do you say when… you’re in the middle of a business transaction and you hear someone say the following phrases?

Instructions

Listen to the sentences by clicking on the blue buttons. Then decide which of the Possible Responses is appropriate. If you need to check (or cheat), the correct solution is given at the bottom of this blog.

What do you say when… ?

 
1. I’ve been ill, so I haven’t managed to read your email yet.

2. I’m ill, so I’m a bit behind with everything at the moment.

3. It’s my birthday tomorrow so I won’t be at work.

4. My Dad died last week and I’ve been busy organising the funeral and everything.

5. Some idiot crashed into my car and I’ve been sorting things out with the insurance company.

6. I’m sorry I haven’t had time to look at that yet because my son was in a motorbike accident this morning.

7. My wife is pregnant.

8. I’ve been promoted

Possible responses

You can hear the pronunciation of the following phrases on the audio

a)

I’m really sorry to hear that. Is he ok?

b)

Ah, congratulations. Well, I wish you all the very best in your new position and I look forward to a successful relationship with your successor.

c)

Oh, OK. Are you better now?

d)

I’m really sorry to hear that. Don’t worry about anything and get back to me whenever you’re ready.

e)

Congratulations. When is it due? Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?

f)

What have you got? A cold?

g)

Are you ok?

h)

Congratulations. I hope you have a great day

Correct Answers

1. c
2. f
3. h
4. d
5. g
6. a
7. e
8. b

Tesco is the UK’s most popular and affordable supermarket chain. Part of its success is because it has been offering customers cheap alternatives to famous brands for 20 years. Its low cost own-brand products are sold under the ‘Tesco Value’ label which is known for being the nation’s favourite. The rock bottom prices are generally far lower than regular brands, for instance a can of beans only retails at 3p. That represents a huge cost saving for most shoppers.
Unfortunately for Tesco, their market has changed and for the first time in its history Tesco has just released a profit warning. This is the result of an unsuccessful low price promotional campaign and poor Christmas sales. During the first 3 months of 2012, Tesco’s market share dropped significantly and the heads of the company realised something had to be done. In response, the decision has been made to say goodbye to the no frills Tesco Value range. It will be rebranded and replaced with a more modern and less cheap looking brand.

The entire 550 product range will reappear under the ‘Everyday Value’ range. The new label has a 1950’s look which is more attractive than the current basic blue striped one. It’s not just the name that’s changing though. Tesco is revamping a number of products and increasing the standard so cost-saving ingredients like MSG are being removed. Unlike the previous brand’s emphasis on cost over quality, the latest brand seeks to offer good quality at an affordable price and hopes to attract average and upmarket shoppers alike.
Tesco is not the first to follow this strategy, archrival Asda (part of the Walmart group) has already upgraded its own label range with some success. As they have been have been taking market share from Tesco along with Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, it’s not surprising that Tesco has decided to follow the pack. According to retail analysts “this was a long time overdue”, whilst others are saying that “it’s disappointing” because Tesco are just copying the rest of the market. Even though Tesco still holds the biggest market share, its growth rate (2.7%) is less than impressive. Maybe this latest step will help them fend off their market challengers and reinforce their market leader position. Yet, it could also backfire and Tesco may lose their main customers.

Useful Language: Retail Business English

Affordable

It has a price that people are able to pay which is often low

Alternatives

Other similar products

Own-brand

A brand created by the company

Rock bottom prices

Extremely cheap

Regular brands

Normal brands such as famous ones

Promotional campaign

Lots of advertising to tell people about something

Heads of the company

The people in charge of the company

To say goodbye to sthg

To cancel and stop making/selling it

No frills

To extras which are not needed

To be rebranded

When the whole image is changed

To reappear

To go away and then come back

Revamping

Improving

Cost-saving

A way to stop money being wasted

Emphasis on cost over quality

Stressing a low cost is more important than quality

Upmarket

High class

Archrival

Main competitor

Upgraded

Improved

Improved

To copy the others

Overdue

It should have happened earlier

The latest step

The most recent action

To fend off someone

To defend yourself against an attacker

To reinforce sthg

To make sthg stronger

To backfire

To have the opposite effect such as a strategy designed to increase sales actually reduces them

Discussion Questions

1. How do you think customers will respond to Tesco’s decision?
2. How successful do you think Tesco’s new brand will be?
3. What else could Tesco do to improve its position?

There are good and bad employers in every country. Some companies give their employees long holidays and weekends off. Yet others make their staff work on bank holidays and even on Saturday and Sunday. It is important to find a nice place to work so here is a list of the 3 best employers in the world to work for.

Google

Google is a very famous internet company but it is maybe more well-known because of its amazing working environment. Many employees say working at Google is almost like ‘heaven’ because of the perks. These include free massages, delicious international food, sports facilities and a very relaxed atmosphere. Some employees even take their pets to work with them and are allowed to use skateboards and rollerblades in the office.

Boston Consulting Group

BCG is an international consulting firm which works with clients to create solutions to their problems. The main benefit at BCG is the salary because the average employee earns about $139,000 every year. This does not include bonuses and overtime pay. BCG likes to keep its staff fit and healthy so it organises lots of sports and activities. Another benefit is that employees can do voluntary work for charities like save the Children.

SAS institute

SAS Institute is one of the best providers of business analytics software and services in the world. It helps other companies predict new business opportunities and use them to make money. Their staff receive many benefits like unlimited sick leave and high quality child care. They can also use the onsite fitness and health centres. Female staff who become pregnant receive long paid maternity leave but their partners can also take paid paternity leave.

Useful language/Business English Vocabulary

To give/have weekends off

Do not work on Saturday and Sunday

Working environment 

How comfortable it feels to work in a place

Perks

Extra benefits

Sports facilities

Places where you can do sport like a swimming pool

Relaxed atmosphere

A very informal way of working

Consulting firm

A company that gives advice to others

Bonuses

Extra money when you work well

Overtime pay

When you are paid for working more than usual

To keep staff fit 

To help them stay in a good physical condition

Voluntary work

Work you are not made to do but you can choose

Charities

Organisations that help people who need help like Save the Children

Business analytics

Where you look at statistics about a business

Predict

To make guesses about the future

Opportunity

A chance of making money or doing something good

Benefits

Positive things for an employee like free insurance

Unlimited sick leave

You can have as many days off work as you need when you are ill

Child care

When someone looks after your baby or child

Onsite

In the building or grounds

Maternity leave 

When a women stops working to have a baby

Paternity leave 

When a husband stops working because his partner is having or has had a baby

Discussion questions

1. Why are these the best employers in the world?
2. What are the best benefits for employees?
3. What can companies do to become better places to work?

The economic climate has made a vast majority of customers more price sensitive than before. With unemployment figures on the rise and salaries either not increasing or in some cases decreasing, people are willing to shop around for a bargain. Add to this the growing use of mobile phones with internet access and you have an expanding group of customers able to find the lowest price on almost any product either in a shop or online. In fact, the term ‘scan and cram’ is being used to refer to customers who visit Wal-Mart, scan a product’s bar code and then buy it online at a cheaper price.

Wal-Mart is aware of the threat posed by Amazon so is putting more money into its online operations. In the past 12 months, Wal-Mart has bought 5 new technical companies including one which specialises in mobile phone apps. Their hope is to make their online shopping procedure easier and more attractive, particularly to mobile users. Another brave step is the expansion of its online payment methods to include cash. This is where merchandise can be reserved online and then paid for with cash in a local store.

