Biz-E-Training

Business & Commercial English – Self-study 4

This is the self-study guide for this lesson.

Click (laptop) or tap (mobile) to open each section.

Good presenters, such as the former US President Obama, modulate their intonation to make an impact and to maintain interest. The two simplest ways to make a presentation sound more interesting and easier to understand are by stressing keywords and by pausing. Use this activity to learn more about pausing when presenting: The power of pausing.

To continue your acquisition of new business and general vocabulary, do the following:

 
  1. Look at your notes for Lesson 4 and use your preferred method (e.g. the Quizlet app, the Cornelsen Vokabeltrainer app, or simply a vocabulary notebook or cards) to learn the course vocabulary.
  1. Practise saying figures correctly using this activity: Saying figures
  1. Review language for talking about personal finances with this activity: Personal finances: Some commonly used terms (needs a larger screen - tablet or laptop)
  1. Use your coursebook - Simply Business B1+ - to do the following:
  • Page 45, Section 18 - complete the fixed expressions
  • Check your answers with answer key provided when the next Self-study page is made available.

Use your coursebook - Simply Business B1+ - and the PagePlayer app (or CDs) to do the following:

  • Page 43, Section 13, Activities A & B.
  • Check your answers for Activity B using the transcript on pages 93-94 of the coursebook and with answer key provided when the next Self-study page is made available.

Here are the answers for the Lesson 3 listening activities:

Page 27, Section 18

Activity AActivity B
  1. Both Chemi and WiSMa would employ local workers. In Chemi’s case, a workforce was already in place.
  2. Both companies would preferably employ local management.
  3. After the expansion, both companies would prefer regular visits.
  4. In both cases, English would be the working language, because it would be the only language that both teams have in common.
Chemi made sure that most of their staff in Brazil were Brazilians so that employees would not leave the top management positions after a few years. This saved costs and avoided changes in managerial style.

When Wisma expanded into China they started a policy of employing Chinese staff who had studied in Germany and were also able to speak English. This is because they want staff who understand Chinese culture but also the way European businesses work.

Use your coursebook - Simply Business B1+ - and the PagePlayer app (or CDs) to do the following:

  • Page 45, Section 19, Activity A & B
  • Check your answers with answer key provided when the next Self-study page is made available.

Here are the answers for the Lesson 3 activities:

Page 29, Section 24

Activity AActivity BActivity C
  1. time is short
  2. as scheduled
  3. right away
  4. delay
  5. ahead of schedule
  6. meet the deadline
Working around the clock – working hard without stopping

To give someone breathing space – to take the pressure off someone

  1. time off
  2. overtime
  3. time pressure
  4. in time

Use this link - Online exercises - to do the following Simply Business B1+ online exercises:

 
  • Unit 4: Exercises 1: explaining a process
  • Unit 4: Exercises 3: talking about companies
  • Unit 5: Exercises 1: using the modal verbs 'should' and 'must'
  • Unit 5: Exercises 2: conference call language
  • Unit 5: Exercises 3: reporting what people say
Previous self-study

Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3