Cheaper prices have long been the USP at Amazon which has been made possible in the US as they exploit a tax loophole in several US states. Unfortunately for Amazon, this will be closed this year and the knock on effect will certainly raise prices, perhaps across the board and may just put both companies on an equal footing where prices are concerned.

Amazon is also ready to test a small, boutique store in Seattle and if it goes well have plans for a national chain. With Wal-Mart boosting its online shopping experience this means soon there won’t be much difference between them and customers will choose solely based on customer service and convenience.
 
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Business English Vocabulary

To be engaged in sthg

A participant in sthg

Bricks-and-mortar

A physical shop

Cost-conscious

Looking for a low price

Catered to

Made/Sold products to a certain group

Affluent

Rich

Dominant force

The leader

To be under threat

To be in danger

Price sensitive

To place more importance on the price

To shop around for a bargain

To visit different shops/sites to find a cheap price

The threat posed by X

The danger that X represents

Putting more money into sthg

Investing more money in sthg

USP

Unique Selling Point or Proposition – Something special to that product/company that makes it different

To exploit a tax loophole

To take advantage of an area without clear laws

The knock on effect

The subsequent influence

Across the board

In all areas

On an equal footing

At the same level with no advantages

Boutique store

A small store often within a large department store selling specific products

Discussion Questions

1. Why does Wal-Mart want to invest more money in e-shopping?
2. Should Amazon open bricks and mortar stores? Why?
3. Who will win this war and how?

Useful Business English Vocabulary

Dominance

To be leading or in first position

To come out with

To release

Unbreakable

Cannot be broken

Bendable

Can be folded

Groundbreaking

Sth that hasn’t been done before – Extremely innovative

Unveiling

Showing to the public

Wafer-thin

About as thin as a piece of paper

Be a long way behind

To be in a low position far away from the market leader

One stop shop

A place where you can buy everything

A whole different story

The opposite or completely dissimilar

OS

Operating system

Bringing out

Releasing to the general public

Pushing the envelope

Developing/increasing the limitations of current technology

Bridged the gap between

To connect 2 things

Started the ball rolling

Began something

To have kept up

To maintain their position

To get left behind

To be surpassed

 
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Discussion questions

1. Will Samsung foldable phones kill off the iPhone?
2. Why isn’t Apple developing this technology?
3. What other applications could this technology be used for?

The words Raspberry and Pie are normally found together on a restaurant’s dessert menu but not anymore. The Raspberry Pi has nothing to do with raspberries or pies but it is proving to be far more popular than either. In fact, it looks set to revolutionise the computer industry and strike a serious blow to the current big name computer manufacturers like Apple and HP.

The Raspberry Pi is a computer, a basic one but a computer nonetheless. It may not look like the kind of desktop or laptop you would find in a computer store but it’s not meant to either. Its creators offer the core components of a computer at a rock bottom price which is why it doesn’t even have a case. In essence, it’s a tiny single circuit board which includes a 700 MHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, and a powerful GPU capable of running high quality games and 3D applications.

Connectivity is a key word when talking about the Raspberry Pi because it’s aimed at getting young kids into programming and IT. This is why the computer comes with an Ethernet port for internet connection, an SD memory card slot for storage, 2 USB sockets for a keyboard and a mouse and an HDMI output for hooking it up to a screen. The result is a lot of freedom for the user as they can just add more USB sockets and thus more devices and hardware like external storage.

You won’t find Microsoft Windows 7 or even Apple’s Lion OS on this computer. Instead, the Raspberry Pi comes with the latest free Linux OS which is Open Source. The company also plans to develop its own App store for mini programmers to share their programmes. Due to programmes like Open Office any Raspberry Pi owner will be able to download and use word processors and spreadsheet packages as good as Microsoft Office, but for no cost.

So, how much do you think this computer is worth? Well, it was selling at $35 but now the improved model has gone down to just $25. Sadly, the website crashed within 2 minutes of it going on sale and because of manufacturing issues, you may have to wait a while to get your hands on one.
 
Watch the owner of the Rasberry Pi company talk about this low-cost computer invention.

 
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Computer phrases

To revolutionise sthg

To change it radically

To strike a serious blow

To have a large impact

Core components

The important parts of a computer

Rock bottom price

Extremely cheap

Case

The plastic/metal box the computer is in

Circuit board

A flat electronic board with connected components

MHz

Megahertz or a measurement for microprocessor speed

MB

Megabyte or a large unit of information

RAM

Random Access Memory or data than can be accessed in any order

GPU

Graphics Processing Unit or an electronic chip to manage graphics

Applications

Small programs

Getting young kids into programming

Making them interested in making computer applications

IT

Information technology or computing

Ethernet

To do with connecting a computer to a network

SD

Secure Digital

USB

Universal Serial Bus or a connector for attaching various devices

HDMI

High-Definition Multimedia Interface

OS

Operating System

Open Source

Free for everyone to download, use and develop

To get your hands on one

To own one

Discussion questions

1. Which kinds of people will buy the Raspberry Pi?

2. Is this the future of the computer industry?

3. Will it create a new generation of computer programmers?

Here’s a full lesson on the Raspberry Pi for teachers: http://debatediscussion.blogspot.com/2012/03/cheap-computers.html

The terms start-ups and crowdsourcing almost seem to go hand in hand nowadays. In fact, it’s probably thanks to crowdsourcing that we now have so many start-ups in the first place. It’s also why they generally do so well. For people unfamiliar with these terms a start-up is a new business, often set up by only a small number of people. They can consist of anything from a kid in his bedroom to a team of MBA qualified executives. But what about crowdsourcing?

To put it simply, crowdsourcing is about taking a traditional project for 1 or more full-time employees and dividing it up into smaller tasks. Then, they are ‘farmed out’ to the general public via online notice boards or specialist websites. These groups of people are also called ‘cloud labour’.

Why do start-ups use crowdsourcing?

It’s perfectly suited to small companies just starting out as they often have few employees but lots of work. They also don’t have the time or the means to hire full-time or even part-time staff for one-off projects. Now, thanks to the net you can find and employ large numbers of freelancers very quickly. Financially, it also saves them a lot of money that would otherwise go to middlemen like recruitment agencies.

Does crowdsourcing make money?

Well, you can be the judge of that one. In 2011, providers of crowdsourcing announced an increase of over 70% on the previous year. Their revenues shot up from $210 to a pretty impressive $379 in 12 months alone. And it’s all down to the 6.5 billion crowdsourcing workers, a number that’s growing by the day.

What kind of work can you get from crowdsourcing?

A lot of Business start-ups operate in the internet industry so early projects may involve website construction, testing or development. Whereas, other companies use the net to run their business and so offer things like marketing research or even short translations.

What’s the catch?

Well, some critics have accused crowdsourcing of creating ‘digital sweatshops’ because freelancers can work long hours but only get a paid minimum wage. This is due to the common ‘pay per results’ structure where pay doesn’t reflect the amount of time put in.

Useful Vocabulary

To go hand in hand

Normally go together

To be unfamiliar with sthg

When you don’t know something

To set up sthg

To start or establish something like a company

To be farmed out

When sthg is distributed to other people

Online notice boards

Websites where you can leave messages or announcements

To be perfectly suited to sthg

When 2 things or people go well together

Starting out

At the beginning of their business life or career

The means

The resources such as money

One-off projects

Small jobs that are not repeated

Financially

From the perspective of someone interested in money

Otherwise

Or else

Middlemen

People or organisations who operate between producers or suppliers and end customers like recruitment agencies

You can be the judge of that one

You can see the result and make up your own mind

Shot up

Increased quickly and by a large amount

It’s all down to sthg or someone

It’s completely due to sthg or someone

Run their business

Manage their company

The catch

A negative point like “you don’t get sthg for nothing, there’s always a catch”

Digital sweatshops

Where people work long hours for little pay online

The time put in

The amount of time invested/used for the project

 
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Discussion questions

1. Would crowdsourcing work in your country?
2. How can companies use crowdsourcing?
3. Is crowdsourcing good for employees, employers or both? Why?

 
For more Business English Vocabulary posts click here
 

Last year, there were a number of riots in London. People were angry about the gap between the rich and the poor. In the financial area bankers earn lots of money but in the south other people do not. After the government closed many public facilities they decided to show how they felt.

In 2011, several bank executives earned huge bonus payouts. The head of Barclays bank got 6.5 million pounds. English citizens only make £26,000 so there is a serious difference. The average English person does not believe this is fair. Recently, the boss of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) refused his bonus. It was £1m. Maybe other executives will do the same.

At the moment, several executives are not successful but earn lots of money. A successful executive could make the same money as an unsuccessful executive. This is not fair. Critics argue this situation is not equal and needs to change. The British government wants to give shareholders more powers to stop big bonuses. Only successful employees deserve more money.

Various British banks lost large amounts of money in the financial crisis. The British government rescued RBS with £45b of taxpayers’ money. It now owns 83% of the company. However, they did not change staff bonuses. Executives still receive high salaries and large bonus packages.

The chairman of RBS would like to stop all annual bonuses. In his opinion, bank executives earn too much money. In the US, the Bank of America recently froze salaries and created a maximum bonus level of $150,000. In the UK there is no limit but maybe we need one.

The UK government also invested in Lloyds bank. It is now worth a lot less money than before. This means the government and tax payers lost money. Yet, Lloyds’ executives still earn high salaries and bonuses.

Last month, several British newspapers criticised the government about executive bonuses. They said the government does not control the situation and bank executives still earn too much money. The government should change the law to reduce or stop bonus payments.

 
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Business English: Banking Vocabulary

Another

1 more. “I want another ticket”

Recession

When a country makes less money, companies close and people lose jobs. “England is in a recession”

Worst

The superlative of bad (bad, worse, worst)

Few

A small number. “I bought a few books”

Salaries

Wages or pay. “Executive salaries are high”

Several

A small or medium number.

Executives

An important manager.

Bonuses

Extra pay at the end of the year.

Riots

When groups of people go in the street and break things.

Gap

When 2 things are not the same. “A gap between the rich and poor”

Public facilities

Services the public can use e.g. libraries and swimming pools.

Huge payouts

Big amounts of money given to some people.

The head of Barclays

The main boss of Barclays (one of the UK’s largest banks)

Citizens

People who live in the city/town/country.

not…fair

Not right. “It is not right when bankers buy planes and boat but normal people cannot buy food”

Refused

Said no to something. “He refused the bonus”

Successful

Do something that works well. “The boss is successful. He makes lots of money”

Unsuccessful

Do something that does not work well. “The boss is unsuccessful. He lost lots of money”

Critics

People who often say bad things about something. “Film critics”

Situation

An event or connected events. “The banker bonus situation needs to change”

Equal

The same.

Shareholders

People who own some of a company.

To deserve sthg

To do sthg to earn sthg else. “You worked hard and deserve a bonus”

Various

Many.

Financial crisis

When a country has big money problems. “We are now in a big Financial crisis”

Rescued

Saved from a bad situation.

Still

A situation that did not change and is now the same as before.

Bonus packages

A collection of things like company shares and money given to a good employee at the end of the year.

Chairman

The president of a company.

Annual

Every year.

Too much

More than is needed.

Froze

Stopped and kept the same. “We froze salaries”

Maximum

The top amount or number.

Level

The place where sthg is compared to sthg else. “Our company has many high level managers”

Limit

The top point. “There is a limit for all salaries and bonuses”

Invested

Bought part of a company or gave money to help a company.

Worth

The amount of money something is equal to.

Law

Government rules everybody follows.

To reduce sthg

To make it smaller.

Discussion questions

 
1) Why do bank executives receive big bonuses?

2) Did large bonuses create the financial crisis?

3) Should the government stop all bonuses?

4) What can companies give hardworking employees?
 
 

Practically every country in Europe seems to be struggling financially at the moment. The crisis has bankrupted a variety of companies and as a result unemployment rates continue to climb. Bonuses and pay rises have been put on hold, possibly indefinitely, and some salaries have even been reduced. Nonetheless, there are still a few jobs which remain profitable and offer around $100,000 a year. In this post we’ll take a look at 5 of these lucrative occupations.

 
Human Resource manager

A HR manager generally controls everything to do with personnel from recruitment upwards. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to find an entire HR department in some companies. As HR has grown in importance so have the salaries so it’s no wonder that top HR managers can earn in excess of $170,000 not including perks and bonuses.
 
Technical writer

Forget writing novels, if you have solid technical knowledge and decent written English then seriously consider changing career. A technical writer creates and maintains documents which can be anything from user manuals to publicity material. The job requires strong IT skills as much of the work is often online but you can expect around $110,000 in return.
 
Art director

Drama may not have seemed a profitable subject at school but for those few who are talented and lucky enough to be in charge of theatrical productions, they live an extremely comfortable lifestyle. On average, an art director takes home $97,000 while the top 10% earn an astounding $168,000.  There are strings attached though as long hours, intense schedules and regular travel are normally part of the job.
 
Gaming manager

There are few industries as stable as the gambling one. Casinos have always attracted customers and show few signs of losing their appeal, even in the financial crisis. The people in charge of casino operations are called ‘gaming managers’, they supervise everything that goes on in a casino and also manage the staff. The highest earners in this industry rake in $116,070 a year and also earn other benefits.
Pilot

The glamorous lifestyle of a commercial airline pilot is not everyone’s cup of tea due to the constant travel. Although there have been reductions in pay and several airlines have gone bankrupt, there are still more than a few pilots and co-pilots pilots banking $117,310 a year. This is in stark contrast to the $23,000 offered to new pilots by a few companies which has affectively reduced the number of people choosing to enter the industry.
 
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Business English: Job phrases

Bonuses

Extra pay for working hard

To put sthg on hold

To stop it for a period of time

Lucrative occupations

Jobs that pay a lot of money

It’s no wonder that

It is not surprising that

In excess of

More than

Perks

Extra benefits

Solid technical knowledge

Good and reliable

Decent written English

Accurate

Strong IT skills

Highly competent

User manuals

A book with instructions about how to operate sthg

Publicity material

Anything used for advertising sthg

To do X and get Y in return

To earn Y

To take home an amount of money

To make and receive money

Astounding

Amazing

There are strings attached

There are conditions

To supervise

To monitor

To rake in an amount of money

To earn and receive money

Not everyone’s cup of tea

Not suitable for everyone

To be banking an amount of money

To be earning

In stark contrast to Y

Completely different to Y

Discussion questions

Which is the best job? Why?

Why are these jobs well-paid?

Which other jobs pay a lot of money? Why?
 

Apple is a famous computer company. It makes modern computers, tablets and phones. Now the company wants to develop digital textbooks. Amazon and Barnes and Noble already sell e-books.  Amazon’s Kindle Fire is the number 1 device for reading digital books. Apple’s iPad is number 2. The American company Google also says it hopes to make and sell e-books in 2012.

Apple will sell cheap digital books. The average price will be about $15. Some books will be less. Apple plans to sell the books to students and teachers because they like new technology. Digital textbooks are easy to use and are not heavy like normal books. Students can store 100s of digital textbooks in their cloud and read them on their iPad or laptop. They can use them at home or in a library and keep them forever.

Digital textbooks are a good idea for teachers. They can buy new digital books and magazines at a low price. Teachers can plan their lessons on their iPads and use the digital books. In the lesson, teachers can show students the texts and talk about them.

The first problem is iPads are expensive. Many students do not own iPads or laptops. Apple would like to offer students and teachers cheap ipad3s. They think students will then buy their digital textbooks. They also want to increase the number of Apple school and university textbooks. In the future, Apple would like to be the number 1 company for digital textbooks in the world.

The second problem is e-books are not popular. Only about 25% of students have e-books and 19% of teachers. Most people still buy paper books and many schools and universities. Paul Jones is a university student in Paris. He says “in school we use old and big books so my parents buy me traditional books from bookshops”.

Digital textbooks are a good idea. They can help students and teachers learn and develop. Apple hopes to sell lots of digital textbooks to students and teachers. In the future, every student may read digital textbooks but not now.
 
Here’s Amazon’s Kindle Fire

 
Here’s Steve Jobs talking about iBooks on the iPad. The video starts at 2:54

Apple digital textbooks phrases

Famous

Many people know about sth. “Brad Pitt is a famous actor”

Modern

New

Tablets

A small computer with only a screen, like a BIG mobile phone

Develop

To increase

Digital textbooks

Electronic books. They are not made of paper

Already

It began/happened before

E-books

Electronic/digital books

Device

A small electronic object

Store

To keep something somewhere. In the winter, he stores his bike in the garage”

Cloud

A place online to keep your files

Magazines

Like a newspaper but with more pages and sold every month. Newspaper = The Times. Magazine = Vogue

Plan their lessons

Write down what they will do in the class

Expensive

Not cheap. A lot of money. “Ferraris are very expensive”

Own

To buy and have something. “Roman Abramovich owns Chelsea Football Club”

Offer

To give someone a choice to have something

Popular

Many people like it. “Coca-cola is the most popular drink in the world”

Traditional

Old and people know about it. “Vodka is the traditional drink of Russia”

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Discussion questions

 
1)    What do you think about the Amazon Kindle?

2)    What is your opinion about the ipad for reading books?

3)    Will people buy Apple digital textbooks? Why/Why not?

4)    Can students learn more with digital textbooks?

5) Are digital textbooks more interesting for students?

Possibly the biggest business news so far this year has been the announcement that Facebook is filing for an initial public stock offering (IPO). For the average person, Facebook is just a place to meet and chat with friends online but in reality it’s an extremely profitable company. It has redefined the internet as a social experience and created millions of people who will always be known as ‘the Facebook generation’. So let’s take a look at what exactly FB’s latest move means:

FB IPO Facts:

1)    It is the biggest IPO of a technology company since Google and its only happening so the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, can pay tax on his stock options.

2)    There are rumours that other investors may follow suit but it all depends on how quickly those first shares are snapped up.

3)    The company is owned by its founder, co-founders, staff, venture capital firms/clients and even Bono from the Irish pop band U2.

4)    An initial $5 billion of shares will be offered but analysts expect this to rise to an incredible $10 billion or possibly higher.

5)    Despite all the competition from Twitter, it is worth splashing out on some shares in FB because in 2011 alone it banked an unbelievable $1 billion profit. That was almost ¾ more than the previous year and forecasts look rosy for 2012.

6)    Revenues are pretty staggering, estimated at around $4 billion, the majority originating from advertising. The only issue is that FB seems to rely possibly too much on some of its main advertisers.

7)    Growth at FB hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Besides opening new offices and hiring staff, they are investing in data centres and new technology.

8)    The million dollar question on everybody’s lips is ‘where will the money go?’. Well, apparently employees will receive a financial wind fall on account of their stock units but the remaining amount will go on further acquisitions of technology companies. This is intended to keep FB, a company which some see as past it, contemporary.

For those of you eager to get your hands on your own piece of FB you will have to wait until early May when the shares of the company will be floated on the stock market.
 

 
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Business English IPO phrases

Announcement

A public statement

Filing for an initial public stock offering (IPO)

An official request to sell company shares on the stock market

In reality

The real situation is

Redefined

Given a new meaning

A social experience

Involving people and relationships

The Facebook generation

A group of people who grew up with Facebook

Latest move

Most recent action

CEO

Chief Executive Officer: the top person in a company

Stock options

A reduced rate for employees to buy company stock

Rumours

Gossip/talk about things that have not been officialy confirmed

to follow suit

to copy

Snapped up

Bought sth quickly

Founder

The person who started a company

Co-founders

People who helped start a company

Venture capital firms

Investment companies

Clients

Business customers

Initial

The first

Analysts

People who investigate, do research and give an opinion on events/information/data

Splashing out on

Spending money on

Banked

Earned

Forecasts look rosy

Future estimates seem positive

Staggering

Unbelievable

Estimated

An amount people believe will be true

Originating from

Coming from

To rely possibly too much on

To be over dependent on

The million dollar question on everybody’s lips

The important question everyone is thinking of

A financial wind fall

A large sum of money people receive

Acquisitions

Purchased companies

To be past it

Out-of-date

Eager to get your hands on sthg

Really wanting/enthusiastic to have sthg

Floated on the stock market

Made available to the public

Discussion questions

Leave your opinion in the comments section below and a teacher will reply

1. Would you invest in Facebook?
2. What will happen to the company in the future?

 
Temporary staffing is all the rage at the moment. Forget full-time 9 to 5 positions because they are long gone. Instead, we are seeing smaller staff sizes becoming the norm, with almost a half of US companies following this trend.

Industry statistics show that temporary employment is 10% higher than in 2009 with that figure expected to increase by this time next year. What seems to be an undesired effect of the economic crisis is now actually helping its recovery as companies save money and maximise work.

From a managerial perspective, taking on part-timers has its perks. For one thing, an employer can staff up extremely quickly and without all the red tape full-time employments create such as continual development and holiday leave. Instead, the staff are hired on a need by need basis and then just let go.

Increased unemployment has created a high quality of potential employees so a hiring company can get the crème de la crème of the workforce and at a budget rate. 10 years ago such a situation did not exist and companies had a harder time recruiting qualified and experienced staff. Now, times have changed and the work force is full of professionals who find themselves out of work because their company was downsized, went belly up or they took voluntary early retirement.

Temporary employment may not rake in the kind of money and perks a full-time position may provide but it ticks several boxes:

1) For inexperienced workers it is an invaluable way to build your CV and to try out different jobs.

2) Working  as a temporary worker via an agency means you are paid for every hour you work and you are not obliged to do any overtime. You can also say no to jobs you do not feel suitable for.

3) If you add up all the meetings and administrative tasks that go hand-in-hand with some full-time positions, you may actually be better off working part-time.

4) Contacts and networking is essential in business. Thus, having the opportunity to work in a number of places will boost your connections.

5) Working part-time allows you to get your foot in the door and if you play your cards right you could end up with a full-time or even permanent position later on.

Whatever your take on part-time employment, it is here to stay for the foreseeable future. As with all market changes those employees and companies who adapt will survive and even flourish.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
 

Temporary work phrases

X is all the rage

Very fashionable

To be long gone

Finished and no more

X is becoming the norm

Increasingly common

Undesired effect

A result you did not want

Taking on

Hiring

X has its perks

X has advantages

To staff up

To hire more staff

Red tape

Paperwork and regulations

On a need by need basis

Only when required

to be let go

employment stops at the end of a work/contract

The crème de la crème

The best of the best

The workforce

All the people who have a job

  

Downsized

Made smaller

to go belly up

to become bankrupt and out of business

Early retirement

To stop working before the legal age (60+)

To rake in

To earn (money)

Perks

Benefits

It ticks several boxes

It meets a good number of positive requirements

Invaluable

A high worth

To build your CV

To expand your resume

To try out sthg

To do and see if you like sthg

Not obliged to do sthg

Not required to do sthg

To go hand-in-hand with sthg

2 things that are normally connected

To be better off

To be in a better position

Boost your connections

Increase the number of people you know

To get your foot in the door

To take the first step into a potentially advantageous position

If you play your cards right

If you behave/say/do the right things

To end up with sthg

To eventually have something

Whatever your take on

No matter what your opinion is about sth

Here to stay

Permanent

Foreseeable future

As far in the future as you can imagine

To flourish

To grow

Discussion questions

 
Is more temporary work better for employees?

What are the disadvantages of temporary work?
 

We all know people who use ‘management speak’ and many of us even use it ourselves. It has become part of everyday business life here in the UK. Nevertheless, there are some phrases that really annoy members of staff. Let’s take a look at some of the main offenders:

Let’s touch base at the end of the week
This sounds like it’s about baseball but actually it’s an invitation to have a catch-up conversation or meeting. Modern managers even say “let’s touch base offline” which refers to a F2F meeting as opposed to a virtual meeting.

360-degree thinking
Where once we used to ‘think outside the box’, now we utilise ‘360-degree thinking’. It doesn’t actually refer to turning round in a circle but to taking a wider perspective into consideration. For instance, looking at customers past, present and future behaviour.

110%
We used to get asked to give 100% but now it has increased by 10. Although this is numerically impossible it implies that we should give an extra something or ‘go the extra mile’ as some managers say. This has also led to 120%, 200% and so on.

The strategic staircase
Even if you take the lift to your office you can’t avoid the strategic staircase. In fact, if you want a pay raise, a promotion or just want to work your way up, this is how you do it. The strategic part refers to your own method whether it be by hard work or making contacts.

Conversate
According to management gurus we no longer talk or converse with each other in companies now. Instead we conversate and so you may hear people say that they have been “conversating all day”.

Idea showers
When managers and staff need some new ideas they now take showers together. These ‘idea showers’ are what we used to refer to as brainstorming and don’t actually involve any water. They are an opportunity to come up with and toss around quick ideas about a specific issue or problem.

Management speak phrases

Everyday business life

Average working days in companies

Main offenders

The prime culprits

A catch-up conversation

When someone needs to find out what has been happening while they were away

F2F meeting

A physical meeting (face-to-face)

A virtual meeting

A meeting online using web cameras

Think outside the box

To solve a problem in a creative way

Go the extra mile

To do more than is required

To work your way up

To advance in your career

Management gurus

Famous management leaders/teachers

To come up with sthg

To create something e.g. an idea

To toss sthg around

To share and discuss

Discussion questions

1. What is your opinion about ‘management speak’?
2. Which phrases do you dislike? Why?
3. What other ‘management speak’ phrases do you know?

Whatever business you are in you probably have customers of one description or another and keeping them happy is a must. So why do countless companies and organisations fail to provide high quality customer service? In the current economic climate keeping valued clients happy is essential to ensuring repeat business and for developing a solid reputation.

New research carried out by a leading Business school categorises levels of customer service into 5 distinct groups. Professor Beirn, principal researcher on the project, states that “any enterprise which seeks to improve customer service must first know what kind of service they are providing and then work from there”. Here are the groups he has developed:

1) Terrible

This kind of service is unforgettable because it is so bad and as such is bound to generate complaints. Customers will never forget any company that provides this level of service but for the wrong reason.

2) Poor

A client who experiences poor service will probably be quite annoyed at the time but may not decide to complain after it is over. Nevertheless, they will never use the company again and will probably tell colleagues about their negative experience.

3) Average

The vast majority of companies fall into this category. They do not offer negative service but at the same time they cannot be classified positively either. Customers would only return to such companies if there were no other options or if they just did not have the time to track down another provider.

4) Good

It’s safe to say that we all expect this degree of service and when we do receive it we are more than happy to continue doing business with the company in question. Examples include polite staff and a professional attitude.

5) Great

A company that has this kind of service will certainly make a lasting impression. Furthermore, they will earn a valuable reputation in the industry and gain new clients solely based on their impressive customer service.
 

Discussion questions

 
1) Describe which of these you have experienced.

2) How can companies improve their customer service?
 

Phrases about customer service

Sthg is a must

Sthg is essential

Countless companies

A large number of companies

To fail to provide sthg

To not give sthg

Valued clients

Very important customers

Repeat business

When customers use your company/buy your products/services many times

Solid reputation

When people say that you are very good

                            

To work from there

To start sthg from a certain point e.g. If you have ‘terrible’ service then you try to improve it to ‘poor’.

Unforgettable

Will always be remembered

Sthg is bound to generate complaints

It is sure (100%) that people will complain about it

To be annoyed

To be angry

Colleagues

People you work with

To fall into this category

To be classified in this group

  

To track down sthg/someone

To find sthg/someone

It’s safe to say that…

To be confident that you are correct in saying…

To be more than happy

To be very pleased

The company in question

The company being talked about

To make a lasting impression

To behave in a way that will not be forgotten

To earn a valuable reputation

To work hard and gain a good image

Solely based on…

Only about…

As graduate unemployment rates continue to soar the prospect of pursuing a postgraduate degree seems ever more appealing. In a world of intense competition an MA may make the difference between the unemployment line or a high-flying career so why doesn’t everyone do one? The answer may have something to do with the price.

In the UK, university tuition fees have been in existence since the 1990’s and the average MA now costs around £4,000. MBA’s, on the other hand, will set you back a more unattractive £12,000 depending on the school and the specialism. If this wasn’t expensive enough, these fees are set to triple in 2012 and in doing so price many prospective students out of a university education.

British students generally finance themselves with a career development loan, worth up to £10,000. Coupled with undergraduate tuition debts, the average British student owes over £20,000 by the time they graduate from postgraduate education. Repaying this debt takes quite a long time and those unable to secure steady employment may be looking at quite a while before they are safely out of the red.

In other European countries like France, state-run Universities are free and thus attract large numbers of domestic and international applicants. What’s more, their courses go hand in hand with valuable work placements which provide excellent hands-on practical experience. And with growing numbers of graduates being employed by these same companies following their graduation there’s no wonder that these courses are oversubscribed.

Before embarking on MA study it’s worth asking yourself “is it worth it?”. After all, a Master’s can take up to 2 years and if you’re studying full-time this represents a serious unpaid career break so it makes sense to find a course that will repay this investment with interest. A good place to start is the University website. Find out if they have industry links, what previous alumni had to say about the course and what are the graduate employment rates.

MBA’s have long been popular because people believe they will double your salary and this may be true for aspiring corporate executives. Yet, for a 23 year old MBA graduate it’s not the same story. Without solid business work experience the qualification on its own may not be enough.

The decision to undertake an MA should not be taken lightly, it is demanding on your finances and time. For these reasons you should choose the right course and institution. Sheryl Cookman of Adel Recruitment Agency also points out that “a degree is just a degree, you must be able to show future employers that you have valuable skills which make you stand out.”

Prefixes

There are several words in the text which have prefixes at the beginning. Prefixes are added to words to change their meaning. Here are the words with definitions of the prefixes.

Over: Oversubscribed

More than is needed

Post: Postgraduate

After

Re: Repay

Again

Un: Unable/Unattractive/Unemployment/Unpaid

Not

Under: Undergraduate

Below

Vocabulary Glossary

To continue to soar

To increase and increase

The prospect of pursuing something

The idea of doing something

The unemployment line

The queue of people waiting to claim jobseeker money

High-flying career

To have an important job

X will set you back

X is expensive

X are set to triple

x will increase 3 times

to price many prospective students out

to make it so expensive that students will not be able to afford it anymore

to finance themselves

to pay for it on their own

Coupled with

Combined with

to secure steady employment

to find a permanent job

Out of the red

No longer in debt/owing money

to go hand in hand with

In combination with

Hands-on

requires you to do something

Before embarking on

Prior to starting something

Industry links

Contacts in companies

Previous alumni

Past graduates

Aspiring corporate executives

People who want to become senior employees, lke directors or CEOs

It’s not the same story

It’s completely different

Solid business work experience

A long period of full-time employment

to be taken lightly

to be viewed as not important

to stand out

to look better than the rest

Email has revolutionised how we communicate but did you know that the vast majority of email is actually spam? Companies are consistently bombarded with junk emails which normally end up in spam folders but some still manage to turn up in staff inboxes. Employees are so used to these mails that they either delete everything they don’t recognise or just leave them unopened. The danger is that important messages often don’t get opened or just half-read. So, what can we do about this problem?

Here are 5 tried and trusted techniques:

1. Make it look important

Many email providers have an option for you to select the level of importance or priority. Set it to high and your message will have more chance of getting noticed but don’t overdo it or else it will lose its effect.

2. Write an effective subject

Few recipients would open a mail entitled “3/12 sales forecasts”. Whereas, one that reads “Important sales projections for March” would probably attract for staff. Another sure fire way is to include the recipient’s name or something significant to them.

3.  Keep it concise

Once the reader opens a mail they need to understand the main message quite quickly. A long complicated email will lose the reader’s attention. In comparison, a short, concise bullet point style takes less time to read and comprehend.

4. Split it up

Headings and sub-headings make a long complex mail more attractive and allows the receiver to skip to the relevant parts. Nobody wants to have to read en entire mail in order to find one piece of information.

5. Write in an appropriate style

A mail to your boss that starts with “Hi Steve” may not get the right response or even read at all. Knowing the appropriate register to use with staff and colleagues is vital in a company so many play it safe by just being more formal as it is generally less risky than doing the opposite.
 

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
 

Phrases about emails

Revolutionised

Completely changed

Spam/Junk emails

Unwanted email from a sender you do not know

to end up in something/somewhere

The final destination

to turn up in something/somewhere

to appear in a place

to overdo it

to do too much

to lose its effect

to no longer do what it is supposed to do

A sure fire way

A guaranteed method

Recipient’s name

The name of the person it is sent to

to lose the reader’s attention

to make the reader no longer interested

to split it up

to divide it

to skip

to miss out

register

Tone

to play it safe

To choose the least risky option

Christmas is the main time in the UK for office parties to celebrate the end of the working year. They offer a great opportunity to let off some steam and have a good time with friends and colleagues from work. But how much fun should employees have at these events?

British office parties often involve alcohol and dancing which can lead to some rather undesired behaviour. According to statistics, around 2 in10 office workers are disciplined for inappropriate conduct in every company following the annual festive bash. Examples of unsuitable behaviour include use of foul language to co-workers and insulting bosses, as well as the infamous drunken photocopying. Sexual harassment complaints are also on the increase following office celebrations by male and female employees.

It is increasingly common for other employees to receive an abusive email sent during one of these end-of-year events. While the popularity of social media sites and mobile phones has resulted in countless embarrassing photos appearing all across public Facebook and Twitter pages. Unfortunately, the average boss takes a very dim view of such action as it can cause a loss of reputation and distrust and could possibly damage the entire company’s image. As a result, social media policies have begun to appear in company handbooks which when not followed incur disciplinary action or can even lead to redundancy and legal action.

One solution some companies have come up with is to discontinue office get-togethers all together, forcing Christmas revellers to celebrate in more suitable venues like bars and discos on their own time. Yet for many office staff, the Christmas party is something to look forward to all year and a tradition, as much as drinks on a Friday after work, so it doesn’t look like we’ve seen the back of it just yet.
 
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Vocabulary & Phrases about Parties

to let off some steam

To relax

to be disciplined

To be punished for doing something bad

Foul language

Swear words

Sexual harassment

Unwelcome verbal or physical behaviour

An abusive email

An email with aggressive language and/or insults

Embarrassing photos

Sensitive photos (people doing things they shouldn’t be doing in an office)

X takes a very dim view of something

X does not like certain behaviour

Loss of reputation

A good image/reputation is destroyed

Distrust

Being unreliable

Social media policies

Rules about social media

to incur disciplinary action

Lead to punishment

Redundancy

When a job is cancelled and the person is
fired

Legal action

The act of hiring a lawyer to solve a dispute

to come up with

To think of

to discontinue

To stop doing/producing something

All together

Completely

Christmas revellers

People celebrating Christmas

On their own time

When they are not being paid to work

Seen the back of it

It has finished and will not happen again

Avoiding Repetition: Don’t repeat yourself

 
The text uses different synonyms and related phrases so that it is not repetitive. Here is a list with their exact definitions.

Colleagues

People who you work with

Co-workers

People who you work with

Employees

People who work for someone else

Office staff

People who work in an office

Undesired behaviour

Doing things which are not correct in this situation

Inappropriate conduct

Doing things which are not correct in this situation

Unsuitable behaviour

Doing things which are not correct in this situation

Parties

Events where people come together to celebrate something

Festive bash

A party at Christmas time

Christmas party

A celebration during the Christmas period

Office celebrations

A party at the workplace

Office get-togethers

A party for staff

End-of-year events

A party in late December

Stealing. Laziness. Hiding.

These are NOT words that you usually use when you are applying for jobs. But that’s just what a British job seeker wrote on his brutally honest CV.

Describing his previous jobs, he said that his work roles had consisted of ‘pretending to be on the phone’, ‘hiding at work’ and also described them as ‘disheartening’.

Talking about his education, he described his Philosophy degree as ‘pointless’.

However, he does mention his good points. He says that he ‘can lift more than it looks like I can lift’ and he is ‘free of all venereal diseases’.

In his ‘Extra-Curricular Activities’ section (normally titled, ‘Interests’) Benedict Le Gauche says, ‘I like to close my eyes and pretend I am Darth Vader’.

With over 2 million people unemployed in the UK right now, you definitely need something to help you stand out from the crowd with your job application. Benedict seems to have taken this to the extreme. Or maybe this is a spoof and he was trying to create a viral video. What do you think?

 

 
You can read Benedict’s CV in full here.

Do you think this was a good way to get noticed? Or has he ruined his chances of ever getting a new/good job?

 
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Have a great Friday and an ever better weekend!

The video is not exactly the best quality, but this is one of my favourite scenes from possibly the most popular comedy series ever in the UK. It’s called The Office and it shows how boring office work can be. The comedy is very dry and very British!

Here, we see David Brent, the office manager giving Keith, one of the accountants, his annual appraisal. That’s when your boss, or superior, gives an assessment of the work you have done over the past year. In this situation, the boss should be objective and give the employee an unbiased review of things that they have done well and could possibly do better. The staff member receiving the appraisal should be positive and enthusiastic, showing that they are taking on board (understanding and accepting) what they are being told. It can be a very important meeting, as the worker’s salary in the following year or annual bonus may depend on how they act in the appraisal.

Watch the video from 1:00 min and you will see that Keith, the worker doesn’t really care what’s going on….or is too stupid to understand the seriousness of the situation. It’s funny how the boss gets more and more frustrated at the ridiculous answers.

If the language is too difficult and you can’t understand something, write down the time of the video part that that is unclear in the comments section below, and I will get back to you, writing out what they say in that sentence.

Hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend.

To make up for this PR disaster, Blackberry are now offering all users £63 worth of free apps after it was claimed that up to 42% of users were considering changing to another manufacturer and 8% had already bought a new mobile phone. But will a load of free apps like ‘Texas Hold ‘Em Poker’ really appease the big player corporate customers like Morgan Stanley and HSBC?

To add to Blackberry’s woes, here’s a comedy sketch from 2 very famous English comedians. There is a lot of clever word-play, where mobile phone vocabulary is confused with fruit and veg shop conversation. Try watching the video a few times to improve your listening skills and then watch again using the full transcript below…take note of all the phrases related to technology.

 
C = Customer S = Shopkeeper
 
C: I bought something from you last week and I’m very disappointed.

S: Oh yeah? What’s the problem?

C: Well, my blackberry is not working

S: What’s the matter? Has it run out of juice?

C: No, no, it’s completely frozen

S: Oh yeah, I can see that. I tell you what, let’s try it on orange.

C: That’s got a few blackspots

S: Oh yes. Sorry about that

C: Well, is there anything I can do to get my blackberry working?

S: Well, it could be an application issue. Where do you store that blackberry?

C: Well, it’s on my desktop

S: Well, you could try using a mouse to drag the blackberry to the trash. Then after you’ve done that, you might want to launch the blackberry from the desktop

C: Well, I’ve already tried that a few times but all it did was mess up windows

S: Well, it might be worth waiting a couple of weeks. They’ve got the latest blackberries coming in then

C: Could you give me a date?

S: Certainly

C: Let me put that date in my diary

S: Anything else I can help you with

C: Yes, yes, I’ve also got a problem to be honest with my apple

S; Ooh dear, oh dear. That is an old apple, isn’t it? When did you buy that?

C: Last week

S: Last week? They’ve bought out 2 new apples since then. What’s the problem with it?

C: Well, I tried to put my dongle in it and it won’t fit

S: Oh yeah? And how big is your dongle?

C: Well I don’t know much about these things, but my wife has seen a few dongles in her time and she said it’s a little bit on the small size.

S: Well I’m afraid there’s not a lot I can do about that. Tell you what, let me try booting it. No…it’s crashed. Anything else I can help you with?

C: Well funnily enough, yes. (It’s) My grandson’s birthday soon, you see. Now he’s already got an apple and a blackberry. I mean have you got anything else he might just like?

S: Well, we’re doing a special offer on these. I mean, I can’t make head or tail of them, but the kids seem to like them: Eggs Box – 360

Not long now until I’ll be on my hols. It’s been a busy summer at SGI, so I think I deserve it! My imminent holiday has got me thinking about a common problem for business English students: which words do we use to describe taking time off work?

Annual leave and sabbaticals

As much as you may love your job, we all need some time away from the office. In the UK, most people get around 25 days annual leave, during which they may go on holiday, visit relatives or just stay at home and catch up with the housework. You normally have to hand in a holiday request, which you need to get signed off by your boss before you can pack your bags and jet off to sunny Spain on EasyJet.

Those who want a longer break from work could ask to take a sabbatical. Perhaps you’d like to travel the world, take time out to study, or just stay at home and learn origami, in which case your annual leave quota may not be enough.

Sickness and maternity leave

Unfortunately we all take time off from time to time due to sickness. The average UK worker is off sick 5.5 days a year, which costs the economy millions. We all know of course that some of these days off are just people pulling a sickie! If you pull a sickie too often, legitamtely or not, you will get a reputation for it and then probably get the nickname, “Sicknote”, which is how you will be referred to in your absence by your disapproving colleagues.

What about if you’re having a baby? Parents to be in the UK are entitled to maternity/paternity leave to ready themselves for their new arrival, and to look after the new member of their family once it’s born. Those nappies aren’t going to change themselves!

Public holidays and retirement

Other time off includes public holidays (often called bank holidays), such as Christmas Day, and time off for jury service or other public service, such as being a school governor.

At around the age of 65, it’s time to put your slippers on and retire. As people are living longer, the age of retirement is getting later, which means those just starting out like me probably won’t get to retire until we’re 80!

Find out more about more about taking time off in the UK from this Government website here.

Glossary

hols – holiday (informal)

annual leave – the amount of days in a year that you’re entitled to take off work

holiday request – a written document asking your employer to go on annual leave

sign off – your boss approving your holiday request

jet off - fly

sabbatical – a long period of time off, such as 6 months

off sick – time off due to illness

pulling a sickie – taking time off work but not really being sick

absence – a period of being away from a place

maternity  leave – time off for women during and after pregnancy

paternity leave – time off for men after the birth of a child

public/bank holidays – weekdays when most people in the country are entitled to take the day off

jury service – attending a court of law to help decide if someone is guilty or not guilty

retire - finish working forever

Summer is drawing to a close. ‘What summer?’ you say! Well, like it or not September is upon us, which for many means starting that all important first job. Whether it’s a grad scheme, a dull paper-pushing position or your dream role, you’ll be better equipped with these handy tips – and common idioms that come with them.

1.     Dress to impress

Tie or no tie? High heels or flat shoes? We all know that first impressions count, so make sure you do your research and dress appropriately on your first day in the office to avoid making a fashion faux pas. You may be feeling like fish out of water sat at your desk, but dressing similarly to your colleagues should help you fit in.

2.     Get stuck in

Chances are you’ll be thrown in at the deep end, so to avoid getting into hot water you’ll need to learn fast and hope for the best. In competitive working environments you’re often left to sink or swim, so roll up your sleeves if you want to stand out from the crowd.

3. Break the ice

Take every opportunity to introduce yourself to others in the office, both in formal and informal situations. Chat to others at the coffee machine, join the company softball team and get down the pub on a Friday night. You may not see eye to eye with all of your new colleagues, but you may find you get on like a house on fire with some of them!

If you’ve just started a new job, why not post a comment below to tell us about it? Is it all going swimmingly, or have you put your foot in it? And if you’re just about to start, good luck, and listen out for these common idioms!

Idioms Glossary

• feel like a fish out of water – feel uncomfortable in an unfamiliar situation
• thrown in at the deep end – given a difficult job to do without preparation
• get into hot water – get into trouble
• be left to sink or swim – be given no help so that you succeed or fail completely by your own efforts
• roll up your sleeves – prepare to work hard
• stand out from the crowd - make yourself noticed
• break the ice – make someone you have just met less nervous and more willing to talk
• see eye to eye – to agree with someone
• get on like a house on fire – quickly have a friendly relationship with someone
• go swimmingly – go well
• put your foot in it – say or do something without thinking  carefully, so that you embarrass or upset someone

As I teach a lot of business English, I was interested to hear how both sides of the table would handle the discussion. I was listening for good phrases and mistakes from the Germans and also to see if the Brits were using idioms or phrasal verbs that might be difficult for non-native speakers to understand.

The German contingent all spoke good English, so I was quite surprised that when they were trying to delegate tasks and responsibility, they weren’t using appropriate phrases. They were saying things like….

• I want that you…. (Possibly impolite and is really a direct translation from German)
• Please you make the…. (Same problem of German interference again)

Obviously, the meaning was communicated and understood, so there wasn’t a huge problem, but this function of ‘asking someone to do something’ was not at the same level as the rest of their English. Also, in my teaching experience, business people have always told me that they think it’s very important to be perfect with their English in situations such as these.

So here are some nice phrases that you could use (or might hear) in a business meeting.

Asking/Requesting/Delegating

1. John, could you (infinitive)….?
2. Who’d like to (infinitive) the….? (Asking for someone to volunteer to do a task)
3. John, would you mind ( ______ing) the….?
4. Do you have any objections to ( ______ing) the….?

Positive answer

In German (and maybe some other languages), it’s completely normal to just answer with yes (Ja), but that would be a little bit impolite in English. So, it’s better to use one of these phrases…..

• Yes, of course.
• Yes, I’ll do it.
• Yes, no problem.
• No, not at all. (This is the positive answer to a no# 3 or 4 type question).

Negative answer

In an English speaking culture, if you refuse a request, it is normal for you to give a reason or an excuse, i.e. if you say no, you should say why….

• No, I’m sorry. I’m at a conference that week
• I’m afraid I can’t. That’s when I’ve got my holiday booked.
• Not really. My department is completely snowed under at the moment.
• I’d like to help but we just haven’t got the spare manpower to do that.
• I don’t really think that it comes under my jurisdiction/is my responsibility.

These polite business request phrases and responses will at best make you sound like a native and at the very worst, they will give you the aura of a brilliant businessman.

• bullet points
• I’m writing
• I regret to inform you
• You’ll be pleased to hear
• I’d be grateful
• I look forward to
• Kind regards
• do not hesitate to contact me
• You’ll see
• Please accept my apologies
• Please find below

Dear students,

My name’s Charlie Allen and I teach Business English here at SGI in London. (1) because many of my students have problems writing formal emails, so I am using this as an opportunity to help. (2) if you could fill in the gaps with one of the words/phrases above, so that the email makes sense. Hopefully after doing this exercise you’ll have learnt some useful phrases and will feel more confident when writing formal emails at work.

(3) that for this sentence I’ve started a new paragraph. Just like in your language, we do this in English when changing the subject. It’s a good way of breaking up the text to make it more manageable for the reader, and looks much more professional.

As you may have noticed, I started the email making it clear who I was and why I was writing. That is also very common. We can also use (4), such as for the following tips:

• Keep a word document of useful phrases for emails so you don’t have to remember them every time
• Copy the style and formality of the email you are responding to
• Bullet points don’t require commas at the end

(5) for the delay in writing this blog entry. I’ve been very busy at work, and so haven’t had much time. (6) that there’ll be more Business English entries in the future, so make sure you check the blog regularly.

(7) space to write your comments. This is a fantastic opportunity to practise your English, by asking questions about writing formal emails, or telling me if you’ve used any of the phrases you’ve learnt from this blog entry.

(8) that there aren’t any attachments with this letter, but hope that it has been useful nonetheless. Please (9) with your queries and comments.

(10) meeting you here at SGI soon.

(11),

Charlie Allen

Answer Key:

Dear students,

My name’s Charlie Allen and I teach Business English here at SGI in London. I’m writing because many of my students have problems writing formal emails, so I am using this as an opportunity to help. I’d be grateful if you could fill in the gaps with one of the words/phrases above, so that the email makes sense. Hopefully after doing this exercise you’ll have learnt some useful phrases and will feel more confident when writing formal emails at work.

You’ll see that for this sentence I’ve started a new paragraph. Just like in your language, we do this in English when changing the subject. It’s a good way of breaking up the text to make it more manageable for the reader, and looks much more professional.

As you may have noticed, I started the email making it clear who I was and why I was writing. That is also very common. We can also use bullet points, such as for the following tips:

• Keep a word document of useful phrases for emails so you don’t have to remember them every time
• Copy the style and formality of the email you are responding to
• Bullet points don’t require commas at the end

Please accept my apologies for the delay in writing this blog entry. I’ve been very busy at work, and so haven’t had much time. You’ll be pleased to hear that there’ll be more Business English entries in the future, so make sure you check the blog regularly.

Please find below space to write your comments. This is a fantastic opportunity to practise your English, by asking questions about writing formal emails, or telling me if you’ve used any of the phrases you’ve learnt from this blog entry.

I regret to inform you that there aren’t any attachments with this letter, but hope that it has been useful nonetheless. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your queries and comments.

I look forward to meeting you here at SGI soon.

Kind regards,

Charlie Allen

Take between four and eight students with a level of English in the range of strong Intermediate (B1) to Advanced (C1). They can typically be of any age, nationality and business sector.

SGI Business English students enjoy the best of both worlds.  For part of their course they follow a more rigid, structured book based  learning, but in the other half of the day they focus on developing real needs and business skills such as presentations, meetings, negotiations, making successful telephone calls, report writing or e-mailing.

The recipe of the course is always changed according to the individual wants and needs of each student. Just like preparing the perfect meal, learning and improving skills needs time and a personal touch!

A Recipe for Successful Presentations

1. Utensils: pen and paper, copies of materials, TV and DVD player, recording equipment
2. Chop the idea of presentations into bite-sized chunks: introductions, stating the purpose, main body of the presentation, conclusion etc and study each area in turn.
3. Season the presentation with the unique vocabulary, needs and ideas of each individual learner.
4. Marinade for full flavour with some special presentation skills techniques such as rhetorical questions and intonation practice.
5. Great dishes only come with practice and the same can be said for presentations.
6. Taste the dish! What could be better than having experienced diners (the other students) provide feedback and comments on your efforts?!

Enjoy Your Meal!
Just like cooking, learning Business English is fun, challenging and very rewarding. The result is a lot of happy students with a more comprehensive recipe book on English for different, real life business situations.

By Daniel Lander, a Business English teacher and enthusiastic cook